Interesting find for M880 owners.

[Jones]

Jones is back from an extended leave. While terrorizing the countryside, I ran across an interesting manual and wanted to share.
It's a Chrysler Corporation "WHEELS" PROGRAM parts manual for the M880 series family. this isn't a military TM-- it's a Chrysler parts catalog for their military trucks.
Catalog number for the manual is at the bottom left in case anybody wants to try to find a copy for their collection.

 

[INFChief]

Jones is back from an extended leave. While terrorizing the countryside, I ran across an interesting manual and wanted to share.
It's a Chrysler Corporation "WHEELS" PROGRAM parts manual for the M880 series family. this isn't a military TM-- it's a Chrysler parts catalog for their military trucks.
Catalog number for the manual is at the bottom left in case anybody wants to try to find a copy for their collection.

Great find! Only a keen eye would have spotted that! I bet very few exist anymore.

 

[Jones]

Not sure I'd want to try scanning it. Basically MOPAR part numbers for M880 series parts.
Need a Chrysler part number for an M886 ambulance litter rack? It's in here.

You're right INFchief, I'd bet not too many of them existed even back when they were current.

 

[NDT]

Back when the 880s came out, there were a TON of warranty issues that the Dodge dealers had to sort out. The dealerships would have received these books since they would not have the military TMs.

 

[Mullaney]

Jones is back from an extended leave. While terrorizing the countryside, I ran across an interesting manual and wanted to share.
It's a Chrysler Corporation "WHEELS" PROGRAM parts manual for the M880 series family. this isn't a military TM-- it's a Chrysler parts catalog for their military trucks.
Catalog number for the manual is at the bottom left in case anybody wants to try to find a copy for their collection.

.
Found one book on the Web at a place called VintageCarPartssicrooked.com
INTERESTING URL for sure

They list it as 1975-1978 Chrysler Dodge Military Truck M880 Series Parts Book Pickup Ambulance (for) $58.45

 

[Jones]

Good sleuthing, Mullaney.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Welcome back Leonard. It's been a loooong time brother. Still fiddling with trains?

 

[Jones]

Thanks Recovery. Glad to be back.
After finding a home for the baby HEMTT, I went off in different directions and have built a "Commercial Model of 1885" Gatling gun. And a 1921 Harley board track racer.... finally, projects whose parts weight less than I do.
The RR museum restoration shop closed down during COVID and hasn't reopened to volunteers yet.
I've been putting in time helping a friend who has a quarry here in California. Part of an ancient riverbed runs through and our stock and trade is large boulders that the landscape architects go nuts for when creating "nature features" for wealthy clients. Just so you know; a "Nature Feature" is a pile of boulders with a very hefty price tag.... I swear, I don't do this good with a mask and a gun.

 

[Jones]

Currently I'm battling a classic Calif. DMV Catch-22.
I bought an M883 for a good price (although it's turning out to be a case of picking up a bag of poop because it was on sale).
DMV won't process my paperwork because the truck is missing an "emissions decal", the one that tells what the various engines' timing and A/F mixtures need to be.
DMV refuses to accept that mil. contract Dodges didn't come with one. Nobody knows what the 1977 decals for the W200 (Power Wagons) are supposed to look like-- too old and obsoleted long ago; AND civilian truck decals aren't correct for military Dodges.
Now DMV wants me to get a letter (NOT an email) on Chrysler letterhead stationary, signed in ink, stating those details.
But wait, there's more-- The Chrysler Corporation that existed back in those days, no longer exists so who am I supposed to be writing to anyway?
DMV also reminded me that since I've taken more than the ten days allotted to report my purchase, I'll be looking at additional penalty fees.

And now for the coupe de grass: I can't take it to a scrap yard because DMV won't even do a title only transfer and without one, I can't prove it's mine to scrap.
Can't take it out of state, register it then bring it back in because the VIN is now in Calif. DMV's computer and flagged.
I can't even be buried in it because I can't prove I own it to any funeral director.
At this point I'm ready to hurl myself off my porch but that won't solve anything since the porch and I are on ground level.

Other than that, things are fine.

