5TID's M923A2 ROPS build thread

[5TID]

Figured I would start a thread for the mods I am doing to my truck. Doing basic stuff so far to fix a few things and get it aligned with my style.

Here is a photo of it being delivered plus my first time sitting in it.



Finally home. Tested out the cargo cover.


First thing I did was fix some minor air leaks and fix the battery box set up. It had been converted to a 2 battery set up with 2 G31 batteries. But they were basically floating around in the military battery tray with some loose 2x4s somewhat holding them in place. So I installed some trays and straps along with a cut off switch and battery maintainer.


Also did a coolant flush and installed a block heater and coolant filter. Plus an oil pan heater. I put in some shore power plugs for the battery maintainer and the heaters.



I installed a Knaack box in the back for more storage; troops seats still fold out just fine. Put on a grill cover. A 160amp alternator for future lighting plans.



I Added some security with a locking gas cap, a keyed ignition switch, and some keyed door handles.


in the interior I put some waterproof seat covers, a sort of center console with USB charging. And a couple rifle mounts.


Got my tools all loaded and getting some recovery gear sorted now. Touched up a few spots of surface rust. Overall been a really fun project so far. Some boost and exhaust gauges are next, with LEDs after that.

 

[5TID]

Got a few more things done on the truck. Installed heated seats. Put the switches in my center console and put a 24v to 12v converter on the lower shelf. The kit was from Amazon and it was just the elements that you have to put under the seat fabric. Not too hard to install but holy crap these air ride seats are heavy and quite hard to get in and out of the truck by myself.


Also got my bed crane installed. Trying to get anything over about 80lbs into the bed of this truck is ridiculous. Requires the bed side to be dropped for use. Of course painted to match.


Also got some wiring preparation for future lighting in place. Some 24v relays and fuse holders wired and just needs the positive trigger from some switches yet to be installed in the cab.


Really doing my best to keep all the wiring waterproof with plenty of heat shrink and silicon grease. Plus waterproof relays. The big black pill looking things are waterproof AC cord covers, but I also used silicon grease and heat shrink inside those. They are for the battery maintainer, block heater, oil pan heater and newly installed battery heaters.

Cars not starting has been an issue for me in the past and I go a little overboard to make sure they will start when I want them to.

 

[kendelrio]

Great job bud! Love the mods!

 

[5TID]

Got my gauges installed from TMG. Have not tested them yet while truck is running. The three switches go to the previously installed relays in the battery compartment. They will toggle some LED lights I have planned to install at some point.


I did fully test out my seat heaters and they work great. Got too hot for me after driving about ten minutes and had to turn them off in high 20's weather. Less than two hours with the block heater on and it starts before I can get off the switch. Really happy with the truck and how it is turning out.

 

[5TID]

Tested out the gauges and they work great. I'm only seeing about 23 to 24psi max, and touching juts over 1000 degrees on a full throttle acceleration to about 45mph. Seems like lower boost pressure then I have seen others running. I have a GSK to install and was thinking of turning up the fuel a bit since I have some buffer on temperature.

I also used an IR gun to verify my temp gauge is reading about 15 to 20 degrees low. Truck runs about 190 to 195.

 

[5TID]

Been slow going lately with the weather, but have made some progress. Got a new light bar for Christmas and got it wired into one of my switches previously installed. It is quite bright, 42k lux measured at 12 inches.



I have some more LEDs on the way and already have the wiring in place for them. I also got a 32k WLL tow strap, and a 11k WLL tow strap for Christmas that are now carried in the truck.

I made a console for above the windshield to mount my "air conditioning" with future plans to mount a monitor for a camera system.


Also got a ham radio and speaker mounted up that I had laying around. Fit nicely on the side of the shifter.


Pretty sure I finally have all the wiring in place for what I have planned for this truck, just need the rest of the lights to show up. Everything still turns off when the battery switch is thrown so no worry about a draw.


Mounted some Jerry can holders too. One for 5 gallons of gasoline and a folding mount for two cans of diesel. Put on some miscellaneous grab handles and folding steps for my convenience.





