There are two kinds of guys on the trail. those who bring a pair of vise grips and some zip ties and hope for the best, and those who bring everything necessary to rebuild an entire vehicle. Jeff Pichler definitely falls into the latter category with his 1957 M37.
Jeff’s M37 has the relatively rare V41 utility box option, so he worked with Max-Bilt of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to turn his truck into the ultimate Trail Recovery Vehicle (which explains the M-TRV stickers on the hood). This mobile workshop has all of the hardware necessary not only to fix other vehicles, but do plenty of off-roading in its own right.
The TRV is powered by a 383ci small-block Chevy filled with Vortec iron heads and a hydraulic roller cam and topped with a Holley 750 Street Avenger carb that has been tweaked for off road use. It feeds power to an SM465 transmission and a divorced NP200 transfer case.
The quartet of shift levers control the SM465 transmission and the NP200 transfer case whi
While the original plan was to retain much of the factory drivetrain, in the end it was easier to upgrade to modern components than try and modify the 55-year-old stock components. A 383ci small-block Chevy from Chevy Performance Parts makes 340 horsepower and 435 lb-ft of torque out of the box with Vortec iron heads, a hydraulic roller cam, and a pump gas-friendly 9:1 compression ratio. Compare that to the 78 horsepower from the factory L-Head six-cylinder! The stroker engine is backed by am 2WD SM465 transmission that uses a spud shaft to mate the factory cast iron, gear-driven NP200 transfer case.
From there power is routed to a Corporate 14-Bolt rear axle with 5.38 Yukon gears, an ARB Air Locker, and disk brakes. Is there a better bang for your buck in beefy rear axles? Up front a kingpin Dana 60 front axle from a Dodge pickup is filled with 5.38 gears, an ARB Air Locker, Warn hubs, and a Max-Bilt diff cover. The Dana 60 turns from input from a PSC steering box from an International Scout application with a Bronco pitman arm. The draglink is made from 1.25-inch, 0.25-wall DOM tubing and uses 3/4-inch QA1 rod ends to connect the pitman arm to a Crane steering arm on the passenger side knuckle. The tie rod is in the factory location and retains GM one-ton tie rod ends.
The front axle is a kingpin Dana 60 out of a Dodge pickup with a driver-side drop. It is loaded with 5.38 gears around an ARB Air Locker and uses Warn locking hubs. To fit the axle under the truck Max-Bilt constructed new spring hangers to match the width of the perches on the axle and lowered them for increased ride height.
M37s came from the factory with 34-inch-tall tires, so once there was enough power to turn them and enough axle to handle them, fitting big meats was not a problem. Jeff chose 40-inch Interco SS M16s mounted on Trailready 20x9 HD beadlock rims. The 40s fit with the stock leaf springs over the axles with help from new spring hangers in the front and a shackle flip in the rear. Fox remote reservoir shocks were added to smooth out the ride from the 55-year-old leaf springs.
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The PSC steering box is from an International Scout application using a Ford Bronco pitman
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The big truck flexes incredibly well thanks to the Max-Bilt leaf springs and Fox 2.0-inch
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Rolling stock consists of 40x14.5R20 Interco SS M-16 tires mounted on 20-inch Trailready b