M-917 20 Ton Dump Recovery

[TNriverjet]

Helped member FrontierAcres recover this truck last weekend after it only made it 1/2 way home on the original attempt.

These are “big” trucks!

I plan to help go over the truck to get it operational and reliable. I think we have a pretty solid unit to start with.

 

[NDT]

Tell us the rest of the story, did you flat tow it the rest of the way with a F250? Haha

 

[Coffey1]

How did you get it there. Have to have a huge truck to tow that thing

 

[Coffey1]

Like a year end cliffhanger lol.

 

[av8or]

Nice looking unit, always wanted one.

 

[porkysplace]

Tell us the rest of the story, did you flat tow it the rest of the way with a F250? Haha

Might have needed a F350 for that one.

 

[Tow4]

I only have a tiny M929...

Nice looking truck.

 

[TNriverjet]

Ok, I owe you guys a better summary. I had 3-4 paragraphs typed up Sunday, and the server logged me off when I went to attach photos, and it was all lost. I got busy and didn’t take the time to re-type.

The good good news is, we were able to drive the truck home.

My Son originally went with FrontierAcres to pick up the truck. They spent an hour or so at the pickup location going over the truck and talking to the seller. He said it drove and shifted great until they hit the freeway. My Son said he started seeing an occasional spray of sparks coming from under the truck as he drove behind in the support vehicle. After only a couple of miles on the freeway, the truck just shut down and wouldn’t re-start. They tried several things, but it was getting dark and working on a camo truck along the freeway at night is not very safe... they came home.

Satuday morning we headed back to the truck about 75 miles from home. There were storms in the area, but it was not raining when we arrived. The first thing I did was grab the battery box cover to remove and sparks went everywhere. Apparently, like many of these trucks, 2 of the batteries were bad and had been disconnected. We tightened up some connections and taped up the loose leads, and the truck started right up. We were so thankful we didn’t have something worse like a dry u-joint or a exploding transmission causing the sparks. As you know, your mind always imagines the worst case. We only spent about 10 min getting the truck ready and completing our temporary wiring. We were on our way! Other than one stop for $170 in diesel and some beef jerky, we drove straight home!

My first task will be the batteries and getting some fluid in the power steering. Other than that it should be a reliable truck. Of course I will be checking and changing fluids in engine, tranny and differentials.

FrontierAcres will be looking for some advice in doing super singles all the way around. Stay tuned for those updates. If anyone knows what wheels and what size tires will be needed, we certainly could use some good advice and leads on good tires. I’ve read a little on this topic and it seems some have had to grind on the front calipers to get wheels to fit. We may want to go another direction and find wheels that won’t require modifying the brakes since he will actually be using the truck to haul and tow.

Thanks for waiting on the update...

 

[TNriverjet]

Might have needed a F350 for that one.

FrontierAcres has a LMTV but no towbars. A M-1078 is probably a bit light to be flat towing this monster anyway. We used a Ford Explorer as our chase vehicle LOL.

 

[Coffey1]

As Paul Harvey would say that's the rest of the story.

 

[BenRoberts]

As Paul Harvey worked say that's the rest of the story.

the only thing he forgot to tell us was he pulled it home with a prius

 

[frank8003]

M917 Military Dump Truck manufactured by AM General with a Cummins NTC-400 Diesel Engine and 16-Speed Caterpillar 7155 Semi-Automatic Transmission. The M917 series truck has a 75,000 LB GVWR and a Hydraulic Dump Box that can haul up to 20 cu yd of material. This truck has a Hard Top, Cab Heater and 6-Wheel Drive for hauling serious heavy material off-road
NSN 3805-01-028-4389
For the lube and the operating cautions............
It will show just a black box but click on it.
View attachment M-917 TM-5-3805-274-10.pdf

I remain impressed

 

[Tow4]

M917 Military Dump Truck manufactured by AM General with a Cummins NTC-400 Diesel Engine and 16-Speed Caterpillar 7155 Semi-Automatic Transmission. The M917 series truck has a 75,000 LB GVWR and a Hydraulic Dump Box that can haul up to 20 cu yd of material. This truck has a Hard Top, Cab Heater and 6-Wheel Drive for hauling serious heavy material off-road
NSN 3805-01-028-4389

I remain impressed

Rub it in.....

 

[FASTNOVA]

Nice recovery.

 

[marchplumber]

Ya get that stuck, WOW!! Don't even want to think.......................anyone have an M88???? LOL

 

[porkysplace]

Ya get that stuck, WOW!! Don't even want to think.......................anyone have an M88???? LOL

Cat D-6 with a winch bury the blade for a anchor.

 

[BKubu]

Yeah, they are NOT good off-road. There was about an inch of snow on the ground and the ground was not quite soft, but also was not frozen. I could not get it to climb out of its parking space. It did have the stock tires on it...the same ones that are shown in the pics. They really are on-road dump trucks that just happen to have a powered front axle. That should help when pulling into a construction site, or something similar. Very impressive truck. The guy who bought mine used a towbar and towed it behind his M920.

 

[71DeuceAK]

Sounds like a fun recovery! I myself wouldn't mind getting one of these. Saved that TM linked above, I'll be reading through it!

 

[cucvmule]

Helped member FrontierAcres recover this truck last weekend after it only made it 1/2 way home on the original attempt.
View attachment 758453
These are “big” trucks!
View attachment 758460
I plan to help go over the truck to get it operational and reliable. I think we have a pretty solid unit to start with.
View attachment 758461View attachment 758462

The truck looks to be in great condition. With 12 inch side boards the 19.6 yard dump bed CAN haul a load. I was looking at the tm that frank 8003 provided and was amazed at the size of the tri axle. Having not ever seeing one up close the picture with the Man by the tire, the bottom of the bed at his head just for scale is impressive. A Quad axle Mac looks to be about two thirds of the 917. With 3 or 4 side boards the Mac brings 38 tons of rock to a jobsite. If the 917 would run by a Trooper I have to wonder what the reaction would be.

 

[porkysplace]

The truck looks to be in great condition. With 12 inch side boards the 19.6 yard dump bed CAN haul a load. I was looking at the tm that frank 8003 provided and was amazed at the size of the tri axle. Having not ever seeing one up close the picture with the Man by the tire, the bottom of the bed at his head just for scale is impressive. A Quad axle Mac looks to be about two thirds of the 917. With 3 or 4 side boards the Mac brings 38 tons of rock to a jobsite. If the 917 would run by a Trooper I have to wonder what the reaction would be.

The 917 is a 12 yard box and all side boards will do is put way over on axle weight.

[[h=1]M-917 20-Ton Dump Truck[/h]

The full nomenclature of the M917 is Truck Chassis, 75,000 GVWR, 8x6, for 20-ton dump truck, 12 cu yd dump truck. It is also called Truck, Dump, 20-Ton, 8x6.The M917 vehicles are authorized in Corps units, primarily the Construction and Combat Support Companies and the Combat Heavy Battalions.AM General produced the M917 while Freightliner produced the M917A1 and M917A2 vehicles.]
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