M109A4 Sub-Zero Oil Field

[jmoneysmithmas]

Hi guys,

My name is Jason. I'm a land surveyor in Montana and have recently seen opportunity for work in the Oil Fields in Eastern Montana and North Dakota. I have spent about a year trying to determine the best vehicle for the climate, and everything pointed at a M109A4. Having worked as a surveyor in the oil fields on Alaska's North Slope, I have a lot of experience with -40° oil field work and the vehicles needed to survive in such environments. Up there we used custom box van trucks, similar in capacity and size as an M35. Most of those trucks were built on GM Top-Kick/Kodiak chassis, were 2-wheel drive, and ran single axle dualies in the rear.

Last week I purchased a M109A4 from another SS member. I'll be picking it up around the Christmas from Philadelphia, PA... which is 2000 miles away. I have posted a request under 'transportation needs' and placed a uship ad, but I may just drive it (i'm guessing shipment costs will be $2-$3/mile). I love roadtrips, and PA would be a new place for me to visit.

The SS member I've purchased the truck from has graciously offered to do some minor upgrades before i pick it up as long as it's not anything too extensive. I'm putting together a list of parts and kits I'll need to install before I can put it to work. Some parts/upgrade kits may need to be installed before I even make the drive, which I'll list at the end of this post.

There are a ton of threads about arctic heater kits, engine block heaters, and coolant heaters, etc. However, I'm wondering if there is anyone else out there that uses/works their shop van on a DAILY basis in those sort of temperatures with these government kits. Not only am I going to be in temps as low as -40°, I'm also going to be up to 100 miles from any services, and perhaps- communication.

There are a lot of RV and semi-tractor heating kits out there, and since safety and reliability are a big factor, I want to compare all my options. BTW, when i say 'heating kits', i'm talking about all kinds: engine block, battery, cab, box van, fuel tank, etc.

Here's some basic specs on the truck I've purchased:

1998 M109A4 appx 1200 miles on engine
• Caterpillar 3116 ATAAC (Air to Air Aftercooled) diesel engine 170 hp
• Allison 1545 automatic transmission
• Rockwell 2 speed transfer case
• super single radial tires
• air-assist steering
• air shift front axle
• improved independent circuit air/hydraulic brake system
• three-point seat belts
• electric windshield wipers and washer

Additionally, the CTIS works, the truck was driven off GL site recently, has taken a 4-hour drive w/o problems, and all other functions seem to be working properly. Although- since i'm considering a 40-hour (2000 mile) trip in winter months, in an unfamiliar truck... I need some help making a list of pre-trip inspection items, tools and spare parts.

List 1: The Pre-Roadtrip Inspection

1. brakes
2. tires
3. any unusual sounds coming from engine or drivetrain
4. lights
5. cab heater
6. CTIS disconnect?

List 2: Tools and Parts for the 2000 mile drive

1. sockets (what size range?)
2. Jacks
3. 2 spare tires
4. coolant (how many gallons?)
5. JB weld
6. duct tape
7. jump cables
8. 12/24V inverter (so i can power cell phone and GPS)
9. other suggestions, w/o bringing the whole shop with me?

List 3: Sub Zero safety

1. Arctic Heater kit (or other suggestion/options?)
2. Engine coolant heater kit (or other, non-military device?)
3. Fuel Tank heater pad (i believe these stick-on?)
4. Engine block heater(s) (to replace 2 freeze plugs
5. Diesel generator (in place of spare tire location)
6. Rear Van heater (suggestions?)
7. Additional rear box insulation (R2 or R3 foam board from Home Depot)... necessary? Good idea?
8. Later... replace box van windows with dual, or tri-pane glass.
9. Alcohol evaporation kit for air tanks... this was suggested to me, but i don't know much about this system. Any advice is appreciated!
10. M105A2 trailer to haul ATV or snowmobile

If it turns out that it will cost me $5000 to ship the truck, I'm going to drive it with a buddy. I'll specify dates later next month. If you, or any other SS member needs something hauled, let me know. Here's a map of my proposed route, however, I could easily make some detours to accommodate deliveries: CLICK HERE

Aside from my Garmin street navigation GPS, I have a SPOT GPS transmitter that I will be 'checking in' with every couple hours along the route. HERE IS THE LINK to my SPOT GPS travel map, so you can follow us on our voyage. Note: I'll be using Mountain Time Zone settings for the SPOT device. If you reside along this route, and could offer any sort of assistance in case we have emergency, please PM me with your contact info, and I will include your email and/or phone number so that SPOT can email or text message you in case we end up w/o cell service and need assistance.

I'll be adding the truck to my existing AAA RV roadside assistance coverage, so I should be covered in case i need a tow.

Thanks guys, and looking forward to hearing from you with advice and suggestions...

