new guy looking into a3's

[st8kfinger]

hi, i have been reading up on deuce's and ended up here, i pretty much have my mind made up that when my avalanche gets sold (long story) i will own a "newer" bobbed a3, unless when i drive one im completely turned off. im probably beating a dead horse here but what/who should i look for & stay away from?, also i saw a few for sale near where i live and i think upwards of $20k for one is steep, am i wrong? if by chance anyone within a couple of hours of fortwayne indiana reads this im wanting to ride in and possibly drive a deuce & would not mind bringing along a can of fuel and a few $'s.

 

[73m819]

look in our CLASSFIEDS

 

[miketrock]

Look up ccsurplus.com . He's in Unionville, IN.

 

[porkysplace]

Keep in mind there are no cheap parts for a A3 . When the caterpiller motor or allison trany breaks it will cost you as much as the truck did.

 

[st8kfinger]

Look up ccsurplus.com . He's in Unionville, IN.

thanks, is he/they a good guy(s) to deal with? im a gear head and have a car club & the whole 9 yards but i could probably get taken advantage of pretty easily on a deuce.

 

[st8kfinger]

Keep in mind there are no cheap parts for a A3 . When the caterpiller motor or allison trany breaks it will cost you as much as the truck did.

ive saw that the a3's are more expensive to work on than the older ones, i think they put the cat motor in school buses so that might help me out lol. my best friens brother works for a diesel shop & i know the owner (doug is a cool guy) & i can turn a wrench pretty well so that should lighten the blow. are the a3's more reliable? the bad thing is is that its probably cheaper than my avalanche in the long run, its supercharged and all that good b.s. and im only getting +-3000 miles out of transmissions, i like the hp car & truck scene but im ready for the right lane, just traded my modded supercharged gtp for a zr2 blazer and the supercharged avalanche is on its way out to make room for a deuce.

 

[porkysplace]

There is no way to lighten the blow on Cat parts .
And yes C & C is good to deal with , he is also a member here.

 

[319]

thanks, is he/they a good guy(s) to deal with? im a gear head and have a car club & the whole 9 yards but i could probably get taken advantage of pretty easily on a deuce.

Yes

 

[jaymcb]

ive saw that the a3's are more expensive to work on than the older ones, i think they put the cat motor in school buses so that might help me out lol. my best friens brother works for a diesel shop & i know the owner (doug is a cool guy) & i can turn a wrench pretty well so that should lighten the blow. are the a3's more reliable? the bad thing is is that its probably cheaper than my avalanche in the long run, its supercharged and all that good b.s. and im only getting +-3000 miles out of transmissions, i like the hp car & truck scene but im ready for the right lane, just traded my modded supercharged gtp for a zr2 blazer and the supercharged avalanche is on its way out to make room for a deuce.

you might be ready for the right lane, but an A3 is a whole different ball of wax. With the 3116 and Allison auto trans, you are talking about 50MPH at the 2700RPM redline in 4th gear with stock tires, and MAYBE 54MPH with 395's. The stock motor is out of push at that speed anyway. Also, 8-10MPG...maybe. It needs fuel additives because the ULSD is too 'clean'. It's a bear to start when it's cold. It has a mediocre heater, lousy wipers, a marginally usable passenger seat, a brutal ride, gigantic turning radius, etc.

Go drive your truck at that speed on an interstate. A deuce is a whole different ball of wax, believe me.

If you're looking to SAVE money, don't switch into an MV.
How about 900.00 tires (x7)?
How about finicky CTIS systems?
Expensive CAT motors?
Unknown maintenance?

I love mine, would buy it again, always smile when I'm in it....but go into it with eyes open, and do NOT plan on it being any kind of a 'savings'. When I have to do my 240 mile round trips to a client site, I will sit in my civy Yukon.

 

[trukhead]

you might be ready for the right lane, but an A3 is a whole different ball of wax. With the 3116 and Allison auto trans, you are talking about 50MPH at the 2700RPM redline in 4th gear with stock tires, and MAYBE 54MPH with 395's. The stock motor is out of push at that speed anyway. Also, 8-10MPG...maybe. It needs fuel additives because the ULSD is too 'clean'. It's a bear to start when it's cold. It has a mediocre heater, lousy wipers, a marginally usable passenger seat, a brutal ride, gigantic turning radius, etc.

Go drive your truck at that speed on an interstate. A deuce is a whole different ball of wax, believe me.

If you're looking to SAVE money, don't switch into an MV.
How about 900.00 tires (x7)?
How about finicky CTIS systems?
Expensive CAT motors?


Unknown maintenance?

I love mine, would buy it again, always smile when I'm in it....but go into it with eyes open, and do NOT plan on it being any kind of a 'savings'. When I have to do my 240 mile round trips to a client site, I will sit in my civy Yukon.

Yup on all of the above. i enjoy my A3 to no end but I drive it off road a lot and have no desire to make it an every day driver. I have great luck with my CTIS but i use it to keep it working and I sit stationary idling at 1300-1500 rpm and let the CTIS pump the tires when it is cold (20-40 degrees).
I bought a take out axle from bobber project just for the bearings.
Tires are hard to find, I have 12 new unmounted ones but they cost more than the truck.
Yup The A3 is fun but it is what it is.

 

[wreckerman893]

Bear this in mind.....the A3 program came about before the war funds came pouring out of the treasury.

It was a vain attempt to make a silk purse out of a pigs arse and it failed miserably.....it was designed by an idiot after consulting with a committe of morons......prob retired Transportation officers who never got behind the wheel of a tactical vehicle.

I never had the pleasure of driving them during my 34 years in the Army and I do not feel deprived. I drove one back from SC to AL for a fellow SS member a few years ago and I was underwhelmed by its comfort and performance.

