M931 air dryer to air tank hose assembly part number / availability

[VULCANGUNNER]

Hello.

I have two M931 (A-zero) 5-ton trucks that I bought last summer from Red River Army Depot.

Everything on the trucks was good to go EXCEPT some bastard had taken a hammer & busted off the air hose fitting that connects the air dryer to the first (wet?) air tank. Neither truck was making air pressure but I could hear the compressor running so I traced the air lines back & found the busted air dryer outlet fittings. You could tell the fittings had been deliberately busted off to disable the trucks, just one clean strike mark in the same spot on both truck's fittings, not a rough grind mark like it had been hit while driving, etc.

Some turd at GL's site office probably has a brother-in-law Jethro with a wrecker service & they make a pretty penny towing out SABOTAGED 5-ton trucks with broken air lines for out-of-town suckers there to pick up their trucks. BEWARE OF SABOTAGED AIR LINES WHEN PICKING UP 5-TONS FROM RED RIVER ARMY DEPOT !!

Having been an M163 Vulcan driver/gunner for 3 years active Army (1st ID) & having worked on M939 series trucks for about a year with LSI at Fort Riley I know how to make an old Army vehicle run in a less-than-ideal parts situation. I removed one of the curly trailer air lines just after the ball valve shutoff & installed it between the air dryer & first air tank. It was far from pretty but they made air pressure so they could be driven off post. I looped the extra length of trailer air line over the front mud flap (red hose shown in first pic) to keep it out of the way & off we went! Trucks ran great during the 90 miles we drove them to my storage area, everything worked per manual specs.

I need to know where I can get the entire air dryer to air tank hose assembly, or at least the part numbers of the fittings & hose I will need to assemble my own replacements.

The old air hoses are beat up so I figured I would just replace the entire hose assembly. I have gone through the 3rd shop manual but can't figure out the part numbers for the parts I need. Many of those fittings are the same but they all have different part numbers in the manual.

The actual plastic air hoses are about 2 feet long & the broken part is the 90-degree fitting that screws into the air dryer outlet.

Any help you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

[porkysplace]

Did you inspect them prior to purchess ? Were they broke then ?

There is a good chance it was done by the unit that turned the truck in to speed up replacement.

 

[PETE BALLARD]

Nothing special is needed provided you are using the correct materials, dot air tube and fittings. All materials that can be purchased from almost any parts stores. I know napa does carry these parts. You may be on to something about people creating situations others capitalize on. Could have also been done by a potential buyer as well. The best we all can be is to inspect prior to purchase - but even then stuff does happen - if there is a problem how would it be remedied? I suppose gl would say that they would release you from the commitment of purchase, not sure if there is any price adjustment after the point of sale

 

[VULCANGUNNER]

I do not think it was done by the unit. With that air line broken you cannot unlock the air brakes, ie the truck is unmoveable even with a tow truck.

There was NO WAY I was leaving those two trucks there on that lot. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT mean anything? LOL

I live in Kansas so I had zero opportunity to inspect the trucks prior to pick up. I brought with me 40 gallons of antifreeze (one truck was drained), 20 gallons of 80-90 gear oil, 20 gallons of 15/40 engine/trans oil, & plenty of big tools.

Both trucks were full of oil (engine/transfer/diffs/transmission/steering) but one had the radiator drained. One truck had charged batteries & fired right up like it had been run that day. The other had dead batteries but I bummed some slave cables off one of the yard Joes & after 5 minutes hooked up the second truck fired right up! Got them off post, added some air to a few tires with a gladhand adapter & air hose I had from working for LSI (we used to air the truck brake system up with the building air compressor for testing), checked a few more things & drove them 90 miles at highway speed (105 degrees outside that day, thank gawd the windshields fold out!) to the storage area. Both truck ran like champs, all temps & pressures were perfect the whole trip. Fan clutches cycled like they should, air compressor made pressure better than the book specified, brakes were touchy at first but the stop & go traffic smoothed them out real nice.

 

[porkysplace]

I do not think it was done by the unit. With that air line broken you cannot unlock the air brakes, ie the truck is unmoveable even with a tow truck.

They can be caged to move it.

 

[VULCANGUNNER]

They can be caged to move it.

True, didn't think about that.

They look to me to have come fresh out of 3rd shop overhaul: New O.D. green parts, zero mile tires all the way around, maintenance records intact & current up to the point of storage. The maintenance inspection sheets never mentioned broken air lines.

When I worked for LSI there were a few M35's that we replaced every moving part on (engine, clutch, leaf springs, every bearing & seal, all brake parts, even welded a new floor in the cab of one truck) just before they went out to auction. I am under the impression these two M931's got that same treatment before going to auction. Even the batteries & cables are all brand new.

I would hope that you are right about the trucks not being sabotaged but on the other hand it would be a helluva racket for a wrecker outfit to tow those beasts off post because they were sabotaged.

Anybody got any input on what size fittings & hose I would need to replace the air dryer to air tank hose?

Thanks again for any input you folks have on this subject. I know a good amount about these trucks but of course still have much to learn & greatly appreciate everybody's input!

 

[jarhead1086]

My Barstow 923 had a bone dry tranny and a few other things I thought were sabotage. An empty tranny is no biggie, except that you cannot add fluids on base. I had to pay $250 to tow it 250 yards out the back gate to dump it in. It was sitting with an oil slick under it and they were worried I might spill a drop pouring through a funnel. The tow truck leaked way more than I could have possibly dripped. I guess they have to protect all the greenery and wildlife on their Martian landscape. I did get a cherry truck, new cargo cover, no rust, low miles so I can't complain for the price. Just burns you getting taken by their scheme.

 

[VULCANGUNNER]

I filled the entire cooling system on one truck with the yard Joe handing me the jugs, LOL.
Since he was standing there watching me like I was gonna steal something, I put him to work. Had him go scrounge me some slave cables too!
He didn't seem to mind at all. That yard Joe was aces with me.

The gate guard did eyeball me pretty good in my 99' Grand Prix with enough oils & coolant to fill a 5-ton. 5-gallon cans in the back seat.

That means it had to be the office chicks. They asked me if I needed a tow.

 

[jcappeljr]

I just parted out a m923.I might have the part you need.

 

[VULCANGUNNER]

http://trucks5ton.tpub.com/TM-9-2320-272-24-2/TM-9-2320-272-24-20425.htm

Items 9, 30, 31, 32

 

[VULCANGUNNER]

I FIGURED OUT WHAT I NEED:

Reference: TM 9-2320-272-24-2 (PARAGRAPH 3-413)

PAGE 3-1030
ITEM 9 (90-DEGREE ELBOW) **BROKEN**

PAGE 3-1031
ITEM 9 (90-DEGREE ELBOW) **BROKEN, same part as above**
ITEM 31 (AIR LINE + COMPRESSION FITTINGS)

PAGE 3-1033
ITEM 9 (90-DEGREE ELBOW)

These are the parts I need for two trucks.