Newbie Alert! New LMTV in DFW

[IronhorseTX]

It's taken me some time to pull the trigger on the right rig but it's finally here - we just drove home our M1085A1 project truck. Over time it will turn into an Expedition rig but until then, it's time to update, restore, and replace all those mechanisms that have a reputation of failing. We picked it up in Maryland from a great guy (thank you for all your help!) and drove it back to Dallas over the last 5 days - the initial shake down trip was a success (super lucky). Took back roads for the first half the trip and then freeways the last 2 days with 5hr'ish travel days with stops in: Natural Bridge VA, Gatlinburg TN, West Memphis AR, and Hot Springs AR (with some quality time at the Oaklawn Casino). While we were in Gatlinburg TN enjoying some shine, we had a group of Jeeps come by and leave us a duck on the truck - as they approve of its off-road prowess- that was a fun surprise. It was a huge treat to see the country through that big windshield, the truck cruised the backroads with no problems and on the freeways a constant 60MPH with the engine fan kicking on every 5 mins - BTW that sucker is loud!

For any truckers on this site - THANK YOU for your patience with us in the right lane as we were just casually chugging along.

So now the fun part ~ there are some things that need to get fixed:

1) I've gotta fix the hydraulics -it no workie. The entire hydraulics are dead and I'm debating deleting the spare tire lift and replacing the system with an electric over hydraulic cab tilt system since the spare tire will go somewhere else. Need some experienced folks to tell me if that's a terrible idea or if it's reasonable. I saw that the Acela trucks have it and made me wonder if it was a reasonable upgrade?
2) the CTIS controller is solid red and needs to be replaced. The tires held constant pressure the entire trip and the system seems solid, short of the controller. Curious if any Spicer LMTV controller will work as a 'plug and play' replacement?

Driving the truck back with the Mrs. over the last 5 days, made us appreciate the need for insulation all over the cab, installing A/C, improved seats, and some Eco hubs as later additions. It's funny how 98 degrees and a hot bouncy truck cruising down the road can start a fight with wife with just a casual look - it's like a perfect powder cake for trouble. Also, I want to give a huge THANKS to everyone who posted regarding finding insurance and getting your truck titled in TX. I had to visit two county offices to get it done but for the most part it was drama free.

In the meantime, looking forward to getting to know the truck and the SteelSoliders site better during this journey. If there are any local DFW folks, please reach out! We're hoping to join any local get togethers or meet up!

 

[GeneralDisorder]

That's an "A1R" - get used to calling it that so people know you have a C7 truck when you are asking questions. They are quite different in a number of ways besides being very rare in the civilian world. Welcome to the exclusive club.

What year and what is your serial number?

Lots of people delete the tire carrier. That's fine if that's what you want. You can delete the carrier and the suspension squat cylinders and use an electric pump for the cab. Nothing wrong with that - people do it all the time.

Is that the one @Berend posted on Facebook recently? Looks like the same truck.

 

[IronhorseTX]

Hi General Disorder - would the plate call it an A1R? The plate has it listed as A1. It a 2007. #PT114460EGKT

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Hi General Disorder - would the plate call it an A1R? The plate has it listed as A1. It a 2007. #PT114460EGKT

No the data plates do not say A1R. They always say A1. A1R trucks are serial numbers starting at 100,000 in about 2004.5. All trucks built after the C7 change are A1R and were built by either S&S, Armor Holdings, or BAE. Your truck is most likely a BAE truck. They really cleaned up and fixed a lot of the production problems so our BAE trucks tend to have the highest build quality of the three generations of soft cabs. These trucks got a redesign in anticipation of the armored cab (LTAS) roll out but that never happened. As such they have the armored cab coil-over shocks, and no air ride cab.


When talking about the trucks there are three models in the civilian world. A0, which is the 3116 engine, and WTEC II or sometimes WTEC III transmission. The A1, which is the 3126B engine, and WTEC III transmission. Then the A1R which is the C7 engine, and either WTEC III or WTEC IV transmission. In the TM's they are further broken down into about 20 different serial number ranges on the A1/A1R side. A0 trucks aren't my specialty and don't have IETM's so I'm not sure of the serial number ranges on them.

Your serial number is 114,460. That is important to know for using the IETM's to find part numbers and technical specs and procedures.

The electrical system - primarily the PDP - is quite different on A1R trucks as they have a modular fuse and relay layout. In addition to being a lot more electronic in the gauge and sensor department. The MMDC controls the gauges. You should install some inline filters to protect the fragile pressure transducers in the $1,200 MMDC.

There's a laundry list of difference and changes that were made and these (A1R) trucks are rare in the civilian world. The military is still using most of them and right now since the Ukraine thing they are no longer releasing them to public auction. Currently the one's under Federal control (active duty and reserve components) are being held back at staging sites in case they are needed and we don't know if they will ever be available. They may go to Europe in which case they will never return as they will be surplus to needs as they are unarmored.

