DAF-YA-126 Recovery

[RGS20inophir]

What an adventure! 200 miles, tons of smiles, 10 bald tires, one blown tire, and death wobble!

I found a DAF-YA-126 on Craigslist a while back, told a buddy about it, and he just HAD to have it! So we brokered a deal and decided to meet the previous owner in Show Low, Az, a little over 200 miles from Socorro, NM. We left around 0600 after getting all the gear together to do a recovery and possible in field repair.

We decided on a three man crew, we had a Chevy 1/2 ton pickup and a 7Klb trailer as a support and possible tow rig, knowing full well that we would be right at the limits with the DAF.

We made it into Show Low around 1100, met the previous owner, did the exchange of paperwork and goods, and everyone left with smiles on their faces.

We drove around Show Low for a while, just to get a feel for the old gal. The tires are DONE, the gas tank senders do not give an accurate reading as to the level in each tank, the turn signals do not work, the tach does not work, the speedo is broken, and she was leaking out nearly every seal of the H drive.

At around 1300 We decided to try to take it out of town. After a quick trip to wally land for some fresh ice in the cooler, some energy drinks, and a couple of radios to communicate between the trucks in the cellular dead zone between Sprinerville and Socorro, we were on the road! Until we hit 48MPH....


DEATH WOBBLE!!! I have NEVER experienced anything quite like that. Between 48-52MPH the truck starts bucking like a bull at the grand national rodeo. EVERYTHING felt like it was going to come apart. We pulled over, checked the truck, and gave it another go... once again, DEATH WOBBLE! So we pulled one of the wheels off (the suspected culprit) and found nothing behind the wheel or on the hub. Hit the road again, and got death wobble again. We made the decision to try loading the DAF on the trailer for a bit, just to see how it will do being a trailer queen for a while....

PSSSSSST!!!! POP! BLUB BLUB BLUB BLUB!!!!!! We blew a trailer tire going up grade with an 18 wheeler behind us. After making it to the shoulder we re-assessed the situation and decided that the best course of action was to drive the DAF and keep the Chevy as a support vehicle on this recovery.

So we drove... and drove... and drove... at the BLAZING pace of 35-40MPH the entire way. Somewhere between Springerville,AZ and Quemado, NM we lost the license plate on the trailer. When we stopped for a break in Quemado we decided to split, two people would go in the DAF towards Socorro, and one would back track to see if he could find the plate. This was around 8pm with a little over 100 miles left to go.

I was crewing the DAF the entire time, switching between the other two as driver and passenger when someone got tired of driving. At around 0000 we pulled into Magdalena, NM and decided to wait for the support truck. We had been out of contact for hours... and it seemed like he should have caught up with us by THAT time. Not to mention the COLD... We had all forgotten jackets during this recovery because we figured we would be home by 1900... man were we wrong.

At around 0030 the town Marshall pulls up... this should be fun... all of the paperwork for the truck is in the Chevy... GREAT. After talking with him for around 20 minutes he is sufficiently convinced that we did not steal a ~61 year old Dutch military vehicle he leaves. The bit that convinced him... was looking at my DL, the FIRST thing out of his mouth was "OH!!!! You are the guy with the Deuce and the other crazy truck in Socorro!!! HAVE A NICE NIGHT!!" I guess owning some OD Green hardware has it's advantages!

We decided to head into Socorro, where we could get cellular reception, and call the support truck (different carrier with service in the boonies). We got back into Socorro around 0200, grinning from ear to ear, shaken to the point of needing a kidney belt, covered in gear lube, grime, and petrol.

WHAT A TRIP!

So, now I have a few questions for you guys...
1) Has anyone else ever worked on a DAF?
2) Does anyone have a translated copy of the TM?
3) Does anyone have some good 9.00x16 NDT or NDCC tires they are willing to part with for a decent price?
4) Does anyone know what other wheels and tires will fit on this thing so we can have a nice road set and a nice authentic set?
5) Any suggestions on how to re-jet and tune the carb on the 6cyl Hercules gasser?

