New m35a3 owner and new member!

Hey everyone. I'm a new owner of a beautiful m35a3! She is a little rough and in need of a little TLC but I caught a good deal (as far as the wife knows) and am loving the truck. I don't have much experience with the a3s. I was enlisted in the mississippi national guard from 2005 to 2017 and got lucky enough to drive a few deuces and five tons before they all got taken to the auction yard. Just ordered some 395s for it today which almost brought me to tears lol. Wondering just how many of y'all might be close to me in meridian, ms?

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CSM Davis is in Hattiesburg has a wide variety of trucks. Dock Rocker and highrollin87 are in Jackson

I'm close to hattiesburg on a semi regular basis. I might just have to see if CSM Davis would let me check out what he's got lol. I lived in Hattiesburg a few years ago when I had orders at camp shelby. I may have met him before

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He is out off of 589 and 98. His phone number is in his signature.

I had plenty of 395s here in Memphis.

I ordered mine from eastern surplus. It's not suppose to ship out until Tuesday. How much would you have charged for a set of 6 shipped to me?

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Welcome to the site.

Nice truck, congratulations! It appears that you need a little more practice backing up though. That looks like something I would do, I was wondering the other day if anybody had put some kind of rear view camera on their truck.

That was a tree that fell months ago down in the woods. I pulled it out with the truck lol you can't see it but I promise there's a strap between the two. A back up camera wouldn't be hard to put on. They have wireless ones now that are a breeze to install.

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Jgreg49 said:

That was a tree that fell months ago down in the woods. I pulled it out with the truck lol you can't see it but I promise there's a strap between the two. A back up camera wouldn't be hard to put on. They have wireless ones now that are a breeze to install.

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Ok,thank you, that sounds fantastic. I haven't driven mine in a while ,but when I do I'm constantly checking the non existent rear view mirror.

Welcome from Kentucky, nice truck. The A3 is a unique MV, either loved or despised. Pay particular attention to the transmission, and fluid type. The military utilized EO 10w40 in lue of ATF. Also the trans has an issue with an internal seal leaking and causes a fourth gear slip. My truck finally had it go out. The fix requires the trans to be removed and gone through. It's a know Allison issue. Yours looks in good shape. Fresh tires and a little TLC and it will last forever.
Find the operators manual, full of good info.
Have fun, stay safe
JC

russojap said:

Ok,thank you, that sounds fantastic. I haven't driven mine in a while ,but when I do I'm constantly checking the non existent rear view mirror.

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Around here you you gotta watch those mirrors for other people!

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Scar59 said:

Welcome from Kentucky, nice truck. The A3 is a unique MV, either loved or despised. Pay particular attention to the transmission, and fluid type. The military utilized EO 10w40 in lue of ATF. Also the trans has an issue with an internal seal leaking and causes a fourth gear slip. My truck finally had it go out. The fix requires the trans to be removed and gone through. It's a know Allison issue. Yours looks in good shape. Fresh tires and a little TLC and it will last forever.
Find the operators manual, full of good info.
Have fun, stay safe
JC

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I've been reading about the trans fluid. And I've decided at some point soon its gonna get flushed and some good atf put in. Does it work well with dex/merc? Or do I need to get that high dollar transynd (spelling?) allison fluid?

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Ironically. My A3 came from the Airforce with ATF in the trans. I replaced it with a Dextron product. There is also a spin on transmission filter on the right frame rail, forward of the cab.

Welcome aboard from Nevada. Nice truck!

Jgreg49 said:

I've been reading about the trans fluid. And I've decided at some point soon its gonna get flushed and some good atf put in. Does it work well with dex/merc? Or do I need to get that high dollar transynd (spelling?) allison fluid?Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

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I switched to Dexron 3 in my A3 when I first got it. Make sure you only use Dexron 3 and not a later version. Other ATF will deteriorate the o-rings in the trans. Also, you want to make sure you get all of the motor oil out with multiple flushings as the Dexron 3 and motor oil aren't compatible. I used NAPA brand Dexron 3 compatible ATF, which is made by and identical with Valvoline brand and a lot less expensive. I bought it in a 5-gallon pail and used it all with several multiple flushings. Make sure you drive the truck for several miles between flushings, letting it warm up and run through the gears. You want all of the motor oil out. The result is a transmission that shifts much smoother, especially downshifting. A major improvement.

The tranny problem is an inferior seal on the piston for the clutch pack(s). Maybe fluid will give you more life, but all of them (A3's) have the same seal problem. When the piston begins to leak around it, it won't hold pressure against the frictions and steels letting it slip. It probably will show up in 4th gear first. When they start slipping, the typical soldier will push the throttle further to the floor (rpm) and then the deterioration comes from heat. Mine (bought it with bad tranny) was so hot it melted the aluminum piston on that clutch pack and sent molten AL and clutch frictions into the rest of the tranny. Don't do that! The new seals solve the problem.

Any A3 that has not had the tranny rebuilt and has the OEM seals on the clutch's is going to have issues at some point. Plan for it. When you feel a slip, don't wait to destroy parts.

I won't go into more detail here, but if you want more info on the A3 tranny issue let me know.

Thanks all for the welcoming and the advice! I havent had any issues with the transmission yet, but that bridge will come one day I'm sure lol. I'll probably wind up doing the flush just because in my experience with Allison's (mostly 3000 and 4000 series from my civilian jobs), I know Allison's are finicky. But I definitely will go ahead and plan for a rebuild. The truck didn't get used much by the man I bought it from. He has a couple other a3s and his own motor pool full of 5 tons in different configurations. So far the only things not up to spec are the tires, steering wheel being cracked up and old, and the engine fan staying on, which I'm sure is just a stuck or bad switch. Slowly but surely she will get fixed lol. I'd love to see some pics of y'alls trucks also!

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Here is a photo of my M35A3W/W and M66 gun ring pulling my M149A2 Water Buffalo. Needs paint bad.

Welcome

Mine is older than yours, 1971 M35A2.