 

[Keith Knight]

Interesting read.

 

[Third From Texas]

It's funny how 98 degrees and a hot bouncy truck cruising down the road can start a fight with wife with just a casual look - it's like a perfect powder cake for trouble.

Step 1) Remove all passenger seating (leave driver seat installed)

/solved



Congrats on the truck !

 

[Ronmar]

My what a long truck you have...

Eco hubs will fix the fan cycling every 5 minutes on the highway. Driving a truck above peak torque RPM is like driving with an exhaust brake on. you burn a ton of extra fuel overcoming pumping losses at high RPM that does nothing extra to propel the truck, it just makes heat...

You can remove all the mid structure if you like, I did, including the crane lift arch which I repurposed to extend my single axle floor framing slightly. This allows me to snug the habitat right up to the cab latch(within ~4" of the cab). just enough space left between for air duct to the filter which will be above the cab on the top front of the habitat box.

As for hydraulics, I went all manual for cab lift using a prince wolverine 1.5cu/in hydraulic pump. Dead easy, mount pump and flow control, connect two -4 hoses and done, Brutally simple. it lifts the cab faster than the original AOP did.

Have covered these modifications on my youtube channel, under username Rronmar. The parts to do the manual hydro are ~$200

 

[Keith Knight]

I didn’t know you had a you tube channel, I’ll check it out.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Step 1) Remove all passenger seating (leave driver seat installed)

/solved



Congrats on the truck !

Oh yeah. The seats SUCK and lack of AC.... Those two upgrades help a lot with passenger attitude. I rolled mine home 2,700 miles with an old Army buddy so we had no issues.

 

[IronhorseTX]

Great info! We’re excited to have this truck.

@Ronmar - I’ll check out the videos tonight- thx for the heads up.

The trip itself was a blast, but it definitely gave us an opportunity to test our relationship too, even though we’ve been married 25 years. Lots more questions to come!!!

 

[IronhorseTX]

@GeneralDisorder - wow, 2.7k miles is a hell of a shake down trip!

 

[GeneralDisorder]

@GeneralDisorder - wow, 2.7k miles is a hell of a shake down trip!

Probably ill-advised but I had a bunch of people on speed dial in case I ran into anything and I'm ex-Army Motorpool and a master mechanic on the civilian side plus my Army buddy was a jet mechanic on A-10's before he switched branches. We ran into a couple minor things but made it back in one piece. 50 mph through death valley. Fortunately it was late September.

My truck is a 2008 M1079 A1R. Myself, @Third From Texas, and @AKPacker all have basically identical trucks built within a couple months of each other.

 

[Third From Texas]

Yep. And I drove my 2008 home like I sole it (from AK to S. TX About 900 miles).

The truck had been stored indoors, had 1500 actual miles on it, and I went thru everything prior to hitting the road.
Stayed on the main highways and had heavy tow on the phone for each leg.

Strolled along at 60 mph the whole way.

Of course, this wasn't my first LMTV.
And I'd not advise it with most recoveries.

 

[IronhorseTX]

@Third From Texas - same here, I had a tow and a shipper on standby the entire way!

 

[fuzzytoaster]

Ahhh.. Berend's truck. I swear I saw that one sell in Puerto Rico some time back. Good score on a rare truck indeed.

 

[IronhorseTX]

Here goes the newbie questions: in regards to replacing the CTIS controller, is there a specific kind I should looking for?

 

[Ronmar]

A1R, yes, one configured to properly interface with the data bus. Superman should have one… look at recent thread CTIS electrical smoke…

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Actually any of the FMTV CTIS controllers will work - green or black. The bus is only used *if* you want to hookup the Dana software and they all have J1708 so any of them will work in that regard. If you want to use a 900 series truck controller you can - just have to pull the pins out of the connector on the controller that would otherwise short out the J1939 bus resistors. They will all reconfigure themselves to whatever the the configuration of the truck is setup for via the truck's CTIS sub-harness.

 

[IronhorseTX]

Copy - both the black and green will work. Again, sorry the basic questions, but what’s a 900 series controller? Is that other than the black or green ones?

also, what’s reasonable for a controller as they are priced all over the place between $150 to $700 for the same part.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Copy - both the black and green will work. Again, sorry the basic questions, but what’s a 900 series controller? Is that other than the black or green ones?

also, what’s reasonable for a controller as they are priced all over the place between $150 to $700 for the same part.

900 series A2 trucks had an early version of CTIS. The MTV replaced the 900 series 5 ton. M939A2's had CTIS and it was a real pain in the neck. Often disabled. The wheel o-rings didn't stay in place and they always had flat tires.

I wouldn't pay more than $250 but I'm willing to wait for the right deal to come along. The desirable boxes for us A1/A1R owners are the later black boxes - about 2010 and newer. They tend to be more reliable and they coms well with J1939.