M1078 abroad

[Plasa]

Hi forum.
Someone asked me to publish some more information about our truck and modifications we made, I decide to start a new topic with some pictures / stories....

Now 3 years ago we bought the M1078 from a german company that mounted the living box too.


The inside of the living box is made of wood, with a webasto water heater to have hot water and also to preheat the engine in the winter.


From that point a lot of modifications where done:
Oil line governor - engine head:

Detroit locker:

roof rack:

winter tires:

Christian

 

[319cssb]

Detroit locker are a great upgrade

 

[Plasa]

Well, I must admit that (I live in the middle of the mountains) the locker isn't funny when you need to drive a lot steepy tracks with a lot of curves. At the end of a turn sometimes gives you a kick in the ass to remember when engages again....
I do not know if I made a mistake when mounting, but my experience isn't complete positive...

Detroit locker are a great upgrade

 

[319cssb]

Yes there certainly are downsides to a locker. Best would be a true track. But I don’t think they are available for LMTV

 

[Reworked LMTV]

Well, I must admit that (I live in the middle of the mountains) the locker isn't funny when you need to drive a lot steepy tracks with a lot of curves. At the end of a turn sometimes gives you a kick in the ass to remember when engages again....
I do not know if I made a mistake when mounting, but my experience isn't complete positive...

I have two lockers, but probably will only use one at my middle axle. Would be interested to hear more or, even better, a video of a lock up "kicking you in the ass" to get an idea of what you are referring to : )

 

[Nomadic]

Looking good. In for pics of broad.

 

[Plasa]

Some news from the front

Due travel limitations here in Europe the only way to get out of this crazy world is to try finding a spot where you don't see no one all day, and to find out what is important for you. I love working on our truck, trying to optimize until I discover that before was better
On the other side you have to use it, for what you build it: to the moon and back!

 

[Plasa]

News from the other side of the ocean...
This winter is not only for Covid diffrent than others. We have a lot of snow in the mountains, so I got the chance to test the snow tires and the chains. Tires works very well, it's a huge diffrence between the Goodyear tires and the snow tires. With chains it's really a beast!
But as usual, due my un knowledge, I bent 2 air tubes of the rear brakes (the 2 vent air pipes) when mounting the chains. This 2 pipes are quite exposed if you have something wrapping around the axle.
I'm preparing the truck now for a 1 month trip to sveden, with low temperatures. Need to put some pipe heater in the waste water tank and pipes.

All the best and stay safe!

Christian

 

[Karl kostman]

Plasa I have not been to Europe but your area is certainly beautiful! As far as your bent brake lines, sh-t happens and doing what your doing is the BEST TEACHER by far! I know it can be a total pain at times but for what your doing the lessons learned will not be forgotten and as you learn more it can all be applied to the next upgrade to make it even more successful!
Great luck and enjoy the truck!

 

[19Detail]

Thanks for the pictures. Your truck is awesome and Italy is stunning.

 

[Plasa]

Thank you Karl!
Yes indeed, learning from errors hurts, but it's the best way to remember it forever!

All the best ans thank you for your post!

Christian

Plasa I have not been to Europe but your area is certainly beautiful! As far as your bent brake lines, sh-t happens and doing what your doing is the BEST TEACHER by far! I know it can be a total pain at times but for what your doing the lessons learned will not be forgotten and as you learn more it can all be applied to the next upgrade to make it even more successful!
Great luck and enjoy the truck!

 

[Plasa]

Thank you sir!

Christian

Thanks for the pictures. Your truck is awesome and Italy is stunning.

 

[Green Mountain Boys]

Could you provide some details about the snow tires please? Manufacturer? Size? Thank You.

 

[Plasa]

The snow tires are from a french company that retread Michelin XZL tires. There was a long discussion on FB with Sean Fillner and Ken Spencer, but I got no news if some company want to import them in the US...
The company mainly produces the tires for airport firefighter trucks, I must admit that they work very well, there is a huge diffrence between the Goodyear and this ones in the winter.

Christian

Could you provide some details about the snow tires please? Manufacturer? Size? Thank You.

 

[Plasa]

Someone told me that a failure isn't a failure if you can repair it with the set of tools and spare on board. Well, this is the second failure that it was impossible to repair on site....
After a 5 miles run the transmission did not shift down anymore on turns. Seemed strange to me, but when it did not upshift into the 7th I got courious. Stopped in a small village in Swizerland and turn off the truck, fired on again, tried to put a gear into, but always flipped back to N. Day before runned smooth as always. A quick turnaround showed all the mess:
Trans oil dropped from the transmission an all the right read tire was full of it. Same thing happened before when the rigid trans cooler pipe had a hairline crack near the fitting.... Got shocked when I was able to pull out the entire fitting from the transmission thread, at that moment I knew that was not just a loose nut or bolt...
After short time police came and called a wrecker. My fortune was that 8 miles away was a truck garage and they had time to dedicate to us. But no spare parts, so we had to find another solution. At the end we decide to keep the original fitting, but cut the washer out and screw the fitting all in. To get it sealed we used liquid gasket, and a slightly bigger washer to keep the liquid gasket in place. Luckily the inner part of the thread was untouched and the fitting was long enough to be skrewed in the healthy thread.
IMO it's another weak point of this truck, to use only 1/3 of a thread (in aluminium) to hold rigid or flexible hoses to the trans cooler. If I remember right the thread was already damaged there, but was dry for 3 years now. I now add a bracket to hold the 2 flex line in place.

as you can see on the pictures the fittings are much more skrewed in, about 8 mm more. I hope now that this mod will hold for more than 3 years. Otherwise I need to rethread the transmission housing...

 

[TomTime]

Just seen your post and read through them. Keep up the good work and keep us updated .

 

[Plasa]

Thank you sir!

Plasa I have not been to Europe but your area is certainly beautiful! As far as your bent brake lines, sh-t happens and doing what your doing is the BEST TEACHER by far! I know it can be a total pain at times but for what your doing the lessons learned will not be forgotten and as you learn more it can all be applied to the next upgrade to make it even more successful!
Great luck and enjoy the truck!

 

[Plasa]

Thank you!
I don't know if it's good or not, but for now works... Let's hope the best and keep finger crossed...

Christian

Just seen your post and read through them. Keep up the good work and keep us updated .

 

[Plasa]

Finaly had the time to dedicate to the outside of the rear cabin. Spend 3 days in this beautiful spot near where we life. Sometimes it's a matter of "don't think, do it"...

Wish you a lovely weekend!

Christian

 

[jmangym]

What cab ac unit do you have?