M985 article on TFLtruck.com

[Gunzy]

I was ask to write a little article about my M985 by TFLtruck.com so I figured I would give it a shot. I am not a writer by profession so they did edit it a little but I think it turned out well. Here is a link to it for those of you that may be interested.
http://www.tfltruck.com/2016/12/own...oshkosh-8x8-military-truck-as-a-daily-driver/

 

[jcappeljr]

Good job..

 

[wreckerman893]

Very good. I wish I had bought one when they were cheap.

 

[Nomadic]

Clean. Massive. Love those tires. Fantastic deal. I want that

 

[Tinstar]

Good read.
Great truck.

 

[emmado22]

The M985.. I had one as a pacer item in my BN.. What a PITA.. Plenty of 977's, but only 1 985.... Mechanics and the BMO hated it.

 

[2deuce]

isn't the m985 just a m977 with a larger capacity crane on the back? what is a pacer item in your BN? sorry about my civvy background.

 

[2deuce]

did I possibly ask something I should not have?

 

[Gunzy]

isn't the m985 just a m977 with a larger capacity crane on the back? what is a pacer item in your BN? sorry about my civvy background.

Yes, an M985 is just a heavier crane. I have no idea what a "Pacer" is.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I have no idea what a "Pacer" is.

Probably a reference to a pace car, it might have slowed down the rest of the trucks. They could only drive as fast as the slowest truck.

 

[m715mike]

That was a good read.

Thanks for taking the time to write the article and sharing it here.



Okay.... I just have to add one more comment.... Yes, I'm jealous!!!

 

[emmado22]

yes the 985 has the heavier crane.

Pacer item = Very important item to have FMC (Fully Mission Capable) at all times. One of those "if it broke on Friday afternoon, mechanics were staying thru the weekend" to get it back up and running no matter what. Thats the very simplistic easy to understand answer.

 

[Jeeperjoe]

Very cool writeup

 

[2deuce]

Thanks guys for clearing that up.
Emmando, Did the HEMTT, especially the M985 have any particular problems? It sounds like the one that was assigned to you was a problem vehicle. Since it differs from the M977 only with the crane was that the problem?
Thanks

 

[Stranger]

Very well written and entertaining!

 

[emmado22]

HEMTTs werent problems. No more or less than any other wheeled vehicle.

I will try to explain the pacer item. In an Armor Battalion (and Im making up the #'s here for easy math), say there are 100 M1 Abrams Tanks (which is VERY far from the truth). Army regulations allow for only 5% of the tank fleet in the battalion to be broken (not FMC) at any time. So when that 6th tank breaks, it's a big deal, and one of the 6 broken tanks needs to get fixed TODAY, so we can get back to only 5% being broken. When you have 100 tanks, you can have up to 5 broken and things are ok. When you have 1 M985 in the battalion, and it breaks, thats 100% of that "vehicle fleet" is broken... Thats BAD. But the flip side is when that 985 is running, 100% of that vehicle fleet is 100%.
so when the M985 broke, it was a big deal to get it fixed.

I had a ton of M977's and M978's and they were great. I also had the 1st 3 XM1120's LHS in the Army. One of them being armored, and no AC.

 

[JDToumanian]

Cool article! I had never considered how few M985s there were (sold as surplus) compared to the M977. I definitely sought out the higher capacity crane (since it actually gets used), but my timing to get a great deal on one was lucky indeed. I've managed to piece together (from 2 different sources) a brand new, complete and authentic Oshkosh HEMTT air conditioning kit... I'm always hot, so this upgrade will make it the ultimate ultimate MV!

Jon