I might eventually put in a Bluetooth speaker of some sort for a radio. Will probably find a way to mount up a 24v inverter for lights for the parades this truck will be in.

 

[5TID]

Got most of my lighting upgrades finished. 4 more led pods on the front bumper and some new led headlights.


A rear facing/backup led light bars and a couple pods.


As well as some wheel and side facing led pods.


All together, they provide some good area light at night.


Also, the 4 pods in the front, 2 in the middle in the sides, and the 2 small pods in the rear can be switched to a strobe mode. Hard to capture and image of it, but here is a picture mid strobe.


I found some IR headlights I plan to add as well for NVG driving.

Edit: headlights are stupid bright. Even aimed all the way down and to the right I fear I am going to be the a-hole on the road with super blinding lights.

 

[Mullaney]

Got most of my lighting upgrades finished. 4 more led pods on the front bumper and some new led headlights.
View attachment 889103

A rear facing/backup led light bars and a couple pods.
View attachment 889104

As well as some wheel and side facing led pods.
View attachment 889105View attachment 889106

All together, they provide some good area light at night.
View attachment 889107

Also, the 4 pods in the front, 2 in the middle in the sides, and the 2 small pods in the rear can be switched to a strobe mode. Hard to capture and image of it, but here is a picture mid strobe.
View attachment 889109

I found some IR headlights I plan to add as well for NVG driving.

.
There is nothing like being able to light up your world when working on a project - or if a tire problem surfaces!
Definitely like having the ability to turn on the stobe effect if you end up on the side of a heavily traveled road...

 

[5TID]

Getting ready for parade season, I got an inverter set up to run off the slave port so I can power lights etc.


I got the slave cable from eBay cheap since one end had a broken slave connector. I was planning to remove it anyway for an Anderson connector so I can hook up the inverter or regular jumper clamps.

 

[5TID]

Got some new tires put on today. The front had some decent weather cracking and the front right seemed to bounce quite bad around 40mph. Found a shop locally that came to my house to install, and also found some XZL's locally in 395/85/20. Will need to get used to the smaller look, but I think it will help with drive ability coming from the 14r20s.

Size comparison


Work being done. These guys were amazing.



Final look



Old tires

 

[Mullaney]

Got some new tires put on today. The front had some decent weather cracking and the front right seemed to bounce quite bad around 40mph. Found a shop locally that came to my house to install, and also found some XZL's locally in 395/85/20. Will need to get used to the smaller look, but I think it will help with drive ability coming from the 14r20s.

Size comparison
View attachment 893320

Work being done. These guys were amazing.
View attachment 893319
View attachment 893317

Final look
View attachment 893315
View attachment 893314

Old tires
View attachment 893316

.
Truck looks great!
Finding a local tire guy is really nice.
It's worth the dollars to have the job done right too!

 

[DeMilitarized]

Tested out the gauges and they work great. I'm only seeing about 23 to 24psi max, and touching juts over 1000 degrees on a full throttle acceleration to about 45mph. Seems like lower boost pressure then I have seen others running. I have a GSK to install and was thinking of turning up the fuel a bit since I have some buffer on temperature.

I also used an IR gun to verify my temp gauge is reading about 15 to 20 degrees low. Truck runs about 190 to 195.

Turning up the fuel on the 8.3 is a very rewarding thing. I did it on my m932a2 and love it. One thing to note however, is that you are going to quickly learn that the 8.3 loves to make heat. I can reach 1300 cruising on the highway (fairly flat but some hills) at 67mph on 395 mv/t and 2 clicks on my gov springs. running about 2450 rpm. If you don't want to run an intercooler or methanol injection you wont be able to "easily" drive the truck anymore like just cruising and not worrying about it with your foot to the floor.

To start out I would probably touch your low boost fuel screw just a bit until you see some smoke when you slowly roll into the throttle from a stop and see how that makes the truck handle. Then if you want more move to the full rack limiting screw on the back of the pump.

