Hello from Michigan

[lwizardl]

Hey guys I have been reading the site for a few days now and thought I should take the time to join up. I am looking to buy my first MV chassis soon, But I do not intend to keep the vehicle in it's current state. I am looking to take the truck and convert or customize the vehicle into more of a custom type of long Van or SUV. I am looking at a few of the M35A2 trucks but am still open to a few other types.

The list of what I want in a MV are
A1) 3 axles - 1 in front, 2 in rear
A2) Wench in front
A3) Stack pipes
A4) Large side mirrors
A5) Must be able to be driven on all highways if needed, and road legal (researching this seems just need to make sure road legal tires, and then the regular paper work and plates like any other vehicles)

Now the M35A2 seems to be max out at a speed of 55mph and I am sure that is due to the large weight of the vehicle's mass.

What I was wondering about is
B1) How strong are the M35 trucks? I know some people have used them for tearing down buildings, and pulling vehicles out of ditches, etc. But I wanted to know actually how tough they are?

B2) How much weight would be saved if you removed the truck bed from the truck?

B3) How much horse power do these trucks actually have? I was reading about 134HP when originally produced. How difficult would it be to increase the power of the engines without totally killing the 8-12MPG averages of the engines?

B4) If you wanted to create a enclosed cargo area on these vehicles for security, and safety which materials of piping and sheet metals would you think would be the best choice?

B5) Have you ever heard of a way to boost the mpg values of these types of vehicles? I remember seeing kits for civilian production vehicles to basically make some trucks into a hybrid type of vehicle, does anything like this exist for these types of trucks?

I know I still have lots of reading to do on my own but since people here know more then I do I was hopeful that someone here might be able to point me in the proper directions at least. Google searches only get you so far and then it is time to find a master that knows how to do what your searching for.

James

 

[BadMastard]

LOL... so, I'm not even a master, but there are a few Yoda's here that have helped me. So let me welcome you. Welcome.

How tough are they? Marines drive them. (just a little biased here.) What that really means to me though isn't that Marines are the toughest (Don't get me started!), but if there is a way to overuse a piece of gear, we do it.

How much weight do they save by removing the bed? I dunno. I do know that you can buy a beautiful m109a3 with a **** near bullet proof shell already included. (Again, little biased, since that's what I did.)

Mileage? Forget that. It's smileage. I grin like an idiot while driving mine. Most people looking AT ME do to. But with about 2500 lbs of gear, on the roads from Salt Lake City to Seattle we got about 8-10 mpg.

Legality? Can only tell you in Utah it's legal, BUT the minimum speed limit (45 here) may apply. I can run at about 52-55 pretty well, can hit 65 if being towed with a big enough wrecker, but 62 is about the limit flat out on a flat run. Altitude and tire size are probably my biggest limits, besides weight, your results may vary.

It has to meet all the same requirements as any registered highway vehicle, which it usually does if everything works ok.

Horsepower? 134 is correct for the turbo multifuel found in many m35a2. Can you get more out of them? Start searching this site. Yes is your short answer, but you really, really, really, really, really need to read about it. Unless you don't mind toasting your motor, in which case SURE is your answer, get your wallet out.

boosting mpg? lol, use bigger gallons. Seriously? Yes, you can use the correct air pressure in your tires. You can keep your engine in tune. You can even change tire size to reduce friction, or single up your back tires and chase that elusive mileage. But you're pushing a great big heavy brick through the air. Unless you are an F-4, it's not going to be fast, and probably never be real efficient. My personal thought? If in Utah, it'd make sense to try and convert to LPG or CNG because it's less than half the cost of diesel. Am I smart enough to do that? Nope. Still burning Diesel.

Ok, these opinions are the property of the partially insane and may not reflect the truth or your opinion, but they are my ever so humble opinions. In all cases, Welcome James, do your research love your MV when you get it, and if you see me in mine, I'm the one grinning. Like everyone else.

P.S. I'd like mine to have a wench in the front too. Wait, I do! Consider me lucky.

 

[deuceaid]

Welcome to the MV club,, and try using the search term M109 , that will give You an idea of something that already has a box on the back.



Hope that helps.....Jason

 

[lwizardl]

Thanks man that was some of the information I was looking for. Yeah I know I will never get any of these beasts to having high speeds or high mileage per gallon. But I was looking at seeing what all can be done as a starting point.

And nice to see what seems to be either a firefly fan, star wars fan, and maybe both (which I am). Yeah I plan to do lots of reading just found a site that has lots of manuals for the m35 which I am trying to download them all from at JATONKA's M35 TM download page

I know I have a long way to go before I decide to buy one but looking to find one of these MV's that fit the design I am looking for and able to still have some gusto when needed.

 

[lwizardl]

Welcome to the MV club,, and try using the search term M109 , that will give You an idea of something that already has a box on the back.



Hope that helps.....Jason

Yup doing that now and that does seem closer to what I was looking for. I will trying and get pictures around of what I am looking to do exactly and maybe someone can eye another one that could be a dead on match. I will say the M109's do look similar to what I am looking for.

 

[Derrickl112]

its either more power OR better MPG's...you cant have both lol

welcome from Ann Arbor area.

 

[BadMastard]

Yup, love my 109. Yep, firefly and starwars fan, but who isn't? Yep, did the same thing you are doing and even downloaded the manuals from the same site. Word to the wise, your downloads may slow down, or even stop partway through. I just restart them the next day. If you're geeky, I can setup what I have on a dropbox share that will attempt to entice you to join. I don't care if you join, I maxxed out a while ago, but I'm happy to share the files I do have.

I did single out my tires in the back, didn't swap the hubs, drives much nicer and better mpg. I understand I don't have the same cargo capacity, and I'm ok with that. I did go bigger tires at 11.0 x 20 instead of 9 x20, it did add about 3mph to the top end. I also added a pyrometer which made me feel a lot better about how hard the motor was working. I also replaced a main seal by hand, which was a pain in the arse, but I had tremendous help from the SS site which I couldn't have done it without them. Gimpy is still my hero.

BadMastard

 

[BadMastard]

oh, and what are we all doing up? way past bedtime, and the world didn't start ending today. I'm calling it a good day!

 

[ODw/envy]

Gusto is not a word I would use to describe my truck. Unless of course it were somehow related to attention from other motorists.

Mine says 56 mph in 5th gear max on the data plate, and it will go ...........................wait for it...................................exactly 56mph. Terrain willing. I did find that if I coax it up the hills rather than floor it, it will pull most, even with better than 8k worth of F250 and tools.

Welcome and good luck.

OD

 

[ODw/envy]

Got about 10 mpg to whole way. (900ish miles).

OD

 

[M715VFD405]

You might talk to unclemikey he put a camper on his trucks might be able to give you some ideas for your build. Firefly Starwars and Star Trek fan here. And I have no clue why I'm still up. I don't know why but that whole sleep thing seems to pass me up every night.

 

[deuceaid]

Also Here is a vid from a youtube guy general tour of m185 ,,, real geeks ( not a derogatory term) cheak out thier Lan party vids to see some interior shots etc...

YouTube - ‪Echo7049's Channel‬‏

That will help alittle.... I dont know but I think the 185 is similar to 109,,, someone here will chime in with better info than me...

hope that helps, Jason

 

[DaveP]

Welcome from the other end of the state.
lots of good info and folks here.

 

[michigandon]

Welcome to the group, from a (former) Michigan guy who hopes to go back...someday.

 

[mslogr]

Welcome to the site from down here in Mississippi.

 

[lwizardl]

Firefly Starwars and Star Trek fan here. And I have no clue why I'm still up. I don't know why but that whole sleep thing seems to pass me up every night.

I was reading the thread of mobileauto2000's inexpensive camper thread which was also talking about that. I am a Firefly, & Star Wars fan. But never got into Star Trek but I will admit that without Star Trek and ILM working on the films like they did we may not have Star Wars like it is today, or a lot of the tech we have today was inspired by things from Star Trek for example automatic doors can be said was created due to them having the idea about it. And sleep whats that? LOL

Also Here is a vid from a youtube guy general tour of m185 ,,, real geeks ( not a derogatory term) cheak out thier Lan party vids to see some interior shots etc...

And I love what he is doing to that truck. To me the term geek is not a derogatory term in any shape, it is a callsign for those that do ther proper research and learn how to work with computers and electronics properly. A nerd is the derogatory version (to me at least)

 

[porkysplace]

Welcome from saginaw

 

[lwizardl]

Thanks guys for all the welcome posts, and the information about M109's I think I know what I am going to try and find now

 

[lwizardl]

Hey guys I just found a similar image to what I was looking to do and figured it would be best to post that image in case someone knew of a vehicle that would be a good starting base to use to kinda build in real life.

James

 

[Tinwoodsman]

Welcome from Texas. Let me know if you find a "wench" for the front. I would like one too!!!