No one's m35a3

[fuzzytoaster]

Wow, talk about a deuce in the corner pocket.. Glad it all went well at least.

 

[EXITNOONE]

TEST RUN-

after power washing the A3 last night, i took it out for a test run on the freeway and a few miles around town.


the automatic transmission shifts great with the transynd flush. and even though it's much quieter than an A2 with the muffled exhaust, it still sounds like a classic deuce.

1ST and 2ND are sluggish if you are just twinkle toeing the truck in street traffic.
2ND holds on until about 2350 rpm
3RD kicks in with rapid acceleration as the rpm's drop to 1800 and the truck is free to roll.
4TH runs smooth at around 50 mph and 2500 rpm

you can hear the turbo charger breathing with each shift.
the power steering engages once the steering wheel is turned about 5º past it's current position. if it seems to lack handling any more, i may remove the frame mounted air regulator so the steering ram has straight air for more responsive turns.

so far i'm totally happy with the A3.
just going 2 blocks to the gas station got all kinds of dropped jaws and gawking.

if 46" tires really do allow the truck to reach 65-70mph, then i'll have to get them, because scorching down the freeway at a blistering 50mph allows you to see the natural beauty of single fingered wild life road birds around here. 46" tires would also be good for running over the mobile bird cages they come in .

i think my new nick name for civilians who can't stand a 50mph mv is going to be "birds".

more soon !!!

 

[EXITNOONE]

THANKS TOASTER... and i was happy to see it too

forgot to mention there were pallets in the rear corner of the dock, directly in line with the access ramp, so that's why we couldn't get the A3 all the way over for a straight shot down the ramp, and had to precisely cut the corner instead.

 

[AceHigh]

Arron. looks like your truck started its long journey right here in West Virginia:
The 1092nd Engineers, WVARNG
1092nd FSC EN BN Point Pleasant Mason 1092nd HSC EN BN Parkersburg Wood

 

[bratpackdad]

Well, you answered my 6 month old question. " Will a deuce fit in a trailer." lol...
Glad it made it home. I am curious to see what else you do to it.

 

[two.fiveM35]

Where is your sense of adventure? 2@55 is all the AC you need ! (two windows down at 55 mph and a large bottle of refreshment of your choice.)

It will do 55??

 

[JDToumanian]

Glad you finally got it home! In the end, shipping was probably cheaper, because your estimation of the cost of driving would probably have been exceeded one way or another. It would have been a great adventure though...

Staying cooler (relative term) on the highway is easily accomplished by closing all windows except the drivers windshield. Open this to the first click and the incoming rush of air will pressurize the cab and keep hot air from coming in every little (and big) hole in the cab. With the windshield opened to only the first detent, almost all bugs will blow over the glass, not under it. You can run with both windshields this way if you like.

I just saw this... You're a genius, Kenny!

 

[akonitony]

Hey Aaron, I was wondering if you could quickly describe how to adjust the power steering. I did a search and found your thread but nothing more for the M35A3.

 

[EXITNOONE]

ACEHIGH- I BELIEVE YOU ARE CORRECT... but i'll double check the army log book that came with the truck, and let you know for sure. the gentleman i bought it from was in maryland, and that's why i had eastern surplus handle the bob in philadelphia about 150 miles away. i originally wanted 100dollarman to do the bob out here in california, but eastern surplus also offered full pm service as well as the bob and hard top cab addition. also, driving or hauling a stock A3 would have been far more expensive than the bobbed version.

BRATPACKDAD- check out the photo below for your trailer question. the clearance on each side was about 3 inches. the top half stack of the exhaust had to be removed due to height. if i had the 46" tires already on the deuce, i don't think it would have fit at all. a few inches too wide, and and too tall with those tires.

TWO.FIVE- it depends how hard you push... but with 46" tires, i believe the rpm's decrease and that allows you to get up to around 65mph at @ 2500rpm.

JD- i agree with you on your assessments. and hopefully i'll have plenty of time traveling all over the west hunting for gold to make up for my loss on the cross country adventure.

AKONITONY- please visit this link for my description of adjusting the steering:
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/34591-m35a3-owners-unite-5.html

you should see my post there with photos of the petcock and regulator which are the only 2 parts that need to be adjusted with a few turns and some trial and error.

make sure the petcock on the driver's side firewall under the hood is fully open.
closing it shuts off the air supply to the steering cylinder, so you can drive manually if there is some kind of damage to the steering air lines that cause you to lose air pressure.

once the petcock is open, then you adjust the regulator which is mounted inside the frame rail directly in line with the drag link. the regulator has a screw on cylindrical protective case. once you remove the case, the regulator knob must be pulled down until it clicks to unlock it for adjusting turning it in either direction adjusts the air pressure to the steering piston. when done adjusting, push it back up until it clicks. you don't have to replace the protective case until you're ready to drive on the road. you should be able to immediately tell the difference on steering wheel response just by adjusting the regulator and turning your steering wheel with one hand with relative ease.... as opposed to needing both hands and forearms with manual steering.

let me know if you have any more questions after you visit the link.

 

[akonitony]

Thanks Aaron for the good info. I was also wondering if your A3 does the same thing mine does while traveling down the road. It will belch out compressed air every so often from underneath, and I think it has something to do with the CTIS or brake system, but it does it with the CTIS off or on. When I am sitting still it will also do it and you can hear a valve kind of hang open for a little while afterward, then slowly close off. I am pretty sure this is normal, but just wondered if yours did this as well, or maybe I need to service something.
As far as the transmission goes, the way your's shifts sounds identical to mine, so I am pretty sure that is how they are suppossed to operate. It almost does a flare from 2nd to 3rd, then engages with a bang. I am going to contact Transgo and see if they offer any solutions to the flare. It may be as simple as filing down a landing somewhere on one of the shift valves. The company I order my rebuild kits from does not offer any of the 500-series transmission kits except the AT540, and it is over $1k for that kit at my cost. I will see what they can do on the filter kits for these, as I am pretty sure they can beat Allison's price if there is a generic available, but their website doesn't show one currently.

 

[AceHigh]

The air is venting from the air dryer. I just serviced mine and it was a little over $100 for the dryer and filter combo kit. Erik's has the kit for about $150 but it can also be had from any big truck store.

Air Dryer Filter & Small Parts Set For M35A3, Pure Air Plus, DQ6036 (RN60Y/DQ6026)

When I first got it I was under with the engine running and that thing vented, scared the, well it scared me.

 

[EXITNOONE]

AKONITONY- i have to 2nd ACEHIGH's assessment. it was my first guess as well when you said you heard air being released on a regular occurrence.

usually my air drying system will release as the A3 is filling the air tanks on initial warm up.
then every so often while running.

a good way to see exactly where the air is coming from is to start your truck up at night in the dark. aim a powerful light under the truck from the rear bumper shining towards the front bumper. sit behind the light and wait, listen, watch for any air releases. it's just like shining a flashlight up into the sky when it's raining. you see the rain drops illuminated.

you should see a puff of water vapor coming from the air drier release.

if the puff is coming from another area of the truck, then you will know exactly where to look and should be able to diagnose from there.

if you ask me, that 3rd gear let out is the funnest part of the ride. it's like all of a sudden, the truck seems to have gone from an uphill crawl to a downhill race. it sort of feels like the truck slips out from under you with the spring ride driver seat.

IF ANYBODY KNOWS WHERE TO GET AN M35A3 SPRING RIDE DRIVER SEAT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
i want to replace my passenger bench seat with the new style A3 driver seat.
then i'll fabricate a fold down jump seat for the open space between the 2 spring seats, which can be used for a lockable storage area the rest of the time. heck, i can even put a cooler there between the seats with ice packs for summer driving

 

[markmontana]

I have an A3 drivers seat that I would trade for a real nice A2 spring seat. The A3 seat bottom needs replacing (seat back is good). The A2 seat would need to be like new canvas to be worth the trade. I could take it as far as Vegas.

 

[EXITNOONE]

MARKMONTANA- sent you a pm. maybe we can work out a deal

 

[akonitony]

The air is venting from the air dryer. I just serviced mine and it was a little over $100 for the dryer and filter combo kit. Erik's has the kit for about $150 but it can also be had from any big truck store.

Air Dryer Filter & Small Parts Set For M35A3, Pure Air Plus, DQ6036 (RN60Y/DQ6026)

When I first got it I was under with the engine running and that thing vented, scared the, well it scared me.

I'll bet it did scare you - not unlike someone honking the horn when you're under the hood doing something that requires a great deal of concentration. I have gone underneath the truck for up to about 15 minutes, and of course, it didn't release then. If it is normal for that to happen I will concentrate on higher-priority items likee adjusting the power steering. It would be nice to not have sore arms the next day after driving for a few hours.

 

[AceHigh]

Mine vents about one time per minute. I don't know how often it is supposed to though.

 

[EXITNOONE]

ACEHIGH- i'd say mine is at about 10 minute intervals. maybe each A3 has it's own personality.

it sounds like you are getting an excessive amount of condensation in your system compared to what others have described.

i haven't gone through the process myself, but i think i remember the tm saying it can be manually bled through a valve on the air tanks. try that and see if your dryer discharge intervals become further apart.

 

[AceHigh]

I found a great service guide on the dryer, ours is the Haldex PURest:

http://www.fcocrv.org/Documents/PDF/Air Dryer Maintenance web version.pdf

 

[peecook]

Exitnoone, cool story. glad you got your truck the way you wanted it from coast to coast. now get her off road and post those pics.

 

[EXITNOONE]

PEECOOK- thank you... and you're right... the A3 shouldn't be a street queen !!!! i can't wait until i have some time to take it out and drive over whatever gets in my way !!!!