 

[mktopside]

Go drive one first before you decide to buy one for work. They aren't exactly comfortable, in any way... at all.

 

[axlr8]

I kinda agree....with topside....even though I dont have a MV I have heard stories

 

[jmoneysmithmas]

Go drive one first before you decide to buy one for work. They aren't exactly comfortable, in any way... at all.

Fortunately, in my line of work, the truck will go to a job site and stay there for a week, or month, or more at a time, so actually driving it daily will be minimal. I'll probably drive it more on the trip back than i will in the next 5 years. It will be more of a job-site 'base camp/storage/office/emergency shelter'. 1/2-ton pickups will be the daily drivers. Nonetheless, thanks for the insight!

 

[rattlecan6104]

tools for the trip...
You should only need standard tools, I would say both a wrench and a socket set from 3/8 on up to 1 1/2" along with a few crescent wrenches (small, medium, and large) Make sure you have a breaker bar, extensions, swivels, and a cheater pipe.

ensure you have the tools necessary to change tires, be it impact gun and Budd socket, or a torgue multiplyer.

jacks... two months ago I had a K5 blazer fall on me after its axle tube slipped off of a bottle jack. The passenger side front disc brake hit my pelvis and landed on my thigh. There were jack stands supporting the frame however when the jack slipped, everything rocked and fell down. I am telling you this as a word of caution. If it had been my deuce that fell on me, it would have severed my leg and I would have bled out before any help could get to me. That being said, The axle tubes on a deuce are square and are therefore safer with a bottle jack, just pay attention to where under the truck you are and how everything is looking. A good, new 16 ton or better bottle jack would be what I recommend, as well as a chunk of 4x12 lumber or something equivalent for footing for said jack.

coolant- I keep 3 gallons in my truck at all times, this should get you to any nearby service station provided your radiator isnt spewing coolant like mad.

Additional things to consider, your choice of penetrating lubricant, screw drivers, Grease gun, gear oil, engine oil, and ear plugs.

 

[plym49]

I like your attitude and I wish you well with this undertaking. I know that area a bit, between Billings and Shell WY; it is beautiful country but extremely desolate. Sounds like even more so where you are headed.

There is no such thing as a nearby service station up there. You have got to be self-sufficient. Ranchers, etc. of course are, so if you can hook up with one of them that will be your AAA.

To the tools I would add every size vice-grips and slip-joint (water pump) pliers, including the huge ones. A set of box end ratcheting wrenches will be handy, too.

I don't know if your model truck has the problem with the jackshaft between the tranny and transfer case loosening. If so, ask your PA contact to replace the nuts with the deformed metal locknuts with blue Loctite.

I don't know how much room you will have in the truck for spares or your personal philosophy in terms of spares. I tend towards overkill. For example, gear lube and some way of pumping it in; that sort of thing. Some 14 and 12 gauge wire and a small butane torch with a couple of refill cans. A multimeter, of course. A handful of plumbinf fittings - tees and nipples and plugs - in common sizes. Spare heater hose and copper tubing. I am also a fan of those really small 2 cycle gas generators. Only a few hundred watts but they can recharge dead batteries.

I almost sounds like if you make the 2000 miles out there you are home free if the 'heating' situation is handled, since with the truck a month at a time at a camp and 1/2 ton trucks, you can chase tools and parts as needed.

I am a big fan of that insulated foam board (Homasote?). After maxing out the insulation in my walls and ceilings, I installed that (it was either 1/2" or 5/8") under all of the sheet rock and it made a world of difference. You will not go wrong lining your box with that.

One other thing: some 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 cribbing. Not a lot of lumber around, sometimes.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[stampy]

So you will be camping out in at worst -40 degrees right? If you get a propane or diesel apu that is water cooled it can heat your box in the winter keep the batteries charged and the block warm too. The plumbing would be interesting though. I agree insulate like mad! Invest in the cold weather front too. I would almost look at a wood stove with a water jacket that draws air from outside with a 12v pump to circulate the water . Unfortunately any exhaust leaks and the CO2 will kill you. I would invest in a good co2 detector. Don't forget to insulate the floor underneath also. If you plan to have water tanks they would have to be inside the truck in my opinion. Do you have power where you are going? If not you will be burning a lot of fuel just to keep the truck and motor warm enough. Don't forget a warmer for the batteries.

 

[jmoneysmithmas]

I won't be 'camping' in the M109, as I will have my travel trailer skirted and setup within 50 miles of the work area(s). I'd return to this nightly. However- in case of emergency, and need to stay in the M109 overnight, i want to be able to keep it above 50° F for up to 24 hours.

