How to move a dead truck?

[Dog3leggeddog]

Hello All,
New to the forum. Looking at buying a M1078. I live about 1300 miles away from the seller so I plan to have my nephew, who lives close to the seller, to pick up the truck and haul it to my sister's house. The seller has the ability to load the truck on our flatbed with a crane which is great, but on the other end, my nephew has to be able to unload a non-running truck. Hopefully, I am not asking a really stupid question here, but how will this work. I forgot to mention my experience with these trucks is zero. Can he back the brakes all the way off and neutralize the transmission manually or does the truck has to have power? I plan to fly home over the summer to get the truck going again, but for now, I want to help my nephew out as much as possible. Thanks in advance.

 

[fasttruck]

Assuming he has a way to ramp the load off the trailer and down to the ground he will have to "pin" or cage the parking brakes on the rear wheels to release the parking brake unless he has some way to air the truck up and release the brakes with air pressure. This will also render the service brake operable so he can stop it. Caging the brakes leaves the payload with no way to stop except friction and gravity. There is supposed to be a caging pin attached to each dual service brake chamber. If they are missing you will have to go to a truck supply house and get the missing pin(s). They take a 3/4" wrench to install. The procedure should be described in the operators' manual probably under "operating under unusual conditions." As these things are rarely used I always put neverseize on the threads so as to be sure to get them off when needed.

The air system can be supplied through the emergency air glad hand at the front right corner of the truck. This has a valve which will have to be opened and closed as required. If nothing else is available maybe something can be worked out with the tractor that brings it to you. I used to carry a 20' hose with glad hands for among other things this purpose but not everyone is so equipped.

 

[simp5782]

Assuming he has a way to ramp the load off the trailer and down to the ground he will have to "pin" or cage the parking brakes on the rear wheels to release the parking brake unless he has some way to air the truck up and release the brakes with air pressure. This will also render the service brake operable so he can stop it. Caging the brakes leaves the payload with no way to stop except friction and gravity. There is supposed to be a caging pin attached to each dual service brake chamber. If they are missing you will have to go to a truck supply house and get the missing pin(s). They take a 3/4" wrench to install. The procedure should be described in the operators' manual probably under "operating under unusual conditions." As these things are rarely used I always put neverseize on the threads so as to be sure to get them off when needed.

The air system can be supplied through the emergency air glad hand at the front right corner of the truck. This has a valve which will have to be opened and closed as required. If nothing else is available maybe something can be worked out with the tractor that brings it to you. I used to carry a 20' hose with glad hands for among other things this purpose but not everyone is so equipped.

Negative. LMTVs release the brakes when air is applied thru the front emergency gladhand and will not fill the tanks with air.

You have to charge the air system thru the drain port on one of the tanks

If he has ramps for the trailer just cage the brakes and roll it off if you have no air source

Where is the truck located? As a member may be near by to lend a hand

If there is another MV near by simply hooking a towbar to the LMTV pintle can drag it off.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Welcome aboard

Find a bunk, stow your gear, and prepare to get underway

You've come to the right place to get all sorts of information, good/experienced advice, some good humor at times, and friendships that can become solid and trusted.

Others are already gifting you with what they know that may be helpful. (I'm not an FMTV owner, so won't be contributing here technical help.)

My only general advice is.... GRAVITY is your friend OR can turn into a vicious enemy. When rolling a truck without brakes remember that. Gravity is also THE LAW and as such can be unforgiving.

Praying that your purchase plans are successful and your recovery of the MV rather uneventful. We look forward to your "joining the club" of MV owners here.

Oh, and please keep us posted on your progress. And just a hint.... so post as many as you wish.

Be blessed.
John
SS Chaplain
San Angelo, TX, USA

 

[NDT]

Pay attention to the overall height on these, if your flatbed is dock height it will be to tall. Avoid crane loading these at all costs, unless you have appropriate spreader bars something will get smashed. Use a trailer with ramps and winch on.

 

[Jbulach]

Also remember when caging brakes for unloading, or moving around the yard, you don’t have to fully cage all the brakes. Leave the shoes on one, or more wheels dragging the help control the truck on the down slope.

 

[fasttruck]

Reference post 3: the emergency glad hand will release the emergency brake, but won't the air in the reservoir then be available to operate the service brake (until the air is used up ) ? Or hook both air lines up to another truck and use the brake circuit in that truck to operate the dead horse as if it was a trailer ?

 

[fasttruck]

Reference again to post 3: If you need to introduce air into the dead horse as described through a drain in one of the air tanks, preferably the one closest to the compressor, you will need a fitting as illustrated to replace the drain valve in the tank. Then use a tire chuck to fill the tank. Some people who do this on a regular basis either put a permanent fitting in an unused port on the air tank or tee into an airline and install the fitting there.

 

[Ronmar]

folks need to look at diagrams... yes, applying air to the emergency gladhand in front WILL release the park brakes.

YES applying air thru the front emergency gladhand WILL CHARGE ALL THE AIR TANKS on the vehicle...

applying air to the front service gladhand will(should) apply all the service brakes If the system is operational. For timely operation, It does so utilizing air from the tanks on the towed vehicle, which is why the emergency gladhand charges all the tanks...

the person offloading needs to know enough about air brakes to control them OR have some heavy tackle available to control the rolloff.
you dont need power to roll these as the trans does not have a park lockup gear...

 

[Dog3leggeddog]

Wow! Thank you to all of you. I usually never seem to get much response to forum questions with my other vehicles. Clearly I've been hanging around the wrong people! The trailer is low with ramps so I have planed to cage the brakes and roll it off using a winch on the front side to slow any roll away. I talked to the fellow today that will be loading it and he said that it will likely need an alternator. Sticker shock for sure but I do not have illustrations that this will be a cheap truck to own. My nephew will be picking the truck up in Hendersonville, NC. and hauling it back to Kentucky. I actually live in Colorado, so I plan to go home this summer and do some work. Ideally, I would love to drive it home, but if not I will have it shipped out here. So, thank you again and if anyone has any advice on the alternator I'm all ears. Is there anyone on the forum that can rebuild them?

 

[98G]

74M35A2 probably has alternator recommendations for you....

 

[Ronmar]

When my original dual voltage alt craps, I will shift to a 24V alt and a 24-12 equalizer module. Far more robust system, also readily available. You can either fit a 24V alt in the same milspec frame size(used on the humvees) or you can shift to a cat bracket and one of the many 24v alts specced for the 3116/3126 engines.

the biggest advantage IMO is you can configure the equalizer to draw 24V and produce 12 for the vehicle loads without tapping 12v out of the middle of the battery bank(not the best way to do this). This allows you to run the battery bank as pure 24V which is far better for the batteries producing longer life and less problems...

 

[Dog3leggeddog]

When my original dual voltage alt craps, I will shift to a 24V alt and a 24-12 equalizer module. Far more robust system, also readily available. You can either fit a 24V alt in the same milspec frame size(used on the humvees) or you can shift to a cat bracket and one of the many 24v alts specced for the 3116/3126 engines.

the biggest advantage IMO is you can configure the equalizer to draw 24V and produce 12 for the vehicle loads without tapping 12v out of the middle of the battery bank(not the best way to do this). This allows you to run the battery bank as pure 24V which is far better for the batteries producing longer life and less problems...

I like this idea! I will do a little research and see what I can find. Fabricating a bracket is not a big deal if that is what it takes. My friend has a 5 axis machine so I can make whatever I need. I just need to understand which alternative alternator is best suited.