CTIS - Tool Kit Question

[Bhpdbrad]

I am currently researching and reading the TM for a M925A2 that I'm going to be purchasing soon. (Yay!)

When that happens I plan on doing a nice thread for the new truck, it's recovery journey (MD to CA) and it's mods....

But for now, I'm studying...

One question: When reading up on the CTIS / tire changing - the guide talks about using the "CTIS Tool Kit".
What exactly is this (what hand tools do I specifically need to make my own kit?)

Thank you.

 

[WYomer]

Wrenches for the air connections, valve stem tool, and sockets were all I needed. If your into the wheel during recovery I pity you. Did that answer what you needed?

 

[WYomer]

Sorry and air for the tires too. Either a glad hand line or compressor plus some valve stems if it's leaking. Just put in a stem and with truck off unplug CTIS.

 

[Bhpdbrad]

Yes, thanks. I was just curious - wanting to make sure there was not a special tool needed. You know, the kind that auto manufacturers are great at requiring to fix some items.
... and, no I'm not dealing with a tire issue now. Just want to be prepared for the trip.
The guy I'm getting the truck from told me it's a 4 man job to change a tire - I think he was exaggerating, but not sure.
On the topic, are the wheel lug nuts usually so tight that the supplied lug wrench and breaker bar can't handle? Can the on board air pressure handle a large impact gun? Or, does everyone just call a truck service for a roadside tire issue?

 

[adamsoffroadperformance]

If you can't change the tire by yourself you shouldn't be driving the truck. As long as you have the chain hoist and the lug tools you should be ok. just might need to grunt on the lugs some a multiplier would be nice to have. I'm not saying it's an easy job but 1 man can do it.

 

[M35A2-AZ]

You need a 1 1/8 deep socket to get the adapter off the hub of the rear axle. You have to remove it to get the wheel off.

 

[VPed]

And CTIS or no, you need a bottle jack and enough wood cribbing for lifting the wheel in episodes. Most bottle jacks will not lift high enough to remove and replace a tire on one stroke of the lift piston.

If you break all of the lug nuts free in your driveway while additional resources are at your disposal, then clean and reinstall to spec, the stock lug wrench and breaker bar should do while out on the road. (I am a fan of anti-seize compound on lugs but that is controversial.) (I am also fan of carrying a 3/4 inch impact wrench and 3/8 inch air hose with me most of the time.)

 

[adamsoffroadperformance]

I agree on the anti-seize. if properly torqued they won't come back off and the anti-seize acts as a lube which gives better torque values than a dry thread.

 

[Bhpdbrad]

Thank you guys!
This is what I was looking for.... And what I had thought. (I'm a pretty big, strong guy, so I was thinking I could handle such an event) - not saying it would be easy. But you gave me the info I needed.
That will be one one the first things I do... Free up the existing lugs, clean threads, apply anti seize and re torque to specs.
and I'm going to shop for a glad-hand air hose and an impact wrench suitable for the job. Although I wonder how much the truck (air)tanks can support.

 

[Castle Bravo]

If you're a big strong guy, you can do it on your own provided you have the right tools.

Something that makes the A2 harder to mount wheels onto is that the axle stub is smaller than the center hole in the wheel, so the wheel does not want to center itself as well as with the other trucks. There are different ways to overcome this, but what I found worked pretty well is to jack up the other side of the same axle and have someone else spin that opposite wheel while you progressively tighten several opposite lug nuts until its relatively centered. Once its pretty well in the middle, the stud centered, chamfered lug nuts will do their job and center the wheel correctly. If you're by yourself, you can use a bar to lever the tire up into position and run a lug nut down with your other hand. This can be hard to do though.

I will add that I think it is important that the 1-1/8" socket is a 6 point instead of a 12 point, so you don't damage the aluminum CTIS fitting that goes into the rear axle hub.

I think its worth taking the wheels off of any new to you truck and putting them back on to ensure that you'll be able to do it on the side of the road with the tools you've got.

 

[Another Ahab]

I think its worth taking the wheels off of any new to you truck and putting them back on to ensure that you'll be able to do it on the side of the road with the tools you've got.

You know that on the back of the sheet, at the bottom of the page, in the fine print (between the parentheses) of Murphy's Law it says that when you're doing this, by the side of the road, that it'll be:

- When you're already late,

- And completely exhausted,

- And it will be raining,

- At night,

- In the middle of nowhere.

You know that, right?

Never could understand why. But that's the way it always is.

 

[WYomer]

Most impact sockets are 6 point and the air system should be around 125psi. Run the truck around 1200-1500rmp while using air tools. But most home compressors are regulated around 90psi. So all air tools will be usable just don't expect to ru. Full out for long since the tanks are small.

 

[VPed]

With a big impact wrench, air volume becomes a problem. I find I can get 2 or 3 good "impacts" with each pull of the trigger before the power drops off due to lack of volume. So I fire in three-shot-bursts. Takes patience but works well with previously cleaned nuts and studs. Some carry an air pig to help with the volume problem. It is a portable air tank that you have close to the impact wrench to accumulate air volume. Others use 1/2 inch hose and fittings to help with that problem.

 

[M35A2-AZ]

If you use the truck glad hand for the impact it only gets air from the wet tank, so you will pull it down very fast. So if you know you will need to use the impact with the truck air you can put a 10 gal air tank in line with your impact and it works much better.

 

[98G]

Slave port impact wrenches will remove a properly torqued lugnut.

The thing is, unless you put them on yourself they are usually over torqued. I carry a breaker bar with a pipe cheater to break things loose and a slave port impact wrench to make it a much faster job from that point.

I had 3 blowouts last summer on my trip between Tucson and St Louis, so I've had some practice.....

 

[Another Ahab]

I had 3 blowouts last summer on my trip between Tucson and St Louis, so I've had some practice.....

Maybe not, but that sounds like a lot.

What do you think; maybe just older tires?

 

[98G]

Maybe not, but that sounds like a lot.

What do you think; maybe just older tires?

110 degree heat, sustained highway speed, 2002 datecodes, bed loaded to the gills, towing another 5ton also loaded to the gills. These were all contributing factors.

The final straw was when the CTIS dumped all 6 tires to 17psi unprovoked. Of course I stopped and disabled the +×÷=%!! thing and aired them back up with a glad hand, but the damage was done.

If your goal was to induce blowouts, this is how you'd do it

 

[Another Ahab]

The final straw was when the CTIS dumped all 6 tires to 17psi unprovoked. Of course I stopped and disabled the +×÷=%!! thing and aired them back up with a glad hand, but the damage was done.

If that wasn't so frighteningly serious, it would be funny. Glad you came out of that OK without mishap. Yee-oww!