Hi all,
Regarding top speed on a M109a3, would it be too hard on the engine to travel a 250 mi. trip at 55 m.p.h.? I saw somewhere on this site an sustained speed of 45? I will be picking up my newly acquired M109a3 from Govtliquidation as soon as my EUC is approved. New to this site, received very good info from the resources tab, Great amout of information here. Thank you for any help
Richard
Rancho Cucamonga, Ca.
M109a3
M37
I need to hear this answer myself. There was a post on here of a guy and his wife who drove thier truck for twenty years as a live in camper as ecoguardians on and off the roads every where at 55mph.
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M185A3 wo/w 1970 "Cyndi"
M35A2 wo/w 1976 "The Learning Truck"
two m105A2's
MEP002 and trailer.
55 is fine, it is however about the fastest i would go for any length of time. Keep in mind that 55 mph should yield about 2500 RPM, red line is 2600.
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Proud to own Builder77's former ride. R.I.P. Ethan
1970 M35A2C with hardtop and heater, no winch. Limited duty due to uh......something..TBD
Studebaker M108- home- uh...it did run...lol, resto pending.
Studebaker M35A1 with plow and LDS 427
Avatar= Pic taken minutes after landing from first SOLO
flight.
The multi fuel was made to run at WOT and full power forever. It was a "constant rated engine" Red line for hours and hours is fine. Really a 109 wont do 55 all day.. its kinda heavy. I would bet on the average speed of 45-50 to judge your travel times on.
I ran my deuce at 2800 for 900 miles only stopping for fuel and I never shut it off. I had a 5 ton pump cranked to snot in there. Lot of you remember that East coast convoy run i did.
I try not to run my 2.5 tons at over 45-50. Everyone says its ok but I just don't like the sound of running WOT near max RPM. I would suggest keeping it at or under 45 for the first hour or so. Sometimes the trucks sit for a while and things can get sticky. After you have had it for a while and gone through a couple of oil changes and grease jobs then you could run it harder with greater confidence.
I brought my M109 home from Indianapolis to Tampa last year. It had a hard time at speeds over about 50. It can get to 55 but any kind of incline much less hill and down it went. My M35 will hold 55 fine but I try to keep it at 50. If you look at the specs the M109 is about a ton heavier then the standard deuce and the wind resistance from the box is amazing. Good news is that unless you are going cross country the 5 MPH or so will not make much of a time difference. I find that the difference in comfort level for me is much better in the 45 - 50 MPH range then at 55 MPH.
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Walter
'71 M109A3
MKT - 85
Out of spending money, out of parking space, and I am on GL looking. "Hi, my name is Walter and I am an addict."
I bought a deuce in Victorville California and drove it home to New Mexico almost 800 miles. I could only do 55 on flat straight land. One thing I did notice was that it ran much better after about 2 hours of constant use, seemed to have more power. Maybe I just burned all the old junk out of it?
Top speed for me is told by the rpms, not the speed. Most figure top speed is around 2500 rpm, just below redline, about 55-57 mph. I keep mine around 2300 rpm, around 52 mph, just for the sake of keeping the stress on the engine a little lower. I'm only going to lose a few minutes on a trip, so I don't see that as too much of a problem.
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Mike
maddawg308
FCC # W1AMR Extra Class
MVPA #33431
NRA Life member
2003 Dodge Durango SLT 4.7L V-8 parts hauler
1967 Stevens M416 trailer
owner of the "Dawg House" travelling Vietnam radio hooch display
avatar: Capt. Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly/Serenity
I and 3 of my buddies all have 109A3's , none of them will do 55 on flat ground without getting into the red. The drag of the box and extra weight just won't let them preform at the super sonic rocket fast speed of a M35. Remember military convoys travel at 45mph with a catch-up speed of 50.
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"The quickest way to double your money is to fold it
sustained top speed
rocket fast speed of a M35. Remember military convoys travel at 45mph with a catch-up speed of 50.
