soon to be the owner of an M543!

[steelcaptain]

closed the deal to buy a 1973 M543 from the east side of Washington State. Literally am buying it sight unseen except for photos here but am told the truck has a mere 826mi on it and is 100% running and operable with the exception of a few small issues. Delivery scheduled for Labor Day!



much more in the days ahead I am sure..

 

[Rmtaunton]

congrats , looks like a fine Truck !!

 

[steelcaptain]

congrats , looks like a fine Truck !!

many thanks...looking forward to her delivery

 

[dmetalmiki]

Well done. That is quite some tidy and aggressive looking truck. You will have a load of fun (and use)with it. Quite like the.."African safari" paintwork!. some pictures of the arrival, and the resultant inspection would be a great (further) post.

 

[bigmike]

Nice find. I'm still working on the restoration of my M543. Very cool truck.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Good deal on getting the newer bed. I have the AustinWestern bed and it uses goofy hose threads. Eve4y time I need to have a hose made its $100.

 

[Tototex]

I am a little jealous. That thing looks glorious!

I know I am a little late to the party, but if you ever need anything checked out in Eastern Washington, let me know. I would have been happy to go do an inspection for you. (AKA: run some stuff over!)

 

[steelcaptain]

what the present owner tells me, it needs work to the rotator for the crane (sheared key?), the PTO shaft to the front winch is snapped, there is a problem with the air assist to the brakes, the batteries are weak and one of the front tires is not the correct wheel/tire. Of course, once I get it, I will go through every system and test their function. I am sure to be back here with many questions to all the other "wrecker club" members.

One thing I am already thinking is that I will take the plow assembly off my M54 and mount the plow to the M543. Obviously could not run a sander with the wrecker as I could with my other truck but I wonder the awesomeness of being able to plow and recover at the same time? Which would have the better commercial utility?

 

[dilligaf13]

Throw some new paint and some new steer tires on her and she'll be a "peach"

 

[steelcaptain]

Good deal on getting the newer bed. I have the AustinWestern bed and it uses goofy hose threads. Eve4y time I need to have a hose made its $100.

I have heard about this problem with the Austin Western cranes...good to know mine is not one of those. I assume mine is a Garwood then? Any thoughts about the rotator pinion?

 

[JohnnyBM931A2]

Sweet

 

[wreckerman893]

You will have issues insuring it as a "wrecker" unless you go with collectors insurance and they will severely restrict what you can do with it.

I had an M816 and my Progressive agent (I have a farm/semi-commercial policy) told me that if I had an accident towing anything except a cargo type trailer with it they would not pay the claim and would immediately cancel my policy. They had it listed as a "Boom Truck" on the policy.

You do not want to price commercial tow insurance.

 

[catskillpond]

Insurance was not an issue with us as long as we went with Historic plates. Actually quite cheap when we registered it at DMV they had to lower the weight to get the plates surprised it went so smooth some fus about tow truck insurance they let it slide.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I have heard about this problem with the Austin Western cranes...good to know mine is not one of those. I assume mine is a Garwood then? Any thoughts about the rotator pinion?

Yes Garwood. I don't know about them as I don't have one. I do have a parts PTO if you want once you get her home.

 

[steelcaptain]

time to report in on the M543 delivered yesterday to me

I wish I could say I was pleasantly surprised with the truck but I must report that she is going to need more than I had been told by the seller (I know, always a big risk buying sight unseen)

here is the rundown on the good and not so good

here is the good:
>body in good shape
>engine sounds good
>clutch, gearbox, transfercase, steering all good
>NDT tires good with exception of one front tire/wheel which is a mismatch (have replacement)
>does not appear to have been cut or modified in any way
>the odometer and hour meter work so it is quite possible that it does have very low hours on the engine

now the not so good:
>engine can't develop enough power to drive in 4th gear and blows smoke (fuel pump or injectors?)
>brakes there but weak (gotta start stopping well in advance)
>drivelines for both winches are buggered and need replacing plus the cast mount for the drive gear on the end of the rear shaft is fractured and needs replacing
>all wire on the winches is shot
>the levers for the rear PTO controls are bent and don't move but the connecting rods to the power diverter are still there and connected
>the entire rear of the truck is very heavy coated with dirt and grease from an oil leak somewhere in the crane. (a steam cleaner is now required to see what I have under the truck)
>a fair bit of bent metal at the rear of the bed and on one side of it
>pretty rough paint under the camo (gonna need a lot of wirewheeling and sandblasting)
>no tools, rigging or spare tire (have a spare ndt for it)

so, I am going to get the steam cleaner soon to blast all the grease and dirt off the undercarriage of the truck and then start going through it beginning with the brakes and then the engine. I hate to say, but I may just sell the whole truck to someone else with more time than I to restore it. I am only into it $4k so shouldn't have trouble getting my money back. I may also take the entire rear bed off and part out all the wrecker parts but I really don't want to do that. Better to keep the truck intact.

one thing I did learn is that the power steering on my M54 does not work because steering the M543 is much easier than on the other truck.

below are yesterday's photos I took...looking forward to comments from the platoon

 

[gimpyrobb]

Low power, I would start with air and fuel filters. Black smoke makes me lean toward air filter.


Edit, there is 2 styles of power steering available. You might have one of each.

 

[JohnnyBM931A2]

It's too early to think about giving up!

 

[wreckerman893]

Wreckers are great and I'm fortunate to have the loan of an M936A2 to use around here. They are super for swapping out engines and for those lifting jobs where nothing but a boom truck will work.

One of the biggest but kickers on these machines cost wise is hydraulic hoses. I had to replace one on the M816 and it was way north of 100 bucks. I estimated to replace all of them would have cost over 1500 dollars.

If you take your time and scour the country you should be able to find replacement parts. Getting them at a reasonable price is another song and dance.

Memphis Equipment or TJJ Murray will prob have everything you need but they are pricey.

I'd get hold of CSMDavis in Mississippi. He has connections for all kind of parts.

 

[catskillpond]

You just roll up your sleeves and dig in start with the driveline and work your way up. If you dont have a love for it trade it in wreckers are a lot of work I spent a year on mine still not done yet. The hydraulic hoses get from Surplus Center replaced most of mine for around $600.00 and they were of higher quality than the hydraulic places around here Good Luck Scott