M35A3 Owners unite

[Hoefler]

I understand the running up your backside. I watch my mirros as much as the front when I am out and about.
I haul my bobcat on a PJ trailer behind my A3-it handles it nicely. The brakes are a little suspect though with lots of weight on a trailer. I have a 900 series 5-ton. Faster and would handle weight of a trailer far better. Problem is air brakes (unless you can register as a farm truck!). 800 series trucks dont have air-that may be a perfect match for your duty-nifty 250 and a manual transmission!
I have my A3 with 395's on her but limit engine speed to 2500 RPM. I used GPS and found my truck runs about 52 or so at this engine speed. I sold an A3 to Turbo Tim (SS-er)-he told me he runs his with pedal to the floor all the time. Have heard of others doing that as well. That speed probably delivers high 50's MPH.
Post pictures of your A3-I am partial to these beauties.
Pete

 

[99mrpc]

I posted what I have back on page 65 of this thread post #649, 650

 

[rtk]

395's

Just finished this years PM's , rides pretty good with the 395's . How far off is the speedo with the 395's ? I keep the tach to around 2500 . I am going to take my GPS and go for a spin . I was concerned about tire balance , but it's not a problem , in fact it is better that before . I still do not like the rims , pain in the butt too change , but I did replace all wheel seals and valve grommets and seems to be good at this time .

 

[187]

Rtk.... Nice looking A3. The 395's are in my future. Are those standard A3 wheels minus the CTIS stuff?

 

[rtk]

yes 187 , those are the standard A3 rims ,and yes I removed the CTIS from the wheels ,also changed over the A3 seals and bearings to the A2 style . MUCH easier to maintain . Plus I have lots of CTIS parts for sale LOL ! . BTW , all the rear CTIS bearings and seals were leaking gear lube , what a crazy setup to get air to the tires , must be a maintenance nightmare !

 

[187]

Thanks. I'm getting ready to service my bearings and hubs, but when I need tires in a few years, I'm going to do the exact same thing you have there. That looks awesome. Once I get everything apart, I might need to buy some of those A3 parts I haven't had any issues and I'm hoping my bearings are all good.

 

[rtk]

187 , Just let me know what you need , I have the expensive inner bearing if you need , plus a NOS air valves , air distribution unit , cables , wheel weights , etc. The plan is to bring this and a bunch of other stuff to Aberdeen next year , bob k

 

[househaunter]

Hey Guys... just saying hello. I finally landed the M35A3 I have been chasing for a while. Great truck, but I can't figure out a few things. Maybe someone here can direct me to a good source. I've got very little 24V experience and almost no military vehicle wiring experience. My lights are dead on the M35. Found the circuit breakers. No luck. The PTO for the winch seems to be dead as well. It also has a pretty healthy air leak when the pedal is applied. It stops fine, but if the pedal is down, it just flushes air out of one of the fittings. Not sure is this should be the case. My semi trucks were different.

Anyway... its a 1970 rebuilt in 1993. PTO winch and utility box and CTIS.

Thanks in advance,

Warren

 

[Scar59]

Installed a set of Ouverson lock out hubs on the front axle this weekend of my A3 this weekend. Need to modify the CTIS stone guards now. Has anyone accomplished this mod to their stone guards? I have a couple of ideas, waiting to start cutting.
JC

 

[glcaines]

Hey Guys... just saying hello. I finally landed the M35A3 I have been chasing for a while. Great truck, but I can't figure out a few things. Maybe someone here can direct me to a good source. I've got very little 24V experience and almost no military vehicle wiring experience. My lights are dead on the M35. Found the circuit breakers. No luck. The PTO for the winch seems to be dead as well. It also has a pretty healthy air leak when the pedal is applied. It stops fine, but if the pedal is down, it just flushes air out of one of the fittings. Not sure is this should be the case. My semi trucks were different.

Anyway... its a 1970 rebuilt in 1993. PTO winch and utility box and CTIS.

Thanks in advance,

Warren

Welcome to Steel Soldiers! You've come to the right place. The first thing I would recommend is to read the TMs. Specifically, look at the electrical schematic. The wiring on these trucks is relatively simple and your problem should be simple to figure out. However, your most critical problem is the air leak on the brakes. Have someone push the brake pedal while you are under the truck so that you can find out where the air leak is. Enjoy your truck.

 

[goodguyzy]

Hey Guys... just saying hello. I finally landed the M35A3 I have been chasing for a while. Great truck, but I can't figure out a few things. Maybe someone here can direct me to a good source. I've got very little 24V experience and almost no military vehicle wiring experience. My lights are dead on the M35. Found the circuit breakers. No luck. The PTO for the winch seems to be dead as well. It also has a pretty healthy air leak when the pedal is applied. It stops fine, but if the pedal is down, it just flushes air out of one of the fittings. Not sure is this should be the case. My semi trucks were different.

Anyway... its a 1970 rebuilt in 1993. PTO winch and utility box and CTIS.

Thanks in advance,

Warren

Not sure what your talking about on the PTO. They have a hydraulic system. 24v is the same as 12v, (obviously higher) check with multimeter hot to metal. On the lights Start with the basics is the 3 lever light in the right position? Both levers need to be right for lights to work.

 

[Deuce007]

Running Hot??

Today I took the a3 out for a 5 mile drive around the block at about 30mph and by the time I got home again the water temp was at 200* F and for it only being 75* outside that seems to be running a little hotter than it should. I can see coolant in the sightglass so the coolant level is good and I know that the fan belt is not slipping and causing it not to pump water so does anyone have any idea why its seems to be running hot?

 

[rtk]

Is the fan coming on ? make sure the fan clutch is working as it should . How does the coolant look ? make sure it is clean or else flush and change . BTW , with a 195 thermostat it would run about that temp . If you let it idle what is the temp ?

 

[Deuce007]

I heard the fan come on about the same time that the temp hit 200. The coolant is kind of a rusty brown in color. I am thinking that I might have to do a flush with some restore and try to clean out the cooling system eventually. What is the correct coolant? When I let it idle to cool down the temp dropped to about 185.

 

[rtk]

I would give your truck a flush and refill . You should buy your anti freeze at NAPA or a Truck parts dealer , for two reasons , first , you will need a LOT , and second , you need HD anti freeze for a diesel engine , not the crap at Wal-Mart , very important for corrosion control in that expensive CAT engine . I use Pre-Mix from John Deere , comes in two and a half gallon containers , also you could change the thermostat at the same time .

 

[Deuce007]

Ok, that seems like a good place to start. As long as it's OK to use the JD stuff, I will have no problem finding coolant here. We have a whole bunch of that stuff on hand that we use in our tractors. Thanks for your help!

 

[rtk]

10-4 good luck , bob k

 

[glcaines]

Make sure that whatever coolant you use it's the heavy duty ethylene glycol type. Also, if you don't use premix, make sure you use distilled water for the dillution to eliminate phosphate buildup in the coolant system. It will take a lot of distilled water jugs, but it is definitely worth it. My A3 runs 180 - 200 degrees regardless of the temperature. When the fan cuts in, the temp immediately drops to the lower end of the range and then climbs to an average of 190 while driving without heavy load.

 

[rtk]

Forgot to mention , don't forget the "Dip Strips" . You use them as a quick test on the condition of the Anti-Freeze . NAPA should have them .

 

[Bigjer]

For those that want to ditch the CTIS my tire shop had a great solution to solve the cobbled together valve stem set up. When I upgraded to 395's, they put a brass fitting in the bung from a road grader and then reduced from large bore to smaller bore for standard valve stems. Should be bullet proof.