I finally joined the club and bought my first MV! - M813A1

[US6x4]

I have wanted one of these for about 20 years and never thought I would get to have my own so this is a dream come true!!!

I had been watching the 5 ton market for about the last 4 years or so to keep an eye on price and availability as well as learn about the ins-and-outs of owning a 5 ton in my state (WA). A few weeks before Christmas I came across an Ebay listing that had no bids or interest but I noticed the vehicle location was 200 miles away and the rig was already titled & registered as a collector vehicle which was a huge plus. I was not seriously in the market, but this was the first one I had seen for sale in Washington for the past 4 years that had everything I wanted. My questions to the seller after the auction closed went unanswered, but by a rare turn of luck I found that he had posted it again on a local by/sell website and was able to make a deal, get the financing and transport in order, and get the truck back home within 6 days. Whew - what a hectic week!

OK - here's the meat and potatoes: This is a '79 AM General M813A1 w/winch that has 5,500 miles/1,100 hours on it! It has every option that I wanted except for cab heat. It has the winch, rear tarpaulin & bows, troop seats, flat bar brush guard, and fold down sides. This is the perfect truck for me and I was happy to pay a little more for a mechanically sound rig that only needs little cab stuff and surface rust attended to as I don't have a shop or the big tools to do maintenance/repairs that a more worn down truck would require.

Now that I have the truck at home I have been kicking the tires, looking things over and making a list of items that need attention while I wait for the titling, registration, and insurance stuff to happen.

Here is a short list (in random order) of what I would like to add to the truck:

• cab heat
• door & window weatherstrip/felts
• shifter boots (tranny, t-case & winch)
• twin turbo series 60 Detroit Diesel (ok, maybe not that one...yet...)
• VIC-1 comm system
• air-ride conversion to stock seats
• super singles (not sure on the 14R20 versus 16R20 yet)
• level-wind for the winch
• pineapple grenade shift knob?
• LED dash lights
• dual fuel mod

I love the way the M813s are designed aesthetically and I don't want to change their classic look, but I will spruce it up a bit.

Looking at the paint leaves me wondering if solid OD green was the standard paint scheme in '79? It looks like the camo colors were applied with a brush over the CARC paint and those camo colors are peeling off leaving the underlying original paint layer which is in great shape. Enough jabbering on - lets get some photos going...

 

[porkysplace]

OK - here's the meat and potatoes: This is a '79 AM General M813A1 w/winch that has 5,500 miles/1,100 hours on it! It has every option that I wanted except for cab heat.


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It looks like you got a good deal . But I suspect the odometer has been changed , the hours/mileage averages out to 5mph . That would mean it most likely had a ton of idle time if the gauges are correct.

 

[red]

Good find and agreed on the appearance of the m809 series.

Paint could be a older paint scheme that is showing up. My 1972 m816 has at least 3 layers of paint schemes on it that I can tell. Vietnam olive drab, Desert storm tan, and carc camo are all visible layers on mine.

 

[M35A2-AZ]

Nice!!

 

[162tcat]

Congrats on the purchase!
I found a great shift boot for the transmission, Jegs 62380 but still looking for something to use on the transfer case and winch controls. Before you tackle any other projects, I'd replace the 5 rubber lines on the brake system, adjust all shoes and bleed it out. That is the least reliable and most important system on these trucks.

As for tires, go 16's or 395's unless you find an amazing deal on 14's because they are getting scarce. If your going to tow or load it up, go 395. 16's would be fine for a toy but it will be underpowered for most other duties.

Swap trans and tcase fluid when your doing your initial maintenance with 50 weight drivetrain oil available at napa or any heavy truck shop. Both will shift better and your syncros will last longer.

Spin on oil filter adapter makes oil changes quicker and cleaner.

Block heater makes winter starts much easier too.

Congrats and have fun!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[porkysplace]

Congrats on the purchase!
I found a great shift boot for the transmission, Jegs 62380 but still looking for something to use on the transfer case and winch controls. Before you tackle any other projects, I'd replace the 5 rubber lines on the brake system, adjust all shoes and bleed it out. That is the least reliable and most important system on these trucks.

As for tires, go 16's or 395's unless you find an amazing deal on 14's because they are getting scarce. If your going to tow or load it up, go 395. 16's would be fine for a toy but it will be underpowered for most other duties.

Swap trans and tcase fluid when your doing your initial maintenance with 50 weight drivetrain oil available at napa or any heavy truck shop. Both will shift better and your syncros will last longer.

Spin on oil filter adapter makes oil changes quicker and cleaner.

Block heater makes winter starts much easier too.

Congrats and have fun!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You probably want to add replacing rubber fuel lines and rebuild/replace the manual fuel tank selector valve.

 

[Scar59]

Congats on your new truck. My '72 looks identical except it has a hardtop, and cab heat. Drain the transfer case and fill with diesel fuel, run it lightly, drain it and fill with gear oil. That will help free up the sprag. Also the rubber airline that connects the compressor to the rigid plumbing (left side of eng bay) love to chaff on the throttle rod, Ive had three trucks with the same chaff. Add the spin on oil filter kit, I have them listed in the classified. Keep the Cummins 250, it will pull a house off the foundation.

 

[74M35A2]

Congrats!

I always get excited when people start talking about modern engine transplants. I’m in the middle of one, but half the size. Series 60 is an awesome engine if you get real about it. I may have a reasonably priced ISX available soon if your wife will let you throw more $ at it.

