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Working on the M1078 LMTV

juanprado

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juanprado

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Metairie/La (N'awlins)
Are they as "unobtainable" as the rest of the system?
They are supposed to be demilled. I got one with the cannon plug ripped off it from hummerguy if I remember correctly. I just riveted a blank plate in the hole and painted it. Took me a while of looking to find one in "my" price range. They can be found and there is a civilian version that looks alike but of course has a different plug not a cannon connector. I was shocked to see a fully functioning "newish" looking antenna with cables and computer interface cable etc with software, manual, & with other stuff I could not identify in a military foam hardigg case on epay. I booked marked it and then it disappeared. I suspect the electronics firm figured it out and pulled it.
 

mkcoen

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Bad news in the "what else is going to go wrong" category. The right airbag is now leaking. Not anything that the pump can't keep up with but there's a steady hiss from it after shutting the truck off. Anyone change these yet? Just wondering how much of a PITA it's going to be and how long I can go without doing it.
 

NDT

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Too funny. Our '98's are suffering the exact same failures. My RH bag sprung a leak too. Changing it is 20 min. Finding one cheap, well that is another matter.
Oh and a little fyi, if you find a LH bag, you can disassemble it and put it in the RH housing.
 
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Duckworthe

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San Diego, Ca
Too funny. Our '98's are suffering the exact same failures. My RH bag sprung a leak too. Changing it is 20 min. Finding one cheap, well that is another matter.
Oh and a little fyi, if you find a LH bag, you can disassemble it and put it in the RH housing.
Yes mine did the same. They were going for $250.00 each from a known supplier when I bought mine about a year ago. I did the LH RH swap also. Funny that they are now over $600.00 each now. Hmmmmm.... Oh well, that capitalism at it best. I don't think to this point that anyone has been able to get them through Firestone or another company yet. Maybe someone can chime in if that has changed now.
 

aleigh

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Phoenix, AZ & Seattle, WA
Mine hisses a little when I first turn off the truck and get out but stops shortly. The truck otherwise reasonably holds air (low by morning). So I am not sure how unusual that noise is - it may be that when you get out of the cab it is running the leveler gauge and letting out air or whatever. If it's still hissing like, minutes later, that's not like mine though...
 

mkcoen

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And the next shoe...took the right door apart to replace the handle with a keyed one. In case you haven't done this there's a great video by tybaslee in the thread: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?152582-FMTV-Door-Key

I tried locking the door from the inside at the car show last weekend and couldn't get it to lock. I found the reason out today when I discovered the lock rod is missing from the door. Kind of tough to work when an important part is missing. I haven't taken the driver door apart yet. Hoping it's not in the same shape.
 

mkcoen

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Spring Branch, TX
Mine hisses a little when I first turn off the truck and get out but stops shortly. The truck otherwise reasonably holds air (low by morning). So I am not sure how unusual that noise is - it may be that when you get out of the cab it is running the leveler gauge and letting out air or whatever. If it's still hissing like, minutes later, that's not like mine though...
It doesn't last long and doesn't leak enough to drain the air tank but you can stick your finger up inside the housing and feel the air escaping.
 

Duckworthe

Member
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San Diego, Ca
Mine hisses a little when I first turn off the truck and get out but stops shortly. The truck otherwise reasonably holds air (low by morning). So I am not sure how unusual that noise is - it may be that when you get out of the cab it is running the leveler gauge and letting out air or whatever. If it's still hissing like, minutes later, that's not like mine though...
My leveler valve does leak a little also once I get out. Then stops after about 5 seconds. Might just be what it does to adjust the cab once my butt get out of it. LOL
 

mkcoen

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I found the reason out today when I discovered the lock rod is missing from the door. Kind of tough to work when an important part is missing. I haven't taken the driver door apart yet. Hoping it's not in the same shape.
Well a little good news. On a hunch I went back and searched the bottom of the door shell and found the rod. Now I need to take the driver door apart to make sure I have it reinstalled correctly.

Edit: Unfortunately what wasn't anywhere to be found was the little push in clip that holds the rod in place. Not sure how I'm going to overcome that. Piece of chewing gum maybe?
 
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aleigh

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Phoenix, AZ & Seattle, WA
Yeah that was my thinking. The tab is broken off on the handle so there's also going to be some JB Weld involved. It's on the TODO list... got to get my cab back down first! Waiting on Parker to cross-reference the hydro valves to something that exists in the modern world.
 

mkcoen

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Everybody's favorite online auction site has a whole unit for sale. And if I'm not mistaken it's from one of our very own members (not me by the way).
 

aleigh

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Phoenix, AZ & Seattle, WA
Yeah as a last resort. I am not saying the listed price is not fair, but, it's a lot, and the valves themselves and stuff are cheap brand new - 40 - 60 bucks each. So I can rebuild the whole thing for less and have brand-new parts. Reliability is very important to me, I take the truck to really remote places. If it doesn't work out on the cartridges - finding conversions to modern parts, and I think it will because Parker still makes cartridges in the 10 series orifice - I'll probably build an entirely new manifold from commercial parts. But we'll see.
 

mkcoen

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Yeah as a last resort. I am not saying the listed price is not fair, but, it's a lot, and the valves themselves and stuff are cheap brand new - 40 - 60 bucks each. So I can rebuild the whole thing for less and have brand-new parts. Reliability is very important to me.
I totally understand that. I'm probably going to be pushing my luck with the airbag but I just can't swing the kind of money needed to replace it right now. Of course the worst I'll likely be is 60 miles from any major metropolitan area for some time so not worried about being stranded somewhere.
 

aleigh

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Phoenix, AZ & Seattle, WA
If the airbag breaks you are not stranded. Just turn the bags off with the valve on the manifold and pin the cab. You should have pins hanging there, if not, should be cheap to replace.
 
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