What have you done to your 5 ton this week?

Added a bike rack!

Added a cab plate for the up coming ring mount and built a light bar for 3 LAV lights I have

Helped a fellow member out by swinging by and picking up his truck for him. One flat tire broken off front emergency glad hand and valve, and two batteries missing later, we had her aired up, glad hand short term fixed, tow bar and towing lights on, going down the road. The 818 pulled her slow up the hills and fast down them but had no problems moving her, even held 5th gear a time or two on flat ground.

This week I popped two dogbones off at the same time in the woods driving over some rough cutover. I use my truck for site prep spraying and it needs some new bone ends. What happens when your axles are at an accute angle? the front came forward and the back went backward, so we took all the cribbing we had and an air powered hydraulic jack. We also had several chains and binders including a racheting one. The spring had slipped off the axle, and was caught in the recess cast into the housing. We hooked a chain through the holes in the outside dual and the rachet binder to that handy handle on the chassis. Pull the axle forward, and hit the air jack ( trucks air system runs it fine) to raise the spring above the axle. Change the chains around and pull the axle back into place. Chain it to the lifting point and run another chain forward. Do the same thing at the rear axle. Its not a roadable fix but you can get it out of the stumps to do a better repair. The key not going crazy doing this is getting this jack:12 Ton Air Hydraulic Bottle Jack

we mashed a layer of cribbing into the ground before the jack started lifting the truck, the jack is fast and saved tons of time and work.

straightened the bumper a bit

Bought her with a crooked smile a while back. With one side pushed back almost to the fender.
Finally got around to straightening it out a bit. Used a 1/2" grade 70 chain (and a few vicegrips to keep her at the end of the bumper) and my 1/2 ton 4x4.
Took out the slack and let her roll back 2' and nailed it ONCE. My brother gave me the stop signal and then the thumbs up. Got out and Looked... it was straight first try! Well, except or the lil bump you get when you bend something and try to bend it straight again. I truely thought it would be harder to bend it back.
No problem. Grabbed my biggest Maul and slammed the top one back down. Felt good to get a lil aggressive. So good I gave the bottom one a good whack too.

All that warm fuzzy feeling went away when it bounced awkwardly off the bottom of the bumper and cracked into my ankle!!!! Grrrrrr.

I stormed off (read limped away in shame) Only to come back later and get these pics.

I picked up a spare bumper at Iola. Planning on bolting/welding it to the bottom of this one. Will give it an impressive look and help keep compacts out of my undercarriage!

Last pic..... I stop for NOTHING.....except trains. Their bigger than me!

changed coolant, added 'anti-cavitation fluid' because it is the Cummins, replaced the control boix protective.

Man, was really hoping to say I added a M925A1 to keep my 5 ton company. Bidding got really out of hand. Hope to get one the next round.

cover

We put the cargo cover on the truck a few days ago and saw that we have it on backwards. We are doing a Outback Steakhouse tomorrow for Veteran's Day, and putting the 2 M923's out front on display, so we are turning the top around today.

Brought it home!!

Started Painting the "Green Beast"

I bought my M923 - 5 Ton six weeks ago. I purchased it from GL and have had VERY good luck with it. I've done a few minor repairs to it, including installing 4 batteries and an air valve, and adding fluids, and lubing up the chasis.

Three weeks ago, I started sanding and grinding on the truck to get rid of the rust spots and then painted over them with Rustoleum Rust-Inhibiting primer. Today I started painting the beast. It was a USMC truck that was solid green when I purchased it. As I sanded and chipped away at the paint, I discovered it was previously tan, and even found the upside down "V" on the doors from the Desert Storm theatre. I decided to go ahead and paint it green again, starting with a solid green coat, and possibly adding the black and tan camo pattern in the future.


Attached are some pics when I recovered the truck, and during the sanding, priming, and now painting. I've got the front grill and bumper completed, and started on the hood when I ran out of time. I'll be back at it in the morning. The green paint I'm using is Behr exterior flat from Home Depot and I'm rolling and brushing it on. I'm really surprised at how good it looks! Still have a LONG way to go, but enjoying every minute of it!

Hope everyone had a good Veterans Day and had the opportunity to thank a veteran for their sacrafices!

Keith

Looking Good!

Make sure to wear a good respirator/mask as that carc is real nasty when sanded and you don't want to breath that stuff in!

A little new paint and we are done.

Alignv3d,

That is one of the nicest trucks I've seen. I love the dark camo paint job. Very well done sir! What type of paint did you use?

Got a brand new wheel delivered to me from Titan Wheels. They are the manufacturer of the wheels for the super singles. It came in CARC so I will be painting it black. Putting a new 1400x20 tire on it and changing one of the rear tires out that is not a match and I will finally have a spare. Here is a pic of the old tire. It is in good shape it is just a different tread pattern than the rest, and I painted it black. The next 2 wheels are the ones I got from Titan, I have the gasket so they will be going together today. Ain't they perdy?
Never in my life did I think I would get so excited about a wheel.

What did they make you pay for them ?

Well, looks like I now have a PAID invoice for an M925A1.
So many q's...the truck is in the PNW, I am not. A noob
I am. I tried a search, I seek a tool list / anything list of
what others carry in there 5Ton's, does anyone remember such
a thread? Parts that are notorious going bad to carry as well.

I have a 24V Fuel shut off solenoid that has been suggested as good to carry.
I am onto the tire tools, normal stuff. I would like a good list
of what is necessary to change a tire on a rim.

Rachet Strap
Impact
Impact socket sizes???
Tire Spoons
?

I am sub'd in anywho...

If this is the wrong place to post this please move...

They don't sell to the public, but they sell for $650. each

Artisan,

The tire socket is a budd wheel double socket 1 1/2 and the square pattern on the inside. Napa or hd stores.

I personally recommend a set of belts especially the water pump and/or a powertwist link belt in an emergency to get you off the road as a temporary measure. the water pump belt is a bear to change imho. Another member posted he used women's panty hose as a stop gap temporary belt for the water pump and got 100 miles to a pair on a recovery!

Everything is standard so metric tools are not necessary.

You never want to need to use them but a fire extinguisher, road flares and or triangle kit.

Light bulbs for the taillights and blinkers since they are 24v, you are not going to find them at Autozone or most automotive stores for that matter.

Good Luck!

Torque Rods Done...NOT!

Was just finishing up a complete (all 12) torque rod end replacement project. As I was tightening the last nut, to my dismay, I noticed the top/rear/axle end bushing was separating from the outer metal casing that is press in to the torque rod. I then check the five other ends I purchased in that same lot. Well, three out of those six are separating and I no longer have any faith in the other three. One of them (bottom/right/front/axle end) is completely separating. I did the crowbar test (end should spring back into place) and it moved out of the metal casing about 1/2" and did not return to normal. Now, mind you this all happened from normal articulation while I was jacking the axles into position to work on the nuts and bolts. I haven't even driven it yet. This is all No Bueno.

Now, I ordered new ends from another supplier. That bad thing is these "bad" ends occupy ends of five separate rods. So, I am back to square one. I have to remove pretty much everything and have them pressed out/in again. The interesting thing is the other six NOS ends are in perfect shape. I am ticked more about the time and hard work that I have invested in this project. I am just thankful this problem reared its ugly head before I got on the road.

I need to photograph the ends so all can see.