New Ride

[tgreening]

So my latest financial black hole arrived the other day, and there’s some things I’d address immediately.

Cab latch is effectively seized up. Think I’d just as soon replace rather than rebuild.

I want to replace all the rubber boots, turbo, radiator, what have you.

Door seals are roached. Anyone know how many feet it takes to do “a” door? Best guesstimate on the high side.

Truck wanders quite a bit, but rubber seems decent and fairly evenly worn. Any directions there?

Hard braking equals hard pull to the left. Non-functional right front brake?

Heater no workee. All fuses/relays seem to be in place but not sure they’re working. I know this has been asked but my search-foo seems to be weak so, a good replacement source for those funky fuses, and relays?

Good parts source in general other than a certain reseller that apparently has gold plated everything?

 

[Third From Texas]

Not sure what the price is for a replacement cab latch, but the rebuild kit is only a couple bucks and very easy to do. If there's no "hard part damage" (ie: some kinda of break/crack on the housing, etc ) I'd just rebuild it.

There's a thread or two in here somewhere about door seals and which Amazon replacements work (same material as OEM). But yeah, the search function sux.

For rubber bits, make every attempt to find "new civilian" alternatives when possible. NOS rubber that's sat on a shelf for ten years is past expiration date for raw rubber materials and most often crater rapidly as a result. Too much work goes into replacing the rubber bits to not get actual new (ie: not 7-25 y/o NOS).

Some related items you might plan on is the two sets of cab bushings and the rear swaybar bushings. These too are raw rubber and typically degraded into goo. The sway bars are cake to replace, for the cab bushings you'll want to watch a few YouTube videos as the driver side is a pita. Awesomeness in here makes/sells swaybar bushings, btw

Does the CTIS work? What psi are the tires running? The only time I've seen sway on a truck or trailer that I picked up was a result of low tire pressure. I run mine at 75pis (the Michelins you have are rated at 85 psi I believe). You can do this with a custom controller or simply swapping out the $10 transducer.

And check the date codes/inspect those Michelin's closely (very prone to blowouts). A lot of folks won't run them on the steer axle for good reason (scary stuff if one erupts). They are (not so fondly) called "May Pops" or "Will Pops".

Relays, cb's (or fuses) can be found anywhere. Nothing special about them so don't get fixated paying 4x the price for surplus. It's often recommended to replace the CB's with the more reliable automotive blade fuses of the same amperage.

PRO TIP:

Avoid any military vendor with a point of compass in it's name and you'll automatically save 400% off the price ! Seriously, shop around. Always look to the civilian market first (surplus is typically very over priced).

 

[Third From Texas]

CTIS transducer swap:

Door seals:

LMTV door seal

Found what I believe is the correct dool seal for LMTV its from Mc master Carr Item number 1120A233 its about $2 a foot though!

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[GeneralDisorder]

The military hasn't run the Michelin's for so long they are definitely toast. Replace those.

Each door will require a 15' roll. I bought two 20' rolls (worked great):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0855HX5MS

You sure the latch is "seized"? They require hydraulic pressure to unlock. The AOH pump's usually need to be rebuilt due to one specific seal in them disintegrating. Hand pump should still work though.

Wandering..... check your tie rods and drag links. The boots are usually shot and if they have been that way for a while they may be worn and in need of replacement.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

CTIS transducer swap:
.....

Easier to just reprogram the CTIS module. Anyone that needs that done can send it to me. You can change all the pressure set points to whatever you want as well as all the lockout speeds, etc. It literally takes a few minutes.

 

[Mullaney]

View attachment 884905

So my latest financial black hole arrived the other day, and there’s some things I’d address immediately.

Cab latch is effectively seized up. Think I’d just as soon replace rather than rebuild.

I want to replace all the rubber boots, turbo, radiator, what have you.

Door seals are roached. Anyone know how many feet it takes to do “a” door? Best guesstimate on the high side.

Truck wanders quite a bit, but rubber seems decent and fairly evenly worn. Any directions there?

Hard braking equals hard pull to the left. Non-functional right front brake?

Heater no workee. All fuses/relays seem to be in place but not sure they’re working. I know this has been asked but my search-foo seems to be weak so, a good replacement source for those funky fuses, and relays?

Good parts source in general other than a certain reseller that apparently has gold plated everything?

.
Maybe a half a day sitting in the right seat - removing the existing Circuit Breakers (CB's) and cleaning the contacts, then adding a touch of Anti-Oxidation paste could solve a lot of problems.

These vehicles, driven by 18 year old youngsters that have no care about maintenance - might roll up a window. Or not. Or the top turret leaks like a hole if it rains on it. Look at the seats. Do they have wet spots on them? Doubtful that they pee'd on the seats, but rain leaks from above can get into your electrical and awaken the gremlins. That time spent will help you focus your repair time.

Looking to make sure that you have the right CB is important too. Use the TM with the electrical drawing that calls out a part number. Some connections have 4 contacts, some have more. Worth knowing that you have the right parts...

 

[tgreening]

Not sure what the price is for a replacement cab latch, but the rebuild kit is only a couple bucks and very easy to do. If there's no "hard part damage" (ie: some kinda of break/crack on the housing, etc ) I'd just rebuild it.

There's a thread or two in here somewhere about door seals and which Amazon replacements work (same material as OEM). But yeah, the search function sux.

For rubber bits, make every attempt to find "new civilian" alternatives when possible. NOS rubber that's sat on a shelf for ten years is past expiration date for raw rubber materials and most often crater rapidly as a result. Too much work goes into replacing the rubber bits to not get actual new (ie: not 7-25 y/o NOS).

Some related items you might plan on is the two sets of cab bushings and the rear swaybar bushings. These too are raw rubber and typically degraded into goo. The sway bars are cake to replace, for the cab bushings you'll want to watch a few YouTube videos as the driver side is a pita. Awesomeness in here makes/sells swaybar bushings, btw

Does the CTIS work? What psi are the tires running? The only time I've seen sway on a truck or trailer that I picked up was a result of low tire pressure. I run mine at 75pis (the Michelins you have are rated at 85 psi I believe). You can do this with a custom controller or simply swapping out the $10 transducer.

And check the date codes/inspect those Michelin's closely (very prone to blowouts). A lot of folks won't run them on the steer axle for good reason (scary stuff if one erupts). They are (not so fondly) called "May Pops" or "Will Pops".

Relays, cb's (or fuses) can be found anywhere. Nothing special about them so don't get fixated paying 4x the price for surplus. It's often recommended to replace the CB's with the more reliable automotive blade fuses of the same amperage.

PRO TIP:

Avoid any military vendor with a point of compass in it's name and you'll automatically save 400% off the price ! Seriously, shop around. Always look to the civilian market first (surplus is typically very over priced).

New cab latch looks to be about $115-ish depending. Rebuild kits I’ve seen are running close to $50.

I have t looked to close at the sway bar bushings, it just in passing they looked to be all there. I believe the cab bushings may have been replaced. They look surprisingly “fresh”.

Amazingly the CTIS seems to function as advertised. I haven’t tried all the modes, but x-country and back airs down and up just fine.

CBs looked odd size. I did t think automotive blades would fit, but if they do I’m fine with that. Much easier to source.

I know the tires are on borrowed time, but my end game is a 290HP engine on 16.00s. Tried that combo and it was the cats posterior.

I guess first order of business is get some non functional lights going because I have to have that inspection before I can get the title transferred.

 

[tgreening]

The military hasn't run the Michelin's for so long they are definitely toast. Replace those.

Each door will require a 15' roll. I bought two 20' rolls (worked great):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0855HX5MS

You sure the latch is "seized"? They require hydraulic pressure to unlock. The AOH pump's usually need to be rebuilt due to one specific seal in them disintegrating. Hand pump should still work though.

Wandering..... check your tie rods and drag links. The boots are usually shot and if they have been that way for a while they may be worn and in need of replacement.

Yes, the actual latch is seized a bit. It’s better than it was after the judicious use of some PBlaster and cycling many times, but its still stiff and not free moving. The red tipped pin that indicates locked/unlocked doesn’t move at all.

The pump works great and as far as I can tell no leaks. Cab raises and lowers fine. Spare tire raises/lowers fine. All that jazz works. Just that cab latch at the moment.

Thanks on the door seals. Thats the info I was looking for.

 

[Ronmar]

Yes auto blade fuses will plug right in. I swapped all mine, and kept one of each size CB as they are handy for troubleshooting. Is this an A0? The A0 uses a mix of 12 and 24v relays with 4 or 5 pins. They fixed this on the A1 which only uses 12v relays. Only buy 5 pin replacements. They will plug in anywhere. Trying to use a 4 pin realy in a 5 pin slot will cause all kinds of issues.

The antiox suggestion is a good one. Failing that, simply unplugging and re-plugging all the power panel components is a good idea to refresh all the connections.

Drop to two batteries. The 4 battery setup is too much for that very expensive 100A alternator.

Mine had 3 of the 4 front brake shoes installed backwards. This damaged the auto adjusters and one side drifted far enough out of adjustment to disable that side(damaged the wedge) and it pulled toward the opposite side…

 

[tgreening]

Yes auto blade fuses will plug right in. I swapped all mine, and kept one of each size CB as they are handy for troubleshooting. Is this an A0? The A0 uses a mix of 12 and 24v relays with 4 or 5 pins. They fixed this on the A1 which only uses 12v relays. Only buy 5 pin replacements. They will plug in anywhere. Trying to use a 4 pin realy in a 5 pin slot will cause all kinds of issues.

The antiox suggestion is a good one. Failing that, simply unplugging and re-plugging all the power panel components is a good idea to refresh all the connections.

Drop to two batteries. The 4 battery setup is too much for that very expensive 100A alternator.

Mine had 3 of the 4 front brake shoes installed backwards. This damaged the auto adjusters and one side drifted far enough out of adjustment to disable that side(damaged the wedge) and it pulled toward the opposite side…

I’m curious on the battery issue. I’m guessing they used 4 batteries to give the truck a deeper capacity to draw from during potential hard start scenarios, like cold weather. In that case what would be the difference if you draw down 2 batteries say .5 volt, or 4 batteries .25 volt? Just pulling numbers out of the arse here, but I imagine you get the gist of what I’m saying.

Oh, it’s a 1998, so A0.

 

[Ronmar]

Well first off the A0 has a 12v vampire load. Which unless disconnected, run regularly or a maintenance charger and balancer installed, will draw down those batts just setting there.

A wet cell wants about 25% of the batteries AH capacity in amps out of the charging source during the bulk(majority) phase of the charging cycle. Since alternators do not limit their output current, they will give all they have trying to meet that demand. For the 4 battery 240AH bank that is 60A. Now if this were a straight 24 system, that would be workable leaving 40A to meet truck loads. Unfortunately this is a dual volt system. With the majority of the loads applied to the 12v side(lights consume 22-26A on a 107. the alt is limited to about 60A @ 12v but still feeds a 240AH@12V set of batteries That is still looking for 60A. So that side is 100% loaded to start with. Add in the lighting load and you are closing in on 150% load. That leaves only 40A on the 24v side feeding another 240AH bank, so another 150% load… A bank that large also takes a while to charge so a long overloaded charging session is in store for that alt if the batteries get behind. This is the kind of engineering issue that class action lawsuits are made of in the real world.

This was such an issue they redesigned the system for the A1 and added the LBCD and disconnect relays. Its purpose is to disconnect the batteries if it cant make rated voltage above 1500 RPM, to save that very expensive alternator… It continues to charge the batteries via an alternate current limited route(trickle charge) and allows the alt to just power the truck loads. Kinda stupid really when a 200A alt would have more easily fixed the issue. They finally got it right with the A1R and its 260A alt, but they also brought in AGM batteries about the same time so it didn’t completely remedy the issue. AGM’s want 45% of the amp hour capacity in amps, so it was probably a good thing they kept the LBCD. AGMs are really a problem when you put them on the A0 trucks. Even a pair of them are too much for the alt. Look at any vehicle y0u own or drive. Compare the alt output to 25% of the battery AH + the vehicle total load. as an example, my 2000 Toyota tacoma has a group 24 battery with about 70AH capacity. It has about 15-20A of electric load when everything is turned on. It has an 80A alternator. 17.5A for the battery + 20A vehicle load is 37A. so my tacoma alt is <50% loaded worst case?

Now if you need to cold soak in Siberia for 30 days before being called in to support combat operations, you might want some reserve capacity(but you really should have an alt designed to support that larger bank). There are better ways to operate in that environment though(arctic heater kits…). Cat specced a pair of group 31(100AH) batteries for these engines. If those won’t start the truck under your conditions, then you need to address those conditions directly instead of throwing more battery at it…

 

[Lostchain]

Truck wanders quite a bit, but rubber seems decent and fairly evenly worn. Any directions there?

To echo what others have said about the tires; my original 2003 rubber looked pretty good to me. Took the truck to the sand one time and all the polishing action on the sidewalls made the tires look darn near new to me. I felt pretty good about them, but on another trip to the coast I noticed a crack forming on the sidewall. I was already most of the way to the beach so I decided to continue on. Long story short that crack continued to progress to total tire failure.
Learning how to change a tire on your LMTV for the first time on the side of a highway by yourself is not ideal.

 

[Hummer Guy]

To echo what others have said about the tires; my original 2003 rubber looked pretty good to me. Took the truck to the sand one time and all the polishing action on the sidewalls made the tires look darn near new to me. I felt pretty good about them, but on another trip to the coast I noticed a crack forming on the sidewall. I was already most of the way to the beach so I decided to continue on. Long story short that crack continued to progress to total tire failure.
Learning how to change a tire on your LMTV for the first time on the side of a highway by yourself is not ideal.