Questions, comments, silly remarks?! It was a total blast! Here are pictures of the old gal!

 

[Stan]

Neat looking truck and looks to be in decent shape. Nice find

 

[RGS20inophir]

Yeah Stan, it is WAY cool. The whole H drive thing is a trip! It also has a centrally mounted PTO winch between the frame rails... with fair-lead rollers fore and aft. It seems they are fairly rare in the U.S. as well.

 

[Karl kostman]

That is a very interesting looking vehicle, and I DO mean that in a good way, I have never owned anything other than US built MVs but this one of yours is sure a neat looking one and it looks to be in very nice shape, Congrats sure looks like a keeper!
KK

 

[ErikvanGarderen]

Nice description of how your YA-126 does drive. If you still have it and look for interesting stuff. The Dutch site www.ya126.nl has a forum which does give a lot of information. Google translate helps a lot, but if you look for a specific topic, I might help you out, as I own one myself (see http://www.ya126.nl/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4642) and have a couple of friends who also do own an YA-126. There are still some 750 survivors of the type in the Netherlands.

Mine does close to 60 miles an hour, and does not suffer from wheel shimmy, although the YA-126 was notorious for it. If that happens, tighten the front end bearings of all steering related pivots.
The H-drive is spectacular. Which modern truck company does manufacture a 1-ton capable truck with independent front and rear wheel suspension and without of a limited slip differential gear set to ensure that you will have traction at all times.

You are lucky to have the PTO/winch version. Only 1 out of 7 YA-126 manufactured was equipped with a winch. Mine has one too, with a 150 feet steel cable, capable of hauling 5600 lbs.

Have fun with your YA-126. They are built to last forever. Replacement parts for the old Hercules JXC must be easier to obtain in America than in the Netherlands!

 

[turnkey]

Nice looking rig...kind of like looks like a german ww2 supply MV truck.....Had a 4 banger single tires all the way around....That was the general purpose truck for the german army at the start of ww2.

 

[ErikvanGarderen]

Thanks. The YA-126 has been used in one movie playing in WW2 as a German vehicle. They were in fact post war designs and there were almost 3500 of these vehicles produced. The spare wheels can rotate to protect the H-drive on hills. This was actually a feature which could be found on the German Krupp Protze MVs, which were built in WW2.

The Y-126 has an even more impressive big brother, the YA-328 which do have independent front suspension and rear suspension two, driven on all six wheels using a worm drive in the same H-configuration (the YA-126 does have crown and pinion gears). The YA-328 also has the spare wheels mounted high and able to turn. Later, the DAF company also did make an amroured version called YP-408. This version did not have spare wheels but was made like a 6x8, using the same worm geardrive train as the YA-328.

Driving and riding these beasts is a joy, especially in the YA-328 and YP-408, because (speed)bumps in the road are hardly felt and terrain capabilities are really good.

The YA-126 can handle a 60% ramp with one ton of load and without special equipment can cross through almost 3 feet of water.

 

[jjoopp]

What an adventure! 200 miles, tons of smiles, 10 bald tires, one blown tire, and death wobble!

I found a DAF-YA-126 on Craigslist a while back, told a buddy about it, and he just HAD to have it! So we brokered a deal and decided to meet the previous owner in Show Low, Az, a little over 200 miles from Socorro, NM. We left around 0600 after getting all the gear together to do a recovery and possible in field repair.

We decided on a three man crew, we had a Chevy 1/2 ton pickup and a 7Klb trailer as a support and possible tow rig, knowing full well that we would be right at the limits with the DAF.

We made it into Show Low around 1100, met the previous owner, did the exchange of paperwork and goods, and everyone left with smiles on their faces.

