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Another New Member Saying 'Hi' with an M944A1

wheelsgoround

New member
5
0
0
Location
MounTains
Howdy everyone, and thanks to the admin and such for creating such a site. Lots of great info here that I would not would have had an easy time gathering for my vehicle.

Purchased my rig a little bit ago rather rashly, as my neighbor and fellow volunteer firefighter told me the firehall has been trying to sell a "semi truck" for a while. He told me it had 3.2k miles on it, and they wanted 2.5k for it. I ended up buying this truck blind because I know my neighbor wouldn't mess with me (not his fault for not understanding the road regs of what makes constitutes a semi). Truck is pretty amazing, and even all I ever do is haul hay with it, I'm coming out ahead of where I woulda been 2.5k ago. However, I've been thinking about setting it up as a tender in the 2.5k gallon range, but as of yesterday I got a 1.5k tank to go on it or maybe onto a trailer bed depending on what I find out about the axle and spring limits.

Not gonna go into too much else here, as I'm still trying to find all the info on the site before I start asking questions that have been addressed a million times already. I downloaded all the TMs and MWOs (I think) that pertain to my truck. I'll start sifting through them to find my axle ratings according to the manufacturer's ratings (not the plate in cab) and hopefully find out what all I'm missing to get this DOT certified (CDL holder, 6+ years). I'll look into getting locks for the doors, and an ignition key as well, since if it goes over the road, I'll need to make sure it doesn't go over the road without me in it, or have my effects go missing when I park it to get something. The real fun I think starts when I start researching what I'll need to have to get it cleared as a tender for federal level fires. I plan on swapping the tires out for semi tires; singles on the rear drives. Not gonna be doing much offroad with it, so I think the lower center of gravity, and the ability to hook to standard semi pull trailers will be boon. This truck will be my all rounder for firefighting and around the homefront hauling hay or towing my new toys home, so it needs to wear many hats. As such, sitting it at standard semi height is necessary.

Other thoughts: might put a 5th wheel plate over the tandems, and the neighbor might sell me an adjustable pintle hook/ball hitch that booms up or down that's used for moving single/double wides. If so, it'd open up the door for towing pickup trailers as well as semi trailers. The mount sits flush with the frame, so I could conceivably haul anything and everything up to my G(C)VWR.

Anyways, that's all I got. Pleased to be here, hopefully for many years.
 

Scar59

Active member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
2,811
41
38
Location
Mt. Eden, KY
Welcome from Kentucky, congrats on your new truck. Find the operators manual, lots of good info contained.
Also add your state of residence to your info, site requirement.
Have fun, Be safe.
 

wheelsgoround

New member
5
0
0
Location
MounTains
Thanks for the welcome, guys!

To address a few points: Home state is acronym'd to avoid google analytics, (M)oun(T)ains. If this needs to corrected, I'll do so. I just have a gripe against Google is all. I'll upload some pictures tomorrow. I also meant to say "super singles" not just "singles" in my initial post.

Found the axles to be Rockwells. I'll have to look into the ratings, as the operator's manual doesn't seem to list them, nor did I see anything in the other TMs, but granted I was skimming. Found the famous "these ratings are for extreme offroad conditions" line, but seeing as the 5th wheel configuration was rated to pull 5000 gallons of fuel down a road, I should be okay if I end up using a 5th wheel plate on mine, unless there's a spring or axle weight difference. Anyways, the only things I'm aware of off with the truck, is a low beam is out, the rear brake and turn signal assemblies are after market with the driver's side not working, and the bed has been removed from the frame and replaced with a hay rack (boon, IMO), and finally, there's an alarm that's perma tripped. I think it's for the parking brake, but 120lbs of air in both tanks, and the brakes released doesn't make it stop.
 

simp5782

Feo, Fuerte y Formal
Supporting Vendor
12,088
9,247
113
Location
Mason, TN
Thanks for the welcome, guys!

To address a few points: Home state is acronym'd to avoid google analytics, (M)oun(T)ains. If this needs to corrected, I'll do so. I just have a gripe against Google is all. I'll upload some pictures tomorrow. I also meant to say "super singles" not just "singles" in my initial post.

Found the axles to be Rockwells. I'll have to look into the ratings, as the operator's manual doesn't seem to list them, nor did I see anything in the other TMs, but granted I was skimming. Found the famous "these ratings are for extreme offroad conditions" line, but seeing as the 5th wheel configuration was rated to pull 5000 gallons of fuel down a road, I should be okay if I end up using a 5th wheel plate on mine, unless there's a spring or axle weight difference. Anyways, the only things I'm aware of off with the truck, is a low beam is out, the rear brake and turn signal assemblies are after market with the driver's side not working, and the bed has been removed from the frame and replaced with a hay rack (boon, IMO), and finally, there's an alarm that's perma tripped. I think it's for the parking brake, but 120lbs of air in both tanks, and the brakes released doesn't make it stop.
Where in Montana are you located? The rear tandem is a 44k setup
 

wheelsgoround

New member
5
0
0
Location
MounTains
Where in Montana are you located? The rear tandem is a 44k setup
Thanks for the info on the axle weights! I noticed in one thread the rockwell ratings came up, but it was with an older model, so I wasn't sure if they carried the same axles over to the newer series, or not. Great to know, and it opens plenty of options on the tank. As far as the bridge limit rules and whatnot go - - I'll just drain the water out of the tank when going from state to state. Eastern side of the state. if the rears are 44k combined, would that put the front at around 16k after the moving parts down rating?
 
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