Description of the M38 Jeep
The M38 Truck, 1/4 ton, 4x4 featured flat fenders, a one-piece windshield, bottom-mounted wipers and an air vent at the bottom center of the windshield frame. Military upgrades included a stronger frame and suspension, a 24-volt electrical system, and full-floating rear axle.
Manufactured by Willys, the Jeep had an L-head, 4 cycle, 4-cylinder engine with synchromesh transmission and three forward gears. It had a crew of two and passenger capacity of two.
Photos are available on the M-38 Jeep page of the Olive-Drab.com Military Vehicle Charts.
Description of the M38A1 Jeep
M38A1 jeep used by the 88th Trans Co. in Vietnam. (Mike Suckow) Photo courtesy of Planet Art Publishing, from the book Hard Ride- Vietnam Gun Trucks (Volume 2)
. See also Hard Ride- Vietnam Gun Trucks (Volume 1)
.
The M38A1 was the military improvement upon the M38 Jeep, introduced in 1952. It was a new design, not just a modification of the M38. It featured rounded front fenders, a contoured hood, two-piece windshield, top-mounted windshield wipers, and a new "Hurricane" F-Head engine.
The M-38A1 closely resembled the CJ-5 civilian model jeep. It differed from the CJ-5 in that it had a stronger frame and suspension, reversed front spring shackles, standardized GI instruments, and 24-volt electrical system.
The M38A1 was manufactured by Willys, and had an F-head, 4-cycle, 4-cylinder engine. It had a crew of one and could carry three passengers.
Photos are available on the M-38A1 Jeep page of the Olive-Drab Military Vehicle Identification Charts.
Internet Resources for the M38 or M38A1 Jeeps
Korean Jeep has a set of excellent color photos of US Army M-38A1 jeeps in Korea.
Gary's M-170 tells the story of the acquisition and beautiful restoration of this ambulance-jeep. See also Gary's M-38 project.
Lasse Mäx describes the M-38A1, including photos of his own jeep and other off-road activity in Sweden. Tables of specs and operating data.
The M-38A1 Restoration Site has a complete photo record of the restoration of the M-38A1 and a matching M-416 trailer. This site is very detailed and complete including costs, time log, and other real life traumas.
This 1953 M-38A1 restoration is documented with a small sampling of the progress pictures.
Military Vehicle Parts Company has posted TB 9-2855-43 (21 Nov 1956) to their web site. This Technical Bulletin covers the installation of the Personnel Hot Water Heater Kit in the M-38A1 and related model jeeps.
Find More Information on the Web
There are many fine websites that have additional information on this topic, too many to list here and too many to keep up with as they come and go. Use this Google web search form to get an up to date report of what's out there.
For good results, try entering this: jeep m38 OR m38a1. Then click the Search button.
