M925A1 or M931A2

[Steel_5_ton]

Hey guys I'm looking into getting a 5ton and am getting mix responses on what engine to go with Some people are saying the 8.3 turbo Cummings is good and some say the NHC 250 is not good, what major things should i look for on a 5 ton when buying it and how many miles is considered allot are the 1980s 5 tons generally the same as the 90s ones please let me know what you know about these engines and trucks.

 

[98G]

I've owned bunches of both.

My preference is the NHC250, but my use case may not be the same as yours.

What do you plan to do with it?

 

[Steel_5_ton]

I've owned bunches of both.

My preference is the NHC250, but my use case may not be the same as yours.

What do you plan to do with it?

Im planing to build a home on the back of it maybe a school bus body on the back and travel for work so decent amount of highway driving.

 

[98G]

Im planing to build a home on the back of it maybe a school bus body on the back and travel for work so decent amount of highway driving.

You probably want an 8.3. Better fuel efficiency, holds hwy speed better.

 

[TechnoWeenie]

NHC250 is old, and while parts are still available at Cummins dealers, there aren't that many people trained to work on them anymore.

You can get more power out of an 8.3, easier.
The 8.3 is quieter, and gets better mileage.


I went from an M934 with NHC250, to an M923 with 8.3L... for the exact same use case.. 'tiny home on wheels'...

Yes, there's an added turbo for complexity, but the 8.3L is something most modern diesel techs can work on, and it's easy to rebuild if needed.

My fuel consumption on my M934 was ~4.5-5.5 MPG, no matter how I drove.

Many people report 8-9 MPG on their M923, but even if I only get 7 MPG, that's a 25%+ increase over the NCH250..

Might not sound like much, but imagine a 3K mile trip across country..

3,000 / 5 = 600 gallons = $3,000 @ 5$/gallon

3000/ 7 = 428.57 gallons = $2142.85

Nearly a thousand bucks saved.. in one trip.



I will say though, the NHC250 has a drone/sound, especially at idle, that I love, that you just don't hear these days... and I do miss with the 8.3L. The 8.3L is damn near silent in comparison.

I compare it to a Huey, in terms that you KNOW that sound, nothing else makes THAT sound, and if you hear it, you know exactly what it is without having to see it.

 

[Valley Rock]

An M931A2 only has 11.5 feet of frame rail behind the cab, and 2 feet of that is unusable unless you remove the spare tire, exhaust etc.

So there's barely enough room for a camper, you could always get one of those models that came with an aluminum box on the back and trick it out, thats what the cool kids do .

 

[TechnoWeenie]

This is (was?) Wes's ride....

M109 box mated to an M931... It's doable..







Finding an M931A2, that's for sale.... is another issue altogether... I think I've seen less than a dozen for sale in past 5 or so years, and the most recent one I saw was north of $20K.. They were made in very few numbers, and command a premium.