The 10x10 pls is home!

[paradeduty]

Pictures at the Salute to the Vets

Just wanted to add some pictures of the PLS at the Ypsilanti Street Rod Club's "Salute to the Vets" Show that they had at Riverside Park, Ypsilanti, MI a couple of weekends ago. Great time had by all! Dave.

 

[jstier]

Awsome.

 

[paradeduty]

Loading the PLS Flatrack!

Well, finally made the time/got up the courage to see if the PLS Load Handler is operational. Had the Flatracks stored on a trailer that I am going to need for a job in a couple of days - so no better time or reason! Not a lot of pictures of the actual lift off of the trailer as I was by myself until the wife got home and I had enough "pucker effect" going on. The Load Handler worked great! Sorry if it seems like there are a lot of pictures, but it was a pretty eventful day for my little world! Enjoy, Dave. P.S. - by the time all is said and done, the bed of the Flatrack is right at 6 feet off the ground!

 

[paradeduty]

Loading Flatrack

Raising "Grapple Hook", Backing up to Flatrack, and Starting the Lift.

 

[paradeduty]

Finishing the Lift and Setting the Flatrack Down.

Wife had gotten home by now and she took over taking pictures! What a gal!

 

[71m109a3]

Thanks for posting the pictures. That thing is awesome!!!

 

[islandguydon]

I had a chance to sit in this beast in Ypsi a few weeks ago. This machine is bad to the bone..!

 

[paradeduty]

Hey Don!

By the way, got an e-mail letter from the Ypsi Club for the show. They wanted to thank everyone for bringing out the "big trucks". They said they were a big hit and brought back a lot of memories for the Vets. So, CUDO's to you and Mark for all of your hard work making the trip and getting the trucks ready!

Dave

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

<applause>
I'm not familiar with the Flatracks....

It appears there are three(?) hatches(?) in the deck. Are these storage compartments for rigging, chains, etc.???

 

[Jones]

Hey paradeduty, Just tried to PM you and got a message saying your mailbox is full and needs to be cleared before receiving any more.

 

[Jesse6325]

I just noticed the dual voltmeters a couple of pages back,, Does it have a DUVAC charging system? If it does I MIGHT have some spare electrical parts that came off of a couple of Oshkosh T6 firetrucks if you want them.

 

[Derrickl112]

Now try loading one onto the m1076!

 

[Bob H]

The pictures are faked!. I won't believe it unless I see it at the show in Oscoda next month!!!

 

[paradeduty]

Hey Guys -

First, the (3) "hatches" are just very shallow storage bins for straps/binders/etc. I wasn't sure myself until I got on top of the one on the truck. Thought one or more of them might have been access panels for some mystery container or what-not. But no, nothing that mysterious!

Second, I havn't dug real deap into the power supply end of the electrical system yet. From what I have read, I believe that it may have a 24 to 12 volt converter. It has quite a big heat sink and control assembly mounted next to the driver's side engine cover. I'll have to let you know what I find out. Thanks for thinking of it.

Third, Ah Yes - the PLS Trailer. That one is going to be another story in itself! I guess from what I have read, you are supposed to load a rack on the truck, then hitch up the trailer, then offload the rack from the truck onto the trailer, then unhitch the trailer, then load another rack onto the truck, and then hitch back up the trailer. Sounds like a lot of work! There would be no choice if I was loading full racks, but I am just loading empty ones (about 4,000 lbs) so I will probably cheat and just lift it onto the trailer with the crane and call it a day! The crane maxes out at either 4500 or 5300 lbs - either way it can only do them basically empty.

Fourth, FAKED PICTURES !! I didn't think that ever happened ! Just kidding. I would love to make it to Oscoda, but I think my schedule with the construction season underway and the TACOM show on my heels is going to keep me pretty local for a bit.

Fifth, Yup - falling behind on my house cleaning of my PM account. Thanks, I'll get right on it.

All I do know is - You stand up on that bed and you are WAY up there! Higher than you might think. The surface of the Rack is only maybe 2-1/2 or 3 feet below the height of the roof of the cab of the PLS!

Dave

 

[Trainman]

Absolutely awesome vehicle! Love the pics. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Doubled]

That is so cool!!!

 

[maddawg308]

You're a heckuva lucky guy to have something this awesome! In size and coolness!

I've seen piles of Mk48s, a few HEMTTs, but never any PLS on GL, I must've missed this one. Get a M1076 trailer and you'll have the biggest MV/trailer combo at any SS rally!

 

[Jesse6325]

Yup, The big heat sink thing sure sounds familiar,,, The DUVAC on the T6 firetruck was a wierd pain in the rear. It'd boil one battery and not charge the other one time, Then boil the other battery. Then both, Then wouldn't charge either one! The way it was SUPPOSED to work was that it would chage batt "A" to about 14 volts then switch to batt"B" . Total system voltage was supposed to be 28 volts. I think the idea behind the DUVAC was that you could have a 12V alternator and most of your electrics and only use 24 V to spin the starter.
I think we still have the operators manual for it in our files somewhere (the DUVAC) if you want a copy.

 

[paradeduty]

Hey Jesse,

Sounds like it might be the same. Time will tell. I do know that the PLS uses (used) the electronic version of the Detroit Diesel 8V92TA (they were able to get it up to 500 HP by doing so and probably saved a few drops of fuel). Very possible that when they designed all of the electronics, they did so for 12 volt for the civillian market and decided to leave it the same for the PLS (and probably the HET's, too). I guess they didn't have enough of the CUCV electrical system! If it ever frys, it might be easier to swap out/convert the starter to a 12 volt, remove/disable the slave receptacle, and set up the batteries for parallel 12 volt. But hopefully, that is a ways off.

Dave.

 

[emmado22]

The CROP flatrack fits very nicely inside a 20 foot Conex, as that is what they were designed to do. It was a good concept, but I've never heard or see it being used like the TACOM andd ammo people briefed back in 1997. Also the only difference between the basic version and the A1 version is the manufacturer....