Fun little HEMTT project

Well, it's raining so it's now time to do a little maintenance I've been putting off. Being used to British vehicles that only stop leaking oil when they run out, I was accustomed to topping things up and the oil puddles on the floor. Hey, if they leak enough you don't have to change it right, it stays clean

Anyway, when I bought the old girl, she had an axle seal leak on the forward rear axle. Damon was kind enough to provide me with two new seals from Oshkosh and with 4 braking axles, I wasn't too worried about loosing the braking from one wheel, on the short term.

The one REALLY cool thing is the truck comes with a rod and nut on one of the air brake cans for caging the air brakes, only a 3/4" wrench needed to use it.

It all came apart smoothly thanks to a 20 ton floor jack that I bought for lifting my M42A1 Duster, the HEMTT axle was a breeze. The wedge "dowels" were a bit of a pain but at least they weren't rusted in. Several smacks with a 4 lb. sledge on the end of the axle freed them up pretty well.

Now the waiting begins, I had to order a 4 1/8" socket to remove the bearing locks and nuts. At least it gives me time to clean up the mess the seal leak made as well as getting some new brake shoes, I don't think these are gonna clean up

4 1/8" yikes thats pretty big! Reminds me of the time I was in the Navy and we were fixing our main steam line. The nuts were 3 15/16" and we had to special order a Snap on socket set to remove them. Could not break them loose so we put a 6' cheater bar on the ratchet and promptly broke the socket!!

Good luck on your project.

area52 said:

4 1/8" yikes thats pretty big!

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Your 5 ton needs 2 axle nut sockets......the SMALL one is 4 3/8" & the big one is 4 7/8".......not like that wimpy stuff used on HEMTTs.....

Oh great, something else to look forward to!!

All back together now, still waiting on a torque wrench so I can torque the lugnuts to 500 lb.ft. Not as bad as the fronts that need 600+

dm22630 said:

Your 5 ton needs 2 axle nut sockets......the SMALL one is 4 3/8" & the big one is 4 7/8".......not like that wimpy stuff used on HEMTTs.....

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Is that for a M809 series 5 ton?? and is that a 6 or 8 sided??

jasonjc said:

Is that for a M809 series 5 ton?? and is that a 6 or 8 sided??

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Yes......for the M809 series.

8 point

OTC 1917 -- Amazon.com: OTC 1917 4-3/8"" 3/4"" Drive 8 Point Bearing Locknut Socket": Automotive
OTC 1919 -- Amazon.com: OTC 1919 4-7/8"" 3/4"" Drive 8 Point Bearing Locknut Socket": Automotive


Also, I tried the cheapo sockets from my local napa shop 3 TIMES & they wouldnt fit the nuts, even though they were the correct size. OTC is the only brand that I have found that fit correctly.

Do you have a photo of the lug nuts? just wondering if they are like a 5ton.

Thanks Vinny

If you are asking me, no I didn't take any, but they take a 1 3/4" socket.

Stalwart said:

If you are asking me, no I didn't take any, but they take a 1 3/4" socket.

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Can you take a picture of one please?

Thanks Vinny

Ask and you shall receive: