M817 Dump Truck Project Begins

[dozer1]

After several months of procrastinating on this, I finally have taken the bull by the horns as they say, and got going on this. See like nearly everyone else out there, I expect my GL purchase to need filters and fluids, maybe a tire or 2, some spark chasing , a bunch of seals and beaucoup brake work. Heck, the 3 deuces I bought from Camp Dodge didnt need nearly that much work.
Then my M817 came along. It requires a bit more attention then that. I wasn't prepared for my wonderful new hobby to get quite this involved but it has, so here is whats going on now. It had a stuck engine, so after trying the soaking the cylinders trick and having no luck, I opened it up and had a look inside. After making the big wrench that is in one of the pics, I was able to get a good hold on the crank and rock it back and forth to loosen it up. After just 2 or 3 revolutions, you could spin it with ease with the fan. Not trusting the condition of the cylinders and rings, I pulled the pistons. 3 of then had badly rusted rings that were stuck in the pistons. To make a long story short, it is getting rod bearings, sleaves, rings, heads checked over, injectors and IP checked over, fuel tanks sandblasted and lined, all fuel lines flushed to the best of my ability, radiator pressure checked and cleaned while I am at it and many other things I am sure.
There is good things about this truck as well. It is a Marine Corps truck which I just think is pretty cool, has singles already, lockers, only 2029 miles on it since this engine was installed in it and sadly left to sit for 25 years. Really appears to be overal low miles, just sat too long. I plan on making this quite a nice truck, but not all at once. This could be a 2 -3 year project. In the end it will roll on 6 Michelin 16.00x20's and have fresh paint which I want to be as close to the way its painted right now as possible. I have the tires on 2 pallets and I am not going to worry about the paint this year probably.

 

[Armada]

Keep the pictures coming. Your 817 will be a first rate truck when you are finished!
You might have already done this, but replace the rubber fuel hose jumpers at the fuel transfer switch. Garuanteed they will leak after sitting so long.
I have a cargo cover kit new in the crate for your truck. If you are interested, pm me.

 

[quarkz]

dozer1,
Nice pics and a job well done.
Are you a mechanic by trade, or just a very enthusiastic DIY hobbiest?
Jumping into a big diesel isn't exactly for the faint of heart.
The 817 could have become a static display / lawn ornament very quickly.
Either way,

 

[jcappeljr]

Nice truck,you will love it when your finished,I love my 817,I run 53 " tires on mine.

 

[dozer1]

Armada, thanks for the good words and the tip on the jumper hoses. I went out and looked closely at them. All 6 jumpers have some cracking to them and will be ordered next week along with some other parts. Do you have a favorite 5 ton parts source?
Quarkz, Back in 87-88 I attended Motorcycle mechanics Institute in Orlando Fl. Now it is called UTI (motorcycle) I believe. Then worked at 2 bike shops for 2 years total. Just decided to go back home and farm after all. Been here ever since. Soo I do have some mechanical experience and also I am hiring a young votech trained diesel mechanic to help out for some of the job. It seems very straight forward to me but the most critical part will be setting the valves and injectors. We both will be reading that section in the TM a few times

 

[Floridianson]

Since you knee deep in it here is a thought. You have the heads off take out the rear plug and run the duel fuel line. Good luck and happy greasing.

 

[supermechanic]

From the pics you have posted, seems you have a good handle on this rebuild.
In my opinion, the 855 cummins, in all of of it's different configurations, is the most 'mechanic friendly' engine made.
They are easy to work on, and once set, will run for a very long time.
Nice project, keep the pics coming.

 

[rlwm211]

If you need the TMs for the 809 series they just got uploaded and are available at​

www.jatonkam35s.com

The 915 series are there as well as the earlier 5 ton series​

RL

 

[dozer1]

M817

Nice truck,you will love it when your finished,I love my 817,I run 53 " tires on mine.

Do you have a bigger pic you could post of your 817? or a link to a thread where you may have posted it? Bet they are handy to have around as well as just cool.

 

[Armada]

Armada, thanks for the good words and the tip on the jumper hoses. I went out and looked closely at them. All 6 jumpers have some cracking to them and will be ordered next week along with some other parts. Do you have a favorite 5 ton parts source?

I get them from Memphis Equipment. They are reasonably priced. I will check for the p/n's. There are 2 p/n's, and it takes 3 of each.
Looking forward to more pics.

 

[Floridianson]

Do believe its 1/2 and 3/8 fuel line from napa. The 3/8 goes on easey and if you take a little lube on a Q tip and put it inside of the 1/2 hose and a little on the barb fitting you will get it all the way on.
You going to run 53' Then you might want to do the duel fuel line and turn up the fuel some. I still reading and looking for someone that realy knows how much we can raise rail pressure and be safe. My man don't talk much but we went with 10lb. over.
53's look nice but 395 I feel look better with the proper gap inbetween the tires.

