M916-M920 Tech & Tips

[Floridianson]

Did you realy think you would get a no around here. Start it they will come.

 

[promodhotrod]

Soni:
As a newby 916 owner I think its a great idea. I have read most of your threads and they have been extremely usefull, thank you for them and any in the future.
KJ

 

[Excuse Me]

Your very gracious offer could not have come at a better time.

I have read all I can about the 920s and the 911s.

Your articles and your replies here, have been invaluable. Absolutely incredible.

I have been trying to deal on this truck the past few days. I will have all the info on it monday or tuesday at the latest. It has been rebuilt by one of those equipment rebuilders that do these trucks and equipment for business. I dont recall the name just now however. The name of the company had two letters. In other words, it was a capitol " " and " " company.

I cant seem to find the wheel lug patter on the 920. Is it the same as the 911 or is it a standard 10 on 11.25"?

Thank you for your generous sharing of your experiences.

 

[Mack 121472]

Your very gracious offer could not have come at a better time.

I have read all I can about the 920s and the 911s.

Your articles and your replies here, have been invaluable. Absolutely incredible.

I have been trying to deal on this truck the past few days. I will have all the info on it monday or tuesday at the latest. It has been rebuilt by one of those equipment rebuilders that do these trucks and equipment for business. I dont recall the name just now however. The name of the company had two letters. In other words, it was a capitol " " and " " company.

I cant seem to find the wheel lug patter on the 920. Is it the same as the 911 or is it a standard 10 on 11.25"?

Thank you for your generous sharing of your experiences.

 

[Mack 121472]

its a 10 hole bud wheel an hemit wheels fit on there with some milling done on the front hubs not much cost me 130 bucks at the machin shop C V E in hghrolls N.M.

 

[Mack 121472]

Soni //please tell us all that you can dofor us i will thank you ahead of time//

 

[M920]

Well....thanks guys....that looks pretty anonymous I guess....Lol


Ok, so I will try to dig up some old pics from the "Early Days" of my project and get started.....I could also use some input form you guys, as to what areas you're mostly interested in....that would give me an idea what topics to try to emphasize on.

Thanks again for all the confidence.....

Soni

 

[rwbrown72]

I'm down with the thread.... What about starting with shelter and the winch you added..... The engine and tranny is beyond my skills and shop equipment!!! What did you do to the inside of the shelter? Pics?

 

[Burgerboy13]

I second more info about the shelter.

 

[eldgenb]

I learned something new today.. Spent good money on a set of trucklite 24v LED headlights for my 920 only to find out that the truck runs 12v HEADLIGHTS!!!! a little frustrating but I will just put them on a deuce. So I think I will convert it to hid, it runs the pre halogen sealed beams so technically just upgrading to Halogen would be a bid improvement. Thats what I get for assuming. On a positive note, have 12 lights throughout the trucks means cheap replacements and plentiful at that.

 

[M920]

I learned something new today.. Spent good money on a set of trucklite 24v LED headlights for my 920 only to find out that the truck runs 12v HEADLIGHTS!!!! a little frustrating but I will just put them on a deuce. So I think I will convert it to hid, it runs the pre halogen sealed beams so technically just upgrading to Halogen would be a bid improvement. Thats what I get for assuming. On a positive note, have 12 lights throughout the trucks means cheap replacements and plentiful at that.

Yup Eldgen,...I figured that out the hard way too.....lol

The weird 12-24V electrical system had me puzzled more then once! Like for example when I tried to plug in my cell phone in to the cigarette lighter for the first time, and it started to make the most god aweful noises......I guess it did not like the 24Vs I was trying to feed it...
After doing some research I learned, that as built in the late 70s early 80s, all the 915 series trucks had their cigarette lighters hooked up to 24V. I guess smoking was popular back then and the voltage did not matter, if you where just lighting your cigarette...... With the event of all the "plug in gadgets" now so part of our every day life though, this has become an issue and as a result, most of the lighter outlets on these trucks have now been converted to 12V by the military.

Never the less, I would certainly recommend for folks to check the voltage in the outlet with a volt meter, before pluging in any valuable electronics!

Soni

 

[eldgenb]

Yup Eldgen,...I figured that out the hard way too.....lol

The weird 12-24V electrical system had me puzzled more then once! Like for example when I tried to plug in my cell phone in to the cigarette lighter for the first time, and it started to make the most god aweful noises......I guess it did not like the 24Vs I was trying to feed it...
After doing some research I learned, that as built in the late 70s early 80s, all the 915 series trucks had their cigarette lighters hooked up to 24V. I guess smoking was popular back then and the voltage did not matter, if you where just lighting your cigarette...... With the event of all the "plug in gadgets" now so part of our every day life though, this has become an issue and as a result, most of the lighter outlets on these trucks have now been converted to 12V by the military.

Never the less, I would certainly recommend for folks to check the voltage in the outlet with a volt meter, before pluging in any valuable electronics!

Soni

Yeah I remember you telling me that story, when I picked mine up in LA I triple checked with my fluke to make sure it was reading 12v (and it was) before I plugged anything into it. Mine must have been in service long enough for that tsb.

 

[M920]

Yes... I know this is kind of cheating, because I posted this in an other thread already, but it really needs to be here....so there...lol


Here is a quick scetch of the area on the front drums of the M916-M920 trucks, with dimmensions, that have to be addressed (ground or machined off)
in order to run the 20" HEMTT wheels on them.

Hope this helps.....

Soni

 

[Medic5050]

See, this is a good start...

