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Nice job on the hat! We didn’t get snow but over 2” of rain yesterday. I didn’t even try to move “ole Blue”. She currently doesn’t have the front axles or driveshaft but that’s next on the maintance list.
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What did you do to your deuce this week?
- Thread starter Seth_O
- Start date
Thanks Dutch! Kinda makes me look like Cary Grant don't ya think!!! I hope you can get to your axles soon. I did my front brakes, bearings, seals, and boots this Summer so I'd be ready for inspection and snow. I know you must be anxious to get started.
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Hey Owen, at least you have a propeller beanie... Sometimes it helps to reach up and spin it to wake up the old bean
Brutus wasn't about to let you down. He just needed to let you "stress" for a minute or two. It truly is amazing what a difference more wheels pulling will do to get you out of a tight spot...Maybe that situation is why the new vehicles are all wheel drive all the time. It takes less brain power behind the wheel if the truck does all the thinking.
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Hi Tim! Yeah, I treasure my beanie. Always wanted one as a kid. Today was weird. It started out as a foot of powder snow, but by the time I got to Brutus' area, the sun was out and it was in the 30s. All the snow turned wet and heavy right where I park him. It became slick. Yeah, the front axle does a lot for a Deuce. He moved right out like a bulldozer.
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That dastardly air shift lever. LOL, it happens.
Not to mention the time when I was a NEWBIE Deuce owner sitting in a parking lot with a truck that would not move. I thought, "Damn, did I blow the clutch? Was working fine a minute ago." The transfer case lever had popped into neutral. I must have hit it with my hand. Imagine my great relief when I figured it out. I realized then, that the force of a small rodent cough was enough to move the lever to neutral.
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Ah yes, but the days of a metal lever moving a metal rod to a metal connection on the transfer case... HOW SWEET THAT IS. Hey, but if we put it on a cable, the cable will break if it isn't greased (and eventually stretch even if it is) and that means more parts sold. Never thought I would see military vehicles built to civilian "broken parts means service" standards.
Sure seems to me like that is what I am discovering on my 36 year old sweetie....
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Well, I actually like the metal lever moving metal rod thing. My lever really is loose as a goose though. I thought about making a metal detent for it. Sort of a plate with a notch to hold it in high range. I never looked to see if the high/low lever moves much due to transfer case movement. I'll have to check it out. What kinds of things make you think that "broken parts mean service" as it applies to your wrecker?
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I just don't quite understand how a cable can be as good as a metal handle and linkage. By the left of the drivers seat, I have a PTO on off that is cable driven. Sometimes it works like a dream. Other times not so much. I found a grease fitting and shot it full over several days. Maybe I just WANT it to be better since I did that and maybe "better" is my imagination. The High / Low to the transfer case is like a mush box. I bump and play and cuss and sometimes it will actually let me drive the truck! Goes into neutral really well so the crane will function.
I dunno. Maybe I was just being a GOM (Grumpy Old Man). Still, it seems that from 1944 to 1984 things got fixed that weren't really broken. A metal linkage beats a cable every time in my brain. The only time cable is better is when you can't get a straight shot to the thing that needs to be "pushed or pulled".
Again, just my opinion. It might be easier to hunt down a problem with an extra hand in the seat - and me under the truck. As it is now I push or pull, climb down, look, climb up, push or pull, climb down and hope I spot something. It makes fixing things take a LOT longer than it should. And cold weather slows that entire process!
It could be worse though... I could just not have a toy to play with at all
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Years ago we used to make a metal plate on a hinge to keep the winch from getting knocked into gear. I would bet the possibilities of a high range lock plate are pretty good. Needs to fit the lever pretty close so it can't get bumped half way between high and neutral, but I bet that could easily be done.
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Also factor in the ape operator problem. A solid lever with solid linkage operated by a 250 lbs moron can impart forces able to cause expensive breakage.
A cable or air operated shifter limits (but not eliminates) the damage the ape can cause.
The quest for idiot proof systems causes nature to produce better idiots.
Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk
A cable or air operated shifter limits (but not eliminates) the damage the ape can cause.