View attachment 884960

The runflat was removed? I caught a flat in my humvee and drove it back home on the runflat

 

[Lostchain]

The runflat was removed? I caught a flat in my humvee and drove it back home on the runflat

Not sure what a runflat is but I have had 7 of these tires apart now and none had anything other than the inner beadlock in them. The rims looked to have never been disassembled, paint was completely unmolested on the beadlock threads, among other signs they came that way from the factory.

 

[tgreening]

Does anyone have the box on the driver side that houses the windshield wiper fluid reservoir they'd be willing to part with? Mine is roached and probably easier to replace than fix.

I got all my lights operating enough to pass inspection, though the lousy BMV decided to take today off as well, so that was a trip wasted. I'm pulling/pounding out some dents and dings, but that box is pretty tweaked. As is the front bumper. That's going to need removing and beat severely with a BFSH to straighten back out.

After that I'll move on to my wandering steering (not bad actually) and hard-ass pull to the left upon braking. Annnnd a concerning oil drip that naturally didnt show up till the morning after I parked it in my driveway after driving it home from the truckstop where I picked it up. And now I can watch it drip while it idles. Let the fun begin!

 

[Ronmar]

Does anyone have the box on the driver side that houses the windshield wiper fluid reservoir they'd be willing to part with? Mine is roached and probably easier to replace than fix.

I got all my lights operating enough to pass inspection, though the lousy BMV decided to take today off as well, so that was a trip wasted. I'm pulling/pounding out some dents and dings, but that box is pretty tweaked. As is the front bumper. That's going to need removing and beat severely with a BFSH to straighten back out.

After that I'll move on to my wandering steering (not bad actually) and hard-ass pull to the left upon braking. Annnnd a concerning oil drip that naturally didnt show up till the morning after I parked it in my driveway after driving it home from the truckstop where I picked it up. No drips on the semi-trailer, none under it while I let it idle at the truck stop, and none while idling in my driveway. But next morning, puddle. And now I can watch it drip while it idles. Let the fun begin!

Which side is the drip on?

 

[tgreening]

Which side is the drip on?

it’s between the engine/transmission and seems to have spread evenly left and right of center. The main drip is almost directly above the driveshaft, dropping square on the Ujoint. I can’t tell if it’s the oil pan gasket, or actually is coming from between the engine/tranny. That would likely be a rear main, and that would suck.

 

[RRaulston]

Yes auto blade fuses will plug right in. I swapped all mine, and kept one of each size CB as they are handy for troubleshooting. Is this an A0? The A0 uses a mix of 12 and 24v relays with 4 or 5 pins. They fixed this on the A1 which only uses 12v relays. Only buy 5 pin replacements. They will plug in anywhere. Trying to use a 4 pin realy in a 5 pin slot will cause all kinds of issues.

The antiox suggestion is a good one. Failing that, simply unplugging and re-plugging all the power panel components is a good idea to refresh all the connections.

Drop to two batteries. The 4 battery setup is too much for that very expensive 100A alternator.

Mine had 3 of the 4 front brake shoes installed backwards. This damaged the auto adjusters and one side drifted far enough out of adjustment to disable that side(damaged the wedge) and it pulled toward the opposite side…

Ronmar, I plan on doing as you suggest and replace my A0 breakers with fuses. One thing I ran into is in TM 9-2320-366-24P-1 FIGURE 54 sheet 5 of 7, there are 2ea. breakers #75. When I scroll down to P. 54-3, #75 appears to be a hex nut? What's the amp rating on the two #75 breakers?

 

[Ronmar]

Ronmar, I plan on doing as you suggest and replace my A0 breakers with fuses. One thing I ran into is in TM 9-2320-366-24P-1 FIGURE 54 sheet 5 of 7, there are 2ea. breakers #75. When I scroll down to P. 54-3, #75 appears to be a hex nut? What's the amp rating on the two #75 breakers?

Under the power panel cover there is a diagram with all the breaker amp ratings and relay part numbers. I don’t think there is a breaker 75, at least not on my diagram…

 

[Ronmar]

it’s between the engine/transmission and seems to have spread evenly left and right of center. The main drip is almost directly above the driveshaft, dropping square on the Ujoint. I can’t tell if it’s the oil pan gasket, or actually is coming from between the engine/tranny. That would likely be a rear main, and that would suck.

There is a drain plug back there on the bottom of the bell housing on a cover plate. It also has a threaded hole to store the drain plug when removed. Is that plug hole open?