Found some new Motor Pool GI mechanic wizardry today...

[Awesomeness]

For several months, my passenger door has been sticking when trying to open it. You have to lift up on the door to get it open. The outer latch looked a little busted, and the plastic portion was cracked and sticking up. So I ordered a new latch, and today I started taking apart the old one.

Something didn't seem right, and I came to figure out that somebody had managed to install the driver's door outer latch, as well as the internal latch mechanism, on the passenger door! The outer latch screws in with 3 bolts in a triangle, but that didn't stop this crafty fellow. He drilled 3 new holes, and installed the driver's latch upside down so the opening faced inside the cab (to engage the catch on the door frame). I looked inside the door, and the inner latch is marked "L" (driver's side) too!

The bizarre stuff I find on these trucks never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Third From Texas]

The work of a motivated individual, no doubt.

 

[Ronmar]

I think the term you are looking for is "Field Expedient Repair"...

 

[coachgeo]

thought had heard a lot of doors where done that way.... was your door lock-n-handle on outside of door upside down too?. if recall right good number of trucks had that setup from production??.... till they went to the next iteration of door handle used on the A1's.. or maybe they just normally inverted/ swapped L to R the outer but not the latch too like was done on yours?

 

[Awesomeness]

thought had heard a lot of doors where done that way.... was your door lock-n-handle on outside of door upside down too?. if recall right good number of trucks had that setup from production??.... till they went to the next iteration of door handle used on the A1's.. or maybe they just normally inverted/ swapped L to R the outer but not the latch too like was done on yours?

I have A1 doors on my truck, so they are forward-pull handles, not the up/down type.

 

[In2Fords]

In my 1998 I noticed the passenger door handle is upside down, but I'm missing the latches so I never looked at the holes drilled to mount them, I'll look this afternoon.

 

[Awesomeness]

What puzzles me with these kind of "fixes" is whether they are genius, or stupidity? My truck also had the 230°F coolant switch, that is supposed to turn the warning light on, wired to the fan clutch... so the fan always ran and would have shut off at 230°F. So is the idiot that did that the same genius that figured out he could install driver's side door latches on the passenger side? haha

Or how about the guy that welded the king pins in, instead of using the snap rings? The list goes on and on.

 

[coachgeo]

wonder if some of these field fixes are more of.... quickies done for last assignment knowing that the truck was going to soon be moved to the "remove from service- go to auction" graveyard??

 

[Awesomeness]

wonder if some of these field fixes are more of.... quickies done for last assignment knowing that the truck was going to soon be moved to the "remove from service- go to auction" graveyard??

100% not. Based on the corrosion, paint shadows, etc., most of these things on my truck have been there for MANY years, perhaps decades. And my truck was never deployed off the base.

Also, judging by many of the auction trucks, they don't seem to give a damn about "getting them ready for auction"... hell, half the time there is a pile of engine parts sitting in the passenger seat and no doors on the truck at all.

 

[Ronmar]

Probably a matter of low up count = no liberty... This usually inspires the bright lights to figure out ways to get the easy fix, waiting on parts rigs back on the line...

I would think that prep for DRMO would be to halt the repair where the list of problems pushed the truck into the survey category, pile the parts removed in troubleshooting in the cab, or slap them back together without tools(or talent), scavenge any parts needed to fix the low hanging fruit mentioned above and kiss it goodbye to the back 40 until the auction contractor picks them up...

 

[Guyfang]

I will try and explain. There is a thing called, The MEL. It means Maintenance Expenditure Limit. The MEL is your guide as to how much you can spend of a piece of equipment, to bring it back to 10/20 standards. Meaning completely operational according to the PMCS (Preventive Maintence, Checks and Services) chart, in the -10 operator TM.

Everything in the Military has a MEL. And according to the MEL, the age, and how close to being retired from the military system the equipment is, the list gives you an upper limit of how much can be spent. That figure is a percentage of the replacement price. When the equipment is new, the MEL percentage is very high. 80-90 percent? Can not remember. When something is old, the MEL comes down. Sometimes very LOW. Sometimes when the equipment is very old, and is due to be replaced sometime in the near future, it can sink up to 0%. Commanders love that! A quick, (well, depending on your understanding of quick in the military) and easy, (depending on what one calls easy) way to get rid of old dogs.