Level wind looks mean, but is also a meanie when you need to pull the winch cable out. I bought one, installed it, tried it, hated it, and then removed and re-sold it.

The air ride, cab heat, and shift knob are all easy and low cost mods.

 

[US6x4]

Congrats on the purchase!
Before you tackle any other projects, I'd replace the 5 rubber lines on the brake system, adjust all shoes and bleed it out. That is the least reliable and most important system on these trucks.
Swap trans and tcase fluid when your doing your initial maintenance with 50 weight drivetrain oil available at napa or any heavy truck shop. Both will shift better and your syncros will last longer.
Spin on oil filter adapter makes oil changes quicker and cleaner.
Block heater makes winter starts much easier too.

All good points here. Can the shoes be adjusted without lifting the tire off the ground?
This is the type of advice I need to get the basics covered since I am a newbie to this world. I will look at the rubber fuel lines as well. The rubber windshield wiper lines are very brittle and I'm sure there are other lines elsewhere that are all the same age. Time to dive into the TMs...

 

[162tcat]

All good points here. Can the shoes be adjusted without lifting the tire off the ground?
This is the type of advice I need to gets the basics covered since I am a newbie to this world. I will look at the rubber fuel lines as well. The rubber windshield wiper lines are very brittle and I'm sure there are other lines elsewhere that are all the same age. Time to dive into the TMs...

To adjust the rears, I jack the whole thing up (harbor freight air over hydraulic jacks) and put jack stands under the round support near the trunion bearing. Then you can do all 4 at once. There is a small access port on the face of the drum. The TM has pretty good info on the adjustment. My system has been switched to DOT 3 for price and availability reasons. Everyone has an opinion on this but mine was already mixed so it needed a complete flush. DOT 3 is cheap and available. The advice on the compressor soft line is also very good. Mine was rotted out and needed replaced. If you lose air, you lose brake assist.

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[US6x4]

Congats on your new truck. My '72 looks identical except it has a hardtop, and cab heat.

Drain the transfer case and fill with diesel fuel, run it lightly, drain it and fill with gear oil. That will help free up the sprag.

Also the rubber airline that connects the compressor to the rigid plumbing (left side of eng bay) love to chaff on the throttle rod, Ive had three trucks with the same chaff. Add the spin on oil filter kit, I have them listed in the classified. Keep the Cummins 250, it will pull a house off the foundation.

What does a seized up sprag act like? Is it noticeable or does it make noise?

I would almost bet my last dollar that I will keep the Cummins 250 - I like it so far. When I was a test engineer for Freightliner they had a test truck with an experimental common rail series 60 that the engineers added twin turbos to and turned up to something like 1200 hp and well over 2000 lb.-ft. of torque. My 813 couldn't handle that but my boss at the time said when he drove it he could turn the tires into cotton candy at will.

 

[US6x4]

It looks like you got a good deal . But I suspect the odometer has been changed , the hours/mileage averages out to 5mph . That would mean it most likely had a ton of idle time if the gauges are correct.

It would be hard for me to tell which of the two gauges may have been replaced. Are there any tell-tell signs of higher mileage or hours? Smoke out the exhaust or certain parts wear that can point to an actual age?

 

[MyothersanM1]

Got these on my M818. These photos are from eight years ago and they still look like this.
They came from John Tennis...
http://www.jatonkam35s.com/m35shiftboots.htm


You can't put one on PTO shift lever due to the NEUTRAL locking plate.

 

[MyothersanM1]

You probably want to add replacing rubber fuel lines and rebuild/replace the manual fuel tank selector valve.

Rubber lines, I second that! However, an M813 hasn't a fuel tank selector valve.

 

[Scar59]

What does a seized up sprag act like? Is it noticeable or does it make noise?

The front axle will not engage automatically when the rear tires slip/spin. Good test is to chain up (low) to a real big tree, make sure the truck is on grass and spin the rear tires. The front axle will engage and spin the front axle. Got to be a big tree.
Also read up on proper backing/shifting. Back up in reverse gear, do not let it rollback in a forward gear (clutch depressed). Mr. Sprag will not like that and will make bad sound/bangs.

 

[US6x4]

Got these on my M818. These photos are from eight years ago and they still look like this.
They came from John Tennis...
http://www.jatonkam35s.com/m35shiftboots.htm
View attachment 716236View attachment 716235

You can't put one on PTO shift lever due to the NEUTRAL locking plate.

Thanks for the link - those look like good pieces and are half the price of NOS.
It looks like they did put one on the winch control lever according to the TM and it might be the same part as the t-case boot...

 

[MyothersanM1]

If you remove the the neutral locking plate it will work. I like the locking plate as it removes the guess work ensuring the PTO is set to neutral. I don't have a pic of it right now, but I cover that forward hole with a thick flap of rubber riveted in place.

 

[US6x4]

I bet one could use strong magnets to hold a boot in place over the pto lever so that you could still retain the lock out function of the hinged piece & keep it covered when not in use. Maybe a few magnets out of a starter?

 

[SCM35A2]

Nice find!

 

[US6x4]

Nice find!

Thanks! It was one of those rare times when everything fell in place: "look at this truck - it's just how I would spec it if I were ordering one. That's my truck. Hey, it's located in my state. It has a clean title & collector plates. The overall condition is very good. That price is pretty fair and I wouldn't have to ship it 2500 miles....hmmm"

It quickly went from why? to why not?
I'm glad I found it still up for sale!