Newbie with an M813A1

[JungleBiker]

Hi everybody, quick introduction--I'm an American living and working in Papua New Guinea. Normally I am a motorcycle and small engine mechanic, but the organization I work for is in need of a big all-wheel drive cargo truck. We looked into buying one locally, but it was going to cost us $90,000 for a Toyota or Hino 4x4. When I heard about that I recommended getting an ex-Army M813A1 from the US. I was told to look into it and ended up buying a reconditioned one from SECO for under $20,000. It is being shipped here next month and so now I am looking into gearing up to support this thing.

So can anybody help me out with these questions?

1. are MIL spec oils really the best? What kind of oils have people here found work best for daily use? Ours is equipped with the 250 hp Cummins diesel engine and 5 speed Rockwell transmission.

2. most of the places we will be using this truck are rough dirt roads. There could be a fair amount of river crossings and mud holes to drive through. Thankfully, ours is equipped with the 25,000 lb winch. Is there anybody here who uses their M813 primarily off-road or on bad condition dirt roads? What kinds of failures should we be expecting under this kind of usage?

3. what are the best modifications to make for daily use in a civilian environment?

Thanks!

P.S. out of curiosity, what kind of mileage can we expect with this truck?

 

[Armada]

Welcome to the family JungleBiker! Congrats on the new truck. Be sure to post pics when you get it!

As far as oil, most people buy over the counter from the local auto or farm store. I use Rotella as do many others.

You should have very few off road failures as that is what the trucks were designed for. I don't know what SECO's reputation is on their reconditioning, but as long as you keep up the recommended service intervals you should be fine.

As far as modifications, I guess most would be related to comfort. Like maybe a couple small electric fans mounted in the cab to circulate the air while slow going, add a couple fire extinguishers, you may want to replace the seats with something more comfortable, maybe boots over the shift levers to help seal out the engine heat. Carry as many tools and extra parts as you can and get extra rigging to go with the winch, like pulleys, straps, etc.

Others will chime in with more info.

 

[jwaller]

about 5mpg I would imagine or maybe worse depending on how much you load or overload it. Roy is a friend of mine I had lunch with him last friday.

 

[dma251]

I would seriously consider swapping to 14-20 super singles with 2-piece combat-style wheels. I think they will be far better offroad. Plus you can service them a lot easier.

Also get yourself a handful of extra winch shear-pins and throw them in the glovebox. Get a airline with a gladhand on the end so you can run airtools while out in the field.

Put a small davit or manually operated crane in the bed, so you can get the spare tire up and down at the very least.

 

[JungleBiker]

Thanks guys--there's some good advice there. I had already specified the 14.00 x 20 super single tires, but I don't know what kind of rims they were installed on. I've asked the guys who are packing it up to ship it to me to take some photos--as soon as I get them I'll post them here.

Anybody else got more advice?

 

[No.2Diesel]

JungleBiker said "Anybody else got more advice?"

Yeah watch out for those Cannibals!!

-Keep it under 2,100 rpm!!!
-Understand and know how to properly operate the winch (manuals on this site) before trying to use it
-Get a KenTool Geared lug wrench so that you don't need air tools

 

[CUCVFAN]

Always shift into 1st after reverse. Never go right to second or other forward gear from reverse. Don't drift backwards when starting off. The sprag doesn't like it.

Download the operator manual from this site and spend some time with it. Also, look at PS magazine articles on the 800 series.

jwaller...Who is Roy?

 

[poppop]

Junglebiker, welcome aboard!!! They are great and very tough trucks. I second all the advice above. I use Rotella 10W40 in mine because that is what is stenciled under the hood. In my farm experience as long as you use good quility lubicants with the correct specifcation you will be fine.

 

[CCATLETT1984]

since your far from parts suppliers, I'd recommend getting some extra wheel seals and hub bearings to have on hand. (having a downed truck because of no parts sucks).
Also keep an extra primary fuel filter in the truck.

 

[JungleBiker]

Thanks guys! I asked Byron at SECO for recommendations on spare parts and so I've already got a couple of extra sets of wheel seals in with the other spares I have coming. D-oh! I didn't think of hub bearings, maybe I better get back in touch with Byron... I do have extra fuel filters, however. My ideal of course is to have enough parts on hand to minimise down time while at the same time not having millions tied up in inventory.

