This 1968 Jeep M715 4×4 former South Dakota Forestry Department fire vehicle crosses over to a few different collectible genres. It’s first, well, a 4×4 Kaiser Jeep, it’s a 4×4 pickup, it’s a former fire department vehicle, and it’s just plain cool. I made up the last one but I’m sticking with it. This one can be found here on craigslist in Lindstrom, Minnesota with an asking price of $7,000.
With only 28,000 miles and no rust, this 1-1/4 ton Kaiser Jeep pickup appears to be in fantastic condition. The logo on the doors shows it to be or shows that it was a South Dakota State Forestry Department truck and it says Cooperative Rural Fire Equipment on the shield logo, and the lettering on the doors identify it as being from the Glad Valley Fire Department. That appears to be in Meadow, SD in the northwestern part of the state.
The condition looks amazing after so many decades. The 1-1/4 ton was known as the Five Quarter and if you thought a new one-ton posh pickup was a bit harsh on bumps, yeah.
The M715 was based on the Jeep Gladiator and they were made between 1967 and 1969. They saw duty in the Vietnam war but reliability problems plagued the overhead cam engine reportedly due to lack of maintenance and lack of familiarity with the engines. Build quality issues that came up when they were deployed to the DMZ (Korean Demilitarized Zone) forced their frames to have to be rewelded by a Korean company and by 1970 most of them were relegated to being parts vehicles.
This truck sure looks good and solid in the photos. As with former law enforcement vehicles, there’s usually a question that comes up as to whether a new owner who isn’t a firefighter with the South Dakota State Forestry Department could leave the logos and identification markings on this one. I would think that as long as a person isn’t rushing into a forest fire with it, it would be ok. The floors look solid and hopefully, all of the gauges still are in working condition.
The seller says that the 230.5 cubic-inch Jeep Tornado inline-six smokes a bit but it runs. It would have had around 133 hp. They say that the transmission is crisp but the brakes are weak. What would you use this heavy-duty Jeep pickup for?
Waiting for Howard to reply.
Aw, am I that predictable? Sorry, not much going on, and I love this site. People seem to have some moral objection when someone complains about a certain vehicle. For example, Fiats and 5 figure rust buckets aside, I complain about the dismal experience I had with the AMC Cherokees or J series that look like this. When I say, they were no Kaiser, I mean, brother, they weren’t a Kaiser. While still good trucks, AMC “cheapened” them up considerable, the Kaiser was a stout unit. So much so, it was military approved, the AMC, not so much. Scotty didn’t mention much about the engine, he does enough research as it is, but the “Tornado 6” was a novel motor. It was the 1st mass produced OHC motor that used one lobe for both intake and exhaust valves. It had incredible low end torque, perfect for military or forestry applications. I bet you could drop this off a cliff, with little damage. Geared for slow going, driving it down the highway could be a problem, that’s where the AMC types shine. Great find.
I was drafted in 1968 and stationed stateside in 1969. I was a company driver in an infantry unit and we had dozens of new 1/4. 5/4 and 2 1/2 ton vehicles. I normally drove a 2/12 ton, even with little cargo. I seldom drove one of these.
When I got to Nam, I don’t think I saw any of these. I was assigned part time use of a 1943 Dodge 3/4 ton. Those were all over the place..A piece of clutch linkage broke on it and it was driven without a clutch for several days until the part came in. Parts were shipped with the mail and replacement troops in old Dodges.
Interesting old 715 these were one of the least talked military vehicles ever. I found one in town here and talked to the owner about selling it and it needed some work it was leaking from the front main, the water pump was out and needed a full cleaning both inside and out. Lots of these came out of the military and we’re leased to municipal entities and county govt. Who were then allowed to lease them for 1.00 per year but we’re never supposed to sell them without a couple miles of federal paperwork. These trucks were very prone to rust, pretty underpowered and slow top speed because of the gearing required to move them. The one I looked at was decent very little rust and he was asking 4k for it, I figured that was just about twice what it was worth. If you don’t mind OD green these can be had in this condition for 3k or less.
I love the fact the guy who painted the interior yellow taped nothing off!! There’s no other color but yellow in there!! Steering wheel door handles!! I’m surprised the pedals aren’t yellow too!!
The craigslist listing has been DELETED.
“This posting has been deleted by its author.”
It was a solid looking example, complete, & at a reasonable asking price, so I’m assuming that it has already been SOLD!
(Might just need to pull my M715 out of storage & put it up on the auction block!) :-)
What is that deal on top of the engine? I can’t figure out what it’s for.
that IS the engine…? U mean the rocker cover? The fuel pump? Yeah, I agree, weird. But these were good at their application. That;s the whole automotive Q. What is the application for this vehicle? ’40s Power Wagon’s a lill different than this 1, and so on. I gota ’66 bronk. It hasa different application than either.
Now a 2nd tier Q is – what’s the best at this application? I think that’s where the discussion can get interesting. Example: a 1961 VeeDub, a Brit like the Austin A40 or a Falcon w/170 motor (or throw in the others of the ‘big 3’)?
This is a great rig for its application! Just like the AM General…but would I use one as a daily? no. (H2, hummer, etc). I’d use it like a Pinzgauer !!! The pinz 4 an 8 party wkend in southern Berkshires at the off grid cabin, the H2 for a hunting over nite tenting in VT…
Yes, the rocker cover seems highly unusual for a normal 6cyl?
If you read my post, it was not a typical in line 6.