New guy question,Front axle

[Bill W]

Manuals will be ordered soon but can someone tell me how the frt axle engagment works on my M-54A1 ?, I thought it was sprag but I see airhoses coming in/out of the frt of transfer but I have no switch like I had on the dash of my deuce. If it is sprag is there a way of being able to engage it manually like the kit I've read about for the sprag deuces??
Thanks in advance

 

[acetomatoco]

You have an air operated sprag. The switch is on top of the transmission and works when you shift from first to reverse and so forth... When you have air built up and shift the main tranny from first to reverse and back you should hear a ssssss clunk... that is the sprag being shifted from forward to reverse and so forth.. A second issue is whether your sprag is in fact working...once it is put in proper position by the air cylinder, it has to have a slip by the rear wheels by x percent inorder to start driving the front wheels.. It is similar to the deuce sprag, but air operated rather than mechanical linkage... Do not compare to air shift deuce as it is not the same type system... ACE... oh yeah, the 5 ton sprags can get lazy and may need to be flushed and driven with diesel or kerosene in em for a while to loosen em up....don't forget to put The G0 90 back in when it starts working... ACE

 

[lacoda56]

Don't think I've ever heard of a manual shift for a 5 ton t-case but I wish there was such an animal. That and a set of front lockout hubs would be a nice setup!

 

[bigford]

Re: RE: New guy question,Front axle

That and a set of front lockout hubs would be a nice setup!

Many Years age AVM made some for the 5 tons. I've been looking for some for a while myself but no luck. Someone suggested I contact Mile Marker as they may be able to help but I haven't had any time to follow up on it.

 

[DaveP]

oooooooooh 5 ton lock outs man that would be nice. no more desplined drive flanges!

 

[dma251]

I have a set of 5-ton lock out hubs - I posted a pic in one of the posts on here a little bit ago. Search for Dualmatic and you should find it.

I haven't put them on yet, but I'll keep you informed. I've also put a Deuce air-shift switch in so I can shut off the front axle from the transfercase forward. Seems to work well.

 

[Bill W]

Thanks guys great info
I like the idea of rerouting the switch from the tranny up to the dash like on the deuce but will research it some more as there must have been a reason they had it work off the shifter??, maybe they didn't want you to engage it on the fly???

 

[m139h2otruck]

Make sure you change out the gear oil and flush the case. If the sprag sticks in the wrong direction, it will break or tear up something bad. Mine in the M139 was sticking when shifting from forward to reverse and back, and made horrible noises. Mostly fixed by flushing and making sure that all air lines are tight and full air pressure is getting to the shifter cylinder.