A lot of what you are buying is at a very low MEL. If at all. So no one in his right mind spends money or time on something going away. Its pure fantasy to think other wise. There is no "turn in prep" for DRMO, unless the equipment is going to another unit.

A more common reason that things like door handles are installed backwards is the fact that people sometimes do not look at the parts manual very well. Sometimes the item wanted is marked "left side" or "right side" and people simply do not register. I watched some civillans order a main gen for a 60 KW generator 4 times. They kept getting the wrong one, because they were too stupid to read the TM, or ask questions.

Many "Hobo" repairs were made by civilians. Contract workers. They on the whole, have even less understanding of the TM, then the soldiers. During the last round of "Sand Box" wars, almost all maintenance was done by contractors. The soldiers did not have the time to do it. They were down range. Preparing to go down range. Or recovering from down range. We built huge repair facility's in Iraq, and other fun places to try and keep up with war damage. All run, and operated by civilians.

I am not saying all "Hobo" repairs were made by civilians. But a whole heck of a lot were.

 

[98G]

Or consider....


Before the guy messed with it the door was INOP. The correct parts probably were not available.

After the guy messed with it, the door functioned adequately if not properly.

 

[Suprman]

Supposedly some trucks left the factory like that.

 

[Awesomeness]

Or consider....


Before the guy messed with it the door was INOP. The correct parts probably were not available.

After the guy messed with it, the door functioned adequately if not properly.

Yes, that is the problem. "Look boss, I fixed it, kind of. Not right, but good enough to kick the can down the road."

And for some of the things, like my fan switch, it didn't even work, so it made things worse. If you don't have time/money to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

 

[Jericho]

I will try and explain. There is a thing called, The MEL. It means Maintenance Expenditure Limit. The MEL is your guide as to how much you can spend of a piece of equipment, to bring it back to 10/20 standards. Meaning completely operational according to the PMCS (Preventive Maintence, Checks and Services) chart, in the -10 operator TM.

Everything in the Military has a MEL. And according to the MEL, the age, and how close to being retired from the military system the equipment is, the list gives you an upper limit of how much can be spent. That figure is a percentage of the replacement price. When the equipment is new, the MEL percentage is very high. 80-90 percent? Can not remember. When something is old, the MEL comes down. Sometimes very LOW. Sometimes when the equipment is very old, and is due to be replaced sometime in the near future, it can sink up to 0%. Commanders love that! A quick, (well, depending on your understanding of quick in the military) and easy, (depending on what one calls easy) way to get rid of old dogs.

A lot of what you are buying is at a very low MEL. If at all. So no one in his right mind spends money or time on something going away. Its pure fantasy to think other wise. There is no "turn in prep" for DRMO, unless the equipment is going to another unit.

A more common reason that things like door handles are installed backwards is the fact that people sometimes do not look at the parts manual very well. Sometimes the item wanted is marked "left side" or "right side" and people simply do not register. I watched some civillans order a main gen for a 60 KW generator 4 times. They kept getting the wrong one, because they were too stupid to read the TM, or ask questions.

Many "Hobo" repairs were made by civilians. Contract workers. They on the whole, have even less understanding of the TM, then the soldiers. During the last round of "Sand Box" wars, almost all maintenance was done by contractors. The soldiers did not have the time to do it. They were down range. Preparing to go down range. Or recovering from down range. We built huge repair facility's in Iraq, and other fun places to try and keep up with war damage. All run, and operated by civilians.

I am not saying all "Hobo" repairs were made by civilians. But a whole heck of a lot were.

guy fang is spot on AF uses the same system, EVEN ON AIRCRAFT ! that last flight to AMARC has its own rules by a/c type for a return to AMAC from Germany ONLY 10 hours of flight time is required on an engine to be left !) rule of thumb is flight time plus two hours keep in mind on many A/C ground time isn't even counted lol so if you tried to launch the jet 3 times and it sat idleing 3 hours IT doesn't come off the flight time I have changed MANY MANY jet engines pulling a low time engine hanging a high time engine just to save some hours and get a jet to disposal