I think its a M185 anyway, according to the dataplate on the shelter. Wikipedia says an M185 is a machine shop, but this one was likely a Wyoming NG ops van based on things I found in it (a commercial phone number directory page). M109 seems to be the more common version, not sure how to correctly categorize my truck.
I ended up interested in this type of truck as I have been doing amateur radio "Parks on the Air" in an M37 (in rebuild), and I got that since I was shopping for some sort of quad bike or SxS and decided if I was going to spend that kind of money, I would get something more interesting than a quad bike or SxS.
I worked for a time, in the 90s, on an M109 shop van (probably, didn't pay attention at the time) so I am at least somewhat familiar with this truck. I wasn't the assigned driver, just a soldering iron operator for that time. In any case, the M185 shelter will be ample room for radio equipment and it should see many local parks as I take it out camping. It is ridiculously oversized for this purpose, but I think it will be a blast.
Automotively, it appears solid, retains oil and runs normal temps. Took it for a 12 hour drive home (simultaneously fun and miserable). Even after this long run, the engine oil is still clean looking which I think is a good sign. Hubs stayed warm, but I could touch them so they appear to be fine. Some minor cosmetic things, but nothing insurmountable. The windows have wood slats holding them together and this is rotted (why one is out on passenger side), but looks like this is straightforward to fix.
Dataplate leading me to call this an M185, I could be misidentifying it though.
The inside is in great shape and even has a nice set of drawers and hinged plexiglass on the benchtops for maps. AC lights work, after a couple light bulb changes, and hunting down a red bulb for the blackout light. Amusingly, some soldier/airman wedged the blackout light switch open with a nail so white light would stay on even with the door open, but taking that out made the blackout lights function as they should.
This (commercial) map and a small phone number list (of commercial numbers) leads me to believe it was Wyoming national guard and that it was an operations section truck. Each item I find ill leave in place to retain its original state to the extent possible, but I did put local maps over this one.
Amusingly, I remember this poster, interesting to find it again
This part (the silver part with lines connected), which I think is the "hydraulic head" of the injector pump, is slowly dribbling fuel (drip every few minutes). A local ag mechanic shop thinks they can tackle this fortunately. Diesel isn't particularly volatile, but ill leave it parked until this is fixed. It appears this happens from time to time with rubber seals. Fortunately, it made it some before it decided to leak.
Goal for this truck will be to approximate a military operations center to a reasonable extent, but with commercial amateur radio. If I can find a teletype, that would be a neat addition one of these days, I (weirdly) love the sound of those. With the M37, setup took quite awhile with antennas, batteries, and radio; lugging all that into a tent. With this, I can just leave things setup (in particular the heavy batteries) and just drive somewhere and be operating as soon as I get an antenna strung up. Should be alot of fun.
I ended up interested in this type of truck as I have been doing amateur radio "Parks on the Air" in an M37 (in rebuild), and I got that since I was shopping for some sort of quad bike or SxS and decided if I was going to spend that kind of money, I would get something more interesting than a quad bike or SxS.
I worked for a time, in the 90s, on an M109 shop van (probably, didn't pay attention at the time) so I am at least somewhat familiar with this truck. I wasn't the assigned driver, just a soldering iron operator for that time. In any case, the M185 shelter will be ample room for radio equipment and it should see many local parks as I take it out camping. It is ridiculously oversized for this purpose, but I think it will be a blast.
Automotively, it appears solid, retains oil and runs normal temps. Took it for a 12 hour drive home (simultaneously fun and miserable). Even after this long run, the engine oil is still clean looking which I think is a good sign. Hubs stayed warm, but I could touch them so they appear to be fine. Some minor cosmetic things, but nothing insurmountable. The windows have wood slats holding them together and this is rotted (why one is out on passenger side), but looks like this is straightforward to fix.
Dataplate leading me to call this an M185, I could be misidentifying it though.
The inside is in great shape and even has a nice set of drawers and hinged plexiglass on the benchtops for maps. AC lights work, after a couple light bulb changes, and hunting down a red bulb for the blackout light. Amusingly, some soldier/airman wedged the blackout light switch open with a nail so white light would stay on even with the door open, but taking that out made the blackout lights function as they should.
This (commercial) map and a small phone number list (of commercial numbers) leads me to believe it was Wyoming national guard and that it was an operations section truck. Each item I find ill leave in place to retain its original state to the extent possible, but I did put local maps over this one.
Amusingly, I remember this poster, interesting to find it again
This part (the silver part with lines connected), which I think is the "hydraulic head" of the injector pump, is slowly dribbling fuel (drip every few minutes). A local ag mechanic shop thinks they can tackle this fortunately. Diesel isn't particularly volatile, but ill leave it parked until this is fixed. It appears this happens from time to time with rubber seals. Fortunately, it made it some before it decided to leak.
Goal for this truck will be to approximate a military operations center to a reasonable extent, but with commercial amateur radio. If I can find a teletype, that would be a neat addition one of these days, I (weirdly) love the sound of those. With the M37, setup took quite awhile with antennas, batteries, and radio; lugging all that into a tent. With this, I can just leave things setup (in particular the heavy batteries) and just drive somewhere and be operating as soon as I get an antenna strung up. Should be alot of fun.