Thanks for the advice on the manual--the truck is coming with maintenance and operators manuals on CD-Rom and I've alreay downloaded all 413 pages of the operating manual (TM 9-2320-260-10 I think?) and another 35 pages or so of the lubrication order. I wanted the operating manual so that I would know how to start the thing when it gets here. I'm hoping to be the one who gets to drive it up from the port city of Lae to where we are in the Eastern Highlands. There's one river crossing on the way and always the potential for hostiles in a few areas. In the 6 years that I have lived here I've never been held up on the road, but lots of my co-workers have. More bandits, (they are called "rascals" here), than cannibals these days. Like many countries where guns control is pretty strict, only the bad guys have guns, so that makes things fun, too.

As for oil, it looks like we may be using the same Castrol RX Super (15W40) that we use in our big Cummins generators. Any thoughts on that?

ALSO, does anybody have any tips on how to put an M813A1 into a shipping container? My friends in NC who are shipping this thing for me are really scratching their heads on how to make it fit. Looks like they might take the bed off, the front fenders, the front bumper, pull off a few other bits, put 6 skinny rims and tires on it and try to put it in, but the front axle might be 5 inches too wide! We have to get the whole thing down to 92 inches wide. Anybody doen this before? For security reasons I'd much rather put it in a shipping conatainer than not.

 

[BKubu]

The Castrol oil you mention is perfectly fine. Asking guys about oil is like asking guys about truck manufacturers...Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge. If you like one, that is the only way to go. I like Rotella as much as the next guy, but I've also had great service from Mobil Delvac and Valvoline. I've never used Castrol, but I think it will be fine.

 

[JungleBiker]

Nobody has any ideas on how to ship an M813A1? I need to try to get it into a shipping container.

 

[cranetruck]

Guess it would depend on the size of the container.....

 

[swbradley1]

Welcome to the site and you are already off to a good start, you spelled Cummins correctly.....

 

[JungleBiker]

LOL thanks swbradley1. We're pretty familiar with the Cummins engines here--in fact the Cummins was one of the reasons why we wanted the 5 ton. There are Cummins dealers in-country, so we might possibly be able to get some parts for it here. Can anybody tell me if the NHC250 engine (or other versions of it) are used in any commercial applications or is this a one-off military engine?

Got some disappointing news--turns out the truck was delivered without the winch I specified. It's not going to be nearly as useful to us without the winch. I'm trying to get that sorted out now. Hopefully our supplier will be able to come up with one. Am I right in assuming that a WO/W can be converted to a W/W just by bolting on the right parts?

I did get something wrong earlier in this thread--I said it had a Rockwell tranny when I think it's really a Spicer. Sorry to any purists out there!

 

[JungleBiker]

Just posted some pics of one of my neighbor's Ural trucks that he uses to haul coffee out of some pretty remote areas if anybody is interested in that sort of thing.

 

[jblack6527]

A wo/w can be converted to a w/w with the right parts. You would need at least the pto, driveshaft, winch, mounting plates, possibly a bumper. I'm not real familiar with stuff like that, but that would be the basics I'm sure.
Where might you have posted those pics of the ural? I would be interested in seeing those..

 

[JungleBiker]

Ural pics are in the photo gallery. Look for "Ural coffee hauler".

 

[madsam]

The NHC250 is the same as the old commercial 250 as I understand it. It is almost the same as the 400 except it does not have turbo or oil cooled pistons for a turbo, as I understand it.

I get about 5mpg on the highway with my m816 wrecker that weighs 36k.

I use a breaker bar and a long cheater pipe to get the wheels off. It is tough, but I am heavy enough to force the issue.

I don't know of any way to get the front axle thiner easley, except take it off. I hope you don't have to take the whole thing apart to ship it.

About the winch, you said a 45k winch. the 5t has a 25k winch on the front if it has one. The 45k winch is usually on the wrecker on the back. The 10Ton has a 45k winch on the front. There is some people who are putting a 45kwinch on the back of a truck using hydrolic lines. If you have the credibilities to fab things, you can buy 45K winches out there. I have an extra one.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=25979

 

[madsam]

Oh, one last thought. Gov Liquidation does sell trucks out of GUAM. That would be a lot closer than the US for shipping. Although usually they look to need a lot of work. But they seem to go cheep.

( I don't think this is collusion as not many of us are in GUAM. Besides I am not talking about any specific auction.)