Questions About Flat Towing an M817

[travistodd1]

Hello, I recently acquired an M817 that has been sitting for a couple years. I decided to being it home to work on instead of driving back one forth everytime I needed something else. I purchased an Oshkosh 80k tow bar kit and will be using a friends heavy truck with air brakes to bring it down the mountain to my house. My question is with the air brakes hooked up between the tow vehicle and 5 ton, will they work on the 5 ton when the brakes are applied on the tow vehicle? The air over hydraulic thing is a new animal to me.

 

[162tcat]

Yes, as long as they have fluid and are currently operational they will work if everything is hooked up.


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[travistodd1]

Yes, as long as they have fluid and are currently operational they will work if everything is hooked up.


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Thank you. I am going up to bleed them again before we tow it. It is close from the previous attempt but I'm not quite happy with the results.

 

[simp5782]

Hello, I recently acquired an M817 that has been sitting for a couple years. I decided to being it home to work on instead of driving back one forth everytime I needed something else. I purchased an Oshkosh 80k tow bar kit and will be using a friends heavy truck with air brakes to bring it down the mountain to my house. My question is with the air brakes hooked up between the tow vehicleView attachment 794064 and 5 ton, will they work on the 5 ton when the brakes are applied on the tow vehicle? The air over hydraulic thing is a new animal to me.

Yes just won't be very responsive at first. They are slow to react. Make sure master cylinder is filled.

 

[travistodd1]

Yes just won't be very responsive at first. They are slow to react. Make sure master cylinder is filled.

Will do. I plan on making it a slow trip home at a slow time of the day. There is a 3000 foot elevation drop on my way home and I don't want any craziness.

 

[simp5782]

Will do. I plan on making it a slow trip home at a slow time of the day. There is a 3000 foot elevation drop on my way home and I don't want any craziness.

If you are on a steep road then I would put the transfer case in low and leave the truck in gear to provide resistance

Or if the truck has a handbrake trolley valve use it wisely

 

[travistodd1]

Unfortunately no handbrake. I may have someone get in for the down hill portions of the trip. The other fun part will be getting it in my yard once here, but that's a bridge we will cross when we get to it.

 

[fasttruck]

When the air lines are hooked up emergency to emergency and service to service (they crossed over to do this ) the towed vehicle will act as a trailer and follow the towing vehicle assuming the brakes on the tow are in good order. Having a driver in the back will not improve things. If the tow doesn't track well, tie the steering off unless turning real sharp corners.

 

[travistodd1]

Ok, thank you everyone for your help. I have another question that you may or may not have answers for.

I went up and made the first leg of the trip. That consisted of getting the tow bar hooked up and moving it from the previous owners property. The tow vehicle was not able to make up up to where the truck was parked so I needed to be able to pull it down a questionable driveway. That said, the near 24,000 weight was well past the safe towing capabilities of my Ram 2500, even with someone in the 5 ton working the emergency brake and clutch to keep my already low speeds under control.

Long story short, I noticed the emergency connection on the front of the 5 ton was damaged and quite frankly missing. Is this a standard commercial truck part or a military specific item? Just curious if its something I can pick up at NAPA and make work?

Thanks everyone.

 

[Ajax MD]

You mean the red gladhand? That's a commercial part.

 

[travistodd1]

You mean the red gladhand? That's a commercial part.

They were all painted up... I think it was the red side but I can't remember for certain. It was the driver side. I will be headed up tonight and will double check when I get there.

 

[fasttruck]

The red glad-hand is on the driver's side for the emergency connection. This side has a shut off valve. The blue connection is on the passenger's side and has no shut off valve, but when not in use has a vented dummy connection on it. The only item that would not likely to be found in a commercial truck parts house would be the vented dummy coupler. Might have to go to Memphis Equipment for that. The bulkhead fitting, elbows etc are all commercial items. Have you tried that drawbar yet ? I hope it came with the pins that fit the tow eyes on your M817. The newer trucks have larger pins. Photo of vented glad hand for service side attached. This is removed to hook up the air connections to the towing vehicle. The air connections are only of value if the brakes on the towed vehicle work. Then it will act like a trailer when towed. If you are trying to ease the m817 down hill with questionable brakes think about putting a substantial vehicle behind it chained to the pintle to act as a brake. This will work if you are not on loose gravel or mud where the brake vehicle will have no traction.

 

[travistodd1]

The red glad-hand is on the driver's side for the emergency connection. This side has a shut off valve. The blue connection is on the passenger's side and has no shut off valve, but when not in use has a vented dummy connection on it. The only item that would not likely to be found in a commercial truck parts house would be the vented dummy coupler. Might have to go to Memphis Equipment for that. The bulkhead fitting, elbows etc are all commercial items. Have you tried that drawbar yet ? I hope it came with the pins that fit the tow eyes on your M817. The newer trucks have larger pins. Photo of vented glad hand for service side attached. This is removed to hook up the air connections to the towing vehicle. The air connections are only of value if the brakes on the towed vehicle work. Then it will act like a trailer when towed. If you are trying to ease the m817 down hill with questionable brakes think about putting a substantial vehicle behind it chained to the pintle to act as a brake. This will work if you are not on loose gravel or mud where the brake vehicle will have no traction.

The tow bar was a full kit designed to work with multiple military vehicles. It came with the mounts and pins along with brake lines, wiring, safety chains and shackles. It's actually a pretty slick set up but very heavy. The crate was 500 pounds and we had to use a forklift to load it in my truck. I was fortunate to find a new one still in the crate. I used it to tow the truck to my service yard which was near by. My emergency connection is broken off at the threads, I believe the elbow was still there but will need to check tonight when I get to work. The vehicle I will be using is a medium duty tow truck with air brakes. It will still be a slow ride the 45 minute drive home, especially with it all most all being a down hill run.

 

[fasttruck]

Nothing that is painted green and comes in a box is also not heavy.

 

[travistodd1]

Ok, took a look at it last night when I got to work. The 90 is the part broken and the coupling is missing. I am sure the gladhand is not that hard to find but curious about the 90. Of course I didn't bring a wrench to work large enough to pull it so back at it tonight...