Bitumen paint (sealant) on front differential hardware...

I have a 52 M135 that had a blown CV, purchased in MA.
I bought an axle from NE.
I noticed that the nuts and studs all seem as though they were brushed over with Bitumen Paint..
Was this a standard practice coincidental to this era?

I found this: https://web.anl.gov/PCS/acsfuel/preprint archive/Files/09_4_ATLANTIC CITY_09-65_0179.pdf

It does appear that the government was using this as a sealant in several different areas.

Dave

I do not know if this was standard practice, but one of my four M135s (truck #5314) possibly had this all over the frame, axles and wheel wells. It was all sandblasted off last year because I didn't like the way it looked.

Could those have been marine corps trucks? We use a bitumen based paint called Apexior 3 at the drydock..its like black glue. But for immersion service nothing beats it.

Or it looks like it may have been some commercial undercoating applied over the red paint....

The red paint was definitely put on over that coating.

I don't believe these trucks were ever in use by the Marine Corps.