Looking at a Deuce, Has Some Issues

[cattlerepairman]

Your truck has a few upgrades that show that, at some time, someone cared. The grab handle on the front of the hood had to be unit installed, the push-button light switch and the electric wiper upgrade are not standard. This bodes well for getting her back to looking and running good!

Your spare parts score also looks useful. The windshield alone is about 200 bucks. The tank drains are helpful; I had these for years but recently upgraded to the automatic ones that purge with brake application (let's see how well they work!).

Seems that you picked well and got an unmolested Deuce with good bones that needs servicing and cosmetic help!

 

[HDN]

Nice truck! You even have its registration number on the door

 

[HDN]

Your truck has a few upgrades that show that, at some time, someone cared. The grab handle on the front of the hood had to be unit installed, the push-button light switch and the electric wiper upgrade are not standard. This bodes well for getting her back to looking and running good!

This makes me wonder if these additions were made to it while in the service. It's not the first time I've heard of military vehicles get sold off with non-standard parts.

 

[Mullaney]

This makes me wonder if these additions were made to it while in the service. It's not the first time I've heard of military vehicles get sold off with non-standard parts.

Absolutely! My truck is living, breathing truth that these trucks sometimes escape with cool in service up-fits . I feel "special" sometimes because of it - and other times - not so much. One thing is for sure in my case: Free Spool winches are wonderful!

 

[cattlerepairman]

In the service, interesting things did happen to individual trucks. As an example, a few members have/had Deuces with LDS engines straight from the military. That was not an "official" swap, suggested or approved anywhere in the TM series manuals! Someone, somewhere, wanted and got the fastest Deuce in the motorpool!
My Deuce's in-service mod is a trailer hitch made from 1/2 inch steel plate that was cut into strips with a torch. They welded the assembly to the end of the frame. Could be armour plate. The welds look like they did them in the dark while blindfolded, but they sure melted metal and they hold. I swear, you could hang the Deuce from it and shake it until stuff falls out, it's that tough. I use the hitch to lift the tandems off the ground with a jack; very convenient jacking point. It does reduce off-road clearance, but so far, the hitch simply plowed a deep furrow into the ground each time and collected soil samples....works for me.

 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Haven't driven the truck a whole lot since getting it, been gathering parts and waiting to go through all the brakes and bearings first. Have a new master cylinder, rebuild kit for the air pack, new hoses and lines, etc. Probably going to start tearing through stuff soon.

Fuel lift pump quit again, so I added an electric carter pump. Seems to be working alright, but still had some issues there. Changed out the primary fuel filter, wasn't great but could have been a lot worse. Looks like the FDC has already been bypassed.

Greased a bunch of stuff. Freed up the parking brake and temporarily added an auxiliary bungee cord assist until things loosen up more. Front axle input shaft has a bit of play in it, maybe .020". It looks like the bearing flange has been replaced before, different color paint. Will need to address this at some point.