msgjd
Well-known member
- 1,112
- 3,414
- 113
- Location
- upstate ny
busy hauling a jeep trailer full of small parts to jobsites at quarries the day the M38A5 was not feeling well. .. I can't find the older pics of it hauling the M116A2/MEP003A portable welding/compressor trailer which is its usual summer job other than hauling steel pipe, supplies, and a 7T beavertail equip trailer with HD3 dozer or farm tractors / equip .. I will post them in months to come as I organize for estate preparation and come across long-lost things
I purchased this from a nearby town hwy dept who got it via DRMO... They used it to clean intersections, speedy response to scattered drifting, carry their steam jenny, patrol roads, and haul a small equip trailer.. They only had it a couple years, disposed of it because it would quit at times and then one day ceased to run no matter what they did , plus they had burned out Drive plowing (3rd gear).. They also removed their plow and put it on another truck .. I fabricated a pair of fisher-style lower support frames to fit the truck as well as fabbed a new crossframe mount, then i robbed a 1970 fisher hoist, blade, pump and control from a parts truck i had.. It is an armstrong swing. The lower frames i made are 1/2" steel, not OEM 3/8"
When removing a plywood sheet they had laying in the bed I saw a hole they hacked in the bed right above the fuel tank sender .. Yep you guessed it , I next discovered the carburator bowl was full of water .. I pumped about 5 gallons of pure water from the fuel tank and sure enough the sender gasket was bad .. The logic is whenever they went out in a storm the bed got snow in it. .Parked in garage the snow melts and viola, some of it ran into the fuel tank .. I replaced the sender gasket and sealed the bed floor with a perfect-matching small patch i cut from inner wall of a tailgate .. Then i replaced the ailing 727 Torqueflite with a 1975 dana 4-speed standard from one of my parts trucks.. Been over 20 years since and truck has never been a problem, it gets the required maint attention needed by 1970s mopars which have unique quirks i have known since they were brand new.
It likes hanging out in shady woods with other friends on days off.. I have the troop seats for it but they are in very nice shape and remain in storage .. It was to be used in parades with the VFW's and Legion's in neighboring towns but never got the time to participate
It enjoys status as an all-around workhorse but these days it spends its hardest hours plowing snow, most storms require it to work 4-hours to clear the private road as well as keep the general working/parking/storage area clear .. And come springtime as in the below picture, it's used to backdrag & fill any ruts its big friends make . .I have a couple awesome in-cab videos of it opening up a neglected town road buried under 26" of snow during a blizzard but it appears I can't post them directly here. Yes I run tire chains and it pushes like a mad little dozer when need be
I purchased this from a nearby town hwy dept who got it via DRMO... They used it to clean intersections, speedy response to scattered drifting, carry their steam jenny, patrol roads, and haul a small equip trailer.. They only had it a couple years, disposed of it because it would quit at times and then one day ceased to run no matter what they did , plus they had burned out Drive plowing (3rd gear).. They also removed their plow and put it on another truck .. I fabricated a pair of fisher-style lower support frames to fit the truck as well as fabbed a new crossframe mount, then i robbed a 1970 fisher hoist, blade, pump and control from a parts truck i had.. It is an armstrong swing. The lower frames i made are 1/2" steel, not OEM 3/8"
When removing a plywood sheet they had laying in the bed I saw a hole they hacked in the bed right above the fuel tank sender .. Yep you guessed it , I next discovered the carburator bowl was full of water .. I pumped about 5 gallons of pure water from the fuel tank and sure enough the sender gasket was bad .. The logic is whenever they went out in a storm the bed got snow in it. .Parked in garage the snow melts and viola, some of it ran into the fuel tank .. I replaced the sender gasket and sealed the bed floor with a perfect-matching small patch i cut from inner wall of a tailgate .. Then i replaced the ailing 727 Torqueflite with a 1975 dana 4-speed standard from one of my parts trucks.. Been over 20 years since and truck has never been a problem, it gets the required maint attention needed by 1970s mopars which have unique quirks i have known since they were brand new.
It likes hanging out in shady woods with other friends on days off.. I have the troop seats for it but they are in very nice shape and remain in storage .. It was to be used in parades with the VFW's and Legion's in neighboring towns but never got the time to participate
It enjoys status as an all-around workhorse but these days it spends its hardest hours plowing snow, most storms require it to work 4-hours to clear the private road as well as keep the general working/parking/storage area clear .. And come springtime as in the below picture, it's used to backdrag & fill any ruts its big friends make . .I have a couple awesome in-cab videos of it opening up a neglected town road buried under 26" of snow during a blizzard but it appears I can't post them directly here. Yes I run tire chains and it pushes like a mad little dozer when need be
Last edited:
