TRANSLATED FROM FRENCH
A big thank you to MrP4, author of this file, for sharing with us his passion for this machine which is very close to the r2067 / 87!
“Marmon” S.U.M.B. MH 600BS 4×4 1500 kgs
Brand: S.U.M.B. (Simca Unic Marmon Bocquet)
Type: MH 600 BS
100hp F7 CWM V8 petrol engine
Monsoon Bridge gearbox with 4 synchronized gears + reverse gear
2-speed transfer box. A lever for the speed range (short / long), a lever for the front axle with 3 positions (free / compensated / clutched).
Herrington Portal Bridges.
10.5×20 tires
24 volts electrical
Equipment Empty weight: 3600 kg
GVW: 5300 kg
Can tow a trailer with air brakes of 2000 kg and without brake of 1000 kg
Length: 5.10m, Width: 2.10m, Height: min 1.94m, max 2.84m 130 liter fuel tank
The Sumb or more commonly Marmon is a small 4×4 truck carrying 1.5t (normally …), with its rather round cabin, its tires with a strong “balloon”. Perched on its small portal bridges, it does not go unnoticed!
The engine is the same as the one that equips the Simca Cargo (one more compressor) and derived from Ford Vedette and other Simca Chambord cars (as for the 2087 we can say that the engine block mold was profitable!).
I, who use it for the ride, must say that … it’s still a LUNG!
The noise from inside or outside is a kind of “big breath” and hello discretion …
Driving level, let’s not complain because there is much worse. We don’t climb, we climb, the steering wheel is a bit oversized (they forgot the factory assistance! How stupid!), The comfort is … military and the heating very efficient in summer. But we’ll have fun all the same, fear not!
If while going up you find that the cabin moves, it is not the springs which are out of order, this is quite normal, because the cabin being mounted on 3 points, it tends to oscillate from left to right when climbs and in bumpy passages.
However, I found the Marmon to be more comfortable overall than the TP3, especially along the way, TP3 owners will understand what I’m talking about.
Driving level it also amazes me by its fairly easy to shift gears, its correct steering for a 4×4, but the engine spoils the pleasure especially because of this damn hole in acceleration from which most Marmons suffer, even and especially at the army!
On the road we reach 80 km / h as long as it is fairly flat. Above, the “shimmy” appears, but so as not to abuse it at 70 km / h, that’s perfect. The drop in pace in the hills is not dramatic, especially if you arrive on the pitch. The gear changes must be fast because of the rev limiter and the hole to be provided for the recovery.
In the paths the height and the template are not handicapping, we can put the front bridge in “compensated” and it will be driven if the rear wheels slip.
For crossing, low speed and differential lock are required. This is where the engine is the most unsuitable: foot to the floor required under penalty of stalling …
For some ramps you need momentum and pass the second. The portal bridges are appreciable but raise the center of gravity and the suspension with springs which allows good deflections of bridge catches up a little. See for yourself!
I dodge the mud, my Uniroyal T9 tires getting tangled up quickly. Michelin XLs must be better suited.
Watch out for transmission shafts, because they are not classic. They are protected in a tube ensuring more rigidity.
But on the other hand, you have to grease them well and if you ever “land” on a tube and it bends a bit there is a good chance of breaking the shaft. The transmission is a bit complex to my taste. This Marmon there …
Bought in 1998 for 3500 francs and quickly registered as a Collection without even a technical inspection since it is a PL!
The tarpaulins have been changed, I exchanged 3 XL tires for Uniroyal in the same condition (aesthetic tastes oblige), the drive shaft of the front axle was broken (tube just a little bent), small revision of the lighting and a paint job. At the beginning of 2003 (C license in sight), a classic intervention on a machine which turns little: split water hoses, leaking brake master cylinder and front wheel cylinders which return badly (heating of the front drums).
Apparently revised in 1992 (according to the date on the radiator) perhaps coming back from the Gulf (the desert camouflage stood out here and there under 3 Tones), all the aforementioned elements had the appearance of new and hardly have not served. But as you surely know “With the weather goes …”, and the southern climate had done its job …
In the paths the height and the template are not handicapping, we can put the front bridge in “compensated” and it will be driven if the rear wheels slip.
The other models of Marmon:
There is the Marmon “90 amps” intended for the transport of radio shelters. Its plateau is slightly shorter.
The Marmon “workshop” equipped with a winch, locker cabinets on its body and various accessories (tools, 220v group and 220v devices, blowtorch, lifting goat, etc …)
The front Marmon excavator equipped with a backhoe unfortunately running on the truck’s petrol V8! The resale prices in the advertisements are around 35,000 F for an unusable machine consumption obliges …
UNIC V.I.R.D. , the civilian …
There is also the UNIC V.I.R.D. for Diesel Rapid Intervention Vehicle, a name that tells us little …
To be simple take a SUMB and modify it to satisfy the civilian market:
– The engine changes to a 6-cylinder in-line diesel FIAT type 806A of 98hp at 3000tr / min.
– It is coupled to a gearbox also Fiat, type 2830 with 5 speeds, the 5th being in direct drive like the last speed of the SUMB (4th).
– To set up all this the frame has almost no cross member identical to the SUMB (the frame seems to have been modified from a SUMB frame, which reveals a bunch of holes that have become unnecessary and sometimes even filled in by welding!) , the chassis is also reinforced by a wing which starts from the rear of the cabin to the rear end of the chassis, moreover the bumpers are different.
– The transmissions do not change, except on the transfer case which no longer has a hand brake drum (replaced by a ratchet hand brake). – The steering is assisted! Indeed, any civilian 4×4 truck of this time must have one, not to mention the increased weight on the front by the diesel engine or the more imposing tire fitting. The steering box is apparently that of the SUMB but has a machining for the attachment of the power distributor.
– The tires are 12.5×20, the rims are wider. This makes it possible to assume the payload of 3 tonnes better than the 10.5×20 of the SUMB, but also to maintain a suitable top speed, in fact the diesel engine runs slower than the V8 of the SUMB and the final reduction of the FIAT gearbox. is identical to the Pont-à-Mousson box.
– The braking is hydro-pneumatic (the air actuating the hydraulics), the compressed air circuit is of the three-circuit type. The handbrake is a ratchet and acts directly on the rear brake shoes, the VIRD is equipped with an emergency brake with a pneumatic cylinder actuating the brakes through an independent control.
– The electric circuit is in 24v, completely civil, particularity the batteries are under the seats in chests.
– At the cabin level we recognize the SUMB but with several differences, most VIRDs are equipped with a sheet metal hard-top (which can be installed without any modification on a SUMB), the windshield has lost the possibility of raising the bays but not to fold in full, the mirrors are attached to the cabin, the location of the headlights on the grille is different, the interior hood is larger and between the seats there is a toolbox, finally the rear attachment cabin is changed.
– Various platforms are mounted, sometimes a hydraulic crane is between the cab and the body, many have a Bonnier hydraulic winch on the front bumper (this makes a real rather dangerous spur) and finally one finds a clean 6-seater double cabin van version at EDF-GDF.
Having only tried a VIRD once and briefly I can only say that it changes drastically (noise and behavior), same for the braking which is powerful but dry!
As a bonus you gain the sound of an engine that purrs beautifully.
My VIRD is currently under restoration and will be “disguised” as Marmon, as proposed to the military.
If you have any comments, opinions or even corrections to suggest, do not hesitate! Either myself Mr P4: Monsieurp4@aol.com or on the site’s forum …
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