In my M109 winter 'survival kit', I plan to have: a backpacker stove, 5 gallons of freshwater, some canned food & MRE's, my folding cot, and a sleeping bag or 2. I thought about a wood burning stove... like a wall-tent heater/oven, but I've found some cleaner, and safer diesel heaters for Tractor Trucks and Boat cabins; some of them get pretty expensive though. Besides- there are very few trees out in the bakken oil field area... its a flat, windy, cold, snow-covered wasteland. Let me put it this way: If your dog ran away- you could watch him run for 2 weeks.

Keep the good advice and suggestions coming!

 

[wreckerman893]

It sounds like you have a pretty good handle on the situation.

Driving it back will be a grand adventure.

For a survival stove you can't beat the miltary Yukon stove...they will burn anything........they came with a coal grate, could burn wood and had a diesel/ gas burner set up.

Since you already bought the A3 I'll spare you my rant about yaller engines....but when it breaks bend over and lube up.

Good luck.

 

[FireFighterHill]

pretty much the entire arctic kit for the deuce, the hood blanket, radiator cover, battery tray warmer just the whole kit.

 

[Danger Ranger]

Try these, they are good reading for M109s.
MilitaryTrucks.ca Website - M109 Military Truck RV Project
The $820 M109A3 Resurrection
109a3,new home,new purpose
M109 Camper Build
Charlie's Truck and The Camper Apocalyptic
Family User Friendly M109 Camper/ Bug Out Vehicle Pics
67 M109A2

Yeah, its a long list, but there are plenty of ideas for you in them. The first link has some heater stuff in it, because it is in Canada. Good luck.

 

[jmoneysmithmas]

For anyone unfamiliar with North Dakota winter conditions, check out this video, and be sure to listen to the weather report in the background:

YOUTUBE VIDEO

 

[jmoneysmithmas]

Thanks guys, all very helpful...

If I can't get the truck shipped and have to make the drive, I know it could turn out to be more $$$ if i run into serious mechanical troubles en route. Thanks for the cautionary warnings too- I want to be aware of the potential catastrophe's that could happen...

In December 2008, i drove my 2003 chevy tahoe 2500 miles, solo, from Montana to Anchorage Alaska in 4 days (appx 54 hrs). I sound like my grandpa when i say: "and it was during a blizzard, didn't see the sun once, and sometimes I would drive 5 hours before seeing another vehicle." ...but I'm not elaborating at all. By the way... even though the Al-Can milepost book (and my GPS) shows fuel stations every 200-300 miles, many of them are not open in winter... glad i had 20 gallons of spare fuel on my roof rack. That was a drive i will NEVER forget.

I feel like i was lucky to make that white-knuckle trip w/o incident, but it also calloused my conscience with some superficial confidence and fearlessness... maybe i'm just nuts and subconsciously enjoy putting my life (and wallet) at risk to drive blindly into the unknown. **** i love a good adventure (yep, i'm nuts).

...i'll read up on the links and other threads you guys provided, and get back on topic too... sorry... i de-railed there for a minute.

 

[kaziboku]

A 24V solargizer for your batteries might prove useful.

 

[CobraCDR]

Good luck on that roadtrip... I hope the truck holds up after sitting for years and then being driven that far before you've had the opportunity to work on it.

As for the weather, I feel your pain... you have to love the frozen north!

 

[Danger Ranger]

times up, here is the emoticon....lol.

 

[jmoneysmithmas]

Ask, and you shall receive...

You'll notice there's a A2 tire as a spare... the truck had a flat/shredded front tire when it was recovered from GL. I need to get (at least) 2 more correct-size tires for spares prior to the long haul...

 

[Danger Ranger]

If I knew it was gonna be that quick I woulda asked awhile ago....doh!

We love pics here as SS, and the more the merrier.

 

[SCSG-G4]

One of the things about the windows - they are already double glazed construction. And it not light glass either. A side window in the metal frame weighs between 40 and 50 pounds. I had to take one off and fix it, then put it back on! You would probably be better off next spring or summer doing what mdmorgan did in his - replace the fiberglass insulation with foam. And while you are at it, decide which windows you want to keep and remove the others, with foam in the empty space. Then re-install the metal walls.

 

[jmoneysmithmas]

A 24V solargizer for your batteries might prove useful.

I've looked into solar panels for backup battery charging for my travel trailer. I didn't research it too much, but it didn't take long to see more cons than pros. If you have experience with them, or can point me in the right direction, I'd love to be enlightened. Here's what I came up with:

1. Very expensive for little power output
2. Not very durable on a construction site or in high-wind areas with blowing ice
3. in sub-zero temps, often there is a lingering 'fog' that often blocks direct sunlight (the exhaust pipe will surely leave a giant cloud of frozen haze around the truck too). If it's windy, blowing snow then becomes the sun-blocker.
4. Only 7-8 hours of sunlight in winter months, so- again, not sure how much 'juice' i could generate.

Basically, diesel or gasoline is easier to find in the winter than direct sunlight...