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Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!
The next Project an ASMH
- Thread starter WillWagner
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Soldiers have a way of correcting someones "Bad Habits". About 1978-79, on our Hawk Missile site, we had a guy in the motor pool who was a real pest. Talk crap all day long, without end. He could have driven a rock to commit Harakiri. He was harmless, but the boy just could not shut his mouth. One fine day, about 19:00, I was on my way off the site after a long day. I always made the last rounds of my Engineer Section and the Motor Pool. I saw the lights on in the motor pool, and headed over to shut them off. As I got closer, I could hear a faint voice, but could not understand what was being yelled/screamed. I got to the maintenance bays, and the screaming was very loud. I opened the door, walked in, and saw this pest hanging from the overhead crane hook. After a laughing spell, I let him down. "The Boys" in the motor pool had had enough of this pest, and decide it was time to "train" him. They jumped on him, looped a fan belt through itself, put it around his ankles. Then looped the fan belt on the crane hook, and away he went. So did they. They all trooped out and got in their cars and went home. I bet I laughed for 3/4 of an hour. Of course I had to conduct some corrective training the next few days. Cant let "the boys" get away with something like that. So our bunkers got some new sand bags. About 20 bundles. Bundle was 50 bags. It really didn't bother them a bit. And the pest soon went back to being a pest. Now days he raises goats.
BLK HMMWV
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Danger ,Stranger,
Thanks God you didn't offer him candy.
Little creepy there Will.
I know someone that can probably fit up inside that thing but he doesn't follow directions very well. At least yours!!
Let's get this going after it stops raining and when you get back from the beach.
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Gotta figure out how to get the drain plug outa the tank, that thing is TIGHT!!
BLK HMMWV
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Square head?
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Yup and I have square drive sockets. I was gonna find a 12pt impact and see if I can get up in the frame to try and loosen with an impact. We need a big drain bucket!
BLK HMMWV
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I have a neat little syphon pump. Can we suck most of the stuff out from top?
BLK HMMWV
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Let me know if that pump works to empty tank.
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@BLK HMMWV , I had it sitting on the bench out the front door and walked right past it! Next week. Although, I did make a bit of progress on the tough part, the slip ring.
After realizing that I forgot the sucker pump, and after psyching myself up to get on top of the pig in the cold and shade, I decided to see if there was any hydraulic oil up in the lines that I needed to remove to get the slip out.
First victim, the Ermeto fitting supplying the valve bodies, a drip. Next was the left swing, a few drops, this is going nicely! Next, swing right, same, then return from the valves, maybe a tablespoon, only enough that a towel sucked it up! So far, easy peasy!
Moving onto the crane motor drain, 58 inches of #10 with a funky pipe thread swivel in the line at the motor end. No oil out of the motor, fished the line out and it held about a 1/4 cup. Lastly, valve body drain. Looks to be about a #8 with the same funky pipe thread swivel, another 1/4 cup. That all went well, no giant hydraulic oil mess.
The #8 and 10 lines were flexible, the -10 is fit for re use, the -8, not so much, it turned to black powder in my gloves. The -16 lines for swing, supply and return, harder than a male appendage on wedding night! It has been a day or two since I worked with older hydraulic stuff. It is all coming back to me how difficult things were done. Goofy fittings, not so much the Ermeto stuff, but the pipe swivels and the way things were assembled. Who in their right mind creates a 58 inch long line that needs to be physically turned/threaded into a port or a 4 foot long -16 line for that matter? Well, ALL of the lines are like this, compression fitting on one side, pipe thread fitting that requires the whole line to be turned to remove.
After realizing that I forgot the sucker pump, and after psyching myself up to get on top of the pig in the cold and shade, I decided to see if there was any hydraulic oil up in the lines that I needed to remove to get the slip out.
First victim, the Ermeto fitting supplying the valve bodies, a drip. Next was the left swing, a few drops, this is going nicely! Next, swing right, same, then return from the valves, maybe a tablespoon, only enough that a towel sucked it up! So far, easy peasy!
Moving onto the crane motor drain, 58 inches of #10 with a funky pipe thread swivel in the line at the motor end. No oil out of the motor, fished the line out and it held about a 1/4 cup. Lastly, valve body drain. Looks to be about a #8 with the same funky pipe thread swivel, another 1/4 cup. That all went well, no giant hydraulic oil mess.
