M817 Recovery from Camp Dodge

[Mark3395]

Quite an education.

Haven't been to Camp Dodge in decades but found the folks there great to deal with.

'71 M817 looked great... nice paint, solid body, one full tank of diesel, most tires OK, but it needed a pull start. Got that done and headed out for Illinois. Had a 200 mile drive ahead of us.

I'd never driven a 5T with Cummins, and still don't know if it's typical. Took a while to get shift points down. Shifting was smooth, but I tended to let RPMs drop too far before downshifting and then fighting to regain speed. The truck seemed to be a real pig... not as perky as a deuce (!) and I don't know if it's due to heavy weight of the dump truck or a weak engine. DA2404 reflected "excessive blowby" of the engine, but it sounded great and I didn't notice venting. Fuel economy seemed OK and exhaust was clean. 200 miles took about 5 hours at an average of 40MPH. Chase car reflected speed as high as 60 though. Gotta check it out with a GPS system.

So I've got a nice dump truck but still need to get used to driving the thing. I mostly got it to tow the odd deuce but question whether it's strong enough.

Lots of fun though. Still learning.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Some basic PM may clear up poor initial lack of power. How about a pic or two?

 

[mistaken1]

Glad to hear you got it home okay.

 

[ohnuts]

What did you think of the general condition of the stock? I have one to pick-up M185A3 in about two weeks.

 

[Mark3395]

The inventory ranges from well-used and patched or with rusty spots (rocker panels) to extremely nice.

I got an M816 a month after the dump truck and it was great. Fired right up but a staffer noted a leak from the air reservoir drain tube. I pulled the tube and capped it, replaced a flat, and headed out. Full tank of fuel in the right tank. Used up the left tank as the truck lost power, and switched to the right tank. No luck.

Then in a fit of insight I realized why the right tank was full: it wasn't transferring. Poured 10 gal of diesel in the left tank,switched the selector back to left, and the truck started readily. Need to track that down.

Bottom line: great stuff available, and really great Gov Liquidation at Rock Island and military staff on site.