New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-14
The w ar Truck a
Model of Fast and
Good Work


the war truck. ms IT has been christcned,
is reality. the work of the forty or
more Society Of Automotlve Engineers
members who developed the design, un-
der the direction Of Captain w. NJ.
Britton, stands out in relief. The work
of speedy cooperation that character
lied the production Of the Liberty avia-
ton engine has been equalled in the
case Of the war truck.
In spite Of the fact that a greater
number of interests were involved IN
the building Of the truck. making com
promises IN design more difhcult, great
unanimity OF feeling among those par
ticipating makes the result the more
remarkable. and IL anything more un-
usual than The performance OF the rcIa-
lively few engineers engaged I'm the
case of the Liberty airpiane engine.
Roughly. there were four major divi-
sions of the engineering work, those
relating to the engine. the transmits
sion, the aXles and the other chassis
parts. Each Was manned by corps
of engineers. There were three, four,
and i'm some cases five different COM
panies represented in the work on one
unit. and IL was necessary for the en-
gineers to sink all personal pride and
contribute the very best known to the
arr.
Each unit represent q composite OF
the best features contributed rather
than the work Of any one individual
The engineer best qualified 10 design
certain part handled 1t IN consultation
with his fellow engineers. Considering
the great amount OF conference work 1t
is amazing that the truck has come
through so rapidly; in short. 1t was un-
believsble TO many a month ago that
the task could be accomplished. The
impossible has come to pass and new
chapter in war cooperation has been
written.
The speed with which the different
makers attacked their respective tasks
and completed them is shown by the
following:
The Continental Motor Manufacture
ing Company, which was one of the sew
eral engine producers participating in
the programme. received blueprints on
September and had an engine run
ming within nineteen days and eighteen
hours thereafter The Waukesha Motor
COMPANY made a still better record,
getting its first engine running within
eleven DAYS seven and one-haf hours
from the time the bueprints reached
its factory. These companies did not
have TO make all the patterns for cast.
ingS or the dies for forgings, some OF
these having been made previously, but
they had to do most of the machining
and other operations on the parts.
In developing the engine four or I'VE
makers cooperated By dividing the dit
ferent parts between them, one making
several parts not only for itself but
for the other engine makers. In this
way time was saved. The Continental
company made the cylinders. gear case
cover. and many small parts, such as
pumps. bushingS, etc. The Waukesha
company manufactured the cylinder
heads, the crank case, intake and eX-
haust manfoldS, roller push rods, etc.
The Wisconsin company made the lower
part Of the crank case.
The remarkable response OF manu- I
facturers of raw. and finished products
made possible the completion of the
units in record time. As an illuStra-
ton. the Park Drop Forge Company
worked continuously in three SHIFTS
and succeeded in sinking the dies FOR
the crankshaft In seven days, an opera
ton which is rarely completed IN peace
times in less than three weeks. The
Werra Aluminium Castings Company
produced the pattern for the main
crank case and the first casting IN nve
DAYS. this usually taking from three TO
four days on much smaller Jobs. he
Continental pattern shop completed the
pattern for the cylinder pairs IN slight
ly over five days, an accompli shment
which can be appreciated only by those
who nave manufactured engines.
In summarizing the cooperative talent
embodied in the engine, IT might be SAID
that the crank case is Continental, the
cylinders Waukesha, the oiling system
a combination of Wisconsin and Buda,
the pistons Hercules, and the timing
gear system combination OF Buda,
Wisconsin and Continental. The gov
ernor is a combination OF Kelly-S Spring
field and Waukesha. The camshatt is
Il composite design. The engine has
been designed with the thought of using
the heavier fuels, tie combustion
chamber and other parts having been
designed TO meet these requirements.
What has been said of the engine can
be Said OF the trdnSmlsslOH' lue dNleS'
and other parts. Three or four OF the
leading axle makers have worked to-
gether on the axle designs. So with the
transmission.
SO wei have all of the engineers CO.
operated that the schedule set for the
completion Of the different truck units,
as we'll as of the completed truck. has
been lived up to and generally improved
upon. The first engines built IN differ
ent factories were TO have been deliv-
cred on September 80 and they were
delivered on that date The completed
chassis was to have been ready October
10 and was ready on October I.