What have you done to your 5 ton this week?

[8madjack]

Pulled some trees and brush out of my Creek with it, did a little 6 Wheeling, sorry no pics.

Ordered the two rebuild kits for my air dryer, got a pretty good deal on them off of the big auction site.

One has arrived the other one is supposed to arrive Monday. Everything is working fine, but I'm going to rebuild the air dryer and just give everything a good going through it helps me learn more about the truck anyway. I don't know when it was last done and my air does bleed down when it sits for a while and I suspect the purge valve. It passes the colas test and everything else seems fine.

 

[sandcobra164]

Blew a birds nest out of the stack and took the truck for an hour drive in the countryside. Truck only sat a week, birds are working quickly around here.

 

[someoldmoose]

Hey y'all ! ! Been a while since I stopped by because It's been a while since since I actually DID anything to / with the old girl. Life's been "interesting" for the past year or so. Things were starting to get back to abnormal so I thought I'd pay some attention to the ole' M820. She has been sitting silently where I parked her since last August and has served me well as a residence during that entire time. As I said, life's been interesting. Anyway . . . I decided it was time to see how she was doing mechanically and electrically after her long silence.
Checked all the vital fluids (p/s was still low from when I parked her, all others looked good, although there was a tiny amount of oil floating on top of the coolant at the neck), connected the battery cables ( I had one negative terminal d/c 'd all winter to stop any drain possible ), crawled into the driver's seat, went through the procedures (including a couple pumps of the primer to build fuel pressure for the stert-up - immediate pressure indicated on the gauge) wasn't happy when brake pedal went to the floor (becomes bad ju-ju later) but parking brake seems to hold, batteries to power, switch to start, VRRROOOOOM !
Happy, HAPPY, H A P P Y ! ! ! Oil pressure, great. Air pressure, rising - buzzer off appropriately. Volts - in the green. Checked p/s fluid, turned lock-to-lock a few times and added as needed ( added a bottle of ATP reseal due to the leaking assist ram that caused it to drop during the pick up trip last year ). Recheck all gauges, still all right where they should be, temp starting to come up. Rechecked p/s fluid, level good for now. Closed hood, stowed ladder, did a walk-around to make sure all clear, no leaks apparent. And theeeeennnnnnn . . .

Wanted to creep forward to fill in the holes dug by the front tires. Put her in gear. Transfer case in low. Released clutch slowly to see if parking brake holds. Near stall, good. Released parking brake ( hand still on handle ). Let clutch out slowly . . . Ummmm, why am I moving BACKWARDS ? CRAP ! ! ! ( Pretty sure I yelled another word that starts with an F ) Time slows down and speeds up all at the same time. I make a STUPID MISTAKE and pull the shifter thinking I can catch first gear. WRONG ! ! ! Grinding, increasing panic as I realize I'm still heading for the drop-off behind me. Pulled up on parking brake handle but too late. I'm over the drop-off and into the weeds. I guess the parking brake helped but it was a tree that actually stopped me when it contacted the left rear corner of the body. Shut her down and climb out to see W T F.
( Shaking my head while trying not to punch myself in the face for being SOOOOOO stupid )

(internal monologue begins) OhhhhhKay dummy, so now whatcha gonna do ? Assess, just HOW badly am I stuck ? Small "weedy" tree springpoled under front end. That has to come out before moving forward. Trip to the orange home improvement store ensues to procure a chainsaw ( my 30 year old Craftsman saw gave up years ago ). Saw gotten, used and tree dragged out with my Blazer.
A'ight, let's see if this 6 x 6 monster will come back out on it's own ! NOPE ! Both left duals just a spinnin' while it lurches maybe a coupla inches. Try some rubble stuffing and all the other "get yerself unstuck" tricks that I could at the time. Same result. CRAP ! Time to call the Towing Specialist.

I'll wrap this up by adding that the truck was successfully winched out of the weeds by Patriot - St. Denis Towing. If you ever need a tow while in / near Lancaster, PA or the surrounding area, I HIGHLY recommend them. The 35 ton truck made short work of my situation and they also have bigger ( 50 ton ) and smaller ( wheel lifts / rollbacks ) to handle almost anything. The damage to the body was a lot less than I expected, but there certainly are some repair projects in the future ( B R A K E S ! ! ! being numero Uno ! The "main" door to the body is more concave than originally designed and the lower left corner needs a few love taps with a ball peen hammer but beyond those things and a couple bent brackets, I got off INCREDIBLY easily. I DO have more photos and will add them later. It's now time to crawl in the box, drink a few brews, weep softly to myself, then suck it up, get some sleep and move on to tomorrow.

Moral of the story ? OBVIOUSLY, NEVER, EVER try to move one of these things under power unless the BRAKES ARE WORKING. ​ Don't be as stupid as Someoldmoose. Thank you and Good Night.

 

[MAdams]

The wife and I celebrated 11 years married and she asked to go offloading. That's her driving.

 

[Buffalobwana]

Hey y'all ! ! Been a while since I stopped by because It's been a while since since I actually DID anything to / with the old girl..

The Moose lives! Last I heard you were off to collect the truck and then. ... silence. I thought you had died! I posted a couple times asking if someone knew you or knew what happened to you. Nothing.

Glad to see you are still with us. Check in a little more often ok?

 

[Buffalobwana]

The wife and I celebrated 11 years married and she asked to go offloading. That's her driving.

Sweet! Is that a 931 on 16.00’s with a 105 bed?

 

[Mos68x]

The Moose lives! Last I heard you were off to collect the truck and then. ... silence. I thought you had died! I posted a couple times asking if someone knew you or knew what happened to you. Nothing.

Glad to see you are still with us. Check in a little more often ok?

If I’d seen when you asked I woulda told ya. We check in FBM once in a while, definitely more often than on here lol

 

[Buffalobwana]

No worries. He doesn’t owe me money, so ... I just remember how excited he was about the truck and then he was gone. It didn’t add up. Just glad he’s ok.

 

[71DeuceAK]

No worries. He doesn’t owe me money, so ... I just remember how excited he was about the truck and then he was gone. It didn’t add up. Just glad he’s ok.

One of the things which has kept me in this hobby this long has undoubtedly been the camraderie! I've had people check in on me, even through here, many times and have done/wondered the same...people suddenly disappear and we start to worry!

 

[74M35A2]

MAdams, check out that intake snorkel. Had it been green or black, I would not have caught it. Looks like it can dry clothes as a side-job.

 

[someoldmoose]

Buffalobwana, Still out here, doin' day by day. Appreciate more than I can express that anyone noticed my absence. Life took me for a wild ride starting last July and I've just recently gotten back to abnormal and had the desire to be sociable. I am planning to become more of a presence again on here as I regain my balance and the means to enjoy my big, old girl. Wish my return had been on a happier note but if someone else can learn from my "rookie" mistake then it was worthwhile. I have missed the comraderie and levity this forum often provides. Hope things are well with you and thanks again for thinking of me.

MAdams, that is an awesome looking rig. Really like the short wheelbase look. Hope you have lots of fun with it !

 

[simp5782]

Going to be doing a motor swap on a M931 that was a RRAD rebuild. Has 60 miles on it since the engine rebuild was done. # 6 is clacking so im going to assume its got a bad liner. Especially with the overwhelming fuel smell in the oil with the antifreeze. I will just swap the motor and attempt to rebuild it. Since it has not made it a block full of holes yet.

 

[someoldmoose]

Sixty . . . Six - Zero . . . 60 ? miles Who in the H are they letting work on these things ? That's just abyssmal. I know a liner CAN crack at any moment but what are the odds ? At least when you're done with it it'll be right.

