Kinda got carried away..... M1028 rebuild

[drician]

What a great build, I just sat and read the whole thing! Fantastic pictures by the way.

 

[Sharecropper]

drician - Thanks for the compliment.

Here's an August 14, 2013 update -

Still less than 13,000 miles

Front hubs completely rebuilt with new bearings, seals, and grease
Front axles rebuilt with grease-able U-joints
Replaced short coolant hose above water pump

Not much left to do. Will probably install a receiver hitch under the rear bumper. I'm thinking about installing a 12,000 lb Mile Marker hydraulic winch behind the front bumper. If I do, I would like to replace the PS pump with a higher volume pump. Anybody know anything about this?

 

[Carbon]

How thick are the plates for the wheel centers? I am going to be running some 10.00-20's on split rims and plan to do the same type of thing.

 

[Sharecropper]

Reply to Carbon - the wheel centers are seven-sixteenths thick steel. I had the rims built back in 1985 and ran them over 250,000 miles on a K30 Chevy SRW civi truck. I was fortunate to have a good friend who owned a machine shop. He first dressed each blank on a giant horizontal grinder to assure flatness, then stacked all five (including the spare) on a big Bridgeport milling machine. He cut and drilled all five blanks together, then he individually chamfered the lug nut holes. After all five centers were produced he mig-welded the centers into the Firestone split rims, exactly mid-ways and oriented so that the lock rim would be towards the inside. I have always run 11.00/20 NDT on the wheels. Back in the 1980's it was difficult to keep the things balanced, however I now run 15 ounces of Dyna Beads in each tube without any lead weight for a perfect, vibration-free ride. I tried HMMWV Balance Masters behind each wheel however these did not have sufficient capacity to fully balance the substantial weight of each wheel and tire, which I estimate to exceed 150 pounds each.

If you do decide to build similar wheels, I strongly recommend getting a machine shop to perform the work for you. I also recommend that, after the wheels have been built, get them completely sand blasted to bare metal and quickly sprayed down with phosphoric acid solution (such as AcidPrep) to stop rust dead in its tracks prior to primer and enamel top coat. For heavens sake don't have them powder coated, as there is no way to repair chips and cracks with that finish. My wheels are 28 years old and still are in as good of condition as when I built them in 1985.

Hope this helps.

 

[Danger Ranger]

Truck is still looking great, Im subscribing after seeing I hadn't already.

 

[HETvet]

Awesome build! Lots of information here for others looking to modify their trucks. subscribed!

 

[nyoffroad]

After admiring your trucks pics in some other threads and your avitar I found this! I just went thru and loved it! I do have some questions, why did you have the split rims on the inside and why splits? And how did you determine that you wanted zero offset?

 

[Sharecropper]

Reply to nyoffroad - I had the 20" rims built way back in 1985, 28 years ago, and installed on a brand new 1985 K30 single rear wheel pickup. Back then, 20" rims on pickups were unheard of. The only way to have 20" tires on a pickup was to build the rims to accommodate them. So I hired my machine-shop buddy to fabricate five (5) 20" rims. We purchased standard Firestone 20" x 8.25 split rims from a wheel supplier and his machine shop fabricated and installed the wheel centers. The custom fabricated centers were milled from 1/2" cold rolled steel on a giant Bridgeport milling machine, and mig-welded in place on a dead-flat granite fabrication table. I wish I had taken pictures of the process. The wheels were fabricated in such a way as to orient the lock rim towards the inside, so that in case of separation from the rim in an adverse condition, such as getting against a rock, the lock rim would fly off to the inside and not cause bodily harm to anyone standing nearby. The custom centers were welded exactly in the middle of the 8.25 Firestone wheels, not because of any rocket-science calculation, but instead through complete ignorance to where they SHOULD be positioned. As it turned out, this was a stroke of blind luck as the wheels and tires turn perfectly without hitting any chassis component.

I have been asked many times over the years about the durability and road worthiness of the wheels. I ran them for 10 years and 225,000 miles on my 1985 K30 civi truck with excellent performance. Then in 2010 when I acquired my M1028, I resolved to utilize them once again with 11.00/20 tires for a truly unique military application.

On my M1028, as well as on my original 1985 K30, I had to overcome balancing issues. Back in 1985, on my K30 civi, I simply used lead weights to balance the wheel/tire assembly because that's all there was available. I am sure you read in my rebuild thread that, on my M1028, I initially utilized Balance Masters, which is the method of balancing HMMWV wheels in the military. While these Balance Masters worked OK, I was still experiencing a few bumps at low speeds. So I removed the Balance Masters and installed 15 ounces of Dyna Beads in each tube. These are perfectly round dry ceramic beads which are installed through the valve stems and which automatically balance the entire wheel assembly including hub. After installing these in each tire, my M1028 rolls smoother than my wife's car. It is truly a pleasure to drive.

