Jeffery Quad

Jefferey Quad
U.S. Marines riding in a Jefferey Quad,
Fort Santo Domingo, c. 1916
Overview
Manufacturer Thomas B. Jeffery Company
Nash Motors after 1916
Also called Nash Quad
Production 1913–1928
Layout Front-engine, four-wheel-drive
Powertrain
Engine Buda, 312 cu in (5.1 L) side-valve 4-cylinder, 28 hp (21 kW; 28 PS)
Transmission four-speed, four wheel drive, hub-reduction gearing
Dimensions
Length 200 in (5,080 mm)
Width 74 in (1,880 mm)
Height 85.5 in (2,172 mm) without canopy
Curb weight 5,350 lb (2,427 kg)
Payload = 3,000 lb (1,361 kg)

The Jeffery Quad, also known as the Nash Quad or Quad is a four-wheel drive truck that was developed and built by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company from 1913 in Kenosha, Wisconsin and after 1916 by Nash Motors, which acquired the Jeffery Company. Production of the Quad continued unchanged through 1928.

The Quad introduced numerous engineering innovations. Its design and durability proved effective in traversing the muddy, rough, and unpaved roads of the times. The Quad also became one of the most successful vehicles in World War I. The Quad was produced in large numbers by Jeffery and Nash, as well as under license by other truck makers.

Development

The United States Army needed to replace the four-mule teams used to haul standard one-and-a-half-ton loads with a truck and requested proposals in late 1912.[1]

The company began development by purchasing a new Four Wheel Drive Auto Company (FWD), but found it to be unacceptable and sold the vehicle to begin its own design from scratch.[1] By July 1913, the 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) capacity truck was ready for public demonstration of its capabilities.[1]

The Jeffery designed a four-wheel-drive truck, known as the "Quad" or "Jeffery Quad" subsequently greatly assisted the subsequent efforts during World War I by several Allied nations, particularly the French.[2] The Jeffery Quad became the workhorse of the Allied Expeditionary Force.[3]

These unique vehicles also saw heavy service under General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing as both the Jeffery armored car and as regular transports during the Army's 1916 Punitive Expedition through Mexico; Quads were also used extensively during Pershing's later European campaigns of World War I.[4] The United States Marine Corps also adopted the Jeffery Quad, using it in the Haiti and Dominican Republic conflicts from 1915 through 1917.[5]

Approximately 11,500 Jeffery and Nash Quads were built between 1913 and 1919. "Four-wheel drive trucks had been built before ... but aside from the Jeffery Quad (Nash Quad, per subsequent purchase) earlier designs were inefficient, crude, and flimsy."[6]

Design

Initially called the Rambler Quadruple for its car-derived 281.4 cu in (4.6 L) Rambler four-cylinder that produced 21 hp (16 kW; 21 PS).[1] Development called for a switch to a Buda manufactured 312 cu in (5.1 L) side-valve four-cylinder engine that was rated at 28 hp (21 kW; 28 PS), but actually producing 52 hp (39 kW; 53 PS) at 1,800 rpm.[1]

The Quad had four-wheel drive and four-wheel brakes, as well as an innovative four-wheel steering system.[7] This novel approach to steering allowed the rear wheels to track the front wheels around turns, such that the rear wheels did not have to dig new "ruts" on muddy curves because most roads of the day were unpaved and often badly rutted.

This four-wheel steering mechanism was integrated with Muehl limited-slip differentials on both the front and rear axles.[8]

From the transfer case, shafts led to the top of both the front and rear solid portal axles giving the trucks a very high ground clearance allowing it to drive through mud up to its hubcaps.[9] Engine power was transmitted by half-shafts with a u-joint and bearing that was connected by a pinion gear to each of the four wheels from the dual differentials that positioned parallel to but above the load-bearing "dead" axles.[10] This pinion gear then drove an internal toothed ring gear at each of the four wheels.[9]

The Quad's combination of innovative features constituted a revolutionary approach to four-wheel drive and allowed the truck to traverse soft and poor conditions with unprecedented effectiveness.

Legacy

The Quad was one of the first successful four-wheel drive vehicles ever to be made, and its production continued for 15 years with a total of 41,674 units made.[11] Concurrently with the Quad's production, the company expanded its truck line by building conventional 1.5 ton trucks with double chain rear-wheel drive.[9]

The Quads ability to traverse terrain across the globe that challenged modern trucks meant civilians used their slow, but unstoppable work at least until the 1950s.[1]

In 1954, Nash Motors merged with Hudson Motor Car Company to form American Motors Corporation (AMC), which acquired the vehicle operations of Kaiser Jeep in 1974 to complement its passenger car lines. The combined automaker's ancestry reached back to the famed World War I "Quad".[12]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Adolphus, David Traver (August 2011). "Where none could possibly travel Jeffery's Quads became the backbone of both commerce and war". Hemmings Classic Car. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Shrapnell-Smith, Edmund (1915). Our Despatches from the Front: Huge Deliveries of Lorries for the French Government. Drivers for Quads. American Tire Sizes, in The Commercial Motor. Temple Press (since 2011, Road Transport Media). p. 229. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Charles Thomas Jeffery". The Lusitania Resource. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Hyde, Charles (2009). The Thomas B. Jeffery Company, 1902-1916, in Storied Independent Automakers. Wayne State University Press. pp. 1–20. ISBN 978-0-8143-3446-1. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Buckner, David N. (1981). Marine Corps Historical Division, ed. A Brief History of the 10th Marines (PDF). Washington D.C.: United States Marine Corps. 19000308400. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  6. ↑ Mroz, Albert (2009). American Military Vehicles of World War I: An Illustrated History of Armored Cars, Staff Cars, Motorcycles, Ambulances, Trucks, Tractors and Tanks. McFarland. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-7864-3960-7.
  7. ↑ Eckermann, Erik (2001). World history of the automobile. Society of Automotive Engineers. ISBN 978-0-7680-0800-5.
  8. ↑ Sturmey, Henry (1915). The Muehl Differential, An Automatic Lock, in The Commercial Motor. Temple Press (since 2011, Road Transport Media). p. 208. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 "The Four-Wheel-Drive Jeffery Quad, Built in Kenosha, Wisconsin". The Old Motor. 10 February 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Shrapnell-Smith, Edmund (1915). The Jeffery Quad. Steers, Brakes and Drives on All Four Wheels -- A Self-locking Differential, in The Commercial Motor. Temple Press (since 2011, Road Transport Media). pp. 206–7. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  11. ↑ Redgap, Curtis; Watson, Bill (2010). "The Jefferys Quad and Nash Quad — 4x4 Ancestor to the Willys Jeep". Allpar. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  12. ↑ Wisconsin Beautiful: Official Handbook. Country Beautiful Foundation. 1966. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  • "Jeffrey Quad Lorry". landships. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  • "Jeffrey Quad". 4wdonline. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  • Nash Quad at the Internet Movie Cars Database
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