 

[simp5782]

Sixty . . . Six - Zero . . . 60 ? miles Who is the H are they letting work on these things ? That's just abyssmal. I know a liner CAN crack at any moment but what are the odds ? At least when you're done with it it'll be right.

There was an engine builder there that was sabotaging motors on rebuild. I have ran across 2 motors that threw rods thru the block that had the snap ring left out of the wrist pin. Another one that had rod bolts left loose. It was just the pic of the litter on what motors blow up where. One of the last ones only had 12 miles since the rebuild. i am going to get thru this one before it makes the block unusable.

Remember there is absolutely jack crap ZERO quality assurance in the government. They can always buy new or upgrade. The motors operate fine at idle and driving while not under load. The slightest load and they stress and go. Difference between unloaded vs loaded heat. I had one idle at 2000rpms for 2 hours straight. hit the road towbarring another one and it threw a rod in 4 miles.

 

[M35A2-AZ]

Going to be doing a motor swap on a M931 that was a RRAD rebuild. Has 60 miles on it since the engine rebuild was done. # 6 is clacking so im going to assume its got a bad liner. Especially with the overwhelming fuel smell in the oil with the antifreeze. I will just swap the motor and attempt to rebuild it. Since it has not made it a block full of holes yet.

Now that sucks for sure!! Wish you luck with the motor swap. I did one about two years ago and it was not to bad of a job.
I see you have a wrecker for the job, that is what we used to change my motor.

 

[simp5782]

Now that sucks for sure!! Wish you luck with the motor swap. I did one about two years ago and it was not to bad of a job.
I see you have a wrecker for the job, that is what we used to change my motor.

I can have em out in around 2 hours albert. I tend to pull the transmission with it on trucks that aren't equipped with a PTO. Not worth fighting that other crap on a PTO truck. Not too bad. I am anxious for my big cam swap cause my truck has 90percent of the crap already taken off that makes it difficult. So that should be around 10 bolts and out she comes.

Hardest part of the whole swap is those 2 dang nuts on the U bolt holding the shift linkage to the transmission plate. a royal pain

 

[someoldmoose]

Sorry for any possible snow flakiness in the next statement but as a tax payer that just pisses me off. Like I said, I know stuff can break ANY time. Been there, but when it's done willfully that smacks of negligence, dereliction, and possibly even treason. Trashing a $30,000 engine just because you can requisition a new one ? . Oh well, hope the swap goes safe & easy. Your skills are undoubted.

 

[Buffalobwana]

Going to be doing a motor swap on a M931 that was a RRAD rebuild. Has 60 miles on it since the engine rebuild was done. # 6 is clacking so im going to assume its got a bad liner. Especially with the overwhelming fuel smell in the oil with the antifreeze. I will just swap the motor and attempt to rebuild it. Since it has not made it a block full of holes yet.

Wes, how can you tell they rebuilt this engine when they did the RRAD rebuild?

 

[simp5782]

Wes, how can you tell they rebuilt this engine when they did the RRAD rebuild?

Hour meters are always replaced with an engine. Plus its got updated crap on it. It even has the fuel pressure sensor right on the port in the front of the head. That is only on a rebuilt engine. Period. I have only seen it on a few trucks ever. And its moronic cause its not hooked to anything.

I will also add that when certain bolts/nuts are different sizes from the originals it usually means that. Standard military starters on 809 and 939s were 3/4" socket on the big studs. Updated ones are 7/8" socket sizes. Also has the fuel pressure reducer removed which was standard removal on rebuilt engines on the NHC250s. Alternators came with standard 7/16" bolts with a standard fine thread lock nut. Upgraded units with the same alternator have a newer type of locknut on it unlike the standard you would see.

 

[simp5782]

Sixty . . . Six - Zero . . . 60 ? miles Who in the H are they letting work on these things ? That's just abyssmal. I know a liner CAN crack at any moment but what are the odds ? At least when you're done with it it'll be right.

.