Need cab heat for drive home

[Rgdl]

I will soon be driving the M818 I just purchased from Owatonna, Minnesota to my home just north of Winnipeg. The drive should take me around ten hours, although I'll probably stop halfway in Fargo, North Dakota to rest. I also want to avoid night driving until I get it home and go through it.

Although this truck appears to be in excellent shape all around, and I have no doubt that the drive home will be uneventful, it has a canvas roof and no cab heat.

It's January. Are there any methods to temporarily provide heat in the cab for the drive home?

 

[rockman]

get a coleman catalytic heater and propane from Wally World or any camping store. Should provide lots of heat. I did this for 2 winters in PA.

 

[jatonka]

I agree with Rockman, but go big, 20# bottle and a MR Heater on the passenger floor. Crack the windows and roll on. JT out

 

[quarkz]

I like the propane route as well, easier and cheaper if you are flying in.

But you may already have a portable generator that could be bungied in the bed with ceramic heater/fan in the cab.

Tape with blanket/towels and/or ratchet straps to fill/tighten gap between top and cab behind the seats.

Spare strap in case the top starts to roll back from the windscreen.

Duct ape to cover all the holes in the firewall / shifters / and gaps between windows and top.
you could RTV but it may not cure well in the cold and some of the ammonia smell will linger until it fully cures.

Go boyscout.

 

[ctmustang]

My last deuce didn't have heat so I used a single burner camp stove on propane and put it in the floor and taped it in place and man it worked great. Just don't forget to crack the window just a little bit.
Happy Trails CT

 

[M813A1]

You could get an AC inverter and use a Heat gun to warm the cab !!! That way noo need to worry about the carbon monoxide !!

 

[Westech]

heat guns are not meant to be used for long amounts of time.. they WILL start on fire or at least trip off if it is a good gun with safeties. I would go a little flamless MR heater way..I would only use the spin on cans and only keep one in the cab at any given time.. IF there is a problem its better to only have a little can and not 20 pounds of gas pumping.

Lets be as safe as we can and not be a ratard.

 

[98hd]

When I got my m818 I had to drive it 250 miles in January w/ no heater.

I dressed warm, and I used a propane heater. Helped alot, my right side was warm (strapped to the passenger seat, and my left side was ok.

You will need alot of propane. I think I went through 4 bottles on my trip.

Do yourself a favor and get a CO detector to toss in the cab w/ you.

 

[Recovry4x4]

I've been stufying these little propane heaters and have a couple myself. I have a Coleman Powercat and although it does make heat, it's minimal in my opinion. I also have a Mr Heater Big Buddy. At 18,000 BTU is just rocks with the heat. The big buddy is approved for indoor ant tent locations but it does advise against using a big propane bottle indoors. It uses 2 of the 1# disposable propane bottles and 4 "D" batterys for the fan. I think this heater would just work perfectly in the cab as long as it was well secured. 10 hours of drive time would probably cost you 4 of the little bottle or about $10.50 if you run the heater at WOT.

 

[cbvet]

Picked up my 1st Deuce in NW Minnesota. Drove 960 miles with temps from 10 to 25 degrees F.
The absolutely MOST important thing is to plug the holes. Duct tape & paper towels shoved into gaps.
You do get a fair amount of heat from the engine, but the Big Buddy heater works really well.
You may also want to rig a battery operated fan to help clear the windshield.

 

[saddamsnightmare]

January 18th, 2010.

RDGL:

The advice above in regards to heating the cab is quite sound if applied with care. To the Steel Soldiers: Does the M818 have a winter front radiator cover like the 742 series trucks? If it does, acquire one by hook or crook and apply it (you can get the tie down loops from Saturn Surplus, I believe. With duct taping the holes (lotsa holes) in the firewall, the engine should, at prolonged operation at road speed, do much to warm the cab. I could never figure out why Army trucks assigned to northern locations never got cab heaters as stock items, but that's just me. If your top is simar to the GMA tops for the 5 tons and deuces, it is insulated and I have found mine to be warmer then the metal cold weather cab the truck had on it when I got it......
Take your time, be careful, and I wish you a safe trip home.

Cheers,

Kyle F. McGrogan

 

[Rgdl]

Wow!!! Way more replies than I thought I'd get on this question.

Thanks for all the great suggestion guys.

Thankfully there's no definite timeline to move the rig so I'm going to try and pick a weekend where the temperatures look favorable. This past weekend would have been ideal as the temps hovered around the freezing mark, but the paperwork isn't yet complete. I want to avoid driving it in typical northern -30 temps if at all possible.

 

[Rgdl]

My last deuce didn't have heat so I used a single burner camp stove on propane and put it in the floor and taped it in place and man it worked great. Just don't forget to crack the window just a little bit.
Happy Trails CT

Pics as requested. Keep in mind I have acquired a set of 16.00 x 20 Michelin XZLs that will be on the truck before I pick it up.

Is there a market for a good set of stock rims and tires??

 

[Earth]

wool

 

[wldrbob]

i have a procat colman tent heater uses 1 lb propane cyl and 4 d size batterys to run the fan this might help keep the windows clear. our weather can change a lot over night , i picked it up at canadian tire 65 or 70 bucks i think.took it on a 75 mile canoe trip its a great thing for that anyway . a propane mr heater type works good to but will ice up your windows over long periods of time we use these in deer stands anf it ices up the windows at 25 below when they have to run steady . the tent heater dosent need much oxygen so your window dosent need to be open so much.either way watch out for a headach at the first sign open yout window for a bit wish i was closer id lend you the stuff

 

[kc5mzd]

Very nice truck!
I noticed the second pic showed that the passenger side has what looks like the hardware for a factory heater. On a M35 2.5 ton the scoop on the drivers side front just below the hood indicates there was a heater installed at one time.
I am not sure if it is on the passengerside on a 5 ton. But the scoop is there on your truck. It seems like something worth looking into. You may not need much to get it going if some of the parts are already there.

 

[wldrbob]

im looking for 6 or 7 good 1100/20 for the summer with or without rims im in swanriver about 300 miles or so from you

 

[kc5mzd]

im looking for 6 or 7 good 1100/20 for the summer with or without rims im in swanriver about 300 miles or so from you

I think the 5 ton 11r20 tires are NDT and not the ones they use when setitng up a 2.5 ton to use singles. I have thought about using them as doubles on deuce rims to gain highway speed and keep the stock military look. But I don't know if they would rub.

 

[wldrbob]

my canadian deuse is singled already and is rated for ether 1100 or 900 at least it showes the different top speeds for them.55 versus 57 .

 

[SGTStewart]

Are you flying in or how are you getting here? There is a Cabela's in Owatonna and the last I knew the Mr. Heaters where on sale. They have the hose and filters if you wanted to go with a 20 lbs tank. The heaters are also at Fleet Farm and at Lowes. I have a small Mr. Heater that I use in the back of my M109. It takes a while to heat up that big box, but it sould do just fine in the cab of the 818. You might be able to strap a 20 lb tank some where behind the cab and run the hose under the back of the soft top. Let me know when you come to town and if you need any help.