CUCV STAR and Bridge plate.

I searched for and couldnt find the size of the star that goes on the front of my cucv. Is there a stencil for that? The guy painting mine painted over my markings and my bridge plate. What should I put on the bridge plate? Oh and it looks great so far. Sherman Williams CARC 383 green like it was only it looks alot nicer! All new seals front to back....then its accross the street to get all new seals on everything underneath....it's leaking...more like pouring transmission fluid. Then I will finally be able to drive here some more!!!

3"star. Not sure on the bridge plate. I can check when I get home but I bet someone will answer before I get it done. There are stencils and decals available. Rick Larson has them but I always get my from 67beast here on the board. He does good work and can do paint mask or decals.

TB 43-0209 Color, Marking, and Camouflage Painting of Military Vehicles, Construction Equipment and Materials Handling Equipment, dated October 1990, page 3, paragraph 8 - National Symbol: "The National Symbol is a 5-point star in contrasting lusterless black 37030 or green 383 (34094) in a size that fits inside a 3 inch diameter circle."

The Bridge Plate numbers for a M1009 are 03. They are 3 1/2 inches tall. Paragraph 13 of the same publication covers the Bridge Plate. The Army issue bridge plate has two sets of five plates. Each set has numbers 0 through 9, one number on each side of the five plates. So you have two zero's and two three's in a complete set. Just remove the retaining plate and pull out the unused zero and three and put them on top. Paragraph 13 k (2) explains how to do this.


This publication is available under the Resources tab, page 3.

Thats great news that the bridge plate has an additional 0 and 3. I finally found one picture of mine with the 03.

For the star, I used clip art from the internet, resized to 3", printed it on card stock and cut it out with an X-acto knife creating a stencil.

What is a bridge plate for anyhow? Four years in the military and I never used one.

Its the round circle plate in the front. Lets others know how much your vehicle and or trailer weighs, so you can cross a bridge more or less. Maybe someone else an explain this one better.

Use of the bridge plate is also mentioned in the above TB.
Mostly designed for use in Europe on "ify" bridges that were in existance in the 1940's but sitll mandated today.

Anyone have pictures? I am getting ready to paint my Blazer and want to put it back to original.

BigjeepTX said:

Anyone have pictures? I am getting ready to paint my Blazer and want to put it back to original.

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There is one for sale in the classifieds section

LTWVARNG said:

There is one for sale in the classifieds section

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Thanks.

I have pics at home (am at work) but for a "quickie" look at some of them on G.L. Auction sites. The plate is mounted through two holes on the top of the bumper behind the brush guard and mostly on center of the grill and L/H headlight trim. If the holes are there then you can't go wrong.
This holds true for Army and ARNG trucks (all CUCVs).

jimm1009

For sten ciling a 3" star I use "Sticker paper" in my injet printer. I draw a star of the dimensions I want and when I am satisfied with the size I print it on the Sticker paper and then cut the star out with a stencil knife. I use the sticker paper as a mask and then can throw it away. A pack of 20 sheets has lasted me a long time using it for things like this. I also do unit designations using one of the "stencil" fonts available here in the resources section under TECHNICAL ARTICLES. I type out the information I want on my truck and then print it out. It does take a couple of lines for the information. I cut out the letters and then attach and spray. Keep a good distance away from the workpiece to avoid paint creep under the mask. You may also have to use additional masking to avoid oversprayon the areas surrounding where you are adding these markings.

Just my Two Cents

RL

How do you use that bridge plate anyway? I looked at mine this morning and can't figure out how to turn the numbers.

Press the numeral set on one side back at the top just underneath the top plate and it will spring back. Then you can swing the upper piece off of the post. The upper piece has a recess that holds it on and in place by this spring action. Once you have one side loose you can press on the other side and lift the top piece off.
The numerals are "sprung" by a high spot in their center so that they hold the top piece out and keep it in place. If you look carefully from the side you will see the high spot and how all of this goes together. I can get pictures if you need them, but I think once you look carefully from the side you will see how simple the design is.

Just my two cents

RL

Where can you buy a bridge plate?

Mine came out of FT Riley marked like this. All my other trucks came out with it on the Pass side.

chrisknight_1985 said:

Where can you buy a bridge plate?

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I see them on fleabay all the time.

Any of the MV parts houses should have them.

Since this was brought up, and someone mentioned towing, I had a question. If I had my M1009 loaded to ~5500 lbs, and was towing ~1700, for a grand total of ~7200, would I need to throw an 04 on my plate to indicate that I am now quite over 3 tons and pushing 4? Is there a point where you round, or is it just a rough estimate? Or always round up?