The #8 and 10 lines were flexible, the -10 is fit for re use, the -8, not so much, it turned to black powder in my gloves. The -16 lines for swing, supply and return, harder than a male appendage on wedding night! It has been a day or two since I worked with older hydraulic stuff. It is all coming back to me how difficult things were done. Goofy fittings, not so much the Ermeto stuff, but the pipe swivels and the way things were assembled. Who in their right mind creates a 58 inch long line that needs to be physically turned/threaded into a port or a 4 foot long -16 line for that matter? Well, ALL of the lines are like this, compression fitting on one side, pipe thread fitting that requires the whole line to be turned to remove.
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- Monrovia, Ca.
After all of that, I decided to see if the slip assembly would come out. Keep in mind, I do have the TM for the wrecker body and did skim through it, mostly looking at the pictures, just because it's a visual thing, who needs to read, right?
Figured I would start with the top plate, there are bolts in it, so it comes apart, right? Took those out, took off the small cover on top of the top cover. This small cover is what would be the commutator or slip ring on something a bit more modern that has more electrics, but this has only a single 8 or 10 ga wire coming up through the center, stationary part of the rotator to a douglas connector to power the lights. The ground is achieved through a ground strap from the douglas connector to one of the top cover bolts.
Got the top cover pulled off, nice and clean inside, and attempted to pry the outer hub off of the inner hub, NOPE! moves freely but hard stops after 1/8 inch of upward movement. Back to the manual and this time, READ it!
Come to find out that the inner hub only comes out of the outer from the top. There is a seal at the bottom of the outer hub and the inner hub diameter that is inside the outer is a larger diameter than the portion of the inner that goes down into the rotator. I actually read the whole section 3 times and nowhere does it explain how to remove the slip assembly from the crane itself.
Went back out to the truck and looked at things, wiggled the slip around, looked at the manual again, looked at the slip and the rotator it is attached to and figured out how it all worked. Rolled under it and looked up the center trying to figure things out.
The rotator under the slip hub was piled with years of dirt. Took out the air nozzle and gave things a blow job. After the debris was gone, I believed I had found the key to disassembly! The top plate of the rotator is bolted to the stationary inner of the column. Well, two of the studs had a plate under the nuts. The plates looked as if they were installed into a slot in the lower part of the inner hub.
15 minutes later, 1 hex at a time, two nuts were removed, the top plates re-installed and with the help of a pry bar, the slip assembly was free of its resting place! I rolled under the pig and had soldier B use the pry bar to raise and lower the assembly to see if the hoses moved, and they do!
Now all I need to do is remember the pump to suck out the hydraulic fluid to a more manageable level so that when the plug comes out, the flow is a bit more controllable, remove the lines from the pump and tank and remove the slip assy. I am curious to see how the hoses are attached to the inner hub. My guess is that the things are pipe threaded into the hub. If that is the case, the chop saw comes out and the lines get cut off so I am not fighting 5, six foot long octopus hydraulic lines through the center of the column.
I think, to avoid the difficulty of feeding all those -16 lines back through the column, I will install some lengths of pipe from the bottom and install the new lines onto them. The new lines will also get swivels to either flat face, o-ring or JIC so things are a bit easier to work on in the future.
Figured I would start with the top plate, there are bolts in it, so it comes apart, right? Took those out, took off the small cover on top of the top cover. This small cover is what would be the commutator or slip ring on something a bit more modern that has more electrics, but this has only a single 8 or 10 ga wire coming up through the center, stationary part of the rotator to a douglas connector to power the lights. The ground is achieved through a ground strap from the douglas connector to one of the top cover bolts.
Got the top cover pulled off, nice and clean inside, and attempted to pry the outer hub off of the inner hub, NOPE! moves freely but hard stops after 1/8 inch of upward movement. Back to the manual and this time, READ it!
Come to find out that the inner hub only comes out of the outer from the top. There is a seal at the bottom of the outer hub and the inner hub diameter that is inside the outer is a larger diameter than the portion of the inner that goes down into the rotator. I actually read the whole section 3 times and nowhere does it explain how to remove the slip assembly from the crane itself.
Went back out to the truck and looked at things, wiggled the slip around, looked at the manual again, looked at the slip and the rotator it is attached to and figured out how it all worked. Rolled under it and looked up the center trying to figure things out.
