Expandable body worth $800.00???

[Towman2277]

Hey, Found a "Expandable shop body"? I think its called today, with the heaters in it, and the sides that fold down. It appears to be in Great shape, and he is asking $800 for it. Does that sound reasonable?? I thought so considering i've never even SEEN one down here!! Also, were these mounted only on duece's, or 5-tons, or both?? I was thinking about making it into one awesome camper on the back of my 5-ton bridge truck, after I removed the bed?! Any comments are sure appreciated!!

 

[Towman2277]

Hey again, Another thing I just noticed.....every picture of one i've seen soo far doesn't have a "overhang" over the cab area, and this one I found does. Thats where the a.c. and heat is contained. I wonder what it came off of??

 

[jasonjc]

If its the body I'm thinking of it was on the 2 1/2 and 5 ton and on the 8X8 like bjorn just got and on a trailer I think any way that they where all the same body but $800 does sound like a good deal if its in good shape.

 

[mangus580]

sides fold down? sounds like maybe a water purification body?

 

[DDoyle]

The upper photo below is my deuce with expansible van body - as Jason pointed out, these were installed on the M292 -series deuces like mine, and on M291 series five tons, and the M791 8x8. A similar body, with shallow wheel well cutouts, was mounted on trailers. The sides on these crank straight out, with the floor, ceiling and ends folding out to fill the gaps, so that it remains totally enclosed. Another handy ID feature is the dual stacks in the front for the heaters. All of these fit the extra-long wheel base chassis 6x6 trucks. Most are air conditioned, some have power tailgates on the rear.

The lower photo is a deuce I owned briefly with a water purification body. Note the single stack heater exhaust. On the other side of the truck a seam runs midway lengthwise along the side. These sides fold up and down - opening the side up to the world. A similar body was used on trailers equipped for maintenance use.

Hope this helps,
David Doyle

 

[Towman2277]

It's exactly like the body in the top photo! Thanks for the photos and your help. To me I feel like it's worth $800, so I will be picking it up right after christmas time! Thanks everyone!

 

[m.walker]

Even though mines a trailer , its just like what your talking about . They make great campers ! Mark

 

[Recovry4x4]

If it's got the enclosed sides like David's M292 it's called an M4 van body. Same body was on the M313 trailers. The body on M Walkers M750 is similar to those found on the M749 and M447 and M447C. There are panels and canvas sections to enclose the 447, 749, 750.

 

[Elwenil]

Grrr, I still want one of those Deuces with the expansible van body! One of these days...

 

[Towman2277]

Hey Mark, It's more like your trailer. It doesn't have doors on either side, only in the back. It also has a seam that runs up both sides from front to back, in the middle of the wall, which leads me to believe the sides fold out like your unit. The owner says he bought it from a fella who had it on the back "of an army truck like yours", so that leads me to believe it was originally mounted on a MV. The feature that I like is it's very weather tight, so I will have one neat little camper to go play in the woods with!

 

[emmado22]

Is it this? M934/935 5 ton expando van. http://www.usarc.army.mil/88thRSC/other_units/history_museum/trucks.htm
The expando vans were use as BN and BDE level TOCs. It takes a few guys a few minutes to pushout the walls and get it set up. MAKE SURE IT WORKS. When the walls didnt work, it was a nightmare to get it fixed... You had to almost tear the whole thing aprat to get to the springs and cables.

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

Man I have spent a lot of time in those in the field. We got so good at setting them up that when we jumped the drivers knew just where to park them so that the trucks could be stepped into from one to another in a Division TOC. We had AC/ Heaters in the above the cab area. I made a lot of accesories for them including a hanging chart table and covers to go between the doors of two trucks parked side by side. We even had one come open on the train that was taking it to Beaumont for the deployment for Desert Shield. I was flying over the tracks in a helicopter and all of sudden we see trash strewn all along the right of way a few minutes later we caught the train and there was an expando van with the side rolled out and it was still spittin out crap as the train rolled along.

 

[Towman2277]

Hey, it's exactly like the one that M.walker has, except it mounts on the truck chassis also. Set up exactly the same way, and both sides open up as shown in his pic. I'm just debating if I should keep it where it could fold out, maybe on one side, as i'm going to make this a "Luxury 6x6" motorhome on wheels!!

 

[m.walker]

M750

Mine opens and closes easily , I have the insulated side curtains also . I've only tried to hang them once but they seemed to have shrunk a little ( anybody have any tips on the side curtains ? ) When I camp in mine I just close the sides at night ! Also makes it real easy to close up after a show . I haven't used the heaters yet , they are still plugged and tagged as drained . I don't have the AC unit as mine was a parts trailer , But mine still has all the lights , power cord and cover , ground poles and leveling jacks . Does anyone have a manual on this I'd be interested !!! Mark

 

[Recovry4x4]

RE: M750

Mark, if you don't mind investing a few minutes downloading, both are available here in the TM section.
TM 9-2330-238-14 and TM 9-2330-238-24&P. I just uploaded them.

 

[M543A2]

I have an M313 expansible on an M295A1 6 ton trailer. It is like the picture with the windows and door in the side. It has three sets of wheel wells so it will fit on other trucks. It has double doors in the rear. The windows are double pane gas filled for insulation. All windows have a sliding steel blackout curtain and screens with cranks to open them for ventilation. It has the front overhang in which are an air conditioner and two multifuel heaters. There is a fuel tank between the trailer frame rails in front that has two lift pumps to supply fuel to the heaters. The heat is set up so for quick warm-up registers in the front inside wall can be opened to let heat out directly into the room. They can then be closed completely or partially to direct the heat down under the floor and out vents along the sides. This keeps your feet nice and warm! We use it as a clean room for engine assembly and other tasks requiring clean conditions. We love it, and gave $650 for it at a local junk yard. I would recommend you buy it at $800. I have been told they are hard to find. I certainly could not build an equivalent building for the same money. They are wired very heavy with excellent lighting. They have their own 100 amp box at the rear doors.
Regards Marti

 

[Towman2277]

M543A2, do you happen to know the dimensions or yours?? Thanks!

 

[Recovry4x4]

These bodies are 17' long not including the overhang. When mounted on the M820 5 ton there is enough space between the body and cab for the spare. They can also be bolted on the M36 chassis. All of the van bodies I previouly listed shared the M295 chassis in the semi trailer configuration. Some had different shop sets in them.

 

[Towman2277]

Thanks for the info. It looks identical as above, and even has the same type drawer/counter top (2 of them). I believe I will be pulling everything out, then i'm going to take my time and do the inside exactly as I like. I was a cabinet maker once, so i'm quite crafty with wood!!

 

[m.walker]

Thanks Ken I'll get them now !Yep that's them and if anyone has the manuals themselves I'd be interested in those too ! Thanks