MLVW
In the early 1980's,
Canada started looking for a suitable replacement for the
current issue M135/M211 "deuce and a half" line
of 2.5ton trucks. The M135 line had been produced in the 1950's
and had reached their end of their life span and could no
longer accomplish the current requirements of the Canadian
military. The search started with the US AM General M35 line
of 2.5ton trucks. The M35 had been selected by the US military
to replace their line of M135/211 trucks, and had been serving
the US military for over 10 years very successfully. The Canadian
military liked the basic design and functionality of the US
M35, but was not happy with several factors. These factors
included an impractical cold weather setup (most trucks had
canvas roofs and no heaters), rear suspension setup, engine/transmission
use, and many others. Once the Canadian military decided to
take the basic design of the US M35, a total of over 1,500
improvements were made to the old design. This new "improved"
2.5ton truck was given the designation of MLVW (Medium Logistics
Vehicle Wheeled). Though on the data plate, it is still referred
to as an M35/M36.
Using the basic
design of the US M35, the Canadian military made many changes
to truck. They started by using a 8.2L Detroit Diesel engine
with a matching Allison Automatic MT-643 transmission in place
of the US Multifuel engine and standard 5-speed transmission.
This simplified maintenance of the engine with standard, easily
obtained off the shelf parts, and made driving the truck much
easier the world renowned Allison automatic transmission.
Power steering was also added which also reduced wear and
tear on the troops driving them.
Other notable upgrades:
Use
of "super singles" tires (Michelin 11.00R20's)
Roof
racks to transport more supplies.
Hydraulic
winches.
Insulted/heated
cabs to keep the troops warm and insulated hood to help keep
the engine warm in cold weather.
Four
batteries were standard issue to help in better start the
vehicles in cold weather.
Once these upgrades
were factored into the equation, the Canadian military awarded
the contract to Bombardier to produce 2,765 MLVW's. The first
MLVW was delivered to Canadian military in 1982 and has been
in service ever since. Projected to serve the Canadian military
for 15 years, the MLVW has now been in service for over 25
years and a replacement has not been decided upon yet. The
vehicle system proposed to replace the MLVW is the MSVS (Medium
Support Vehicle System), but as of January 2009, DND has not
committed to a design or manufacturer.
Even without a
new replacement, the Canadian military has already commenced
in selling off their surplus/unused MLVW's to the public.
The first series of auctions were started in August of 2008.
It has also been stated that the MLVW will be completely retired
from the military's fleet by the end of summer 2010. The new
LSVW will
be used as an interim truck for the replacement of the MLVW.
These trucks will be used solely in Canada.
***More
detailed information about this vehicle and others on the
site will be added in time***
MLVW Manuals
We have added a
selection of technical manuals for the MLVW line of trucks
available for download. These manuals are offered free of
charge. Most other places we have found requires that you
pay for the manuals. We believe that since these manuals are
in the public domain, they should be available for everyone
to download for free.
Please only
download the manuals you
need. Downloading unneeded manuals takes bandwidth
which we pay for, yet are allowing you to use for free. If
we find that people are taking advantage of us and taking
up too much bandwidth downloading all the manuals every time,
we will have to remove them from our website, making
things difficult for others looking for the same manuals.
-
C-30-350-000/ME-002
Fabrication and
Installation of Stowage Rack for Truck, 2-1/2 Ton, MLVW, M30
Series
2.02MB .pdf file
More to come....
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