GMC CCKW 2½-ton 6×6 truck
The GMC CCKW, also known as "Jimmy", or the G-508 by its Ordnance Supply Catalog nr, was a highly successful series of off-road capable, 21⁄2-ton, 6×6 trucks, built in large numbers to a standardized design (from 1941 to 1945) for the U.S. Army, that saw heavy service, predominantly as cargo trucks, in both World War II and the Korean War. The original "Deuce and a Half", it formed the backbone of the famed Red Ball Express that kept Allied armies supplied as they pushed eastward after the Normandy invasion.
| CCKW | |
|---|---|
CCKW 352 cargo truck with winch | |
| Type | 2+1⁄2-ton 6×6 Cargo truck |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Yellow Truck and Coach Co. |
| Designed | 1941 |
| Manufacturer | Yellow/GMC Truck and Coach Chevrolet |
| Produced | 1941–1945 |
| No. built | Grand Total: ~572,500 including all variants; CCKW specific: ~518,000 — LWB CCKW-353: ~464,000 and — SWB CCKW-352: ~54,000 units plus ~54,500 non CCKW variants |
| Variants | 1939 ACKWX – 2,466 units C.O.E. AFKWX – 7,235 units 6×4 CCW-353 – 23,649 units DUKW amphibs – 21,147 units |
| Specifications (353 Cargo w/winch) | |
| Mass | 8,800 lb (4,000 kg) empty 16,400 lb (7,400 kg) loaded |
| Length | 270+1⁄8 in (6.86 m) |
| Width | 88 in (2.24 m) |
| Height | 93 in (2.36 m) to cab 109+1⁄8 in (2.77 m) overall |
| Engine | GMC 270 straight-6 91.5 hp (68.2 kW) at 2,750 rpm or 104 hp (78 kW) at 2,750 rpm |
| Transmission | 5 spd. × 2 range trf. case |
| Suspension | Beam axles on leaf springs |
| Fuel capacity | 40 US gal (150 L) |
Operational range | 300 mi (482.8 km) |
| Maximum speed | 45 mph (72 km/h) |
The CCKW came in many variants, including open or closed cab, long wheelbase (LWB) CCKW-353 and short (SWB) CCKW-352, and over a score of specialized models, but the bulk were standard, general purpose, cargo models. A large minority were built with a front mounted winch, and one in four of the cabs had a machine-gun mounting ring above the co-driver's position.
Of the almost 2.4 million trucks that the U.S. Army bought between 1939 and December 1945, across all payload weight classes, some 812,000, or just over one third, were 2+1⁄2-ton trucks. GMC's total production of the CCKW and its variants, including the 21⁄2-ton, 6x6, amphibian DUKW, and the 6×4, 5-ton (on-road) CCW-353, amounted to some 572,500 units – almost a quarter of the total WW II U.S. truck production, and 70 percent of the total 2+1⁄2-ton trucks. GMC's total of ~550,000 purely 6×6 models, including the DUKW, formed the overwhelming majority of the ~675,000 six by six 2+1⁄2-ton trucks, and came in less than 100,000 shy of the almost 650,000 World War II jeeps. Additionally, GM built over 150,000 units of the CCKW's smaller brother, the 1+1⁄2-ton, 4×4 Chevrolet G506, at the same factory.
The GMC CCKW began to be phased out, once the M35 series trucks were first deployed in the 1950s, but remained in active U.S. service until the mid-1960s. Eventually, the M35 series, originally developed by REO Motors, succeeded the CCKW as the U.S. Army's standard 2+1⁄2-ton, 6×6 cargo truck.