TheSamba.com :: View topic - Chenowth Desert Patrol/Light Strike Vehicle

Mon Aug 18, 2014 6:30 pm

It's amazing sometimes how things have a habit of falling in your lap. In my case, usually those things are crap, but in this case I think I came out pretty good.

I've had plans over the previous six months or so of building a SEAL Desert Patrol Vehicle. Since Chenowth is out of business and there aren't exactly a glut of used chassis's out there, I decided the way to do it was via purchasing a Chenowth 4LWD setup and build it up accordingly. I've seen several for sale over the years and usually while they might be called a Desert Patrol Vehicle, in some cases even with a correct chassis, they aren't built to spec and that disappoints me. It's almost like getting an old military jeep, painting it a shoddy green color and putting street tires on it and passing it off as correct- if you're going to do it, then do it right. So that was my intention, build it as close to spec as possible.

So fast forward to several weeks ago - I put up a WTB post here and elsewhere looking for a 4LWD setup - complete or otherwise. A managed to pick up a very nice platform that was for sale for what I considered to be a fair price. So that's vehicle #1.

Fast forward to last week, I call a friend of mine for work related business and tell him what my intentions are. He tells me that he has not just a Chenowth Desert Patrol vehicle behind his shop, but has a 6 man Chenowth Advanced Light Strike Vehicle as well. While they clearly have seen better days, he said I could have them if I came to drag them away. All parts are there and they haven't run in about 5 years, but they'll be worth having-he was literally going to drag them to the scrap yard. Some people collect military jeeps, I guess I'll have a couple of SEAL buggies.

They've clearly seen better days, but they're savable.

So, now that you've hung in long enough to read all of the above, I'll get to my question.

Does anybody have any information on these vehicles? It seems that all of the information is from 1 source that gets constantly regurgitated - 0-30mph in 4 seconds, 200hp VW engine, blah, blah, blah. I have never seen any specifics though. There's even less info on the 6-man vehicle, what the SEALs called their "squad" vehicle.

I've asked on the military forums, Google'd every possible combination I could think of and can't seem to find anything specific on either of them. I've got an email in to Lynn Chenowth at his current business and have had no response, so I ask you folks.

- Does anybody have any specifics on these?
- How many DPV's were made? Did they all have rotating gunner seats?
- How many of the 6 man vehicles were made - I heard as little as 12, but really don't know.
- What was done to the engines? Anything special? Both of these vehicles have 6 rib bus transaxles and 2 liter Type 4 engines w/ a single Weber carb.

If anybody knows anyone who worked on these at Chenowth and they're willing to talk, I'd love to know more.

Tue Aug 19, 2014 5:00 am

Sorry I cant help with any info but GREAT SCORE! Those things are sweet!

Tue Aug 19, 2014 8:50 am

This might help
http://www.armslist.com/posts/3258965/milwaukee-wi...eet-legal-

keep up posted
DWP

Tue Aug 19, 2014 9:36 am

Dont mean to highjack this thread but have a question about this vehicle the rims are they the standard VW with or something wider and what size tires is it running

Tue Aug 19, 2014 9:48 am

Don-no worries at all. They're 31x10.5's on the back and 31x7.5's in the front on 15" wheels with a 5-205 pattern. I couldn't tell you how wide the rims are just yet, but will let you know when I take another peek at them.

Tue Aug 19, 2014 9:53 am

Thank you look foward to finding out how wide they are. This is just the size I am looking for the rear of my build and I am running the 5x 205 pattern

Thu Aug 28, 2014 6:34 pm

No info for you..... Actually, there is NO info out there that is legit.... Nothing to help,you in your build..... You should let me come get them out of your way and save you the hassle!! Lol..... :roll:
Well, worth a shot.... :wink:

Great score!

Thu Aug 28, 2014 10:45 pm

Very cool score 8)
Hot VWs magazine did a feature on the 3 seater. Give them a shout and see if they can get you the back issue.
Also a Chenowth family member posted in the thread about Lynn's driver.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5...n+chenowth

Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:30 am

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm getting things stripped down slowly but surely. I've hit a snag though in regards to getting the rear hubs off - can anyone provide any insight?

I know the axle nut is supposed to be especially tight, so I wouldn't expect it to come off easily - but please see the picture below. I don't know who made these, but I can't figure out how to get them off.

- The cover with the two allen screws is easy enough to remove, but I'm not sure what purpose it serves. It threads into an aluminum plate that spins freely inside. Obviously, when the screws are tightened, the plate is pulled tight and doesn't move.

- The big hex looking nut appears to be made from anodized aluminum, so I don't know if it's a cover or if it's an actual nut. My biggest concern is that I don't want to go wrenching on it to hard and scarring it up.

Can anybody provide any insight into how this is supposed to come apart?

Sun Nov 30, 2014 6:57 pm

So, it's been a couple of months since I last provided any updates. I managed to get things torn apart down to the bare chassis and learned a few things along the way.

I met one of the SEAL's who helped bring about the Desert Patrol Vehicle to the NSW community as well as the caretaker of the DPV at the Marine Mechanized Vehicle museum at Camp Pendleton. They've both been a wealth of information. It turns out that the engine in this was modded out by FAT Performance. It started life as a Type 4 2 liter and was stroked to 2.6. It's definitely going to need some engine work and I've spoken to Greg at FAT several times over the past month or so. We're both in agreement that there's still a lot of good parts in the engine, so I'm going to send the engine back to them and get it running again.

Most all of the parts are salvageable with the exception of a few areas. The first is that both torsion bars are snapped and will need to be replaced.

The corrosion in the floorplan area is what I expected and I don't forsee being difficult to replace. The tubing that extends back to support the transaxle is concerning, but again - I think it can be replaced.

I managed to get the tabs busted loose in the torsion bar adjustment housing. I really, really don't want to have to cut this out, so I'm hoping the adjustment housing can be beefed up and saved. The torsion housing tubes are rust free.

Overall, I'm very pleased and am extremely excited to get this ball rolling.

Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:05 am

sorry i cant help i came for the same answers

Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:59 pm

Try a search for DOCUMENT NO. CMP-1150-12 that is the ILLUSTRATED REPAIR PARTS LIST for the LIGHT STRIKE VEHICLE MINE4 IS DATED 31 DECEMBER 1996 it was Prepared by Lockheed Martin Defense Systems for Chenowth Corporation and is 60 pages. Its a very basic parts list but I'm sure that the same company all so made the manuals. It was for the military so there was at least 3 manuals, parts, driving and repair. Hope that helps. The motors were 2161 84 x 90.5 web cam was a 109/119 and I think they were built by Bernie Bergmann. Good Luck. Any questions I can help you with let me know [email protected]