Need an MTV Mechanic in western USA, ideally near central CA

[exon111]

I just purchased an M-1088 6x6 converted to a water truck from a construction equipment auction. We intend to use this on a ranch for general purpose water truck stuff and fire suppression. We are not mechanics. I understand this truck needs an alternator, and don't know too much about the condition beyond that. Given this truck would cost us close to $100k to build from the ground up, even if we have to put some $ into it, we'll still end up way ahead. This seemed like a pretty good deal at $32k.

Can anyone suggest a shop that works on these? The truck is presently in Chehalis, WA and we will ultimately be shipping it to Bakersfield, CA. Ideally if someone knows of a shop within 200 miles of Bakersfield, CA, that would be best. Also anything in the Las Vegas area would be good. Short of finding that, we could use a shop anywhere along the route from Chehalis, WA to Bakersfield, CA , but it's nice to have the place be semi local so we could continue to utilize the same shop for future work. Worst case, anywhere in the western USA will work, but we're trying to keep shipping costs down with some place that isn't too far out of the way.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[chucky]

Get the thing home jack the cab up and take a picture of the altenator to see if its still the 12/24 v one that came on it and we can talk you thru a few test to make sure you need a altenator or maybe just some batteries or even less theres lots of little tics these things have but nothing you wont be able to handle most of the time ! When you do get it home take the battery box cover off on the dr. side take some good pictures with your phone of how the battery cables are laid out and use something like tape or zip ties and remove the cables just enough to where they dont touch the post and take your volt meter and write down how many volts each battery has then one by one charge the batteries up on a low amp setting and we need to see a picture of them to determine if they are agm or whatever to know how to charge them and once we get the truck running the altenator will tell us if its working correctly by the blinking lights on top of it

 

[exon111]

Get the thing home jack the cab up and take a picture of the altenator to see if its still the 12/24 v one that came on it and we can talk you thru a few test to make sure you need a altenator or maybe just some batteries or even less theres lots of little tics these things have but nothing you wont be able to handle most of the time ! When you do get it home take the battery box cover off on the dr. side take some good pictures with your phone of how the battery cables are laid out and use something like tape or zip ties and remove the cables just enough to where they dont touch the post and take your volt meter and write down how many volts each battery has then one by one charge the batteries up on a low amp setting and we need to see a picture of them to determine if they are agm or whatever to know how to charge them and once we get the truck running the altenator will tell us if its working correctly by the blinking lights on top of it

Unfortunately I'm not at this location and the people who work there are not setup to do any truck work. We just send everything out for maintenance. I just don't know where to send this truck since it's not something the local truck repair places are probably familiar with.

 

[GopherHill]

Just my experiences, it would be best not to turn that repair job to people unfamiliar with those trucks. It can go badly.

 

[98G]

@goodwithwood35 is local to you, and knowledgeable.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

My shop is in Portland, OR. I'm not specifically a truck shop (we build race cars mostly) but I do own a 2008 LMTV, and I'm a former 52D generator mechanic in the Army - was attached to motorpool and worked mostly on trucks and HMMWV's, and I'm pretty well versed in the charging system on these trucks. Mine had issues with charging on the drive home from Houston to Portland and I got a crash course in how these trucks charge when I got it back here. The Niehoff brushless alternators are pretty trick and can actually tell you a lot about what's going on through their CANBUS interface - I'm in the process of working on a CANBUS interface for my truck to "talk" to the alternator's VR and get all the information.

The charging system on these trucks is VERY unique and you'll have trouble finding any shop that has any useful knowledge about them. Being brushless, and dual voltage and with the polarity protection or load battery control device thrown in the mix..... you need someone that knows the system, can read and follow a schematic, and understands electrical troublshooting.

Might not be ideal for you to bring it to Portland but I am on the I5 corridor. Pretty sure we could get it sorted out to where it could be driven the rest of the way. There's a fair number of others around me in this area with FMTV's also.

You could also just rig up an off the shelf gasoline generator to the truck with a nice fat 24v battery charger and drive it that way out of Chehalis. I'm about 90 miles south of the truck.

Rick

 

[chucky]

Unfortunately I'm not at this location and the people who work there are not setup to do any truck work. We just send everything out for maintenance. I just don't know where to send this truck since it's not something the local truck repair places are probably familiar with.

Copy that this will make it a little tougher but most big truck mechanics would understand most of it you might ask the local bako shops if one of their road mechanics would be able to get on STEELSOLDIERS if they run up on something they dont understand

 

[coachgeo]

convert it to domestic parts for charging and balancing batteries. Problem of incompatibility with local mechanics then mostly solved. Pretty much it is just a truck to avg. heavy equipment mechanics after that.

contact @Ohiobenz . he has a kit to convert it to civilian 24v alt, (AC compressor bracket built in for future upgrade)

 

[Mullaney]

I just purchased an M-1088 6x6 converted to a water truck from a construction equipment auction. We intend to use this on a ranch for general purpose water truck stuff and fire suppression. We are not mechanics. I understand this truck needs an alternator, and don't know too much about the condition beyond that. Given this truck would cost us close to $100k to build from the ground up, even if we have to put some $ into it, we'll still end up way ahead. This seemed like a pretty good deal at $32k.

Can anyone suggest a shop that works on these? The truck is presently in Chehalis, WA and we will ultimately be shipping it to Bakersfield, CA. Ideally if someone knows of a shop within 200 miles of Bakersfield, CA, that would be best. Also anything in the Las Vegas area would be good. Short of finding that, we could use a shop anywhere along the route from Chehalis, WA to Bakersfield, CA , but it's nice to have the place be semi local so we could continue to utilize the same shop for future work. Worst case, anywhere in the western USA will work, but we're trying to keep shipping costs down with some place that isn't too far out of the way.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

.
Another idea (won't be cheap) is a local CAT Dealer. Their repair shop could repair whatever the 3116 or 3216 might have wrong with it - and there will most likely be somebody that works in a shop like that who works on charging systems.

Sounds like your goal is to use the truck for its intended purpose rather than working on it - and that isn't a bad thing either...

 

[goodwithwood35]

There is a Quinn-CAT facility just off 7th Standard (Merle Haggard) and the 65. They are not cheap.

Although if it’s just a charging problem that is easy to diagnose and repair. Sometimes even a bad battery(s) will cause charging problems. Or bad ground. There’s several of us in town that can have a look for you. Most of my experience is with the older trucks, mainly M35’s and M939’s but the charging systems aren’t too different other than the 12/24 on the MTV.


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