M185a3 Recovery Part Two, Maint and repairs starting

[Scottd9990]

Finally got my new truck home yesterday. Gave the truck a good check before heading out. Drove from Clover SC to Concord NC. Coming up I-85 through town at the blazing speed of 58 mph. I bit faster than I thought it could go, had to back out of it a few times on down hills so not to over rev the engine. I think I am happy with that!!

So got home, gave the truck a well needed bath. Pulled out all the winch cable and cleaned up with diesel and grease. Looks much better now, think it's serviceable for a bit longer. Had to fix my horn button. It kept getting stuck and I could not get the dang horn to stop. Installed a new button kit and works great. I have new wheel cylinder rebuild kits all ready to go in and re-grease all the bearings. Have fresh oil change scheduled for the weekend with new filters. Also new Fuel filters going in. Anything else I should check? Truck drives pretty good, I did not notice any problems. Once I got home, check hubs for heat, rears were just warm, fronts were cool.


This truck will be my mobile man cave, hunting lodge and family camper. Stay tuned for body repairs, paint and finishing out the back. Need a bit of info on how to hook up the 24VDC power to the box.

Scott
Concord NC

 

[Wildchild467]

58mph is cranking in a deuce. I keep my engine under 2300 RPM so I don't throw a rod... but thats just me. Nice looking truck!

There are so many things you could go over and check, it would take a whole weekend. Did you grease the whole truck? Check all the fluids? you could drain a little fluid out of each axle to see what it looks like, then replace as needed. It all depends how nice you want the truck in my opinion. not saying others are bad, but how picky you want to be with it.

At a minimum, I would look for any potential problems. check your brake hoses for cracks, make sure your air lines are not rubbing the frame in any way, look for frayed wires and tidy them up as necessary, pull all your turn signal lenses and check the bulbs for any that have a dark tint as they are almost burned out (replace as necessary), Lube door hinges and latches, any wire connection you pull apart, put anti corrosive grease in them so they stay nice, change all of your fuel filters, check tire pressures, get a bottle of windex and spray on some air line fittings and inspect for leaks (if your truck does not hold air for that long. Usually the original glad hand valves in the back tend to leak. you can replace them with modern ball valves), make sure your brakes are adjusted properly per the TM, clean the windows and treat them with rain-x (clean windows make any vehicle look better and nobody will argue that driving with rain-x is not nice ), lubricate all the linkages under the truck that do not have grease fittings such as throttle linkage and clutch rod etc, take air cleaner out and blow out with an air gun, adjust the valves per TM, Check the brake fluid level, change the oil in your winch on both sides (when you have the oil drained out on the left side, look up inside the drain hole and inspect the worm gear for any signs of rust pitting. If it is pitted at all, it will eventually tear up the bronze gear inside the winch. its up to you what you want to do in that situation. but since the winch sits outside with no cover, it is good practice to change the oil since it is new to you. shop for a mobil brand oil that is synthetic and made for worm gears. it is out there and there is a special oil that has the shear strength that worm gears need. It might be $10 a quart, but you get what you pay for.) and look for any other problems or things you can fix. That is just a bunch of random things I thought of quickly that will make sure you have a good, reliable truck. I'm super picky, so that is some of the things I would do if it was mine. Its amazing how much work you can do on your truck fixing things that do not require much money and makes it a nicer truck. keep up the good work and welcome to the madness!

 

[M813rc]

58?? I'm impressed!

Mine runs like a champ, but likes to cruise at 52. I got it up to 54 once.

Cheers

 

[Scottd9990]

Wish I could attend the GA Rally this year, but have way to much to get done first. Possibly make the FL Rally next month??

 

[davidhdale]

Hey Scott I passed you yesterday coming in I was in the blue tractor and trailer that blew his horn around poplartent and gave a thumbs up. Your truck was moving . Lol

 

[Scottd9990]

Yea I remember you!! The old girl runs ok so far.