M54 top speed

[Amer-team]

It seems from reading threads that the deuces and 5 tons have top speeds ranging from 47 to 50 MPH.

Do you guys agree with this?

If so, I took the M54 out for a road test today. Got it on the highway and it seemed to top out at 42 MPH. I did hit 46 on the downhill side of a railroad crossing.

Any ideas on this? Is this a correct top speed. While I have not changed the trucks bodily fluids yet, except for brake fluid, it seems to have been fairly well maintained and up to date from the agency that I purchased it from.

Is something sticking or not opening up all the way?

The brakes have been gone through and it has a new air fileter.

Thank you for your thoughts on this matter.
P

 

[M54a2weasel]

mine can hit 55 on a flat road but i am lacking power too. im turning my fuel pump up this week. a guy i know runs 1600s and says he can do 70mph all day. I will turn mine up and tell u how it goes.

 

[Amer-team]

I am not too worried about the power issue. It is a 20,000 pound truck. But the speed makes me wonder where the obstruction is. I would be happy with about 50 MPH.

We do alot of historical displays and if I have to run by myself, would like to go a bit faster.
When we convoy, we try to run about 40 MPH.

It was doing 42 indicated at 2300 RPM and the sticker shows it redlining at 25 or 2600.

It does smoke some when running, so I think it is getting good fuel. It had sat for quite awhile and am still trying to burn out and dilute some old fuel. Also have poured some injector cleaner in the tank. Have put about 60 miles on it in the last couple of weeks.

The truck has stock 1100X 20 tires.

There is a 1985 rebuild tag and the speedometer looks new with just over 1000 miles indicated. I think it may have been installed at rebuild time. It seems to run just fine.

 

[Ruppster]

It was doing 42 indicated at 2300 RPM and the sticker shows it redlining at 25 or 2600.

Will the engine do 2500 to 2600 rpm in first or second gear but not fifth? Or will it only do 2300 rpm in all gears? If it will do a higher rpm in low gear but not in fifth then you have a problem. If it will only do 2300 rpm in all gears then it sounds like the govenor needs to be adjusted.

Ruppster

 

[Hkx3]

Mine will do 52 up grade, and 54 on flats.

Doesnt matter if the canvas is on or off, pulling or unloaded. Thats what you get.

Rolling coal the whole time, especially on the grades.

 

[Amer-team]

Thank you for tip on the RPM. I think it was doing the 2300 to 2500 in 5th.

I am new to this truck and only have about 200 miles on it, so am still getting used to shift patterns, was checking out double clutching, and trying to figure out what it will do. It is fun to drive and when you miss a shift, it has the glide ratio of a rock.

There was an initial brake issue, one that was not wanting to release, but that seems to be cleared up now.

It did seem that it came up against a governor. It looks like it hits in the 2300 to 2500 range and then it goes flat.

Also it has the LDS 465 1A multi fuel engine.

 

[Floridianson]

You might want to try the TM trouble shooting the 465. Real good info and step by step so you are not all over the place with the run down of your problem. We can say what to check but I feel that if you do step by step as the TM has it you will narrow it down faster.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Sound like a typical 5 ton to me. The multifuel 5 ton has a direct drive transmission when its stock. Top RPM is 2600 and you should indicate about 53 MPH. If your doing 43 at 2300, thats about right, give or take a MPH or two for the speedo being a bit off. You should be able to hit 50 at 2600 on a flat road. Keep putting the Power Service injector cleaner to her. Change your fuel filters and fill the Primary cannister with ATF fluid. If you still have old fuel in the tank, keep running it until its gone and keep us posted.


I like that your into the history of the truck, do you plan on painting it in Vietnam markings???

 

[Squirt-Truck]

Amer-Team
Well..You have an A2 with the -1A engine. That truck is rated to run 52 MPH at 2600, which is loaded max RPM. That engine should turn close to 2800 unloaded. At 2200 or better RPM is should not smoke except on hard pulls. Lil-Squirt will run 52 MPH all day, canvas on or off, towing or not (typical towed load in the -19 flat bed trailer at roughly 13,000#) she did smoke when we had 32,000 in tow. but still made 52 MPH, it just took a LONG time.

Another note is that 45-47 MPH at 2250 to 2300 RPM will geve maximum fuel milage in my case about 5 MPG, pushing her to 52 MPH drops the "economy" to about 3 MPG. Your truck should readily pull to the 2600 RPM limit especially running empty.

M54-A2weasel, be very careful around someone running 16.00's at 70 MPH, I do believe that you will find those tires speed rated to only 55 MPH, and seeing one sling apart is not pretty........

Floridianson has great acvice, check out the troubleshooting in the TM. By the way, since you mentioned that the truck had been idle for some time and the fuel was "old", I have a thought that you may have clogged fuel filters, #2 diesel is bad about that, flush the tank and replace the secondaty and final filters, clean the primary andgive her a run.

Keepus posted.

 

[Amer-team]

Thank you for the tips. I got about a foot high stack of TM's with this truck and they are getting a work out. The biggest truck I had before this is an M715, so I am in a new ballgame. Working on the brakes just about convinced me that I need to stick to the smaller stuff. But it is fun to drive.

