Another M543a2 joins the big tire crowd - 16.00's are on...

[wanderingwillys]

Been working on getting my wrecker cleaned up and in order. Got the rear half of the frame cleaned and painted - mounted up a set of 16.00r20's on 20 stud 5-ton combat rims and she sits a little higher now...

Gotta prep and paint the back of the cab then will put the bed back on and prep for a full paint job...

Matt

 

[deuce_09]

Wow nice man. Now that's what I want!!
What difference in power is there from stock duals and the XZL's

 

[srodocker]

mmm nice cant wait to see it in person

 

[wanderingwillys]

Wow nice man. Now that's what I want!!
What difference in power is there from stock duals and the XZL's

Not sure on the power for a few reasons...

A - Just put the tires on tonight and haven't driven it...

B - Never drove the truck with the 11.00's and the full bed...

C - She smokes alot and likely needs some pump, injector, or turbocharger TLC...

Otherwise my duece lost a bit when I went from 9.00's to 14.00's - had to start in 1st or sometimes 2nd where I always used 2nd previously

Road speed went up but hill speeds went down - I turned the pump up a bit but want to put a pyrometer before the turbocharger before adding too much fuel...

I am toying with building a hot rodded LDS 5-ton motor using the combined know how of all the guys I work with at the shop (heavy marine diesel shop... we overhaul and service engines up to 2,500hp - 40,000hp pretty often...)

We shall see...

Matt

 

[srodocker]

wheres hobart wa? ballard is near seattle i know that...i think

 

[deuce_09]

What bed are you using?

 

[wanderingwillys]

It's out in the middle of nowhere... Imagine a triangle between North Bend, Issaquah, and Maple Valley...

Hobart is in the middle - more or less south of North Bend east of Hwy 18...

And yes Ballard is just north of downtown Seattle (other side of Queen Anne Hill)

 

[wanderingwillys]

What bed are you using?

She's a wrecker... So it's kinda chunky

It's the older 5-ton medium wrecker bed - hydraulic crane with 2 lifting rams, and the rear winch has different controls than an M816 - basically it's the correct bed for this chassis

 

[eldgenb]

nice work, its funny how many of you guys are on the west side, i feel like the lone gun over here with my toys...

 

[wanderingwillys]

Well - made a little progress tonight - got the fuel transfer line secured with adel clamps and the reach rod for the power divider all blasted and primed... Got new gladhand seals and another body for the front emergency gladhand...

Then decided to tackle the pinion seal leak at the forward side of the rear axle... the night pretty well went in the ditch after that!

The slip joint on the intermediary driveline is completely frozen... It was quite the athletic process to get it off the flange without being able to compress it... (pretty sure I moved the axle in the rubber bushing to make room)

Figured I'd be clever and strap it to a post and pull it apart with the forklift... No dice; managed to bend the forklift rack and even after using a rosebud and greasing the heck out of it; she's still stuck...

Oh well - you win some and lose some - going to take the u-joints off and have a buddy who works at the foundry strap it down to the floor and use the 50t overhead crane - something will give!

Matt

 

[BKubu]

The tires look cool. I love the XZLs. Also, nice paint job so far. Here's what I can tell you about how it will drive with the 1600s and all of that weight...it is going to be a pig. Wreckers...M62, M543, M816, M936 (the more common variants that collectors tend to own)...are ALL underpowered to begin with. By adding the oversized tires, you just sapped most of the power out of that motor. Remember, that multifuel motor was already trying to move over 36,000 pounds (that is more than a 5 ton cargo with a full off-road load!). Now, it is trying to spin much larger tires. I just hope you don't have any hills...forget mountains. Keep us posted. I can't wait to see the finished painted truck! Good luck.

 

[maddawg308]

Beautiful job, wish I was so lucky to have a rig like that!

 

[BKubu]

I should have clarified this in my original post. By "underpowered," I mean that the military never spec'ed their 5 ton trucks out with the most powerful motors known to mankind. They chose motors that could handle the desired loads mainly off-road. Off-road means lower speeds. These trucks have plenty of power off-road (translation...usually in low range and in lower gears and slower speeds).

 

[wanderingwillys]

Oh trust me I know already - I use my duece to flat tow a 1962 406 Unimog over the mountain passes here (Stevens and Snoqulamie Pass) and it's on 14.00's - 35mph is doing well at times... The package is near 23,000lbs. I need to turn the pump up more but need a pyrometer first.

But it still is a blast off road!

I plan on building a motor that will put out 300 to 400 horse eventually using a different turbocharge and intercooler arrangement but I want to get the truck up and going first...

Matt

 

[deuce_09]

6bt? can't beat it.

 

[Varyag]

nice work, its funny how many of you guys are on the west side, i feel like the lone gun over here with my toys...

I drive through Spokeasy all the time in my Deuce. We should convoy to the next PNY rally. Drive down to tri sh...ties and pick up Tony.

 

[wanderingwillys]

6bt? can't beat it.

Probably right... but I'm the guy that likes to do things the hard way - just to see if they can be done...

Home built reduction boxes for my rockcrawler, on board air compressor built from an AC pump with recirc oiling system, jeep 4.7l stroker that runs on LPG, homebuilt / recentered rims for several vehicles...

All just because - there is a certain charm to the odd and one off...

I think keeping the factory multi-fuel is a worthwhile project... Kinda like making a sleeper...

Matt

 

[ALFA2]

wanderingwilliys, that is really interesting and refreshing that you want to keep the multifuel, and up the output of it, that would be a great upgrade, parts and all. Please take pictures as you do it, some really good ideas will come out of that build.

Thanks.

ALFA2

 

[wanderingwillys]

More progress - off to pick up the wrecker bed today... Had to tighten up the loose hub for now - new seals on the way but not here yet...

Replaced the forward rear axle pinion flange and seal - anyone know the OEM approach to sealling the pinion depth shim pack - it looked as though they were dry (I left it dry and it seems not to be leaking)

Got the rest of the cab back chipped and painted - stole another MG leg stiffner and a stiffner that bolts to the top edge off the spare cab I had at home - I'll get them painted and on soon...

Rigged up some mudflaps and lights for the road - I'll let you know how the speeds and power with the 16.00's are...

Matt

 

[wanderingwillys]

More stuff... All the hose blocks on the bed were more or less toast...

I searched around for some white oak to make new ones out of but came up pretty dry or it was $$$ - so I used some black ABS I had scraps of...

Put the bridgeport to work and made new ones that sould last.... well; forever...

Matt