M109 box on M932A2

[jesusgatos]

Didn't you sink a ton of money into that deuce?

...and time. Lots of time.

 

[olly hondro]

Interesting, the thought process that led you to these choices. As you are a man who actually implements ideas in hardware, you have my respect.

Makes me less fearful of making similar decisions. Yes, its money spent, but we'll make more

 

[jesusgatos]

Quick question - What's the bed height on the M923A2 trucks? Don't have one to measure here, thanks.

 

[srodocker]

mines 5'7" to the bottom of the bed, but I have a iso bed and on 1600's...

 

[zout]

With the 14x20 GoodYear AT2 tires - One inch spacer board on top of frame - tires ran at 90 psi - with the larger AC RV unit mounted to the roof - ground to top of ac unit is 12' 9 " - hope this helps. I could reduce that height once my ac unit takes a crap and go with the lower profile units on the market - But I already had this unit and run it till it dies - new hole will be the same anyhow 14x14 inch.

 

[jesusgatos]

Thanks Zout. How tall is your AC unit? Trying to figure out if I can get away with putting the M109 box on top of the cargo bed.

 

[zout]

The new styles are 9 1/2 tall (shorter by my means)
This Dometic unit I have is nearly 14" tall - 1986 unit. 13500 BTU

 

[zout]

JG - here ya go -= its 12.7 tall off the top off the roof

 

[jesusgatos]

So it's just over 11ft tall with an M109 box installed directly on top of the framerails, with 1" wood strips? Plus the cargo bed height, which can't be more than another foot or so, and... I think that might work. Can anybody tell me how high the cargo bed sits above the framerails?

 

[zout]

I took that measurement and never wrote it down as I was getting rid of the dropside anyhow - but needed a reference point - wish I still had that info for you to help you out. I do not believe it was over 12 inches tho.

All three homemade cargo racks on top of the box as well are only 6 inches tall.

If you have nothing on top of your box I would almost bet (and I am not a betting man) you should be good on height - as meaning not topping 13'6"

 

[jesusgatos]

If I remember right, the M109 boxes are right around 7.5ft tall from the bottom of the skids to the top of the roof. It'll be under 13.5ft, just wondering by how much.

 

[jesusgatos]

Received a PM from another member who took a measurement for me, and he said the bed height appears to be right around 59" - with the disclaimer that his truck wasn't sitting on flat/level ground. if I put the M109 box on top of the cargo bed, would end up being right around 12.5ft tall. For the little bit extra height and weight of the cargo bed, sure seems like it would make for a much more versatile setup. Had been planning on building some type of heavy-duty camper-jacks for the M109 box to facilitate loading/unloading. But then today I started thinking... what if I mounted my M109 box to a 5th wheel plate instead of putting it on top of the cargo bed? Wouldn't be too difficult to make a mount that would cradle the skids on the underside of the M109 box and distribute the load. The idea is that instead of having a cargo / camper I could have a LWB tractor / camper and I think that might end up being even more versatile. After all, could always build a cargo bed that would mount on the 5th wheel just like the M109 box, kinda like this.

 

[jesusgatos]

We're heading down to Barstow tomorrow to pick-up these 5-tons and we're planning on putting our truck in the back of one of them to get it home. Have to make sure the front bumper is tall enough to clear the front bulkhead because if we can't the truck all the way forward, the rear tires would be sitting on the tailgate. So can anyone tell me exactly how tall the front wall of the bed is? pleaseandthankyouthankyouthankyou

 

[jg210302]

Any updates on this project, I just won a 931A2 myself and would love to see how your plans are working out?

 

[jesusgatos]

No, haven't mounted the box yet. Still figuring out how I want to tackle that. Leaning towards something like this.

 

[KaiserM109]

I came on this thread in another search. I have an M923A1 that I bought specifically to replace the chassis on my M109A2 that can hardly get out of its own shadow. The project is delayed by a dead transmission.

I was planning to go a little farther with mine. If I bend the exhaust pipe so that it comes up on the side, like the intake, and remove the spare rack, I can pull the box close enough to the cap to put the interim axle under the middle of the box.

Then I can ditch the back axle, bob the frame and have a 4x4. A deuce needs both axles to carry the box, but an M923 can manage it with 1 axle.

Thanks for the pic's