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I'm most of the way through with that conversion on my m816 wrecker (same brakes originally as the m51, now m939 series air brakes). By far the hardest part of the conversion is removing the rivets that hold the hydraulic brake backing plates onto the axles. There are 10 per hub, 9/16" shank...

Removed the tool box from the bed of the truck, will be modified for the tool trailer build.

The axles are the same but the brakes are different. The older m51 uses single circuit hydraulic brakes, m939 series has air brakes. If the stock hydraulic brake components are on the 'trailer' your m939 series will activate them using the standard glad hands, just won't have a parking brake...

Had a k10 with the 3.08 axle gears, 32"s, sm465, and 305 gasser. Worked out great for rock crawling and highway driving so with more torque down low the 6.2/sm465 plan should work well for you.

Make sure to check the clearance on that tubing for the lower radiator hose and that filter mount on the passenger side of the engine. With the engine offset to that side of the truck it can create clearance issues, common problem with those that have swapped in more powerful 855 series engines...

Yep, 38k dry weight. Add in all the wrecker equipment (ground spades, complete medium towbar set, heavy towbar set, whiffle tree, multiple snatch blocks, crane support legs, etc) it's a few thousand pounds extra. Then figure in lift towing another vehicle with that weight sitting on the rear...

hahaha yea swapping the axles is easier than swapping the backing plates like I did. The parking/emergency brakes provided by the air brake conversion is worth it, not cheap but worth it. About $900 in fittings, valves and hoses on my setup. The other option would be to install a dual circuit...

No clue about their ride quality on a lighter truck (remember wreckers are 38,000 without any tools/equipment) but with all the weight on the wrecker it rides smooth offroad and similar to 5 ton cargo trucks onroad. There is no flex with that beam.

That is very true. Parted out my old m35a2 and was looking for either a m820 or m934 when the m816 wrecker kinda fell into my lap. Would take a large chunk of change for me to consider selling it now with everything I've done to it haha.

You can get the parking brake shoes relined for cheap. That being said, the stock parking brakes capability is questionable at best with the lighter tractor/cargo trucks and completely inadequate with the wreckers even on flat ground in my opinion. Off to a solid start

Another view of the rear suspension on a wrecker.

Went through 5 tubes of grease the first time servicing the grease fittings my m816, air or electric grease guns are a necessity with the wreckers haha

Pretty simple and requires no cutting. There are 2 bolts that attach the power divider to the bottom of the main storage box of the wrecker bed. Need 1 person under the truck to hold a wrench on the nuts and another person up in the storage box to do 2 things: 1. Run a ratchet strap from the...

All this talk of chrome has me thinking of the latest Mad Max movie, Fury Road haha.

Did some more work with the wrecker today. Unloaded the other dump bed sub frame/components along with the scrap metal from the m103a2 trailer. Then moved a generator from a friends pickup to his trailer. Then hooked up and lifted the m51a2 remains, moved it over to the shop so we could...

Kind of a last minute notice sorry. Leaving Eagle Mountain, Utah and headed to Midland, Texas on monday, returning next weekend. Will have a empty pickup bed on the way down and might have some space on the way back north. 1 ton pickup with a trailer hitch if you need a trailer moved.

Hasn't even been "mobile" for 24 hours yet and already putting it to use. The dump bed sub frame/pump are bound for other projects of mine. The remains of the old military ambulance (red metal) will be used to make the tool box for the m103a2. Considering the brakes are only on 2...

Now that the wrecker is mobile again went ahead and picked up the other dump bed sub frame and part of another MV and loaded them onto my m103a2. Then used the crane to unload a fuel tank from the back of a m923

Easy way to upright a tire if you physically are not able to. Use a prybar to raise up one side of the tire a few inches and run a strap under it. Wrap the strap around the tire and use a come along attached to the strap and somewhere on the truck to slowly winch it upright.

Finished up the plumbing, hub assembly on driver side middle axle and then went for a quick stroll around the lot. First time it's moved since just before Thanksgiving. Tested out both the service brakes and the emergency brake, good function from both sets. Need to secure the hoses before it's...