 

[dozer1]

Do believe its 1/2 and 3/8 fuel line from napa. The 3/8 goes on easey and if you take a little lube on a Q tip and put it inside of the 1/2 hose and a little on the barb fitting you will get it all the way on.
You going to run 53' Then you might want to do the duel fuel line and turn up the fuel some. I still reading and looking for someone that realy knows how much we can raise rail pressure and be safe. My man don't talk much but we went with 10lb. over.
53's look nice but 395 I feel look better with the proper gap inbetween the tires.

The 6 little jumper hoses appear to have factory crimped on ends like little hydraulic hoses. I think I would rather just order them even tho it will cost more.
The duel line would be a good idea probably. Is there a thread about it? I am not familiar with doing it, but I am pretty sure I know what you mean. Do you need to duel line the return as well as the pressure line? I will also ask the guy that is rebuilding the pump-injectors about the duel line. The sole purpose is to insure full pressure to the rear cylinders as the front ones get. Am I on the right track here?

 

[Floridianson]

Yes right track. Thought that someone said duel fuel would add about 20 hp. I don't know for fact but it will help and from what I have read no leave the return alone. The 817 are heavy and running the 53's which will look cool any extre power with help. The 250 could spin 200rpm more I feel with no problem but I had my man leave the Gov. at 2100. We can run different dis and gain a little more fuel rail back pressure but as I said I have not confermend how much would be to much. I left it up to my Man but I think he might not want me to pop one and blame him. We can also incresae the fuel by way of the throttel shaft some to. Forget who had the thread here last week be he did a good job of showing what and how.

You might want to put a T fitting in where you will tap for the line so that you can also test for fuel pressure or have a gage in the cab. Just run a plug if not used or need to test. The plug where you will tap is right below the elect cut off and faces you when you when looking at it.

All the ones I have seen so far have been barb fittings but maybe they were changed out on yours.

 

[Floridianson]

Low buck diesel power | turn up your fuel rate for free, or almost

 

[dozer1]

This weekend I learned that there is more to pulling a 5 tons radiator then meets the eye. Primarily WEIGHT! It didnt take long for me to figure out that I wasnt just going to manhandle that thing out of the frame and down the ladder. So the cherry picker came to mind. At first I was going to get a light chain under it and wrap it around a couple of times but that was nearly catastrophic. The rad slipped back into the mounting holes and nearly took a couple of fingers with it. I had some mechanic gloves on and just was able to pull my hand out and leave the glove behind. the chain links held the rad up just barely enough to allow me to get out. I might get a little slack from this story, but just wanted to get it out there so if someone is doing this or something like it, they might remember this and do things differently. As the pic shows, I went on to weld up this "equalizer beam" I will call it, and pulled the rad out of there like nothing. Moral of the story. When working on heavy equipment. RESPECT THE WEIGHT

 

[rlwm211]

We all have had one of those moments where afterwards we sat back and said PHEW!!!!!

Glad you got it out and in the process shared your experience and solution.

RL

 

[schwenk industries]

Good work, keep the pics coming, remember do it right the first time so ya don't have to do it again seems to be good advise when working with mechanical stuff.

 

[dozer1]

Yes right track. Thought that someone said duel fuel would add about 20 hp. I don't know for fact but it will help and from what I have read no leave the return alone. The 817 are heavy and running the 53's which will look cool any extre power with help. The 250 could spin 200rpm more I feel with no problem but I had my man leave the Gov. at 2100. We can run different dis and gain a little more fuel rail back pressure but as I said I have not confermend how much would be to much. I left it up to my Man but I think he might not want me to pop one and blame him. We can also incresae the fuel by way of the throttel shaft some to. Forget who had the thread here last week be he did a good job of showing what and how.

You might want to put a T fitting in where you will tap for the line so that you can also test for fuel pressure or have a gage in the cab. Just run a plug if not used or need to test. The plug where you will tap is right below the elect cut off and faces you when you when looking at it.

James, Today I had asked my fuel injection tech about the duel line trick. He said that it would be of no benefit for anything less then 400 horse. This truck will be at around 300 hp the way it will be set up. I still like the idea of tapping in there so a rail pressure gauge could be installed. You had a question on another thread that I cannot find now. What is the rail pressure of a few different Cummins engines? What were those engines and if you want I can ask that tech next time I talk to him. Dean

 

[Floridianson]

Thanks you could ask about the NHC 250 we all run and the 400 BC if you like.

 

[televisionman007]

hey by any chance did u get yr dump from albany ga?