Picked up a M929 at Pineville, LA

[Tow4]

I won a M929 a couple of weeks ago at Pineville, LA. So last week a buddy went with me to pick it up. I think all of the trucks in the auction ran with or without a jump and looked to be in pretty good condition.

I scheduled the pickup for Wednesday, so we drove up to Alexandria, LA on Tuesday and got a hotel. It's about 850 miles one-way from Orlando, FL and that equated to about 14 hours on the road @ about 70 MPH with stops. My buddy said the drive back at 50 MPH was going to suck; I told him not for you..... We arrived at the base a little after 8am and after a short wait for the DRMO person, (she doesn't work for GL, but works on the base) we were escorted to where the trucks were parked. I wish I had this young woman's name now so I could say how helpful she was (I have it on my invoice, but it's in the truck). She didn't rush us and was very patient while I checked fluids and pre-tripped the truck.

The truck started right up and I hooked my glad hand air hose up to the emergency glad hand so my buddy could air up the front tires while I finished looking things over. The only things I found were the insulation under the hood was falling off and the exhaust pipe had a crack just below the muffler. We ripped the insulation off and put it in my vehicle and I checked the muffler was bolted on top and bottom to make sure it wouldn't fall off if the exhaust pipe broke at the crack. The paper work was signed and we drove outside the gated area where the trucks were so the DRMO person could go meet another person with a load out. We put the tailgate in the up position and folded the wings against the side of the bed for the trip home.

The next stop was the Murphy gas station right outside the base gate (that was convenient) to fill everything up. The M929 was over half full of fuel so that was a nice bonus. Then it was time to hit the road. I stopped about 10 miles after we hit I-49 to check everything and use my IR thermometer check temps. The oil pressure gauge didn't work (it did start working after a real rough section of road), but it wasn't working in the GL video so I figured it would have blown up by now if the pump wasn't working. The transmission temperature was OK but the coolant temperature was only about 140 on the gauge and confirmed with the IR. Hub and axle temps were very cool at around 90, and no hot brakes. I planned to stop a little further down the road if the coolant temp didn't come up and put a piece of card board in front of the radiator (which I did). The wiper blades were shot so we hit a Wal-Mart to get some RainX. That was a very good idea because we ran into heavy rain just south of Lake City, FL and I would have had to stop if I hadn't RainX'd the windshield. The ABS light was on. I've driven air brake trucks without ABS and didn't really notice anything different about this truck. I've read stories about the engine stalling when you bomb the brakes with an in-op ABS and you loose steering. Don't think I would like that.

The truck ran fine and after the tires got round, the ride wasn't bad (G177 radials). We stopped in Gulfport, MS for the night and hit the road early in the morning for the remaining 400+ miles. The trip was long but un-eventful. Parts of the road in LA and MS beat me to death but it wasn't as bad as I was afraid it would be.

This is my First M939 series truck and after a fair amount of "wheel" time, I can safely say, I like the automatic transmission and air brakes. They make things almost like driving a car (big one). And the fuel mileage surprised me; I got 7 MPG. I only get about 6 MPG with the M818. Maybe the radial tires or the transmission make a difference. I figured it would be around 5 MPG if I was lucky since it weighs almost 26K.

The biggest surprise was after I got home I found a zip lock bag with a print out of work that was done to the truck. In 2005 the government spent $50K to refurbish this truck. There are ten pages of parts that were replaced. From dog-bones to transmission, engine, looks like darn near everything.

 

[jw4x4]

Sure is a nice looking tipper you got there. Congratulations!!!

 

[jcappeljr]

The 929s are great trucks,I love mine.

 

[ODDBALL007]

I'm super jealous ray congratulations:thumbup:

 

[caliber1]

Nice truck sir. 7mpg is impressive too.

 

[RAYZER]

What a rag!!
Just kidding! I looked at this truck the other day, its a keeper!

 

[Tow4]

Thanks Ray,

I'm pretty happy with the truck.

I'm going to look everything over and make a list of things that need work this weekend. The transmission filter showed up yesterday and I already have a spin-on oil filter adapter for the engine. I also picked up most of the fluids needed to completely service the truck; I'll be doing that over the next few weeks. I figure it'll take a couple of months for the title and tag stuff to get done and I should have everything except paint work finished by then.

 

[Tow4]

I started working on the servicing and repairing of my new toy today. The first thing I did was see if the dump bed worked. I didn't try it on the way home because I figured if something took a dump (pun intended) it would be a pain in the A to get the bed down. But, it turns out there was nothing to worry about. the PTO engaged easily and the bed went up and down with no problem. I'm also pleased that there are no leaks in the hydraulic system.



While I was poking around under the truck I noticed the air line from the air regulator going to the air drier was kinked and twisted (sorry, no picture) plus the wires are hanging everywhere. I need to tie the wires up and fix the air hose. I didn't have a new ferrule so that's for next week.

