Deuce Hours..indicator of use vs mileage?

[tamangel]

As I surf various subjects on deuces I always see reference to mileage and hours.. Some trucks have low miles and low hours, others have high and high.. What determines that a vehicle goes for rebuild and does that mean if a vehicle has never been rebuilt, say 4000 hours, that thats the total use or are hour meters replaced when any work is done on the engine.. What interpretations do you get from hour meters vs mileage recorded..?

Thanks,

Mike

bumper sticker seen today: I take the road less traveled...so where the heck am I?

 

[M1075]

What interpretations do you get from hour meters vs mileage recorded..?

Not much. They are just replaced too easily and too frequently. If it was a rebuild and they were replaced at the same time, then there should be some correlation between the two. Then again, SGT Smiley might have replaced both last Friday too!

 

[acetomatoco]

RE: Re: Deuce Hours..indicator of use vs mileage?

My latest M139 from 1958 shows 3 miles and 300 hours....nice new instruments...

 

[BKubu]

I've been caught in the trap of looking for trucks with low miles/hours, but the overall condition (both mechanically and cosmetically) is much more important since this can tell how hard it was used. I once got an M817 that came through a complete rebuild 4700 miles before I got it (or so said the data plate on the dash), but, for whatever reason, they never replaced the tach so it said something like 1200 hours. You probably would be better off ignoring the mileage and hours and inspecting it for wear/use. Start out by smelling the fuel to see how long the truck has been sitting...

 

[HeadWizard]

Start out by smelling the fuel to see how long the truck has been sitting...

Ahhhh, the old smell it to see if it's old trick. Does Snap-On make a tool for that?

 

[BKubu]

Nope...but you'll know old fuel when you smell it. It smells like varnish. A recently running truck won't have old fuel in it.

 

[Jones]

Bruce is dead-on. Nothing like a good visual inspection complete with sniff test, tire kicking and rubber hose pinch. Looked at a cherry of a truck once and with the dipstick out, the motor oil smelled like antifreeze-- not a good sign.
It's the mil. veh. version of the old adage; "When the map and the terrain differ-- trust the terrain".

 

[oifvet]

Though it may not always be precise, I know this from being part of an Army National Guard (Transportation) unit. Trucks get started and allowed to sit and idle for a short time, (muck like the soldiers in the unit), on drill weekends. It is part of their monthly/annual PMCS, (Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services). An occasional, "once around the block," then, "Shut 'em down and go to lunch," was often the agenda. Believe me, vehicles in many National Guard units, SIT! A LOT! Going on an annual training mission did not often require us to even bring our vehicles. And if it did, it was loading practice. Practice loading the vehicles on and off other, usually contracted commercial vehicles. Often trains.
I know the odometer and hour meter can be changed out easily enough, but if the gages and meters are all about the same condition, there is a fair chance they indicate the truth. That's in many, but probably not all situations. I have faith. (We all do, but sometimes we go with a default answer like, "they can't be accurate" to cover our disappointment if we discover something down the road).
If you do the calculations, average *40 mph, v. actual hours, does it fit?
A truck with 25,000 miles, driven an average speed of 40 mph, would register 625 hours. That doesn't include idle time, but...??? Close?

I bought my deuce with 26,700 miles and 1043 hours, or something close to that. It seemed about right.

* I say 40 mph because you cannot take off at 55 mph. I've tried. It doesn't happen in a deuce.

 

[jwaller]

let it also be said that the tach time does not indicate correctly unless it's at full RPM. bjorn said this many moons ago. the slower the rpm's the slower the tach time accumulates. so if it idles a lot then it will show less hours than if it were at highway speed.

 

[treeguy]

"Let it also be said that the tach time does not indicate correctly unless it's at full RPM. bjorn said this many moons ago. the slower the rpm's the slower the tach time accumulates. so if it idles a lot then it will show less hours than if it were at highway speed.[/QUOTE]"

The tach in my truck has never worked, much less registered time on the hour meter. I just replaced the cable, and now the rpms and hours are alive. But really!, how many of you have heard of the above quote? I sat and timed the 10ths (the white wheel) and it took just about 15 MINUTES for one digit to change to the next. Wow! Also found out that the hour glass shaped wheel turns 10 times in between the 10ths digit changes. I know that my hour meter does not correlate with the actual engine hours due to the bad cable, but I was not aware until now that the guages were so inaccurate to begin with.

 

[Westech]

I have known that for a very long time. How did you think the hour meter spun? there are no power wires going to the Tach..... Its driven by the Cable.

 

[treeguy]

Right, driven by the cable, but I would have thought that there was some magic internal gearing that would register constant time on the hour meter to keep an actual hour count.

 

[Westech]

Maybe if the gauge cost 10000000 bucks.. but there $50 new. That should be a hint.

 

[treeguy]

"Maybe if the gauge cost 10000000 bucks.. but there $50 new. That should be a hint."

I suppose, I was just taken back that they were slow on idle. When I expected to see a change at 6 minutes and had to wait 15 minutes I didn't know what to think.

 

[Westech]

It is what it is.. not like the military changes oil due to hours... they send in all the oil samples. There was not one truck that got its oil changed int he 2 years I was with my unit. We sure did add a lot lol.

 

[treeguy]

Yup, I guess just good info to know.

 

[Mark3395]

I did a little study some years ago... recording miles and hours on trucks with gages that didn't show obvious signs of replacement and discarding obviously odd figures, like 5000 miles and 8 hrs.

Averaged a bunch of trucks and came up with about 22 mph average. Of course this actually includes many hours PMCS with no miles added. If the figures differ too far I can tell which gage was likely replace.

I agree condition, and year of engine manufacture is more important than the numbers.

Mark

 

[jimh1985]

**** my gauge must by lying to me lol 7800 miles 1600 hours LOL still runs like a champ!!

 

[AMX]

It would seem to me that the M35a3 trucks would be more likely to show accurate mileage and time.