The rotator under the slip hub was piled with years of dirt. Took out the air nozzle and gave things a blow job. After the debris was gone, I believed I had found the key to disassembly! The top plate of the rotator is bolted to the stationary inner of the column. Well, two of the studs had a plate under the nuts. The plates looked as if they were installed into a slot in the lower part of the inner hub.
15 minutes later, 1 hex at a time, two nuts were removed, the top plates re-installed and with the help of a pry bar, the slip assembly was free of its resting place! I rolled under the pig and had soldier B use the pry bar to raise and lower the assembly to see if the hoses moved, and they do!
Now all I need to do is remember the pump to suck out the hydraulic fluid to a more manageable level so that when the plug comes out, the flow is a bit more controllable, remove the lines from the pump and tank and remove the slip assy. I am curious to see how the hoses are attached to the inner hub. My guess is that the things are pipe threaded into the hub. If that is the case, the chop saw comes out and the lines get cut off so I am not fighting 5, six foot long octopus hydraulic lines through the center of the column.
I think, to avoid the difficulty of feeding all those -16 lines back through the column, I will install some lengths of pipe from the bottom and install the new lines onto them. The new lines will also get swivels to either flat face, o-ring or JIC so things are a bit easier to work on in the future.
Last edited:
- 8,387
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- Monrovia, Ca.
And, I think something else is a leaker....
- 8,387
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- Monrovia, Ca.
It's been a bit, but slow steady work has been happening. Volunteers have spent time sanding and priming. Holes in the cab top have been filled and sanded. I have slowly tackled things. One of the issues are ALL of the hydraulic hoses. They all need replacing. I have a local guy trying to source the Ermetto male fittings. The other end of the hoses will be converted to a swivel instead of going back with pipe thread. Trying to turn a 6 foot long, hard #16 line out of a pipe threaded hole is a PITA! And after removing the hard supply pipe from the swivel to the valve body, I figured a "MWO" was in need, so I cut a hole in the side of the operators console to accommodate the use of wrench to re-install the pipe when it comes back!
First step was to remove the oil from the tank, however, the plug was TIGHT! It finally took using a 1/2 inch impact to shock it loose! Rattled it tight, then loose, then tight, then loose and it finally broke loose. I did not drain it from there though. I instead used a Harbor Freight drill operated pump to get 99% of the oil out. Surprisingly, it was very clean, no water. It was a bit low, only pulled out about 30 gallons. All of the hoses I removed had almost nothing in them. There is evidence of leakage under the beast, so I think the fluid tried to go home.
I installed a ball valve for future issues.
I also got the rear winch un bound up. This time I DID RTFM! Got the operation figured out. Decided to try and do the same as I did with the front, engage the PTO and winch in reverse and see if it could loosen up. Got the PTO, t-case and trans set. Engaged the rear lever to the un-wind position. Crank the engine, nothing. Two or three times tried to engage-dis engage things still nothing. I rolled under it and had someone crank it. T-case had output but no PTO. Had someone move the levers in the bed and found that the levers were not how the TM said they were. TM says inboard lever, next to the clutch valve, it for the rear winch. Not so much on this truck. Somehow the outer lever is for the winch, the inner is for the boom. Glad there was no oil in the system or there woulda been a mess! But I guess i woulda figured it out sooner/easier!
I was able to spool the line out about 6 feet. We will need to cut apx 8 feet off of the line because it was so tight that a part of the line is flat. The clevis nut is pulled out of the clevis and is split. Whoever ran the winches up tight like this was a jackhole! We most likely will never use the rear winch, but this will be fixed. I was also able to lube all of the rollers of the fairlead and get them turning fairly easily.
When the winch was pulled up tight, it snapped the level wind lock. I found this out when I tried to pull it out. I re made it with an allen head capscrew. All of the components were there, the pin was just missing its head.
I can't find the pictures of the long boom support poles before they were separated. One came apart easily, the other, not so much. It took a come alon, a fork lift, a big hammer and a rosebud. About an hour of time, but it came apart. Some volunteers sanded the pole halves, a bore brush was rigged up to clean the ID of the outer tubes and now the slide like butter!
I also scrounged around and found some front and rear bumper shackles and pins. I needed to make a few clips and add a chain to one, but now e have front and rear shackles!
