THE U.S. M-151 JEEP
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The United States military series of jeep known as the M151, came as a result of Ford Motor Company having been awarded the contract for development of replacement vehicles for the aging US military fleet of WWII and Korea. Begun in 1951, under a program known as the Military Utility Tactical Truck Project (MUTT), it became known as a most reliable vehicle suitable for multiple roles and applications.
The MUTT became standardized for American and allied countries in 1960. Over 100 foreign countries use the M151 in their existing police and military forces.
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The M151 is a large departure from previous jeeps, both in looks and design. The M151 has a unitized body with a integral box frame. It is the same weight and an World War II jeep even though it is a larger vehicle. It has a longer wheelbase, is wider and is lower than the military version of the CJ-5 which was known as the M38A1.
THE HISTORY OF M-151 ROLL-OVER
During the course of its early production, the M151 gained a reputation of ‘rolling over’ in a certain situations. One report states, "that in fiscal 1967, the M151 was involved in 3,538 accidents that resulted in 104 deaths and 1,858 injuries."
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According to the report, 36 percent of the accidents were due to the vehicle overturning in a non-collision situation. The remaining accidents were of a conventional auto crash circumstance. The principle causes identified were:
- Operators not being sufficiently trained,
- Operator error.
The primary factors that came from the 1967 study suggested three ‘core’ contributory issues.
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The vast majority of persons in the U.S. Army were young men who were drafted - not career soldiers, thus there was a ‘care less’ attitude.
- Viet Nam was in full swing contributing to a nonchalant attitude on the part of many young soldiers.
- Operators would make a full 90 degree turn at higher speeds than recommended.
Additional contributing factors suggested was the vehicle having been designed for OFF ROAD USE as its primary mission. The tires used by U.S. and many allied forces, are of the Non-Directional Tread (NDT) type. Simply stated this means there is no specific tread pattern - the tire is made for gripping soft soil or wet unimproved surfaces. Operators of the M151 displayed a propensity for application of civilian automobile handling characteristics in their driving habits but in fact were using a primarily off road vehicle with no tread on the tires.
An ‘A’ arm with a coil spring is used on each wheel. The M151 and the M151A1 have the pivots on the inside of the wheel. The M151A2 changes the rear ‘A’ arms to pivot front to back. This greatly reduced the tendency to roll over in a high speed turn.
HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT
1950 Continental Army Command places requirement for a new ¼ ton 4x4 with the Ordnance Corps.
1951 Ford Motor Company awarded the development contract for the new vehicle.
1952 Ford Motor Company produces the first prototype.
1954 Ford Motor Company produces the second prototype called the XM151.
1956 Ford Motor Company produces two additional prototype vehicles;
XM151E2 - steel body,
XM151E1 - aluminum body.
1959 The Ford Motor Company prototype XM151E2 chosen for production.
1960 The United States Military jeep, model M-151 begins production.
1964 Concluding the review of data collected from military units, changes in the production took place resulting in a refined version of the jeep that was type accepted as the model M-151A1.
1970 With additional data being made available from users in the field, additional changes were undertaken resulting in the last and final model to be type accepted. This last model was known as the M-151A2.
1978 Production of the M-151 series jeep is halted as the new series of military utility transport is adopted.
In all, the M-151 established a record of reliability and proven performance under a wide range of operational areas. It will go into military transportation history as a vehicle which served it's country well.
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