M880 headache.

[jimeswa]

Bought A M880 that was turned into a fire truck. Wow every fire fighter in the state must have thought they were an electrical genius. Major electrical problems. It got cold outside and I found I know have 3 volts on the coil. I lost turn signals when I put on a license plate light. Lost my cab light also. Lost fuel guage. No back up lights cause its got the wrong connector. I'm thinking of taking this to the shop and asking them to completely remove the blackout drive and rewire it like a standard truck. I'm able to turn a wrench but I'm no electronic genius at all. Any thoughts? ???? I also want to put power steering on the truck but haven't found the resources. I haven't got much cash flow that's why I bought the truck. I actually got 2. Already sold the one with a smoked tranny. Other than the other one having heavy-duty overload springs they were the same.

 

[N1265]

These trucks have known electrical issues even without the blackout system, so removing it may not fix your problems. The first thing to check is ALL grounds and the firewall connector. The engine side of the connector is where you normally find most of the corosion, ( but you will want to clean the inside of the cab connector also )

In addition to that, you will want to pull the amp meter and look at the connections on the back side, all the power for the truck runs threw this gage and they are know to fail. ( if your dash shows signs of melting you will want to bypass this gage ( simply bolt the red and black wire together )

Also, the turn signal switch in the steering collum is know to go bad. ( burnt contacts )

There are many threads about these issues here and at Ramchargercentral.com

 

[N1265]

Putting on the power steering is pretty straight forward, just make sure you get the correct steering box ( reverse rotation if I remember right ) and the pit man arm for the power box ( manual gear box pit man arm will not work )

Also, there are two different sizes of input shafts to the power steering box between some Ramchargres and trucks, (I have a thread somewhere that explains this in more detail ) . Just pull everything from the same vehicle and you should not have any trouble.

 

[jimeswa]

I got to poking around on hear the other night. Found the p/s thread. I'm thinking all the guage need replaced just due to clarity. I can turn a wrench but I'm no mechanic. Will any guage I choose work?

 

[OilfieldRoughneck]

Pictures of truck please.

 

[jimeswa]

Rednecks will run this country when technology fails. I regret to state I can't figure out how to post photos from my phone.

 

[N1265]

Not all gauges are the same. However, any gauge that is of the same type, size and design of the one being replaced should work. You should have decent automotive electrical abilities before diving into the problems these trucks can throw at you.

 

[jimeswa]

 

[jimeswa]

That is a photo when it still had the fire department sticks on it. It needs lots of TLC. I hope to have it rolling down the street with no issues soon.

 

[dtracy22]

I highly recommended bypassing amp gauge. Go to www.madelectrical.com and then click on bypassing the amp gauge. They do a step by step on a dodge truck. Thec reason for doing it their way is a lot of voltage is lost at firewall bulkhead. I did this on my truck and head lights are bright now and turn signals blink as they should.

 

[nattieleather]

Nice looking truck! Doesn't look in to bad of shape. The electrical on these trucks will drive you to drink that's for sure!

 

[Super Warrantman]

The electrical system of the M880 is known to be full of gremlins. It doesn't help when it's been worked on by firemen after it left the army. My M882 was in the Forestry Service as a brush truck for years after it was released by the Army. I must have used a couple of pounds of rosin core soldier on bad connections as well as reworking the bulkhead connectors. Bypassing the amp gauge as some have recommended on here is a useful upgrade.

 

[jimeswa]

I will definitely look into this. Thank you.