First step was to remove the oil from the tank, however, the plug was TIGHT! It finally took using a 1/2 inch impact to shock it loose! Rattled it tight, then loose, then tight, then loose and it finally broke loose. I did not drain it from there though. I instead used a Harbor Freight drill operated pump to get 99% of the oil out. Surprisingly, it was very clean, no water. It was a bit low, only pulled out about 30 gallons. All of the hoses I removed had almost nothing in them. There is evidence of leakage under the beast, so I think the fluid tried to go home.
I installed a ball valve for future issues.
I also got the rear winch un bound up. This time I DID RTFM! Got the operation figured out. Decided to try and do the same as I did with the front, engage the PTO and winch in reverse and see if it could loosen up. Got the PTO, t-case and trans set. Engaged the rear lever to the un-wind position. Crank the engine, nothing. Two or three times tried to engage-dis engage things still nothing. I rolled under it and had someone crank it. T-case had output but no PTO. Had someone move the levers in the bed and found that the levers were not how the TM said they were. TM says inboard lever, next to the clutch valve, it for the rear winch. Not so much on this truck. Somehow the outer lever is for the winch, the inner is for the boom. Glad there was no oil in the system or there woulda been a mess! But I guess i woulda figured it out sooner/easier!
I was able to spool the line out about 6 feet. We will need to cut apx 8 feet off of the line because it was so tight that a part of the line is flat. The clevis nut is pulled out of the clevis and is split. Whoever ran the winches up tight like this was a jackhole! We most likely will never use the rear winch, but this will be fixed. I was also able to lube all of the rollers of the fairlead and get them turning fairly easily.
When the winch was pulled up tight, it snapped the level wind lock. I found this out when I tried to pull it out. I re made it with an allen head capscrew. All of the components were there, the pin was just missing its head.
I can't find the pictures of the long boom support poles before they were separated. One came apart easily, the other, not so much. It took a come alon, a fork lift, a big hammer and a rosebud. About an hour of time, but it came apart. Some volunteers sanded the pole halves, a bore brush was rigged up to clean the ID of the outer tubes and now the slide like butter!
I also scrounged around and found some front and rear bumper shackles and pins. I needed to make a few clips and add a chain to one, but now e have front and rear shackles!
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- Location
- Monrovia, Ca.
I need some help! The lever for the rear winch clutch engage/disengage on the trans is AWOL. All of the images in the TMs here are dark so that I can't see what the lever looks like. If someone has a clear picture of the lever, maybe able to give me a OAL measurement, that would be greatly appreciated!
There has been some progress on the wrecker, I have pics, just gotta send them to my e-mail. Soon to follow up on that!
There has been some progress on the wrecker, I have pics, just gotta send them to my e-mail. Soon to follow up on that!
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- Monrovia, Ca.
So, here's a bit of an update. It has been VERY wet out this way, so it has been a slow process, however, there is one full coat on the wrecker with the exception of the crane and inside the bed, the future hydraulic work is going to be a bit messy.
All of the cab and bed panels have been sanded and we tried to remove the bondo that was put on this, but it is thick in some places. This was a NG unit, wonder why someone bondoed the pig? It has been put on so thick on some spots that a magnet will not stick. On the M series trucks, there is a seam between the cowl and the cab toward the fender. That seam has been filled and something used to put the seam back into the bondo! The tool box lids have, no shiat, 1/8 inch of the stuff caked on them.
All in all, it is coming out well. First coat, after the hydraulics are done we will pull it out and shoot it in the sunlight, it is kinda hard to see the rust primer/green spots in the shade!
We also took the tanks down to make them look nice. The acetylene tank is a 1941 tank that has never been re inspected for some reason. I don't remember, but Craig said I procured it for the Museum from the vendor that serviced us at Cummins. I don't remember that....
All of the cab and bed panels have been sanded and we tried to remove the bondo that was put on this, but it is thick in some places. This was a NG unit, wonder why someone bondoed the pig? It has been put on so thick on some spots that a magnet will not stick. On the M series trucks, there is a seam between the cowl and the cab toward the fender. That seam has been filled and something used to put the seam back into the bondo! The tool box lids have, no shiat, 1/8 inch of the stuff caked on them.
All in all, it is coming out well. First coat, after the hydraulics are done we will pull it out and shoot it in the sunlight, it is kinda hard to see the rust primer/green spots in the shade!
