Help with the Cargo Cover Please!

[Mt Doom Field Owner]

Ok guys... a moron (me) and a brand new Deuce owner who took delivery of my first ever MV yesterday and now I want to get it ready to ride the grandkids in this afternoon. I would like to roll up the cargo cover so the front and back and sides are open but leave the top covered to keep a shade on the bed. No problem rolling up the back flap... simple as sin...straps right there to tie it up and all but I am going out in a minute to tackle the sides and front. Any tips or suggestions for this? I would look up the proceedure in the M35A2 manuals but have not become familiar enough to go right to the right manual... Who can throw me the link for the Cargo Cover Removal manual first??? THANKS. You have gotta love a forum like Steelsoldiers ... take a look at todays pages ... every topic has fresh hits almost instantly so there must be hundreds of users online at almost any time. Here goes... who can give me a one paragraph "idoots guide" to rolling up the cargo cover. We are dealing with the rubberized canvas cover that most everyone is familiar with I suppose. Has rubber lines threaded in an celtic pattern through all the gussets (I will have to memorize this pattern no doubt). Help me out please and my family won't die of heat stroke in the 95+ degree temps we have outside today in Alabama. No go for it.....

 

[poppop]

On my cover there are straps on the inside at the top. You roll the cover up, reach inside for the strap, bring it outside under the roll and there should be a clip made into the cover for the hook to fit into. Hook it and tighten to secure. Ther are several straps on each side. I think the front is the same.

 

[monkeythumbs]

Do what poppop said , but I usually wrap the strap around the bows at least once to tie it down and keep it from blowing up.

 

[319]

I haven't tried rolling the sides up by myself on mine, but I thought about trying this: using a piece of 1/2" conduit placed at the lower edge of the cover, standing or kneeling at the side of the bed (inside, therefore not requiring a ladder) and rolling the cover upward then hooking the straps around the rolled sides. Slide the conduit out and repeat on the other side.

 

[JB]

Roling up the sides

When you roll them up roll to the inside so if you leave it like that long, rain water will not build up in the roll. The post corners should have straps to hookl on the outside.

 

[moreorles2]

Operator's manual

Welcome aboard and I hope that your weekend was fun and safe with your new Deuce.
However, please do your grandkids and everyone else a favor and read the TM's in the resource file. The first one on your reading list should be the "Dash-10" or the operator's manual. The "Dash-10" ( so named because of it's TM number) is set up for all the flavors of the M35 family. Print it out or get one off of Ebay . If there is a National Guard or US Army Reserve facility nearby stop in and ask anyone in the motor pool area to see if they have any excess /surplus Dash 10s for the M35A2 as they are pretty much out of both inventories by now. Learn it by heart as was required of every 18 year old 88M for the past 40 years.

Here is the link to one of the Dash 10's ( there are more than one as the TM's were renumbered when they were updated.. The details on the tarp instillation is chapter 2-49.

http://old.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?module=pagesetter&type=file&func=get&tid=1&fid=file&pid=15

 

[steelandcanvas]

You're kidding, right?

 

[waayfast]

HHMM ? The thread here was to get the tarp rolled up to give the kids shade--(thanks- I'm learning lots here!)BUT I have noticed that when my troop seats are in the"sit-down" position, that there seems to be quite a large(large enough to lose a squirmy small child thru) gap in the side boards when the seats are down. Anyone have a cool/quick/safe way to close the "gap" so's not to dribble little tykes out the sides of the wagon along the the parade route?

 

[m16ty]

Gimpyrobb has some sort of netting to fill the hole in the troop seat sides when hailing kids. You might ask him. The hole is rather large for hauling kids.

 

[surfdog]

I bolted a 12' piece of trex decking lumber in the middle of the wide space between the troop seat uprights to keep my kids safe too.

Can't fold the seats up after you do this without removing the trex piece.

 

[mistaken1]

I was looking at using ratchet cargo straps to make that gap smaller. And please, please use the rear safety strap.

 

[Mt Doom Field Owner]

When I started rolling up the canvas I found straps already in place on the bows hidden by the cover on at least some of the bows. I dug up half a dozen short bungie cords in the basement to bolster up the rest. I had an adult by the little grandkid and besides we just ran around at 2nd gear speeds on level ground. Owning a paintball field I have rolls of 12' high x 300' long nylon netting that I plan on putting across the entire truck, basically using the cargo cover as a pattern. I will lock this netting down at the bottom of the seats with nylon wire ties. It will let in plenty of air as the front and back may be left wide open and the netting allows a pretty good air flow but will prevent anyone, no matter how small, to fall out the sides. The netting is very tough and will also prevent tree limbs and brush from slapping the "crew" on narrow back roads.

We had a great time yesterday and I have memorized the basic army M35 manual (printed key pages off the www). In fact I will become instructor as two or three other staff will be trained in the art of maintenance and driving the deuce.

 

[319]

How about screwing three or four 1 x 4 s horizontally on each side, in place of the troop seats when they are in the down position. Paint them green of course.

 

[Armada]

Like poppop said, there should be clips on the outside and straps on the inside of the cover for holding up the sides. Rolling the sides up inward will definitly keep water from collecting. There should also be some straps for keeping the top to the bows when the sides are rolled up.

 

[airmech3839]

Great Info guys!!