Convoy Vehicles... - Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite

LOGANSTANFORTH · 02-08-2010, 13:51

I figured I would start a thread to do with military convoy trucks cause they don't seem to be getting much love...HEMTT, HET, 915, 916, 920...Anything running the roads here in Iraq...

80% of my work here in Iraq is M1070 HET trucks (we have done over 30 since we took over on October 1), MAC time on an engine or tranny swap says it takes 13 hours just to pull the cab with 4 men, we have got it down to 1.5-2 hours with 3 or 4 men using mostly hand tools...We can pull the engine/tranny pack just after lunch and have the tranny ready to slide into the new engine before the end of a 12 hour shift normally (day 1), after installing the tranny you got to reinstall your hydro and air pumps (PITA) along with all your ancillary stuff (front pulley, alternator mounts, A/C compressor) and drop your pack back into the truck and hook everything back up and be ready for the cab by late afternoon, drop the cab, and start hooking everything up and have it almost ready to fire by the end of the day, (day 2) we double check all the fluids, test fire, troubleshoot if there is a no start (normally it wont start), fire and run it some, check fluids, bolt it together enough to do a test drive around the yard, bring it back and check for leaks, no leaks (yeah right

) we recheck all the fluids and fill them up, put everything back on but the BII box and the spare tire and send the beast to QA/QC for inspection, after it passes we bolt the last 2 pieces of the puzzle together and put her on the ready line for pick up (day 3)...

For those of you that dont know what M1070 HET is, here is what one looks like...They are powered by a 500 HP 8V92TA 2 Stroke Detroit (700 HP C16 Cat in Europe for emissions) backed by a 5 speed Allison Automatic, 6/8 wheel drive (selectable), front and rear axles steer, the M1000 HET Trailer has 40 tires, each set of axles turns opposite of the trucks direction (it can turn around in spots smaller than some crew cab pickups with gooseneck campers) and the deck has 3 hydraulic controls so you can drop the curb side or street side angle of the deck for weight distribution and also drop the back half of the deck almost on the ground for easier loading, has about 30 inches of useable suspension travel on the trailer...Empty in full battle rattle it weighs just shy of 100K, fully loaded with an M88 Recovery Unit it weighs a svelt 280K pounds...Top speed is 48 MPH...

http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/b...y-blog/HET.jpg
You can see the deck lowered to load the M88 in this pic...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../6/6c/HETT.jpg

M1075 · 02-08-2010, 14:11

Yep, those are some sweet rigs. Keep the pics and the stories coming!

LOGANSTANFORTH · 02-08-2010, 14:27

Once I get to a MWR computer (corporate computer right now) I will post a bunch of pictures of us doing a complete swap...I even got some grainy videos of us firing off a new engine...sounded pretty good, I just finished up an engine swap yesterday that was plagued with multiple problems...We got another HET setting on the pad awaiting parts...

We got 2 HEMTT's right now getting engines put in them...Those are sooooo much easier than swapping HET engines...They are just hard to work on because there aint much room to move around...

Stalwart · 02-08-2010, 15:03

Sounds like a lot of work, I have mostly small armor which gives a new meaning to tight spaces. Still, I wouldn't want to have to change out the engine and trans in my HEMTT, but I'd rather do that than the engine in one of my Stalwarts.

Thanks for your service!

srodocker · 02-08-2010, 18:40

thanks for the pics!

KsM715 · 02-08-2010, 21:47

Its not that they dont get much love here, its that not many here have them or can affoard them. (When I win the lottery I will own an M1070)

srodocker · 02-08-2010, 21:49

yea i love to see convoys...mmm a m915 or 920

emmado22 · 02-08-2010, 22:57

Do you see many of the HET trailers that have have the "super singles" kits MWO'ed on them? I havent seen one in real life.

NDT · 02-08-2010, 23:32

Tell us about the 915's. Lots of us are picking these up lately. Lonesome715 used to send us pics and ops reports of these in Iraq. We are getting the AM General ones, not the Freightliners. Everything we are hearing is that they are taking a beating and still doing the job, even being 28 years old.

LOGANSTANFORTH · 02-09-2010, 12:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stalwart

Sounds like a lot of work, I have mostly small armor which gives a new meaning to tight spaces. Still, I wouldn't want to have to change out the engine and trans in my HEMTT, but I'd rather do that than the engine in one of my Stalwarts.

Thanks for your service!

they aint bad (minus the little left and right side working room) as long as you got something that can lift the 4500 pound engine and tranny...

Quote:

Originally Posted by srodocker

thanks for the pics!

no problem...

Quote:

Originally Posted by KsM715

Its not that they dont get much love here, its that not many here have them or can affoard them. (When I win the lottery I will own an M1070)

I have been looking for a HET or a M984 Wrecker HEMTT

Quote:

Originally Posted by srodocker

yea i love to see convoys...mmm a m915 or 920

got'em below...

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmado22

Do you see many of the HET trailers that have have the "super singles" kits MWO'ed on them? I havent seen one in real life.

I have never seen or even heard of it...I will ask around about it...I dont have a clue about what tires they would even use...

Quote:

Originally Posted by NDT

Tell us about the 915's. Lots of us are picking these up lately. Lonesome715 used to send us pics and ops reports of these in Iraq. We are getting the AM General ones, not the Freightliners. Everything we are hearing is that they are taking a beating and still doing the job, even being 28 years old.

The early model 915's (essentially a RWD light version of a M920) ran a 400 Big Cam Cummins engine like the 920 does, though it uses a mechanical Allison instead of the 16 Speed air over hydraulic manu-matic Caterpillar tranny, not a bad truck though the newer Freightshakers are alot nicer inside and have electronic transmissions (which can be problematic some times)...The newer ones use a Detroit Series 60 rated at 435 HP...Probably one of the best trucks ever built and can really take a beating, though if you run one empty you better expect to take a beating too, any person that drives one of them for a while will NEVER have kidney stones...

This was from the old blown engine...I was not happy...
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...T/P2042724.jpg

This is the truck running after taking the muffler off and floating what oil I could out of it with water...This was not fun either...But boy did she roll some smoke/steam...
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...T/P2052732.jpg

This is a M920 that got a T-case put in it...
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...T/P1182657.jpg

Here is a top view of the 16 speed manu-matic shifter...
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...T/P1192685.jpg

Newer 915 that got an engine swap done a while back...
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...T/PA082240.jpg

Pulling the cab on a HET...
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...T/P2032719.jpg

Another HET with the cab on the ground...
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...T/PA052194.jpg

This is why the military shouldn't work on their stuff sometimes...
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...T/PC062509.jpg