We drove around Show Low for a while, just to get a feel for the old gal. The tires are DONE, the gas tank senders do not give an accurate reading as to the level in each tank, the turn signals do not work, the tach does not work, the speedo is broken, and she was leaking out nearly every seal of the H drive.

At around 1300 We decided to try to take it out of town. After a quick trip to wally land for some fresh ice in the cooler, some energy drinks, and a couple of radios to communicate between the trucks in the cellular dead zone between Sprinerville and Socorro, we were on the road! Until we hit 48MPH....


DEATH WOBBLE!!! I have NEVER experienced anything quite like that. Between 48-52MPH the truck starts bucking like a bull at the grand national rodeo. EVERYTHING felt like it was going to come apart. We pulled over, checked the truck, and gave it another go... once again, DEATH WOBBLE! So we pulled one of the wheels off (the suspected culprit) and found nothing behind the wheel or on the hub. Hit the road again, and got death wobble again. We made the decision to try loading the DAF on the trailer for a bit, just to see how it will do being a trailer queen for a while....

PSSSSSST!!!! POP! BLUB BLUB BLUB BLUB!!!!!! We blew a trailer tire going up grade with an 18 wheeler behind us. After making it to the shoulder we re-assessed the situation and decided that the best course of action was to drive the DAF and keep the Chevy as a support vehicle on this recovery.

So we drove... and drove... and drove... at the BLAZING pace of 35-40MPH the entire way. Somewhere between Springerville,AZ and Quemado, NM we lost the license plate on the trailer. When we stopped for a break in Quemado we decided to split, two people would go in the DAF towards Socorro, and one would back track to see if he could find the plate. This was around 8pm with a little over 100 miles left to go.

I was crewing the DAF the entire time, switching between the other two as driver and passenger when someone got tired of driving. At around 0000 we pulled into Magdalena, NM and decided to wait for the support truck. We had been out of contact for hours... and it seemed like he should have caught up with us by THAT time. Not to mention the COLD... We had all forgotten jackets during this recovery because we figured we would be home by 1900... man were we wrong.

At around 0030 the town Marshall pulls up... this should be fun... all of the paperwork for the truck is in the Chevy... GREAT. After talking with him for around 20 minutes he is sufficiently convinced that we did not steal a ~61 year old Dutch military vehicle he leaves. The bit that convinced him... was looking at my DL, the FIRST thing out of his mouth was "OH!!!! You are the guy with the Deuce and the other crazy truck in Socorro!!! HAVE A NICE NIGHT!!" I guess owning some OD Green hardware has it's advantages!

We decided to head into Socorro, where we could get cellular reception, and call the support truck (different carrier with service in the boonies). We got back into Socorro around 0200, grinning from ear to ear, shaken to the point of needing a kidney belt, covered in gear lube, grime, and petrol.

WHAT A TRIP!

So, now I have a few questions for you guys...
1) Has anyone else ever worked on a DAF?
2) Does anyone have a translated copy of the TM?
3) Does anyone have some good 9.00x16 NDT or NDCC tires they are willing to part with for a decent price?
4) Does anyone know what other wheels and tires will fit on this thing so we can have a nice road set and a nice authentic set?
5) Any suggestions on how to re-jet and tune the carb on the 6cyl Hercules gasser?

Questions, comments, silly remarks?! It was a total blast! Here are pictures of the old gal!

 

[Terra1936]

Do you still have the truck? Ever figure out the wobble? Was it from wind up?

 

[RGS20inophir]

My buddy still has the truck. He doesn't drive it because it blew a master cylinder seal and the parts are almost impossible to find.

The death wobble turned out to be the tires. They were so out of round that it wasn't funny. We put new tires on and it turned into a really fun truck.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

 

[Mullaney]

My buddy still has the truck. He doesn't drive it because it blew a master cylinder seal and the parts are almost impossible to find.

The death wobble turned out to be the tires. They were so out of round that it wasn't funny. We put new tires on and it turned into a really fun truck.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

.
Definitely a neat truck!

