IFA -W5 on Ebay - Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite

vtunimog · 04-18-2007, 11:46

There is a clean looking IFA on Ebay if anyone is interested.

After speaking with a few IFA owners I am amazed at the trucks ruggedness and durability. One owner drove entirely through africa with few problems and was able at one point to not only move his fully loaded expedition truck (with shelter and gear) but also pull a bus out of a Ditch in Uganda.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/IFA-W...mZ160106806471

SterlingDevelop · 04-30-2007, 23:14

I bought the IFA .
Now I start the treasure hunt.
I traced the roots of the IFA back to the US Military, who apparently brought it to the USA to put out in a field and let soldiers glass it.
They were supposed to learn to identify enemy vehicles.
Then it was surplused out to the Forest Service, who parked it in a field, until it was rescued by Ken Koch of Uglytrux.com. Great guy to talk to, by the way.
It had no bed on it when he got it , but had only 2000 miles. All the hoses and rubber were dry rotted, so he traced all of that out, and replaced all of it, and put a US 5 ton bed on it.
It made its way then to Tennessee, and finally to Maryland through some trades, where I bought it from Ebay.
Now it lives in West Chester, PA
It has just over 5000 miles on it and runs like a champ.
It needs a few things, like the air locker switches, and a couple of gauges, but all in all, it's in incredible shape.
If anyone out there could help with shop manuals (German or otherwise)
and a reliable parts source, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Brent Green
SterlingDevelop@aol.com

clinto · 04-30-2007, 23:26

Welcome to Steel Soldiers, Brent.

We can't wait to see more pics of your truck. We like pics here.....

Recovry4x4 · 05-01-2007, 00:05

I was going to tell you where it came from but it looks like you already found that out. Here's a pic of your bed before it was installed on the truck. FWIW, the bed looked unused when I picked it up for Ken.

steelsoldiers · 05-01-2007, 10:21

Hey Brent, welcome to the site! I think the guy that had it in TN was an SS member too. His user name was JeffsIFAW50. We haven't heard from him in quite a while and this explains why. Good luck with your new truck. I remember it being a very beefy truck. You've got just enough time to get it ready for Aberdeen! Hope to see you there

SterlingDevelop · 05-01-2007, 17:30

OK, I have a quick one to post that I took the other day.
I'm certain that I'll have more as the project evolves........ they're all projects.
I started off with a '63 M37, but it wasn't really big enough to crush cars reliably. The solution was obvious.......

SterlingDevelop · 05-05-2007, 18:34

Which shelters are designed to fit in the 5 ton cargo bed??
And how are they designed to tie down?
I would like to find one.
I think that when the bed was installed on the IFA it was shortened a bit, too, so I'll have to check that out.
What is the bed supposed to measure??

Thanks,
Brent

RenatoPietsch · 05-16-2007, 13:36

Hello IFA W50 driver schau nevertheless times with us past under www.ifa-tours.de. There one can speak much experienced about the IFA W50 we also English. I bereiste in the year 2004 North America with the IFA W50 of Canada - to the USA - Mexico - the USA. Also I was already with the IFA in Russia and Africa and durchgeurte the desert Sahara.