M923a2 pulling question

[imkzru]

Hi all.
I have spent a lot of time reading and I still have a lot more to do. But I did go out and got a M923a2 truck. The reason I bought the truck is I'm clearing my land and I need at way to pull logs out of the woods. This brings me to my question. I had a widow maker "one tree that has been cut leaning on a tree that hasn't". I backed up the truck and hooked a chain around the base of the tree and connected it to the truck. To be honest I did not think I needed low range seeing videos from some of the steel soldiers rallies and what these trucks can do, so I left it in high range 1-2. I flipped the switch on the dash to put it in 6x6 mode and pulled. The truck would not pull. The tires did not spin and no matter how far I pushed the peddle, it would not rev any higher. Eventually I got the tree down by backing up and getting a little running start. Once moving, the truck pulled with no issues. My question is, is the truck governed to stop it from revving up and spinning the wheels?
This truck drives great going down the road but not so much back in the woods.

Is something wrong? "besides me not having it in low range"

 

[98G]

I've spun all 6 in high transfer, 1st gear, 16.00R20 53' tires. This is with an "A0" truck and NH250.

I've dragged a 16,000lb trailer with locked brakes , on pavement, with an A2 truck....

 

[Suprman]

The truck is geared for smaller dual wheels. The upgrade to much larger diameter super singles give you more road speed but you loose a good amount of low end torque. Putting the truck in low range would have done the job though. I have pulled around 32k with one in low. The LMTVs are geared for the tires on them they pull better than a m939a1 or a2 with singles. You can turn the fuel rate up a bit that will help a little.

 

[98G]

It should have spun the tires though, even on dry pavement. Especially on anything other than dry pavement.

 

[imkzru]

It should have spun the tires though, even on dry pavement. Especially on anything other than dry pavement.

Where would you start looking? Truck starts and runs great going down the road.

 

[Doug Roberts]

for some reason I'm guessing your spring brakes are engaging. You might try to hit the button to overide

 

[Rmtaunton]

1st gear does not lock the TC the rest do and no an A2 will not spin all six in traction without low range

 

[Ford Mechanic]

1st gear does not lock the TC the rest do and no an A2 will not spin all six in traction without low range

+1
Mine won't

 

[imkzru]

That might be it. I have the spring brake set to normal. I will set it to override and see what happens.
I did not give it a thought.
Thanks

 

[imkzru]

@Doug Roberts
That might be it. I have the spring brake set to normal. I will set it to override and see what happens.
I did not give it a thought.
Thanks

 

[simp5782]

If not you can always drive to Memphis and I will help ya take a look at it. Or meet ya in Jackson. I think there is an SS member with a CUCV up there someplace we can have a little get together. I know an A0 with duals and a NHC250 will snap the transfer case in half once those duals grab good ground and something isn't budging. Super singles you do lose a good bit of power to the ground. If you are pulling anything you know that is going to be a strain always use low range so it makes it a lot easier on the truck itself.

 

[74M35A2]

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the club. This is a great question. My A2 also can not break traction in 6 wheel hi-forward. A quick work around if you don't want to use low range is to simply pull in reverse with transfer in high. It will pull real strong, as reverse is geared at 10:1, and 1st gear forward is 4:1 (ish). I have dug trenches pulling in reverse-6x-hi. Don't use lo-reverse to pull a load.

 

[Ford Mechanic]

That might be it. I have the spring brake set to normal. I will set it to override and see what happens.
I did not give it a thought.
Thanks

That's not what that is for. Override disables your rear brakes completely.

 

[98G]

That's not what that is for. Override disables your rear brakes completely.

Override disables your rear springbrakes completely, but the service side will still function normally.

I've driven them like this (NOT a recommended practice !) And still had normal function on the service side.

FORD MECHANIC, you may know something I don't. If so, enlighten me...

 

[Ford Mechanic]

Override disables your rear springbrakes completely, but the service side will still function normally.

I've driven them like this (NOT a recommended practice !) And still had normal function on the service side.

FORD MECHANIC, you may know something I don't. If so, enlighten me...

I'd have to re read the manual to be certain. But my understanding of it was front brakes only with override engaged. If I can get a several min I'll have to look it up to clarify for us both.

 

[wheelspinner]

Nope, the spring brakes have their own "emergency release tank" of air. By pushing in the knob you are giving them a shot of air (which releases them) to move in an emergency situation. It "over rides" all safety functions of the spring brake operation and will prevent them​ from working should a catastrophic air loss occur. The truck should NEVER be operated on service roads with the spring brakes over ridden. Bad bad juju.

 

[98G]

Push the button on the dash, air is fed to the emergency side of the brake system, releasing the springbrakes.

The service side still actuates normally with the pedal.

I've had trucks where the park brake valve failed and have used the override to release the springbrakes. The severe side still worked normally, to include the rear glad hand connection to towed vehicles.

Now that we've strayed well off topic, I'm going to comment that this is almost certainly unrelated to the OP's issue. If he was dragging brakes he'd know it before now. It'd be interesting to know how high of an rpm he's turning while sitting still yanking on the load....

 

[98G]

"NEVER" is a very strong statement. I concur that it is unsafe and illegal and should be avoided it at all possible.

But if your truck is dead in the travel lane just beyond a tight curve, with the springbrakes locked... this would e a fine time to override and release them to get your truck off the road before it gets hit.


Think of the dash override button like you'd think of cage bolts - something to use when the truck has to be moved. Not something to have in place for standard operation.

 

[ROCKWELL-C60]

8.3s have no low end till 1200 rpm. They use turbo for power which needs rpm to spool up. My a2 will barely pull my m146 trailer up any incline off road from a stop and that's why my new truck and a1.n. Nothing will stop tires from turning on a nhc250. People give nhc a hard time but that built America.

 

[WillWagner]

People give nhc a hard time but that built America.

So is the C series, JEP, Jamestown Engine Plant, Jamestown NY, USA, and Rocky Mount Plant in North Carolina, USA.