 

[Mullaney]

Currently I'm battling a classic Calif. DMV Catch-22.
I bought an M883 for a good price (although it's turning out to be a case of picking up a bag of poop because it was on sale).
DMV won't process my paperwork because the truck is missing an "emissions decal", the one that tells what the various engines' timing and A/F mixtures need to be.
DMV refuses to accept that mil. contract Dodges didn't come with one. Nobody knows what the 1977 decals for the W200 (Power Wagons) are supposed to look like-- too old and obsoleted long ago; AND civilian truck decals aren't correct for military Dodges.
Now DMV wants me to get a letter (NOT an email) on Chrysler letterhead stationary, signed in ink, stating those details.
But wait, there's more-- The Chrysler Corporation that existed back in those days, no longer exists so who am I supposed to be writing to anyway?
DMV also reminded me that since I've taken more than the ten days allotted to report my purchase, I'll be looking at additional penalty fees.

And now for the coupe de grass: I can't take it to a scrap yard because DMV won't even do a title only transfer and without one, I can't prove it's mine to scrap.
Can't take it out of state, register it then bring it back in because the VIN is now in Calif. DMV's computer and flagged.
I can't even be buried in it because I can't prove I own it to any funeral director.
At this point I'm ready to hurl myself off my porch but that won't solve anything since the porch and I are on ground level.

Other than that, things are fine.

.
Some little self-important tyrant is making your life more miserable than it should be.

In The Patriot where Benjamin Martin's statement "Why should I agree to swap one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away?" says a lot. In that particular case, the real statement was made by Clergyman Byles Mather in 1776, who was dismissed from his post as minister of Hollis Street Congregational Church following the British evacuation of Boston.

The hard part is that we all have to stand up together and Just Say NO to these folks who have no real authority...

 

[NDT]

Currently I'm battling a classic Calif. DMV Catch-22.
I bought an M883 for a good price (although it's turning out to be a case of picking up a bag of poop because it was on sale).
DMV won't process my paperwork because the truck is missing an "emissions decal", the one that tells what the various engines' timing and A/F mixtures need to be.
DMV refuses to accept that mil. contract Dodges didn't come with one. Nobody knows what the 1977 decals for the W200 (Power Wagons) are supposed to look like-- too old and obsoleted long ago; AND civilian truck decals aren't correct for military Dodges.
Now DMV wants me to get a letter (NOT an email) on Chrysler letterhead stationary, signed in ink, stating those details.
But wait, there's more-- The Chrysler Corporation that existed back in those days, no longer exists so who am I supposed to be writing to anyway?
DMV also reminded me that since I've taken more than the ten days allotted to report my purchase, I'll be looking at additional penalty fees.

And now for the coupe de grass: I can't take it to a scrap yard because DMV won't even do a title only transfer and without one, I can't prove it's mine to scrap.
Can't take it out of state, register it then bring it back in because the VIN is now in Calif. DMV's computer and flagged.
I can't even be buried in it because I can't prove I own it to any funeral director.
At this point I'm ready to hurl myself off my porch but that won't solve anything since the porch and I are on ground level.

Other than that, things are fine.

Can you do a title only transfer with no on highway registration to get yourself out of the penalty box while you figure out the emission issue?
Can you present the decal from a 1977 vehicle with a 318 other that a 880? Might be on the valve cover, find a junkyard engine and swap the valve cover over?

 

[Jones]

I tried that NDT-- no luck. And the emissions decals are different between cars, trucks, and military contract trucks.
One person said I'd probably have better luck registering a Deuce and a half since they're without a doubt, a military truck; whereas the M880s look like a civilian Power Wagon with a camo paint job. Small comfort-- although I did envision briefly throwing a second rear axle under it and turning it into a Dodge 6X6.
They now have it fixed so that when my VIN is typed into the DMV system, a "STOP" flag pops up. The window clerk(s) say they can't input anything until the STOP is removed. The manager, who I've managed to piss off without even trying, won't help. If anything, she's taken my not getting the truck registered as her personal crusade.

Next step may be to ask for a DMV Referee and lay out everything to them including the seemingly intentional stonewalling tactics by said manager.
A department called Vehicle Licensing and Transfers is now in on it and according to VLT, the stop is there because; 1. the previous owner hasn't withdrawn his registration application paperwork, 2. No emissions decal, and 3. (my personal favorite), Vehicle is from a foreign counrty and doesn't meet US standards (apparently Mare Island Navy Yard, across the bay from San Francisco is its own sovereign nation).
VLT alternately says they won't remove the stop order until the PO withdraws his paperwork (already done); or that as soon as my application comes through, they'll lift the stop order-- that's the same application that can't be input because of the stop order.