The quest for idiot proof systems causes nature to produce better idiots.
Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk
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Yessir. I guess that pretty much sums it up cattlerepairman .
Breaking stuff never got us out of any sort of work and generally "a broken something" caused manual labor. I wonder if "back in the day" a truck was assigned to a particular person - and that person caught lots of grief if it got torn up...?
I mostly agree. The air shift transfer case mechanism is a great example. It's easy to operate. The air valve made it practical to include the integral switch for the in/out light , which is valuable information for the driver. The cylinder itself is easy to replace. I've replaced mine. The parking brake cable is an example of how cable operated linkages can go wrong. I replaced mine, because the cable itself froze to it's inner jacket making it impossible to operate the drum brake. I've got the feeling it may be happening again, because yesterday I noticed the handbrake lever was pretty hard to pull up. There's really no way to lubricate it and it's a pain to change without a soldier B.
Good question. I think sometimes they were assigned Stateside, but maybe not in a war zone.
Tim, your issues with the transfer case and pto sound like "lost motion" problems to me. I would look for a way to remove/adjust out a reasonable amount of slop in the linkage or cable. I rebuilt my parking brake because I thought the drum components were making it hard for me to apply the brake. When I took the cable off, I found that the drum components worked just fine. It was the cable that was seized. It took me much longer to figure that out than it should have. Partially because it got harder to operate gradually until one day when I couldn't move the brake lever with a 2" diameter pipe foot and a half long cheater. I hear you about getting grumpy. I do myself sometimes. And I definitely understand the up/down two hundred times without a "Soldier B" thing too.I just don't quite understand how a cable can be as good as a metal handle and linkage. By the left of the drivers seat, I have a PTO on off that is cable driven. Sometimes it works like a dream. Other times not so much. I found a grease fitting and shot it full over several days. Maybe I just WANT it to be better since I did that and maybe "better" is my imagination. The High / Low to the transfer case is like a mush box. I bump and play and cuss and sometimes it will actually let me drive the truck! Goes into neutral really well so the crane will function.
I dunno. Maybe I was just being a GOM (Grumpy Old Man). Still, it seems that from 1944 to 1984 things got fixed that weren't really broken. A metal linkage beats a cable every time in my brain. The only time cable is better is when you can't get a straight shot to the thing that needs to be "pushed or pulled".
Again, just my opinion. It might be easier to hunt down a problem with an extra hand in the seat - and me under the truck. As it is now I push or pull, climb down, look, climb up, push or pull, climb down and hope I spot something. It makes fixing things take a LOT longer than it should. And cold weather slows that entire process!
It could be worse though... I could just not have a toy to play with at all
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Years ago we used to make a metal plate on a hinge to keep the winch from getting knocked into gear. I would bet the possibilities of a high range lock plate are pretty good. Needs to fit the lever pretty close so it can't get bumped half way between high and neutral, but I bet that could easily be done.
Upon further thought I have to clarify something. After pulling up the handbrake handle with a pipe cheater the truck would still roll away. Not good. I had put new linings on and cleaned up and greased the pins. I adjusted the shoe to drum clearance or so I thought. Brutus still wouldn't stay put. I finally realized, that (since the cable was frozen) the only thing I was doing while pulling on the cable was turning it and it's jacket into a pretzel. Not pulling on the brake arm fulcrum arm at all. The cable was the problem. The shoes, drum, and adjustment were not.
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I seem to recall a zerk fitting in the ebrake cables right above the toolbox. I could be wrong.
No. There isn't one to my knowledge Recovry. At least not on my M35A2. The ebrake cables have a connector for the handbrake lever on one end and a sort of ball to engage the brake band lever on the other. There really isn't any way to lube it. I wish the inner lining of the cable jacket had been coated with Teflon or something to prevent sticking or corrosion.
Yet another correction. The cable jacket at the drum end is clamped to a fixed bracket. The actual cable end has threads to screw the brake adjustment nut onto. In any case, you can't remove the cable from the jacket to lube it. Sorry about the corrections. It's been two or so years since I fixed it. I actually think I posted it somewhere with pictures. Might have been in "What did you do with your Deuce this week".