My next mission will be the filters. There has been quite a bit of work trying to stabilize the patient before we get to the cosmetic surgery.

I got it about a month before Armed Forces Day last year. Since it was marked with the 80th Ordnance Co. attached to an aviation company, That was a Ft. Lewis unit, I wanted to get it there. So there were quite a few hurried repairs and it made it.

Some of the hurdles were changing the belts and hoses. The TM says that you have to remove the radiator or generator to get the bottom hose. I thought no way and two hours later, I removed the radiator. It needed to be cleaned and resoldered anyway.

I would like to paint it Vietnam green one of these days, but will maintain the original unit markings.

The truck looks like it went from the Army to the National Guard, to a local city, then to me. I would say during ANG days it was mated to an Air Force dropside box. The box retains the AF numbers.
Thank you all for the suggestions and will keep you posted as it progresses.

 

[Amer-team]

Time for an update. Did finally get the fuel filters changed.

Took the advice off one of the other threads about the Baldwin filters. It said to purchase another gasket and gave the number, which I did. The cans leaked like heck. Ended up pulling off the cans again and putting the old gaskets back in, no problem. the orignal gaskets had a taper to them that the new ones did not, so think that was a contributing factor. The captured fuel from the filter cannisters appeared to have quite a bit of moisture in it.

The spin on filter option, looks like the ticket at the next filter change.

Have been trying to burn off the old fuel. There is probably 30 gallons or so in the tank and I have added fuel to this stuff.

End of story, the filter change didn't seem to do much to the overall speed question. Took it for a 20 mile run and was stillsaddled with the 42 or so MPH,

My next look will be at the Governor setting. Looking through the threads I have not found one on setting the Governor adjustment and I can't pick it out in the TM's I have. I have several of them, but may not have them all.

Any advice or direction to another thread would be appreciated.

 

[docfarmall]

sound like ya need some stuff called power service it will help alot

 

[wreckerman893]

I cannot say enough about the spin on fuel and oil filter kits for the multi......I have spin on primarys on one of my cargo deuces and the M275. I have the spin on oil fiters on the 275.
I am waiting on Westfolk to get the seconday kits on the market.
His kits have the filters with the drain on bottom so you can drain the water out without having to pull the filter off.
5 tons were made to be worked like a rented mule....not for speed.

 

[Amer-team]

First off, what is "power service"? I have put several hazardous chemicals in the tank already, like things to get the water out and kill any algae growing in the tank. It had a full 78 gallons when I got it and the mechanic told me it was old fuel. The city had it for 8 years and it didn't move that much except for flood times.

This truck has a spin on filter for the primary and what a piece of cake to change that one.
The secondaries have a drain at the bottom of the cans and the TM says to drain them, unfortunately with the starter being right there, there is no goog way to get something under them to drain to. So drained a little bit and then took them out. Actually did not spill too much with this method.

Put the new old style filters back in and put it together. Except for the gasket sealing issue, it went pretty well. Also tapered the end of an Automatic Transmission fluid funnel and was able to prime the filters through the top bolt hole. This does require another set of hands.

I do understand the speed issue, but some of the responses give a road speed of 50 to 55. It is disheartening when I have friends with WW2 GMC and Studebaker and they can leave me in the dust. At 42 MPH I am still at the 2200 to 2300 RPM range and think there has to be an adjustment that I am missing.

IF this is what I have to live with, that will be okay. The truck runs well and is a kick to drive. A couple of weeks ago, they had a rat rod cruise in town and I took the 54 down and cruised a pass. Just about got a standing ovation the whole way. They really appreciated seeing the old iron on the preservation trail.

Thanks you guys for the help and the thoughts on this issue.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Power Service is a brand of fuel addative.............HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!!! When you did yourfilters, did you fill them with any fuel addative???? The injector pump and injectors will appreciate it. You are correct on the speed, keep running that truck and burn the old fuel and keep putting the POWER SERVICE to it.

 

[Amer-team]

Thank you for the tip on the additive. I went to the local big truck parts shop and bought what they recommended. So don't even remember the name, but I put in two batches as it said it was to treat 50 gals. and I was over that. Did put some Marvels mystery oil fuel additive in one can of the secondaries.

Hope to get a good road run on it this next weekend. Will see what happens.

 

[Squirt-Truck]

Amer-
What will the engine turn sitting still in netural? If it will not go over 2300 then you have a gov. issue, not fuel. If it goes to 2600 to 2800 then not the govenor.

OR If you do not like the thought of turning it up sitting, run it through the lower gears and see what it will turn. That is the best way to address the potential for a stuck govenor.

 

[Amer-team]

Well now you are making me nervous. After I got the filters changed, did start it up to make sure that it was primed and running and I did hit it a bit and it went to 2600 or so. So took it for a drive, thinking problem solved, but still running at 2200 to 2300. It will get to about 46 to 47 on a bit of a downhill grade.

Would it be possible that the bad fuel that I am still trying to burn off, would rob it of the go to get to the higher speed?

Or is there a more dire problem lurking? The air filter is fine and the truck seems to run well except for the top end issue.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Burn off the fuel!!! Keep adding the pwr service and RUN IT!!!! She should come around.

 

[mikes47jeep]

id say it's just the old stale fuel giving you greif