Rather than giving me a list of forms and steps to get the truck registered all at once; DMV has taken to dribbling requirements out almost like "Oh, you managed to get over that hurdle, well here's another one to deal with".

I swear, it's enough to drive a feller to drink... although I can't 'drive to drink' because the M880 isn't registered.

 

[NDT]

I could swear that the civilian pickups and M880s were identical under the hood, meaning any decal found on a 1976-77 D200 or W200 would satisfy them.

 

[chucky]

Sacramento is where all the idiots were gathered and given jobs in the chp and dmv so there is no reasoning with them they are from another planet ! These great minds came to a BONJOVI concert at ARCO arenna the name at the time in 1989 and red tagged all of the groups brand new EAGLE busses because they were 45 ft long and the co i drove for had to sue them to reverse thier stance on 45ft busses in the state but that night they had to load them on lowboys and ship them to the NEVADA state line and unloaded back on the ground leaving the group to scramble to find transportation to finish thier cali dates while the rest of the U.S. HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH 45 FOOTERS ! You are better off to go lic your truck somewhere else or hire a fleet of lawyers !

 

[Jones]

I could swear that the civilian pickups and M880s were identical under the hood, meaning any decal found on a 1976-77 D200 or W200 would satisfy them.

The cars have a different decal for each engine size. The truck decals are different in that they say "applicable to 19XX truck". The decal I need is for all "heavy duty engines" from from slant sixes through 440s. Another subtle difference is that M880s aren't W200 3/4 ton pick-ups-- they're 5/4 ton because of the heavy duty suspensions and power train.

I could swear that the civilian pickups and M880s were identical under the hood, meaning any decal found on a 1976-77 D200 or W200 would satisfy them.

 

[Jones]

I'm getting quite an education, NDT. Glad to share.
The cars have a different decal for each engine size. The truck decals are different in that they say "applicable to 19XX truck". The decal I need is the next step beyond and it says it's for all "heavy duty engines" from from slant sixes through 440s.
Another subtle difference that should play into the equation is that M880s aren't W200 3/4 ton pick-ups-- they're 5/4 ton because of the heavy duty suspension and power train. Beyond 1 ton, the rules / requirements supposedly change.
See picture of the engine compartment of my M880.

 

[NDT]

I think that decal is available reproduction for the Mopar crowd. Stick it on the passenger inner fender and get it good and dirty and tell the DMV "oh I found what you are looking for!"

On the data plates it does say W200 which is 3/4 ton. The front axle isn't even the most GVW available at that time, it's a Dana 44. Try to go to the DMV with this angle: I have a 1977 W200, not a military M880.

 

[Jones]

At this point I'm willing to try anything short of falsifying a document... Don't want to find myself with a 300# cellmate who prefers to be called "Estelle".
I may have already made a name for myself down at DMV. I've been in so many times, the counter clerks know me by name.
The data plates say 3/4 ton but the "WHEELS" PROGRAM parts catalog calls them a ton and a quarter.

Anybody know what these cut-outs are / were for? With the glue / spot weld marks around each one, they sure look like there was a crossbar of some sort that fitted in there.

 

[Bob H]

Those hood cutouts are not on any of my M880 series trucks.
However, my 1978 Air Force contract W400 has those cutouts. 78 was the last year for the birdbath hoods.
As was mentioned above, it ain't nothing but a 76/77 W200 non egr due to the 8,000# gvw
the factory payload of a W200 is 2500lbs, hence the military 1-1/4 ton rating.

I have a Wheels program book! Not for sale.

 

[Jones]

Thanks, Bob. Every bit of information Is helpful.
I hate to say it but I'm about ready to relegate the truck to farm or quarry service. It runs and drives OK and I can see plenty of years left hauling feed for the cattle, or tools and excavator or road grader parts around.

Just irritating that one DMV manager has decided to flex her micro-authority to see to it that the truck's paperwork doesn't go through.