 

[oldMan99]

Yup Eldgen,...I figured that out the hard way too.....lol

The weird 12-24V electrical system had me puzzled more then once! Like for example when I tried to plug in my cell phone in to the cigarette lighter for the first time, and it started to make the most god aweful noises......I guess it did not like the 24Vs I was trying to feed it...
After doing some research I learned, that as built in the late 70s early 80s, all the 915 series trucks had their cigarette lighters hooked up to 24V. I guess smoking was popular back then and the voltage did not matter, if you where just lighting your cigarette...... With the event of all the "plug in gadgets" now so part of our every day life though, this has become an issue and as a result, most of the lighter outlets on these trucks have now been converted to 12V by the military.

Never the less, I would certainly recommend for folks to check the voltage in the outlet with a volt meter, before pluging in any valuable electronics!

Soni

Soni,

I am bidding on a 920 as I type this. Your insights and information will be invaluable if I win the auction and if not this one, I'll try again next week...

Just that tip on the lighter lighter plug probably saved my iPhone from going up in a puff of smoke so yeah, even before I have actually spend money on the 920 you have started saving me money....

The knowledge you have learned is indeed wanted/welcome/needed.

Please, by all means, Carry on!!



Question: What gears are in the differentials? Are other gears available? Maybe something in the 4:73 or 5:something range??

EDITED TO ADD: I found a post where you mentioned having changed the gears to 4.88 so now the question is where to get them?

 

[Excuse Me]

Ya, I had read in a description the 12/24 volt for electrics, but had no idea what part might be what voltage. Note to self, front headlights 12 v.

As far as what I would like to read about, the Cat trans is sort of a specific to the 920 trans, and as so little is written about it, may be a deal breaker for many that are looking at buying one, but have not read your experiences with them. I downloaded and printed your tutorial on shifting the cat, and have read it several times, each time getting more new info from it. Great teaching abilities. I am no longer afraid of the cat trans, and in fact, after reading your tutorial, have learned of some great benefits that would fit my useage well.
I think any tech and repairs that you have performed on the trans may be of interest, certainly would be to me. That way I know what a field repair or service might involve. ? Special tools or "dont loose that part", kind of stuff.

Thanks a bunch.

How does the transfer case work? Is it a single speed with no low?

 

[eldgenb]

Ya, I had read in a description the 12/24 volt for electrics, but had no idea what part might be what voltage. Note to self, front headlights 12 v.

As far as what I would like to read about, the Cat trans is sort of a specific to the 920 trans, and as so little is written about it, may be a deal breaker for many that are looking at buying one, but have not read your experiences with them. I downloaded and printed your tutorial on shifting the cat, and have read it several times, each time getting more new info from it. Great teaching abilities. I am no longer afraid of the cat trans, and in fact, after reading your tutorial, have learned of some great benefits that would fit my useage well.
I think any tech and repairs that you have performed on the trans may be of interest, certainly would be to me. That way I know what a field repair or service might involve. ? Special tools or "dont loose that part", kind of stuff.

Thanks a bunch.

How does the transfer case work? Is it a single speed with no low?

Soni has taught me a great deal on my truck so I hope he doesn't mind me sharing some of this info in his place time to time. The Cat Trans if very strong and very easy to drive once you learn to be patient between shifts and let the trans do its thing. I have a problem when I picked my truck up with the trans. I could not get it to go above 12th gear. To make it home I learned that if I short shifted at a very very low rpm from 12th the 13th it would go into 13th at around 800 rpm and the truck could recover and get up to speed from there. The truck was a little more manageable over the 2500 miles I drove it, the fix, put a good amount of "air tool oil" down the main trans airline located on the back of the passenger side air tank and let it work into the valves into the transmission, shifts like a dream now.
Transfer case is a 1:1 gear driven one speed transfer case. The only part on it that moves (aside from gears) is the engagement rod and air diaphragm that engages the fwd. Soni told me that he had a problem with air valves freezing in the extreme cold and the truck would not go into reverse until they thawed. I myself have not had any of these problems, all I have is a block heater on my truck and every things fine in -10 f. It does shift smoother after it warms up though.
After talking with Soni I think we came to the agreement that his trans was badly beaten and was a really loud lemon. hope this helps.

 

[Bighurt]

In the event I ever win one of the auctions, I would love a page.

If anybody wants me to predict what they will sell for. Right now it appears each will go for the next proxy bid over what I have available.

Sickening as I usually have $5k but this month is a little low, still recovering from the holidays and I only have $3k atm.

If anybody has a bidding strategy that helps I'm all ears...

 

[eldgenb]

In the event I ever win one of the auctions, I would love a page.

If anybody wants me to predict what they will sell for. Right now it appears each will go for the next proxy bid over what I have available.

Sickening as I usually have $5k but this month is a little low, still recovering from the holidays and I only have $3k atm.

If anybody has a bidding strategy that helps I'm all ears...

bid on everything and hope one sticks.. I was bidding on 6 when I won mine, if figured that who ever was bidding against me got soo sick of me that they just let me have one. And yes it was the very last one not to have been closed on the auction that I won and surprisingly the cheapest of the lot. No real strategy just persistence.

 

[Bighurt]

bid on everything and hope one sticks.. I was bidding on 6 when I won mine, if figured that who ever was bidding against me got so sick of me that they just let me have one. And yes it was the very last one not to have been closed on the auction that I won and surprisingly the cheapest of the lot. No real strategy just persistence.

Yeah I placed bids on 6 units today and lost on each one. They all went over 7K. I did log bidder numbers and total's to help on the next rotation. At least I have an idea that bidder x will most likely bid to y amount.

The thing is I've seen these start to pop up in truck traders and other sites and they want over 19K for one. Granted their is a known operational stand point but someone is turning a profit.

Makes me want to take out a business loan and buy a whole event, shipping would kill me, but at least I would have 1 and the rest could be fixed and sold for well over the winning bid.

All I want is one, maybe two down the road, but I'd settle for a M916 down the road.

Well here's hoping on next week...