Keith_J
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You don't know what you are talking about. At the end of the service life, there were bad suppliers of parts, like the wheel cylinders (SMR code PAOZZ which means they are not rebuilt) and outer wheel seals.None of the 'services' I have seen are more than look overs, fluid top offs and filters. Some don't even go that far.
There is no real way to inspect a seal. Its either leaking or not. A common seal failure is wearing the shaft of what its supposed to seal. I have fixed a few yokes that have a nice seal wear groove and an almost perfect seal. Ditto for bearings etc. You need to hear it going bad (can you hear anything on a running M35?) or feel for heat... both things easily done for far less than $700
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Now scale that down to the average flipper.... with even less accountability and possibly experience. No thanks.
The replacement parts from non-military suppliers are MUCH HIGHER QUALITY. For example, wheel cylinder springs have cup expanders. Outer wheel seals are smooth without mold parting lines, vent sprues or other imperfections IN THE SEAL AREA.
Andy isn't the "average flipper". He KNOWS that at least one wheel on every GL truck has a leaky wheel cylinder or slimed shoes. And he knows how to fix this.
Unless you have pulled the drums, you won't know for sure.