What have you done to your HMMWV today/lately

[gottaluvit]

Congratualtions on the wins, gottaluvit.

You must have some kind of fleet including these latest new additions to the "family".

Have you maybe got a group shot you can share?!

Not really. They are at two locations. Three counting the HMMWVs that are still on GPs lot for a few more weeks. EUC should go pretty quickly considering my last one from GL, just a few months ago, went through in about ten days.

 

[85 USMC M998]

Airlift bumper's on - solid - 90 ft-lb torque on some of those bolts was a chore. Got RICO tire carrier up today. Waiting for a set of mudflaps sometime this week. Also need to make up another wire leash for the safety pin lock. Have parts, ran into a bit of a time crunch.

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Norm,
I hate to tell you this but...the passenger mudflat is sandwiched between the bumper and spare tire carrier. I just installed mine last week. I used a couple of washers as spacers as the mud flap plate doesn't go across the entire spare tire bracket ( only on the outbound side). When you get the mud flaps it will make sense.
Chris

 

[NormB]

airlift bumper's on - solid - 90 ft-lb torque on some of those bolts was a chore. Got rico tire carrier up today. Waiting for a set of mudflaps sometime this week. Also need to make up another wire leash for the safety pin lock. Have parts, ran into a bit of a time crunch.

Um, yeah. I got the kit two days ago, opened it up yesterday and read the instructions.

Oh well.

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norm,
i hate to tell you this but...the passenger mudflat is sandwiched between the bumper and spare tire carrier. I just installed mine last week. I used a couple of washers as spacers as the mud flap plate doesn't go across the entire spare tire bracket ( only on the outbound side). When you get the mud flaps it will make sense.
Chris

 

[Wire Fox]

Living up to my name last night. Almost everything is cut. Just ran out of daylight and needed one more measurement before cutting the last long wire.

Edit: These are just my notes for myself when I continue working on it this weekend: X-Fer Case Lock Light, Ground to Shunt, Fan Cutout Switch, ENG RPM Bracket Loc., Frequency Converter. Carry on.

 

[Another Ahab]

Living up to my name last night. Almost everything is cut. Just ran out of daylight and needed one more measurement before cutting the last long wire.

Not only cut, but labelled, too. Impressive.

 

[Wire Fox]

Not only cut, but labelled, too. Impressive.

Thank you. My life would be hopeless without those labels. Having 20 loose wires that all look the same without any labels? I don't want to think about it! Now, I do have to say that I love the military wire identification system more than any other. There's zero doubt about where a wire goes when you can grab it, look at a number, and reference that to a unique position on the schematic...no finding the odd wire that has has a blue jacket with a white and brown stripe...and then discovering that there's four of that same wire color pattern, but you have to know which sub-system it links to ahead of time.

The only "ugly" part I've seen so far is when a wire has a connection number change in the middle of its run. I see this on wires that are branched (such as the sensor ground wire, which has a part A, B, C, D, E, F, and G). While it's actually really helpful for building this harness, it gets confusing when trying to trace a wire across a long run from end to end. Also confusing is how sometimes, they seem to be numbering the connector and other times, they seem to be numbering the wire itself, but I don't seem to see any notational differences to this....

 

[bdl]

Hey 85 USMC very nice looking spare tire rack may I ask where you purchased?

 

[infidel got me]

Cut down a 2 man partition and made a 4 man out of it. Will waterproof it later. Cut the triangle end at factory welds, to desired length and re-weld. Looks like original and saved $ 200 plus dollars.

 

[Postman515]

I got this softop gun truck running this morning. Looks to have a new GEP 6.5L they never finished installing.

 

[Victorkilo31]

Thank you. My life would be hopeless without those labels. Having 20 loose wires that all look the same without any labels? I don't want to think about it! Now, I do have to say that I love the military wire identification system more than any other. There's zero doubt about where a wire goes when you can grab it, look at a number, and reference that to a unique position on the schematic...no finding the odd wire that has has a blue jacket with a white and brown stripe...and then discovering that there's four of that same wire color pattern, but you have to know which sub-system it links to ahead of time.

The only "ugly" part I've seen so far is when a wire has a connection number change in the middle of its run. I see this on wires that are branched (such as the sensor ground wire, which has a part A, B, C, D, E, F, and G). While it's actually really helpful for building this harness, it gets confusing when trying to trace a wire across a long run from end to end. Also confusing is how sometimes, they seem to be numbering the connector and other times, they seem to be numbering the wire itself, but I don't seem to see any notational differences to this....

I wish it was as easy on military aircraft. Tiny wires, no individual labels, worn out canon plugs. My 2nd nemesis on them lol

 

[Wire Fox]

Got the last wire cut. Glad I have this incredible amount of excess 16 AWG wire left! [/sarcasm]. Still, I didn't run out, so there's something to be said for measure twice, cut once. I did catch two or three measuring mistakes by measuring twice that otherwise would have cost me big in having to order a second spool.

Still, I thought it would be neat to test the flame resistance of the jacket, so I clipped off a tiny piece at the end of the spool and tried torching it. I kept it on for about 20 seconds of direct torch flame. It does self-extinguish within 1 second of removing flame. As well, I'd say that this wire is vaguely still serviceable, so you could keep running if your vehicle was exposed to similar flame.

 

[FKAM]

Got the last wire cut. Glad I have this incredible amount of excess 16 AWG wire left! [/sarcasm]. Still, I didn't run out, so there's something to be said for measure twice, cut once. I did catch two or three measuring mistakes by measuring twice that otherwise would have cost me big in having to order a second spool.

Nice work. Looks like you have found a good substitute mil grade wire. Or is it mil grade? I've been looking for wire that has the quality of the mil wiring but have had no luck other than cannibalizing old harnesses. Can you share your source of wire and loom?

 

[Mario]

I got my Rhino spare tire carrier installed. Few more small things to fit around the bumper and I'll be ready to take it all apart and clean/paint it.
On odd shaped items like the tire carrier, what's the easiest way to clean them? Should I invest in $100-$200 sandblasting unit from Hazard Freight or attempt chemical stripping?

 

[Victorkilo31]

I'm still debating on a tire carrier for my truck. I'm leaning towards the rhino but there pricey from what I can find. Wondering if those that have them like theirs or recommend something else. Thanks

 

[Lawdog734]

I'm still debating on a tire carrier for my truck. I'm leaning towards the rhino but there pricey from what I can find. Wondering if those that have them like theirs or recommend something else. Thanks

Given that your options are not carrying a spare at all, or storing it somewhere in the vehicle (on top is pretty much a no-go with softtops), I think the bumper mount is the way to go. It's secured to the vehicle and with the Rhino, lifting/lowering the 160# tire is done with the carrier itself versus your back while keeping what limited space you have in the truck for other things.

 

[Victorkilo31]

Very true. I'm just trying to see the options and explore possibilities. I've seen a picture (I forget who's it was on here) recently that had a tire mount on the slant back hatch with a net over that kinda caught my eye too. Im sure theres more than rhinos tire rack and ibis teks hoist thingy lol just gotta keep my eyes and mind open

 

[Wire Fox]

Nice work. Looks like you have found a good substitute mil grade wire. Or is it mil grade? I've been looking for wire that has the quality of the mil wiring but have had no luck other than cannibalizing old harnesses. Can you share your source of wire and loom?

Sorry, trade secret.

Just kidding. It's mil spec. I picked up the 16 AWG "prestolite wire" from Erik's military surplus, which comes in 100ft increments (incidentally, that's almost perfect for a 4L80E harness, as long as you also have separate 18AWG wire for the sensors). I looked up the actual spec of the wire once and found that it's a "Hypalon" (CSPE) jacket. You can substitute any wire that's stranded, the whole length of the wire is tinned, and the jacket is oil, chemical, and heat resistant to 90 C. The 18 AWG wire is similar, but the jacket is cloth wrapped and Teflon coated. I think PTFE is the jacket code. I got a 500 Ft spool on eBay.

I'm still deciding on a loom. Might do asphalt-coated cloth or a mesh type...unsure.

EDIT: Corrected the jacket type for the 16 AWG wire. I was pretty close before, but now it's actually what's on the spec sheet. I was way off on the temperature rating, though.

 

[NormB]

Sorry, trade secret.

Just kidding. It's mil spec. I picked up the 16 AWG "prestolite wire" from Erik's military surplus, which comes in 100ft increments (incidentally, that's almost perfect for a 4L80E harness, as long as you also have separate 18AWG wire for the sensors). I looked up the actual spec of the wire once and found that it's something like a "halpylon" jacket, if I remember that correctly. You can substitute any wire that's stranded, the whole length of the wire is tinned, and the jacket is oil, chemical, and heat resistant to 200 C. The 18 AWG wire is similar, but the jacket is cloth wrapped and Teflon coated. I think PTFE is the jacket code. I got a 500 Ft spool on eBay.

I'm still deciding on a loom. Might do asphalt-coated cloth or a mesh type...unsure.

About that 18 gauge wire. I thought about buying some, but I couldn't find connectors for it. It's listed as several hundredths of an inch smaller in OD than the 16 gauge IIRC, I was afraid it wouldn't make a water-tight seal with the 16 gauge connectors.

 

[NormB]

I got my Rhino spare tire carrier installed. Few more small things to fit around the bumper and I'll be ready to take it all apart and clean/paint it.
On odd shaped items like the tire carrier, what's the easiest way to clean them? Should I invest in $100-$200 sandblasting unit from Hazard Freight or attempt chemical stripping?

A $40 sandblaster from HF was one of the best tool investments I ever made. That and a 50 gallon air compressor, needs something like 90 psi and 6 cfm flow to work well.

I've refinished dozens of FN-FALs, CZ-82s, 1911s, couple of M1s (carbines and Garands), cabinet handles and more with that thing and many bags of play sand (screened through a kitchen sifter dust mask/respirator of course) prior to parkerizing, having learned this from an old gunsmith.

I "refinished" mine with 4-0 steel wool and spray carburetor cleaner and zinc primer with some flat black spray on top (see my earlier post about this), came out pretty good, I think.

 

[FKAM]

Sorry, trade secret.

Just kidding. It's mil spec.

I'm still deciding on a loom. Might do asphalt-coated cloth or a mesh type...unsure.

Roger That, I was looking for loom similar to what is in the HMMWV. I'm with you on not liking the split, wrap plastic loom,

Thanx