My M1028 rolls smooth with absolutely no vibration, tracks true, and turns on a dime. The completely rebuilt Dana 60 front end has no evidence of the "death wobble", and the cross-over steering is positive and does not need hydraulic assist. I would not hesitate to drive my truck across country if necessary, and would enjoy every minute of the ride.

Hope this helps.

 

[nyoffroad]

Thanks for the respose Sharecopper, I have no problem with custom wheels at all. I ran some 44" tires on some 16.5 wheels
that I widen myself when I worked in a metal fab shop. I admit I had a LOT of help from skilled people. I wish I still had those wheels today. OH Well, thanks again

 

[rchalmers3]

Can't let this thread disappear!

Thanks Sharecropper for this informative and enduring build thread. I remember following it back in the day and just re-discovered it while searching for threads related to re-centering deuce rims to fit my current project.

I'm considering re-purposing some spare deuce rims/tires by re-centering them to fit my Ford F-150 4x4 with the Dana Hi-Pinion 44 and a Ford 9" rear with 5 on 5 1/2" pattern. Your truck looks great on those 1100's. I'd be happy running 900's, especially since I already have them.

I don't have any friends with a machine shop and I'm on a zero dollar budget so I'll probably re-center the deuce rims myself. Any suggestions?

Rick

 

[Cucvnut]

You know you can subscribe to threads?

 

[Sharecropper]

I'm considering re-purposing some spare deuce rims/tires by re-centering them to fit my Ford F-150 4x4 with the Dana Hi-Pinion 44 and a Ford 9" rear with 5 on 5 1/2" pattern. Your truck looks great on those 1100's. I'd be happy running 900's, especially since I already have them.

I don't have any friends with a machine shop and I'm on a zero dollar budget so I'll probably re-center the deuce rims myself. Any suggestions?

Rick[/QUOTE]

If you do not have machining experience and/or access to a milling machine, I strongly suggest that you employ the services of a machine shop to produce the centers. In order for each wheel to run smooth and true, the blanks need to be milled dead flat on both sides with uniform thickness. Each lug bolt hole must be drilled precisely in the exact location and each hole must be properly chamfered with the correct angle to facilitate correct lug bolt torque. The centers should be welded in the center of the wheels with no off-set and lock-rim turned to the inside for safety. Build 5 so you will have a spare.

Hope this helps.

View attachment 489291

 

[skysix]

Did you ever install an OEM 4k rpm diesel tach?

 

[Sharecropper]

Did you ever install an OEM 4k rpm diesel tach?

Skysix - I have the OEM GM 4000 rpm tach but haven't yet installed it due to career obligations. And to complicate matters, it looks like I will be needing another back surgery sometime later this year. Dam getting old sucks.

But the good news is, I believe I have everyting figured out regarding how this GM factory tach will install into the CUCV cluster housing. The only unknown is where the tach signal will come from. I am not sure if the signal will come from an alternator or the brown wire downstream from the tach buffer going to the ICE port. But this should be easy enought to determine, as I plan to wire it up outside of the truck to make sure everything works correctly before pulling my cluster out for retrofit. I plan on photo-documenting the whole process and posting it on my rebuild thread.

Say, would you be kind enough to vote for my truck?

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?124345-Steel-Soldiers-MV-of-the-month-May-VOTE-HERE!

 

[skysix]

Done (a while back actually).

Was wondering about the tach harness from LMC...

 

[john c james]

Awesome Truck!!

 

[llong66]

Sharecropper, I havent confirmed this with the tm schematics, but I am pretty sure the tach signal at the ICE port comes from the alt. If I am not correct Im sure some one more knowledgeable than me will chime in!

 

[Sharecropper]

Thanks llong66 - I plan on installing the GM 4000 rpm tach as soon as I recover from surgery. I had my left hip replaced on August 8 and am scheduled to have the right hip replaced next Monday. I will have 4-5 weeks rehab and PT after that and then I will be ready to get back to working on my truck.

 

[CUCVLOVER]

That's one cool truck sharecropper.
I used the auto meter tiny tach the one that has a prob that clamps to try alternator. I'll post some pics here later.
This is my m1008.

 

[skysix]

Thanks llong66 - I plan on installing the GM 4000 rpm tach as soon as I recover from surgery. I had my left hip replaced on August 8 and am scheduled to have the right hip replaced next Monday. I will have 4-5 weeks rehab and PT after that and then I will be ready to get back to working on my truck.

Did you ever get that project done?