As stated above if you recoginze it's shortcomings and can live with them then jump in with both feet.

 

[porkysplace]

trukhead Thanks for reminding me why I never want a A3 , the $800 apiece wheel bearings .

 

[quickfarms]

Wreckerman well said.

The truck should have an overdrive trans or 4.90 gears

 

[trukhead]

trukhead Thanks for remindging me why I never want a A3 , the $800 apiece wheel bearings .

Yes keep that fact in mind ass well, parts are pricey on the axles, CTIS parts, tranny parts, CAT parts and even the steering parts, brake parts and what ever else needs to be replaced such as the haldex air dryer filter.

Bear this in mind.....the A3 program came about before the war funds came pouring out of the treasury.

It was a vain attempt to make a silk purse out of a pigs arse and it failed miserably.....it was designed by an idiot after consulting with a committe of morons......prob retired Transportation officers who never got behind the wheel of a tactical vehicle.

I never had the pleasure of driving them during my 34 years in the Army and I do not feel deprived. I drove one back from SC to AL for a fellow SS member a few years ago and I was underwhelmed by its comfort and performance.

As stated above if you recoginze it's shortcomings and can live with them then jump in with both feet.

Yup to the above statement as well. I think the government may have made better choices. I will say I am glad I have the pleasure of operating mine though. In combat the A3 has short comings I would not have built into it but as for my handicapped civilian existence, they couldn't have built a better truck, well maybe they could have but for the price I got mine and if it keeps on running as well as it has, I am deelighted to own it.

I don't overly enjoy driving mine over the road but I have to do it to fuel it up. I don't have any desire to drive over the road except maybe in a parade or go to an event. This truck really shines for me is off road an the farm trails. It rides smooth with the tires deflated and the air seats, kind of like a big happy girl friend sittin on a fluffy cloud upon the backs of kittens.

if I have to leave the farm ,I hope that I can go to a state where I can keep it and drive to the beack on an ocean somewhere. I don't like Californias three axle rule so I won['t be going there.

Don't turn the front wheels to much while going through too deep of snow in third gear low range and spinin the wheels. steering wheel will throw you around like you was mouthin off to yor fourth grade teacher. Ask me how I know this, LOL

 

[jaymcb]

listening to the CAT scream at 2700, and being at just 50 hurts me. I like 40-45 much better, and so does the truck.

I'd really, really REALLY like higher gearing, but I am not willing to double the cost of my truck to do that. I follow every single gearing change post here, because I still hope that a cost-effective solution will come from one of the gear-heads (comment made with sincere admiration!) on here

 

[Rustygears]

I have my deuce as a no-electronic nothin tinker toy since you can't wrench or modify any civvy car or truck of similar age. It always kicks right over, no matter what the weather and has been more reliable than my fleet of rice rockets. It is expensive to operate and maintain, but I don't use it all that much, just for the Sunday afternoon outing. For that use, I don't see it much being more or less expensive to operate and maintain than an A2. The tires are readily available new if you buy the NATO alternate vendor Continental. The price for 6 is not significantly more than for 10 new A2 tires and 10 tubes from a reputable manufacturer.

I knew it was an expensive hobby and pace my activities accordingly.

 

[goodguyzy]

Im not much on bobbed A3's. The whole point of bobbing a truck is to make it more practical to drive but with the 4 speed tranny it doesn't work. The only way to make a decent speed is to put on 53" tires but that also involves a lift. As far as the heater working I don't know what the other guy is talking about not working well, both my trucks heaters will drive you out of the truck even at cold temps and Ive driven mine at -5 so I know what im talking about. They don't like to start below 30 degrees without a block heater. If you want a fun truck for off road an A3 is great but without serious mods its impractical for road use.

 

[Karl kostman]

Boy I would listen close to what these guys are telling you, EVERYTHING is expensive on the A3 and part are not even remotely as available as they are for the A2. If your looking at a decent A3 your looking at 10K OR MORE, extremely OVERPRICED and UNDER PERFORMING! The CTIS system is a really nice concept but when you see any groups of Military trucks just look for the flat tires and you found your CTIS equiped trucks Good luck and if you go the A3 route keep your wallet very handy!
KK

 

[michigandon]

listening to the CAT scream at 2700, and being at just 50 hurts me. I like 40-45 much better, and so does the truck.

I'd really, really REALLY like higher gearing, but I am not willing to double the cost of my truck to do that. I follow every single gearing change post here, because I still hope that a cost-effective solution will come from one of the gear-heads (comment made with sincere admiration!) on here

I crawled under a couple of these at the Gerogia Rally last fall just to see if a "Brownie Box" could be installed in one. I think that one *could* pull this off, although the location of the air reseviors and lines might pose a bit of a challenge.

...And I'm referring to the smaller "Watson" boxes like my Travelette is currently sporting, NOT the big honkin' things as found in the old school "5+4" semi tractors.

Keep watching Craigslist and you should eventually be able to score one for about 300 bux.

 

[st8kfinger]

thanks for the input guys, its greatly appreciated. would an a2 be a better option? the reason i was lookin into a3's was the auto trans and "creature comforts" im not lookin at mv's to save money in any way shape or form, just ready for a new hobby and i have wanted an m35 forever, just making a comment because i have had to steal money from myself on far too many occasions to keep my avalanche and other hot rods on the road, and in my older age im realizing more & more that its not worth it, it just seems like with the time and money i put into vehicles i would get more enjoyment out of a deuce and keep myself out of trouble. i read some posts about parades, if/when i get one it will see a lot of parade/car show use, also i live in a rural area and over half of my friends own farms/land, so i have plenty of room to roam