Next I pulled the muffler and the exhaust pipe from the muffler to the exhaust manifold off. The pipe was broken just below the muffler and the muffler needs to be repainted. A little PB Blaster goes a long way on rusty fasteners. I also pulled the transmission access door in the floor so I can fix the bent hinge.

Last, I thought I should check out the batteries and see what they looked like. Much to my surprise, they are brand new! The battery box is clean and really doesn't need anything.



Overall, I had a productive day.

 

[Shackelford R]

good score Ray

 

[Tow4]

I had a productive week and day today working on the M929. I repainted the muffler and a replacement under-cab exhaust pipe during the week. I had a little work to grind a bolt head off the frame clamp that holds the under-cab pipe. After getting the bolt ground off so I could replace the old clamp, I sprayed a little primer on the bottom half of the clamp and moved to the next task while it dried.

I changed the oil filter to a spin on type. What I thought would be easy turned in to a pain in the A when I noticed a couple of deep scratches in the gasket surface for the spin on filter. I bought the adapter about 1.5 years ago and never looked at it; I could have sent it back for exchange, but it's a little late now. I spent 2 hours sanding the oil filter gasket surface to get them smoothed out. I finally got the adapter installed, torqued down, installed the oil filter and changed the oil.



Then I went back to the exhaust. I forgot to order gaskets, so I found some Teflon material at a local surplus store that looked like it would work. When I was putting the muffler back on I discovered the muffler clamps I bought didn't quite line up with the holes on the muffler support. I had to elongate the holes in the clamps so they would fit. After that everything went together fine. I'll paint the clamps shortly.



I started the engine and checked for oil leaks; there were none. I also checked the exhaust and no leaks there either. I had planned to change the transmission fluid and filter also but the 2 hours spent on the oil filter adapter kind of messed that up.

Lots more to do....

 

[Tow4]

It's been about a month, so it's time for an update.

I had to take a couple of weeks off because of work. When I got back at it, I changed the transmission fluid and filter. Next I repaired/rerouted the 1/4" air line that was mangled on the air drier and serviced the fan clutch thermostat. Last, the fuel hose from the filter to the injection pump was cracked and dry rotted so I removed that to take with me to get one made.

The following week I replaced the fuel hose. I couldn't find one, so I had the local hose place make it. I opened the bleeder valve by the hand pump and purged the air out. The hand pump worked pretty fast.



The new fuel hose is slightly larger in O.D. than the original hose so I had to bend the fuel filter mounting bracket a little so the hose wouldn't be pressed against the front body mount. I stuck the screw driver in so I could tell how much to bend the bracket.



Next I removed the big washer on the transfer case shift linkage to eliminate the transfer case from locking in the front drive if it's shifted into low. I would rather shift the front drive in and out myself and it sounds like this may be the reason for the transfer case failures in the M939 series truck. Before and after shots.



After all that, I figure I'll take it for a spin to heat up the transmission so I can do a hot transmission fluid level check. I hit the starter and the starter motor just runs. It doesn't throw the bendix out to engage the ring gear. After careful application of hammer technology, I decide to wait until the following week to pull the starter.

Sooo, today I go to pull the starter off. I remove all the wires (after disconnecting the batteries) and start to loosen the mounting bolts and boy are they tight! I ended up removing the either can and washer bottle bracket so I had room to use a BFP on the breaker bar to get the bolts loose. Fortunately there is good engine access on the M939 series. I was thinking things might not be as easy in the M818.



I'll disassemble the starter this week and see what broke. More to come....

 

[Tow4]

Got the starter repaired this week. It turned out to be a bad solenoid ground connection and a stripped screw inside the solenoid. I like it when a repair doesn't cost anything but time and effort!

I checked the brushes and they have very little wear, so I am probably good for a while on the starter.

Getting the starter back on was another story. That thing is heavy! After trying to "wrestle it in", I decided I should noodle the problem first. I ended up tying a rope to the starter around the solenoid and suspending it from the intake manifold. Once I had it in position and got a bolt in, I moved the rope to the end of the starter and installed the other two bolts. Then I torqued it down, hooked it up and re-installed the either bracket and washer bottle and hooked up the batteries.



And when I hit the starter it fired right up. I had forgot that it was a couple of weeks since I installed the fuel hose and bled it. I guess there were no air leaks. I let it idle and didn't see any fuel leaks.

Next week, I'm changing the thermostat and coolant.

Still lots to do, but getting closer.

 

[Tow4]

Well, the thermostat didn't show up, so I just did some prep work for paint and misc. other stuff.

I took it for a ride to heat the transmission up so I could do the hot fluid level check since I didn't have time to do that last week after re-installing the starter. After changing the fluid, the transmission shifts much better. It doesn't do the hard downshift into first anymore. I added a couple of quarts to top off the transmission. I used Traveller Premium Universal Tractor Trans/Hydraulic Fluid. It has the Allison C-4 rating and was about $38/5 gallons at Tractor Supply.



