"Rescued" M816 Wrecker

[red]

I might get a wrecker, after getting a cargo, just so I have basic shop on wheels. 2 of my friends live on a ranch and it is always a pain to have to do field repairs, having a wrecker would make that easier and the crane would help when building structures.

I've got an old 5 ton dump truck that would suite well on a farm....



Need to get one more set of stakes/bow for the cargo cover then get it cut to size, have a few ideas going through my head on how to use it for a sun shade when working.

 

[Valence]

Maiden voyage with her new owner. I hope he stopped for fuel...

She'll be back though.

https://youtu.be/1egozqbvRm4

 

[Another Ahab]

Maiden voyage with her new owner. I hope he stopped for fuel...

I bet that new owner is one happy camper.

It's hard not to like a wrecker.

Does it sort of feel like sending your own child out into the world?

 

[red]

Stopped for fuel, an initial 35 gallons to top off the driver side tank. Road trip home went well, cruised at 55mph (2000 rpm). Stopped twice to check the hubs/tires by hand. the Passenger side rear hub was a little bit warmer than the others but nothing was hot. Tires are a little out of balance, gives some vibration at 50 but goes away above and below that. I'm hoping that 5mpg was achieved, hopeful! It does have the air intake upgraded and I drive with a lighter foot than many. Never had to downshift on the highway, stayed at 2000rpm on the rolling part of the interstate through Salt Lake City. Dropped to 1600 rpm at the point of the mountain between SLC and Lehi.

Truck is not a powerhouse as expected, but seems to handle itself well. Foot is barely on the throttle when rolling down the highway at 4-5k ft elevation. Positive that the injection pump has been adjusted before, at least the governor. I was normally shifting at 2100rpm. Revved it up once while in 3rd gear and I took my foot off the throttle when it hit 2500rpm with no defueling or loss of power. I know these motors don't like being revved past 2200.



Used the wrecker soon as it got to the house in Lehi haha. Moving out of that house (rental) into another one and I have this DT466 engine sitting around, waiting for a project.

 

[red]

Well fired the truck up this morning to join in a parade, no issues with the truck. From Valence's house to the new storage location is 55.xx miles. When leaving his place I filled the driver side tank up to 1" below the mount for the chain that holds the fuel cap. Topped off the fuel before heading out and had a bit of a shock. Only took 10 gallons to top off the tank. Both fill stations are on pretty level ground, so that means I'm at roughly 5.5mpg on the highway with an 816 and NHC250 engine. Considering was expecting 3-4 I'm very happy.

 

[Another Ahab]

The wrecker always looks great.

And that staff car is something special too; WWII vintage?

 

[Valence]

That's awesome! Only a week of freedom and you're already parading it around.

 

[red]

The wrecker always looks great.

And that staff car is something special too; WWII vintage?

That's one of the vehicles Wade and his family has. 1941 or 42 model.

 

[wcuhillbilly]

5 mpg is not bad, I got about 7mpg out of mine roading it back from Colorado 2 years ago. but Im figuring my IP is needing a rebuild with all thats going on with it not responding to the dual fuel, and the taching out at 1800. Good luck with it.

 

[red]

Thanks, will be putting it to use more and more as time goes on haha. Will keep an eye out for a set of jake brakes, when off the throttle the truck basically coasts. My old m35a2 would slow down significantly when off the throttle, not so much with this truck.

Planning to replace the crane cable soon. Surface rust all over the cable and some signs of wear so figure replace it before something really heavy is lifted. Thinking of going with synthetic Amsteel Blue cable.

 

[The King Machine]

Looking Good Red!

 

[red]

Drove the truck down to Orem to help out Wade and his family with a engine/transmission install. Arrived a little after 7pm. We rolled the engine out of the garage, removed the radiator and overflow tank, installed engine/transmission, then reinstalled the radiator and overflow tank and cleaned up by 10pm.

Most accurate and easy to use engine hoist I've ever operated haha.