 

[5TID]

Turning up the fuel on the 8.3 is a very rewarding thing. I did it on my m932a2 and love it. One thing to note however, is that you are going to quickly learn that the 8.3 loves to make heat. I can reach 1300 cruising on the highway (fairly flat but some hills) at 67mph on 395 mv/t and 2 clicks on my gov springs. running about 2450 rpm. If you don't want to run an intercooler or methanol injection you wont be able to "easily" drive the truck anymore like just cruising and not worrying about it with your foot to the floor.

To start out I would probably touch your low boost fuel screw just a bit until you see some smoke when you slowly roll into the throttle from a stop and see how that makes the truck handle. Then if you want more move to the full rack limiting screw on the back of the pump.

Thanks for the tip. Heat was something I was concerned about. The more I drive it, the more inclined I am to just leave it alone. No need to hot rod around in a truck like this. I have yet to drive it with the 395s, will be doing that tomorrow, hopefully it will just reinforce me not wanting to do anything with the fuel.

 

[DeMilitarized]

Thanks for the tip. Heat was something I was concerned about. The more I drive it, the more inclined I am to just leave it alone. No need to hot rod around in a truck like this. I have yet to drive it with the 395s, will be doing that tomorrow, hopefully it will just reinforce me not wanting to do anything with the fuel.

Actually the 395s decrease egt because of less rolling resistance and more torque applied to the ground aka better gear ratio. I currently cruise about 1000 on the highway for reference.

 

[5TID]

Actually the 395s decrease egt because of less rolling resistance and more torque applied to the ground aka better gear ratio. I currently cruise about 1000 on the highway for reference.

This is what I was hoping for. Plus, my speedo always read about 2 to 3 mph slow, so it should help a little with that as well.

 

[5TID]

Added a breather to the crank case vs just having the hose go down the back of the motor. Also ran the axle vent tubes up to the top of the firewall to a manifold, also connected to the breather tank. I have some ideas on how to pressurize the axle breathers for a home made simple fording kit (yes, the transfer cae and trans would still both be vented to the intake stack, and the crank case is just to the breather now), still working on it.

 

[Russ Knight]

Added a breather to the crank case vs just having the hose go down the back of the motor. Also ran the axle vent tubes up to the top of the firewall to a manifold, also connected to the breather tank. I have some ideas on how to pressurize the axle breathers for a home made simple fording kit (yes, the transfer cae and trans would still both be vented to the intake stack, and the crank case is just to the breather now), still working on it.

View attachment 897667View attachment 897668View attachment 897669View attachment 897670View attachment 897671View attachment 897672View attachment 897673

That looks great! Very nice!!

 

[Russ Knight]

Got some new tires put on today. The front had some decent weather cracking and the front right seemed to bounce quite bad around 40mph. Found a shop locally that came to my house to install, and also found some XZL's locally in 395/85/20. Will need to get used to the smaller look, but I think it will help with drive ability coming from the 14r20s.

Size comparison
View attachment 893320

Work being done. These guys were amazing.
View attachment 893319
View attachment 893317

Final look
View attachment 893315
View attachment 893314

Old tires
View attachment 893316

My 929 has the 395's. I had a M925A2 ROPS and a MTVR before this one. The MTVR has the best ride, hands down, but the 395's on the 929 have the least amount of shake of any truck I've ever had.

 

[5TID]

Finally got my DVR/camera system installed. Had to make my own metal mount for the screen since the plastic on that came with it did not seem sturdy. Only had to drill holes for the rear camera, the front and sides either use existing holes or magnetic mounts.

Rear camera.


Side cameras. Use three magnetic mounts per camera pod.


Front camera mounted in front of the heater intake. Pretty far off center of the truck, but it is very well protected and doesn't look too obtrusive.


Screen is mount on my custom overhead console piece that holds my AC/fans as well.


Decent viewing coverage. Not sure how much I will use it. I know it will be helpful for backing up for sure.

 

[5TID]

Added some heat control under the hood. Figure less heat under the hood means less heat into the cab from the firewall.