Happy to hear that the "Death Wobble" cleared up with new tires.
Somehow or other I was expecting to hear something about the steering box having worn parts.

At one point in my life, I had a John Deere Model 40 (Single Row Crop Cultivator, Similar to the 8n Ford) with the Death Wobble problem.
My particular problem was inside that steering gearbox.
The gear on the long shaft up to the steering wheel was worn paper thin.
Replaced it and never had that bucking bronco problem again...

Happy to hear that your buddy still has the truck!

 

[Terra1936]

My buddy still has the truck. He doesn't drive it because it blew a master cylinder seal and the parts are almost impossible to find.

The death wobble turned out to be the tires. They were so out of round that it wasn't funny. We put new tires on and it turned into a really fun truck.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

Awesome. I am looking at one now. How did the wind up thing work with the axles? Can another master cyclinder be adapted? Don't they have a hydrovac for the brakes?

 

[RGS20inophir]

Awesome. I am looking at one now. How did the wind up thing work with the axles? Can another master cyclinder be adapted? Don't they have a hydrovac for the brakes?

What "wind up thing" are you talking about?

They're a gas. If you're getting the one that was in the classifieds, congrats! It looks like a good one.

I don't recall what all is needed on the brakes or what can be adapted.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

 

[Swfb]

My buddy still has the truck. He doesn't drive it because it blew a master cylinder seal and the parts are almost impossible to find.

The death wobble turned out to be the tires. They were so out of round that it wasn't funny. We put new tires on and it turned into a really fun truck.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

You can check this Dutch website for the (brake) parts.

collection.title | strip_html

vandamonderdelen.nl

Most of the Dutch speak foreign languages, so if you send them a mail they, most likely, will help you getting the parts to you.

Otherwise send me a personal message and I can contact them or help you getting the parts form the Netherlands to the US.

 

[Terra1936]

The wind up was supposed to be with the driveline if you ran it too long on the road? What tire size did you use and where did you find them? Thanks for all the info!

 

[Terra1936]

Did you ever find a manual in english? Or pdf to convert?

 

[BigCountry001]

Owner here...

You can check this Dutch website for the (brake) parts.

collection.title | strip_html

vandamonderdelen.nl

Most of the Dutch speak foreign languages, so if you send them a mail they, most likely, will help you getting the parts to you.

Otherwise send me a personal message and I can contact them or help you getting the parts form the Netherlands to the US.

I'm PM-ing you right now! Thank you

The wind up was supposed to be with the driveline if you ran it too long on the road? What tire size did you use and where did you find them? Thanks for all the info!

The driveline didn't have problems, the death wobble was 100% unbalanced wheels/tires. The tires were the same size as stock, I believe we found them on craigslist somewhere. There are some online PDFs of the technical manuals. I believe it wouldn't let me download them though... I don't remember where I had found those, I've lost my google-foo skills. Did you end up with a DAF?

 

[BigCountry001]

Saving this Post to put pictures and stories of it before the move to Texas. (filling in the gaps between RGS20inophir's posts above and when it had to be parked.)

 

[BigCountry001]

Some time after the move to Texas, the rubber brake lines started weeping. I get it, it was a 57 year old truck, and the best I could tell the brake hoses were original. The brakes got so squishy that it wasn't safe to drive anymore. Luckily, I was able to find replacement rubber hoses from my supplier in the Netherlands.

After replacing the hoses, we were bleeding the air from the lines. When the system finally built a good amount of pressure, the brake pedal suddenly dropped to the floor, and refused to build pressure. After crawling under the truck, I found that the master cylinder was squirting fluid out of the front of it with every pedal push. It seems the new hoses allowed it to build more pressure than the seals would hold...

Welp, now we order more parts from my regular supplier and wait for shipment from the Netherlands. After receiving the gasket kit, I took the master cylinder to a friend's house that knew more about replacing seals than I did. We disassembled the cylinder and honed the rust from the walls. We reassembled it with the new seal kit and I took it home and re-installed it. After another bleed-session, it never built pressure.... We looked all over and finally noticed that when we pushed on the pedal fluid was shooting straight up, out of the reservoir!