 

[Another Ahab]

Drove the truck down to Orem to help out Wade and his family with a engine/transmission install.

Most accurate and easy to use engine hoist I've ever operated haha

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A wrecker and a DUKW together, and with a mountain backdrop:

- It can't get ANY better than that.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Drove the truck down to Orem to help out Wade and his family with a engine/transmission install. Arrived a little after 7pm. We rolled the engine out of the garage, removed the radiator and overflow tank, installed engine/transmission, then reinstalled the radiator and overflow tank and cleaned up by 10pm.

Most accurate and easy to use engine hoist I've ever operated haha.

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That's what I call "Using the right tool for the job."

 

[red]

Friday afternoon drove the wrecker to a car show, not used in the normal way at one of these events. Mtn Snow and Greg were using their vehicles as a stage for the event, the m816 was used to hold the camo netting to provide shade. I spent the night sleeping on a hammock strung between 2 of the wrecker's outriggers, worked great.









Saturday afternoon the rain started coming down pretty well, wrapped up the show early. During a break in the rain afterwards drove the wrecker and my m103 trailer to Valence's place to pick up some more of my heavy stuff. The locked up LDT from the old deuce, 5th wheel plate, and T-1138 tcase. Also aquired Valence's windshield wiper blades from his deuce

 

[red]

With the good weather today went out to the wrecker to take care of some things. Unloaded the stuff off the trailer with the crane first then packed up the crane for awhile. With the bed stake pockets I havent been able to use the rear passenger side because it was partially covered, used the torch to open up the hole and made it usable. Reinstalled the cargo cover over the crane.

Also did some test fitting for tool/equipment storage. Awhile ago I purchased a tool box from Castle Bravo for a M931 tractor and decided to see how well it would fit on the wrecker behind the passenger side fuel tank. Almost looks like it was made to go there.













Don't want a bunch of smaller things rolling around in the bed, mix of security and safety with that regard and storage space accessability on the wrecker kinda sucks haha. I'm using the small rear wheelwell compartments for the towbar accessories (air hoses, feet, pins, trailer cable) and they fit well back there. This lower compartment will be used for either the rigging gear, snatch blocks, or maybe the winter cover and spare parts bin (wheel bearings, wheel cylinder.....). Not sure which yet.

 

[red]

Bit more productive after dinner. Made me a 50ft airline with gladhand adapter so fired up the truck and used the air drill to run 2 holes for the box. So it's loosely mounted for now with 2 3/8" bolts run through the angle iron support in the middle of the box. Figure I'll use a total of 6 bolts with 2 pieces of strap steel run along the length in the upper box, and 2 more pieces of strap steel run along the width in the lower box. As it sits right now it held my weight standing on it

 

[MtnSnow]

Looks good Red!

 

[red]

Figured I should go ahead and update the list

M816 Wrecker List


Repairs:
Front engine oil leak
Transmission output gasket and seal
Power divider rear seal
Change all oils and brake fluid-halfway
Replace brake hoses (have them)-halfway
Repair cab hardtop
Rewire crane lights
Front winch cable replacement
Tire chains
Sandblast and repaint complete truck
Reseal windshields
Rear spades-on the way
Medium tow bar-on the way
Replace valve cover gasket (have them)

Upgrades:
Spin on Engine oil filters (have them)
Spin on fuel filters (have them)
Updated Crane PTO shaft
Secure and plumb extra air tanks (have them)
Parking brake upgrade
Jake brakes
Turbo
Dual fuel line mod
Run front marker lights with headlights
Mount front LED lights (have them)
Anchor super single spare tire
Side access tool box
Organize chain storage
Front bumper boxes
Insulate and seal cab
Small tag winch on rear of truck (have winch)
On board welder
Rear cargo cover (modify current cover to fit)

 

[Another Ahab]

Figured I should go ahead and update the list

How are you going to tackle the sequence (the priority):

- Is there a plan?

Or, maybe it's the advanced method I usually end up using, like this!?