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Photos of My M916

Castle Bravo

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After several years of putting it off, I decided it was time to dig into the winch and see what was wrong. Back in January, I had the opportunity to purchase a replacement winch from Soni (M920) and he since he said he'd deliver it to Phoenix for me, I figured I ought to take advantage of that and see if I needed to buy his or repair mine.

Since my winch rotated freely and is not supposed to, I decided that would be a good indication that something was mechanically wrong with it. I took the passenger side planetary gear off and found that the output shaft had been sheared completely free of the splined end of it.

winch-01.jpg winch-02.jpg

DP Winch is very, very, very proud of their parts. The output shaft that was damaged was nearly $3000.00 The planetary was much more expensive. I bought the replacement from Soni and decided that it would be prudent to use my known good hydraulic motor vs the unknown one on the new winch. With M35A2-AZ's wrecker, we removed the old winch and hoisted the new one into place.

winch-03.jpg winch-04.jpg winch-05.jpg winch-06.jpg

The nice thing about using the existing hydraulic motor was that we didn't have to disturb the hydraulic system - at least that was the plan. Several of the hoses did not have enough slack to move the motor enough to clear the winch and had to be temporarily disconnected. Luckily, we didn't lose too much fluid. Some of the hoses were beginning to get some chaffing on them from rubbing across a corner, so we put some mudflap material as a buffer to prevent further damage.

winch-08.jpg

I got some 7/8" wire rope from Soni also and wound that into place using a harrow drag for tension.

winch-07.jpg winch-09.jpg

For whatever reason, many of the M916s have M916A1 winches, basically. Its essentially the same thing - maybe a newer revision or something. But some of the bolt holes were a bit different and did not want to cooperate initially.

We got it all figured out and put on nicely. At some point, maybe I'll lay the front of the M870A1 trailer down like its supposed to be done.
 

Castle Bravo

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I weighed the M916 and M870A1 trailer together with a full tank of fuel.

Front axle 13,860 lbs
Drive axle 20,560 lbs
Trailer axle 14,040 lbs
Gross weight 48,460 lbs

The lady that I got the scale ticket asked me "Whats wrong with your front axle?" :)
 

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simp5782

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Just tell her that's the light truck! It is what I tell everyone when they say my 5 ton is big. I say " that's the little one"
 

Artisan

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Matt did she understand the truck is rated for I believe 106,000 pounds?

I too am trying to get a grip on what she said...

The M916 is an AWSOME 20Ton Tractor.
 

simp5782

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They are just used to the common amount of probably 6500 or so on a regular semi. Atleast she knew what she was looking at and noticed a difference. I have my scale ticket on my 5 ton towing the M322 and MEP005. I had a front tandem on the axle scale. The rear scale platform wasn't working properly so it looks like I have an overloaded front as well.
 

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Castle Bravo

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Matt did she understand the truck is rated for I believe 106,000 pounds? ...
They are just used to the common amount of probably 6500 or so on a regular semi. Atleast she knew what she was looking at and noticed a difference...
Right - Its just very heavy for an unloaded truck. Its heavy for a loaded truck, too. They usually aim for 12k - 34k - 34k.
 

Castle Bravo

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I weighed just the M916 today with a full tank of fuel and me in it.

916-weight.jpg

Front axle 13,960 lbs
Drive axle 14,820 lbs
Gross weight 28,780 lbs

Seeing as how the front axle is heavier unloaded than loaded, I think the earlier combined tractor/trailer ticket must have been without me in the truck.

Some other things can be basically figured out by this (Aside from the potential above discrepancy) -

M916 empty front axle 13,960 lbs
M916 empty middle axle 7,410 lbs
M916 empty rear axle 7,410 lbs
M916 empty total weight 28,780 lbs

M870A1 empty kingpin weight 5,740 lbs
M870A1 empty axle #1 weight 4,680 lbs
M870A1 empty axle #2 weight 4,680 lbs
M870A1 empty axle #3 weight 4,680 lbs
M870A1 empty total weight 19,680 lbs

M916 w/M870A1 trailer -

Front axle 13,860 lbs
Middle axle 10,280 lbs
Rear axle 10,280 lbs
Trailer axle #1 4,680 lbs
Trailer axle #2 4,680 lbs
Trailer axle #3 4,680 lbs
Empty total weight 48,460 lbs

Empty tractor bridge 34,420 lbs (214")
Empty trailer bridge 34,600 lbs (458")
Empty outer bridge 48,460 lbs (616")
 

Castle Bravo

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I haven't really done too much to the M916 lately.

I need to finish the A/C install and trace a few air leaks. Probably need to service or rebuild the air dryer.

Earlier this year, I picked up an M172 25 ton trailer and pulled it home with the 916.
 

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clinto

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I've always said the biggest thing I wanted to own was a deuce. This thread makes me rethink that.

R4x4, tell me that brake drum story again.
 

Floridianson

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Back in page eight picture of battery set up. Is the smaller power wire marked in red fused? That wire on my 920 always bothered me that there was no fuse close to the battery connected point incase of chafing. Truck and trailer looks great.
 

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Castle Bravo

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Back in page eight picture of battery set up. Is the smaller power wire marked in red fused? That wire on my 920 always bothered me that there was no fuse close to the battery connected point incase of chafing. Truck and trailer looks great.
The only fuses on my truck are between the batteries and the batter equalizer and then what is related to the transmission ECM.
 

ReoRider

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The M172 is a really nice rig, lots of capacity, stable ride, but biggest advantage is with wide armor on board you can walk around the deck and stay on your feet! I re-did on mine, to good effect, the air lines, wiring, slack adjusters, and seals.
 
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