Retired M925 Finds Home In Seattle Area

Hello all,

Picked up my first MV yesterday, an M925 w/ M105A3, from JBLM, here in Washington.

Yesterday my son and I left for the base at 0600 and cleared through into the base at about 0720.

Arrived at GL yard at 0730 to find out they didn’t open the yard until 0800, but we were first in line… a line of one,J

Once we had paper work done at the GL yard office, it couldn’t have gone smoother.

The GL crew (thanks Tony, Lonnie and Joyce!) couldn’t have been nicer and were very helpful getting us loaded up, hooking up the M105A3 to the M925 for me, letting me top off fluids ( only needed 1gal of coolant, everything else was up to spec) and fuel ( 10 gal of fuel, on top of about ½ a tank already there).

Fingers crossed, threw the start switch and…..she started right up, whew!

Hung the three day trip ticket in the lower front right wind shield and once the air came up we were ready to head out.

With my son following in the Dodge Ram 2500 chase truck, I squeezed through the yard gate exit ( four red poles with a few inches to spare on each side) and hit I-5 North for the trip home.

The truck shifted smoothly and as expected, took her time getting to 55mph at 2K rpm, but once there she ran just fine. All readings were nominal.

I had a preplanned route to take I-5 N to 512 E to 167 N to Hwy18 E, sticking to the lesser trafficked byways. This worked very well for our mid-morning recovery. Following traffic were nothing less than kind, many waving and saluting as they passed us…..didnt expect that.

I noticed that the truck didn’t downshift when hill climbing but manual down shift was a breeze. Maybe this is SOP, but Ill have to read the manual over this weekend to be sure. ( anyone know of this Allison behavior in their 5 ton?)

I was determined to not go much above 2K rpms, so we did 55 in the flats, 40,to 45 on the significant up-hills and pegging the speedo at 60+ on the down hills ( going to about 22K rpms).

The throttle linkage was sticky, from lack of use or just sitting for so long, so I had to use the old throttle un-sticker (aka big toe) method for the first few stops / slow downs. Other than that and a bad light tail light on the M105A3, there isn’t much to tell. ( hint to those with 24v replacement bulbs to sell J)

First blush the work list looks like quite a bit of rust remediation and paint, then probably an oil change, but I’ll know more after I have had a chance to give her a closer looking over.

Now ….where did I put that house paint spec from those helpful guys on Steel Soldiers…….

Excellent! Glad that all went well for you. As for paint, I have had excellent results with Rodda acrylic latex, custom brewed up for me at the Redmond store. I can get the paint numbers for the 383 green if you like. Tim can mix up anything with the computer and an eyeball. I found that the latex held up great when I spilled diesel on it. No effect at all. I think it runs about $39 a gallon. I applied it with a HVLP paint gun from HF but you have to thin it way down with water and Flo-trol and run the pressure way up. You also need a dry stretch of several days, or it will bubble on you. Mine got rained on quickly and bubbled, but like magic, the bubbles dried back up exactly into place and you can't tell. Friggin amazing....

I'm in the Duvall area, myself. Where are you located?

Jim

Welcome to green sickness! Since you mention Hwy. 18 E your actual location might not be that progressive bastion that is Seattle. I doubt you get such a proper and courteous welcome had you been driving down Capitol Hill. On the most part, people love MV's!

Hey Jim, Im in Issaquah, Tiger Mtn.

Thanks for the paint info, yes please hook me up. I actually have quite a bit of straight green 383 on this truck to re-paint ( hard top, inside bed, fule tank, under carriage, etc) so will need at least a gallon to start, probably two or three. The Redmond store is not that far from me.

Im familar with Rodda paints but didnt cross my mind that they might work. I was going to try a wagner, which has a larger tip and wouldnt require as much thinning, but will see if that works.
Yea, a few dry days..in a row...hmmm, wonder where I can buy a few of those ...

Hey Stuart, you are correct, but since most are not familar with all our little burbs here on Seattle / Bellevue eastside, its sometimes easier to just say Seattle.

Im not sure an M825 will fit on the streets of capital hill without a PD escort clearing the way

Recon Charlie,
Here is the paint info:

Rodda Code RD12E083
"383 green" by color matching a paint sample I provided from a truck mirror of the same color.
Formula A-4Y48 B-2Y48 C-40 D-34 K-2Y8 E-2
Acrylic latex.

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Beautiful truck! any pics of the 105a3?

Great looking truck!! I see your truck is also missing the upper portion of the exhaust stack...LOL. I got a NOS one on ebay for $76. Glad everything worked out well on your recovery!

Glad you had a good trip. Truck looks nice.
Welcome to the green fever!!

Hopefully your tarp cover and bows arrive soon.Truck looks good..

Congrats on the successful recovery RCA you are going to really like that truck, I have had mine for about 4 months now and sadly have not driven it much at all because still waiting for the EUC, but the truck runs awesome and cruises a 55 at 2K RPM which is perfect! The only issue I have is the starter went bad last week so I need to exchange that out, no big deal. I just finished this last week putting the LWS (Lightweight Weapons station) on, got a cradle and a M2 to mount up there pics will be posted next week! Great luck with the truck and congrats on a great choice!
KK

Hmmm. whoops, sorry all, its an M105A2, not A3, my bad typing...anyhow Scott, here are some pics,. Dont have of the two together yet, waiting for the rain to let up for 30 seconds....

Hey Mike, I bought a stack off of a Juan here on SS, so Im good, just didtn take time to put it on before we haaded for the barn. So that lovely diesal exhaust was wafting through the cab all the way...

doh! here they are

nice!

Here are some more pics showing some of the work ahead of me.
One nice surprise though, Hawker HASP-FT batteries.
Note the fender emblem on the last pic, any ideas?

Nice truck man, glad the recovery went well. I hope mine goes as smoothly, I love these trucks.

Im sure it will go fine, Barstow? M923?

Welcome to the site, congrats on the uneventful recovery.

Sounds similar to my 5 ton recovery from there a couple years back.

Nice! You going to the July rally in Napavine?

Fender emblem is ORDNANCE (OD)