We also took the tanks down to make them look nice. The acetylene tank is a 1941 tank that has never been re inspected for some reason. I don't remember, but Craig said I procured it for the Museum from the vendor that serviced us at Cummins. I don't remember that....
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- Monrovia, Ca.
I might get in trouble for this, but here goes,
We have set up a GoFundMe to try and help out with the hydraulics.
https://gofund.me/e3241c6e
If there are any issues with me putting this up, please contact me directly through conversations and I will personally remove the post
We have set up a GoFundMe to try and help out with the hydraulics.
https://gofund.me/e3241c6e
If there are any issues with me putting this up, please contact me directly through conversations and I will personally remove the post
- 8,387
- 2,396
- 113
- Location
- Monrovia, Ca.
Here's an update on the wrecker resurrection. The GFM is going OK, right around $1500 has been raised. That is a good thing! We have also sold a few pieces parts to help make up the difference so the price for the project doesn't come out of the operational account. PirTek came out and I went over things with them, I made some drawings with measurements. and we got our estimate. It was a bit less than I thought but we still need oil and we have decided to find and install a filter between the tank and pump. We have found that there is no direct fit fittings for the Ermetto fittings. There are fittings that have the same thread pitch but the ID of them, where the ferrule seats in the bore and the ferrule, are different and there are no fittings that use the same diameter pipe that is on the truck now. To make the new fittings work with the old pieces the ID would need machining to accept the old hard lines. If a hose were to fail in the future, the same machining would need to be done. We opted to have a -16 male welded on the hard lines. This meant removing all 6 hard lines. As was EVERY fitting on this, they were WAY over tightened!
I got the pipes and hoses off last week and got them to the hose shop. That was last Wednesday. I didn't go in this week on Tuesday, had a Dr. apt, good news, no hernia! But I got a call from them saying they would be done yesterday! About 0830 yesterday, I got the call that the pieces were finished. Hopped in Craig's Dodge, the D-Max is STILL in the shop, and went down to get them. Went over things to make sure they all matched my drawings, paid for them and headed back to the compound.
It is amazing how quickly one mis remebers in a week! Had a bit of a time remembering, even with pictures, where each pipe went into the mounting bracket. Some were a bit bent, they were when I took them off. After a bit of head scratching I got them in their correct locations and secured. At this time I took a bit of time, a wrench and a pry bar and gently massaged the pipes back into a more better position(s) so they weren't in contact with each other as they were before.
I also used the hoist to raise the boom as far as the hoist could go in preparation of the slip hub removal. My goal next week on Tuesday is to get the soft lines back on, the one fitting on the boom extension is loose, so it need to come all the way out and be resealed. I don't want to deal with leaks after work is all done. And Wednesday, get a couple of others here to help and get the slip out. I figured, if necessary, I could mark the hoses at the bottom of the slip and at the manifolds under the truck and then just cut the hoses at the slip for removal then assemble the new hoses onto the thing and feed the hoses down into the center. Should be interesting!
I got the pipes and hoses off last week and got them to the hose shop. That was last Wednesday. I didn't go in this week on Tuesday, had a Dr. apt, good news, no hernia! But I got a call from them saying they would be done yesterday! About 0830 yesterday, I got the call that the pieces were finished. Hopped in Craig's Dodge, the D-Max is STILL in the shop, and went down to get them. Went over things to make sure they all matched my drawings, paid for them and headed back to the compound.
It is amazing how quickly one mis remebers in a week! Had a bit of a time remembering, even with pictures, where each pipe went into the mounting bracket. Some were a bit bent, they were when I took them off. After a bit of head scratching I got them in their correct locations and secured. At this time I took a bit of time, a wrench and a pry bar and gently massaged the pipes back into a more better position(s) so they weren't in contact with each other as they were before.
I also used the hoist to raise the boom as far as the hoist could go in preparation of the slip hub removal. My goal next week on Tuesday is to get the soft lines back on, the one fitting on the boom extension is loose, so it need to come all the way out and be resealed. I don't want to deal with leaks after work is all done. And Wednesday, get a couple of others here to help and get the slip out. I figured, if necessary, I could mark the hoses at the bottom of the slip and at the manifolds under the truck and then just cut the hoses at the slip for removal then assemble the new hoses onto the thing and feed the hoses down into the center. Should be interesting!
BLK HMMWV
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A one-man wrecking crew soon to have a wrecker.
Keep me posted about Wed.
Keep me posted about Wed.