Bobbed M925

[jcappeljr]

You are doing a awesome job...

 

[wehring]

Pics

OK I am back home and the kiddo is down for the night. Perhaps I should not have bragged so loudly that Mr. Murphy missed the opportunity to mess with me on the air suspension. ANY time I saved from not having to work around possible air pot interference was spent on the road. Shipping got to be a challenge (Mr Murphy was wide awake) with this LWS & cab plate kit so I went to get it.

No worries, I met some good folks on the road, saw nice scenery and saw some neat OD toys.

Here are some pics of the trip. I slept in the back of my LX and the 28* nights were nice in my sleeping bag. I had NO idea exactly what came with the cab kit so I was relieved to see it all fit in the buggy.

The orange truck was for sale on the side of the road. The OD trucks were at an oilfield co.

Enjoy

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

 

[housemover]

The suzuki is not what I thought we were talking about. Can't imagine why you were thinking your sleeping was cramped on the way home.

 

[jblack6527]

Now that's a cool looking tire setup on those trucks! Happen to look at the sizes?

 

[moose]

Hi there Wehring, first of all you are doing a great job on your build and I cant wait to see it when it is done. I am looking for a 928(first choice) or a 925 if I cant find the 928 at a reasonable price. I would have called you to talk about buying your 925, but I didn't have my money ready until yesterday. Now, I am on the hunt for a $10,000 to $15,000 m928. If anyone hears about a good one, please let me know, and do continue to do a great job on you 925 project. I like to see creative mods that are done well, it's always nice to see new stuff that I might copy.

 

[hemichallenger]

I got the air kit in today. Took some measurements and all I can say is YEA BABY!!!!

The offset of the leaf springs will clear the air pots. I looked at rotating the backing plates to adjust the location of the pots but it is not necessary. I will retain the intermediate axle because the front pots are higher than the rear pots. The front pots tubes are level with the axle tube. The plate with a hole in it that goes between the spring and axle tube to give the spring bolt a cavity to hide in will give the brake pot tube ~2" of clearance below the leaf springs.

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

Good to hear it work without a problem.
Ted

 

[wehring]

Thanks all

Thanks all. This build has been a lot of fun.

The terra tires are 42x25x20. These are not the common 48x25x20 so they clear the tandems with no drama. They said they had a hard time finding them.

I am 6' and 215 but I DID manage to fit in the sleeping bag under the plate on the way home. It was nice 'till i sat up in the night and rang my bell on the plate (insert Navy talk here).

Today is family day but tomorrow I pull the tandems. Things will move quickly now that I have all of the pieces in-hand.

Merry Christmas All

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

 

[wehring]

moose

Moose,

Derrickl112 has one for sale with an ISO bed. These are 15' long (instead of M925 14') and have cargo box tiedowns integrated into the floor. ISO beds are nice because you get a longer bed but keep the std wheelbase.

Look in the classifieds for his ad. It is listed as a M923 but he states that it has a winch. I don't understand that but perhaps he added a winch to a M923 and wanted to correctly represent what he is selling instead of just calling it an M925.

Hope this helps.

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

 

[Derrickl112]

Moose,

Derrickl112 has one for sale with an ISO bed. These are 15' long (instead of M925 14') and have cargo box tiedowns integrated into the floor. ISO beds are nice because you get a longer bed but keep the std wheelbase.

Look in the classifieds for his ad. It is listed as a M923 but he states that it has a winch. I don't understand that but perhaps he added a winch to a M923 and wanted to correctly represent what he is selling instead of just calling it an M925.

Hope this helps.

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

its and m923 that was set up to have a winch, but no winch was added. data plate says m923a1. so sometimes i call it a 923 and sometimes a 925 since it now has a winch

 

[wehring]

good day

Today was a good day. I started early and learned a lot about the air brake system and ABS system on the M939 series. I gutted the ABS system so if anyone wants it it is available.

I am officially on the down hill slide of this project. Tonight I pulled the tandems out from under the frame so the tear down is done. Now the build up begins.

The Freightliner air brake kit had a lot of electrolysis between the steel rivets and alloy spring mount. It took me an hour to get the first rivet out then the rest went pretty easy. Remove them from the non threaded side. Cut the tophat fasteners and threads off with a torch (careful of the alloy), grind them flush and drive them out with a transfer punch. No drilling required.

I spent ~4 hours plotting my attack on the brake system. In short the system is split. One tire from the intermediate axle and the opposite tire on the rear axle are on one circuit. The other 2 are on the second circuit. The service side of the gladhand supply also has 2 Ts in it that goto the ABS system. Only the rear axle has sensors at the drums. The intermediate axle does not.

Tomorrow will be a trip into Houston for supplies (air bags, shocks and shaft work). It will start to look like a truck again tomorrow afternoon.

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

 

[wehring]

need help...

OK. I need some help from the crew.

1. I need a 5 ton front spring kit less the springs and hangars to connect the air ride springs to the axle. Ubolts, plates, pads.

2. Does anyone have a freightliner with this air kit on it? I need to know how far back the shock mount, bump stop and bag plate go from the centerline of the spring hangar. I got the kit in pieces so this measurement was not attainable.

Thanks!

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

 

[moose]

Justin, thanks for the info about Derrick's truck. We have already been PMing. Just need to get some more measurements on my end to see if the 15 foot bed will work, I hope so because I don't want the truck longer than it needs to be. Anyways, not trying to hijack your thread. I wish I had some info to help your project, but I don't. I'll keep watching the build though. Thanks for posting it for us.

 

[ranchand]

Looks great can't wait to see more!

 

[hemichallenger]

OK. I need some help from the crew.

1. I need a 5 ton front spring kit less the springs and hangars to connect the air ride springs to the axle. Ubolts, plates, pads.

2. Does anyone have a freightliner with this air kit on it? I need to know how far back the shock mount, bump stop and bag plate go from the centerline of the spring hangar. I got the kit in pieces so this measurement was not attainable.

Thanks!

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

Justin
Center of the axle to center of the shock on top is 8 1/2 inches back and the top of the shock is 2 inches below top of the frame on a freightliner. I can measure the bag if you need but i mount them as shraight as possable at ride height. I am cutting this out today but i will hold off if you need any other info feel free to call. Here are a couple pictures. Ted

 

[hemichallenger]

Follow up

This is what i got.
Inside of hanger to inside of shock mount at closest point 22 1/8
Inside of hanger to air bag bracket mounted to frame 27 3/8
Top of spring to bottom of frame just infront of axle 13 inches
Let me know if you need anything else

 

[wehring]

today

Well today went well. I went to Houston and picked up new airbags, new shocks and had the shaft reworked to +15" got home this afternoon and started working.

The air suspension is still a bit of a mystery as to how it will sit when I am done. I am trying to copy the Freightliner configuration to mostly keep the as-factory set up. The axle is going below the springs instead of on top like factory and this is the mystery. I can not (for sure) know how tall the rear will sit at the nominal ride height. The Firestone book says that these bags can be used between 8.5" and 22.75". I am currently at 10.5" and the springs are running almost parallel to the frame so this will allow ~4" of compression AND ~4" of extension or a total of 8" of travel. This will make the rear ~3" higher than the front but with the OAL of the truck I don't think it will look bad.

The front springs on this truck have only 1.75" between the bump stops and springs!

I have 21" between the tire and fuel tank. From the front bumper to the front tire is 39". From the rear of the frame to the rear tire is 35".

Here are the pics. It is taking shape.

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

 

[eldgenb]

Well today went well. I went to Houston and picked up new airbags, new shocks and had the shaft reworked to +15" got home this afternoon and started working.

The air suspension is still a bit of a mystery as to how it will sit when I am done. I am trying to copy the Freightliner configuration to mostly keep the as-factory set up. The axle is going below the springs instead of on top like factory and this is the mystery. I can not (for sure) know how tall the rear will sit at the nominal ride height. The Firestone book says that these bags can be used between 8.5" and 22.75". I am currently at 10.5" and the springs are running almost parallel to the frame so this will allow ~4" of compression AND ~4" of extension or a total of 8" of travel. This will make the rear ~3" higher than the front but with the OAL of the truck I don't think it will look bad.

The front springs on this truck have only 1.75" between the bump stops and springs!

I have 21" between the tire and fuel tank. From the front bumper to the front tire is 39". From the rear of the frame to the rear tire is 35".

Here are the pics. It is taking shape.

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

I may have missed the answer to this question in a previous post so forgive me if I did. Are you going to isolate each airbag independently for fill and dump or are you going to run both rears on one valve? To answer you question about ride height it is all in how you want it, you can set the valves at a specific height and they will never raise above or fall below your preset height. If you have not bought valves yet I would get haldex valves with the built in dump actuator so you can manually deflate the bags from the cab for loading or offloading material. Also I would isolate each bag to run on its own valve otherwise with the high center of gravity that we all suffer from could cause the truck to lean at all times or body roll real bad around corners. I don't know how familiar you are with air ride so please don't take this as a schooling or anything, if you would like some more information on routing or setup feel free to give me a call.
Eldgen
509-270-1998

 

[hemichallenger]

Justin
Looks like ups will show up 1-03-11 with the box.
Ted

 

[wehring]

whole again...

It is carrying its own weight tonight. I unhooked the crane and removed the lift. I am not sure what to make of the airbag "twist". The system is set up as freightliner designed it and the replacement bags are the same part number and dimensions as the old bags. If anyone has an opinion on this please speak up. The bottom of the bags are not centered on the frame and the tail of the leaf spring kicks up and over.

Other than that this kit is working out GREAT. Good clearance above the 3rd member, air pot tubes and air bags. Sits a bit high in the rear.

I added +15" to the shaft a few days ago based on some calculations. The new flange location is 15" from the original location. The calculator works... )

Tomorrow and Thursday will be tying up loose ends. It will be ready for the trip this weekend. Stay tuned for the final pics. A hint... Minigun. Stay tuned.

Justin Wehring
979 997 3112





Justin Wehring
979 997 3112

 

[wehring]

pics

pics

Justin Wehring