Not fully understanding what the problem was, I assumed that the seal for the piston was letting fluid leak past it. I pulled the cylinder out and replaced the piston seal with the old gasket (because hey, it was the front cylinder seal that was the leaky one, right). It still shot out of the reservoir. Still not thinking it through too much, I ordered another seal kit from the same retailer that Swfb mentioned above. Swapped out the seals, and it happened again. I had probably pulled the master cylinder on/off the truck 30 times by now and was getting disheartened. After a little while, I took a closer look into how the cylinder worked. The YA126 has a similar master cylinder design to it's bigger brother, the YA328. The important difference is what's inside the piston... Photo credit to Hoppa69 at http://www.ya126.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39861&hilit=hoofdremcilinder#p39861.




Some of the things in the pic are hard to see, but I had been focusing on the black rubber seal in the center, which seals the piston/cylinder interface. However, if you look to the left of the piston, you'll see 4 (5 if you can see the circlip) small pieces. These pieces form a cylindrical check valve inside the piston. On the return stroke, it will pull fluid from the reservoir to backfill and small leaks. The hole in the side of the piston feeds this valve, and the hole in the left end is where it all fits. From right-to-left, the small rubber seal fits on the end of the brass square-ish check. This is held down by a lightweight conical spring. (this spring is like 10% of the spring in a ballpoint pen, it's light folks). That's held in place by the copper plate that interfaces to the piston itself and held in by a circlip. The circlip in is the center of the picture next to the copper plate with holes, it's almost the color of the table.

After countless times of installing/removing the brake master cylinder, I noticed the small brass piece was crooked in the piston. I started re-installing it flat every time. Every time I removed it I found that it was crooked again. I finally found the problem! This brass piece was difficult to remove the first time, and I'm sure that I damaged it. It is such a tight fit inside of the piston, I'm that was the design feature to keep it in proper alignment. When I forced it out, I probably rounded off a corner just enough to let it turn sideways.

Welp... You are all caught up. I haven't found anyone that sells the small brass piece, and I haven't found a whole replacement brake master cylinder assembly yet. So, it's sat for 7-8 years at least now. I had lost hope finding parts and really stopped looking for a while. I'm starting to get a little more motivation to work on it again, so if anyone has a line on a replacement DAF YA 126 brake master cylinder, let me know! I'm not really wanting to rig up a different part in it's place. It's a critical safety system part, and don't want to sacrifice any braking ability. Also, the truck is mostly original, and I've been inching my way back to 100% stock/original.

Hopefully my hard learned lesson can help someone before they damage anything!

EDIT: Replaced the image to add a circle around the part that I think is damaged.

 

[Mullaney]

Some time after the move to Texas, the rubber brake lines started weeping. I get it, it was a 57 year old truck, and the best I could tell the brake hoses were original. The brakes got so squishy that it wasn't safe to drive anymore. Luckily, I was able to find replacement rubber hoses from my supplier in the Netherlands.

After replacing the hoses, we were bleeding the air from the lines. When the system finally built a good amount of pressure, the brake pedal suddenly dropped to the floor, and refused to build pressure. After crawling under the truck, I found that the master cylinder was squirting fluid out of the front of it with every pedal push. It seems the new hoses allowed it to build more pressure than the seals would hold...

.
That's sad, but it makes sense. Logically I would imagine that the wheel cylinders will be next. Hopefully you can find a rebuild kit for them and the MC as well. A little bit of very fine grit emery cloth to polish any rough spots will be useful as well.

Seems good though. You found the weakest link, then you found the next one. No need to waste any more brake fluid. Go ahead and replace the cups in the wheels now before you soak your brake shoes in fluid. (hate to be the bearer of bad news)