Next I thought I should check if the transfer case and front drive are working. The transfer case was a little hard going into low at first, but letting the truck roll a little helped it go in. Once it had been shifted a few times, it worked easily. It moves very slow in reverse at idle; not even walking speed. I can't imagine ever needing low for reverse, so I should not have to worry about breaking the transfer case.. The front drive worked too. I shifted it in and out while turning and got the binding feed back in the steering.

Finished up the day by replacing the zip ties holding the wiring under the dump bed. The thermostat was waiting for me when I got home from working on the truck, so the coolant change happens next week.

 

[Tow4]

Saturday, I changed the thermostat and coolant. I forgot the camera, so no pictures.

I drained the old coolant and it looked new. It's good to know the engine was apparently taken good care of. The thermostat housing came apart easily, the bolts don't go into the water jacket, so they weren't rusted. I just followed the TM and removed the top radiator hose and the by-pass hose that goes to the lower radiator/transmission oil cooler. I completely removed the by-pass hose so when I flushed the cooling system, the flush water would exit at the tee fitting between the transmission oil cooler and the lower radiator outlet.

While the thermostat housing is off, it's easy to flush out the cooling system. If you have a heater, pull the hoses off at the engine and flush it out first. Stick the water hose into the manifold where the thermostat goes to flush out the engine and the transmission oil cooler. Then move the water hose over to the top radiator hose to flush out the radiator. repeat flushing alternating between the manifold and top radiator hose until the water is clear.

I installed the new thermostat and seal in the thermostat housing and used RTV on the housing since I didn't get a new gasket. I also put a little anti-seize on the thermostat housing bolts. After reinstalling the hoses, I filled the system with distilled water and ran the engine to warm it up while I checked for leaks. I tighten one hose clamp a little more and then drained the water and refilled again with distilled water and ran the engine to warm it up.

After draining the cooling system again, I refilled with Rotella ELC coolant and did a final check for leaks. Everything looked good.

The only PM stuff left is check the axles, transfer case and to grease it. There are a lot of grease fittings on a dump truck. With any luck, I'll have that done next weekend.

 

[Ord22]

I always say, take care of the truck and the truck will take care of you.......GOOD JOB!

 

[juanprado]

make sure to check/flush the coolant reservoir tank as there is room for sludge to accumulate below the level of the hoses. When I flushed mine and changed one of the lines, it poured out some not nice looking fluid.

 

[Tow4]

Well, today was a long day. I checked fluid levels in all axles and and the transfer case, then greased and lubed everything. It doesn't take long to type it, but it sure does to actually do it; not to mention a tube of grease. The only thing low was the front tandem axle, it had a slow leak at the drain plug so I tightened that and added about a pint lube.

I pulled all the backing plate dust covers to have a look at the brakes. The brake shoes all look new and wedge actuators are all pretty clean. One of the dust covers had a broken mounting tab so I brought it home to weld up. That will pretty much wind up all the mechanical stuff. The only things left are the oil pressure sensor is intermittent so I'm going to replace it and the heater blower motor is seized up; I'll pull that off when I have time, it's not real high on the list for now.
Now just cosmetic issues. Next thing is start cleaning up to paint. That will be a fall and winter project. .

 

[CUCV85]

Thanks Ray,

I'm pretty happy with the truck.

I'm going to look everything over and make a list of things that need work this weekend. The transmission filter showed up yesterday and I already have a spin-on oil filter adapter for the engine. I also picked up most of the fluids needed to completely service the truck; I'll be doing that over the next few weeks. I figure it'll take a couple of months for the title and tag stuff to get done and I should have everything except paint work finished by then.

My Brother MSGT W., US AIR FORCE rustytank2@hotmail.com -just purchased a M929 from Dover DE. he had a nice ride all the way to our home town of central NY state. Any info such as the spin on filter adapter kits for engine oil filter & fuel filter would be greatly appreciated. Any tips tricks as well. Thank and V/r SFC W., US ARMY

 

[Tow4]

My Brother MSGT W., US AIR FORCE rustytank2@hotmail.com -just purchased a M929 from Dover DE. he had a nice ride all the way to our home town of central NY state. Any info such as the spin on filter adapter kits for engine oil filter & fuel filter would be greatly appreciated. Any tips tricks as well. Thank and V/r SFC W., US ARMY

Sorry it took me so long to see this CUCV85. I'll look at the box for the spin on adapter next time I'm over to the warehouse and let you know.

I was looking at trucks from DE and they looked pretty good. Glad your brother had a trouble free recovery.

Cheers

 

[Tow4]

CUCV85, the oil filter adapter is a Baldwin OB1368. There are 2 small gaskets in the kit; I used the thick gasket between the filter base and the adapter. The filter is a WIX 51970.

Someone was selling adapter kits on SS too.