M936 prototype or heavily modified?

[simp5782]

Moved this M936 for a gentleman this weekend. Started life as an A0 truck. Has 395s on HEMTT wheels now

Truck physically has some abnormal stuff. No rebuild or mwo tags. It does have the Self recovery spring brake override. It has an air solenoid to engage the hi idle that is different from the normal pt pump style. Has oversize oxy/act tank brackets. A2 Fuel tanks. Has a side Cat walk for the gondola. Truck has 3 super winches on it. Hydraulic. 1/2" cable. Rear winch was a chain drive from the motor next to it. Front winch hung low. All winches are equipped with free spool.

Has air quick connection fittings on the front service cans to add air to engage the brakes.. truck has abs sensors on the front steer axle. I did not check the rear drive for sensors to see if they were just switched to the front. This would be possible and feed the steer axle air delivery thru the rear abs delivery ports.
Truck was a little over 34,000# so it is lighter than other 936s. It did have some of the BII.

At first look it looks home made, Especially the front winch. Winch tags are blank except for TACOM and a 3 digit serial number. No ratings are listed. Crane winch looks very nice on it with a lot more cable than the stock 100ft.

A test mule? Or done up for commercial use by a wrecker company?


It is a lot of money to dump into a truck, but I guess is possible. I know certain state wrecker contract requirements state you must have "xxx" ft of cable on a rotator. There was a thread about this for a twin spool setup on the boom.

The new owner is a newly signed up member here so he may share some of his own pics of the truck and his plans for it.

 

[simp5782]

More pics

 

[Mullaney]

Moved this M936 for a gentleman this weekend. Started life as an A0 truck. Has 395s on HEMTT wheels now

Truck physically has some abnormal stuff. No rebuild or mwo tags. It does have the Self recovery spring brake override. It has an air solenoid to engage the hi idle that is different from the normal pt pump style. Has oversize oxy/act tank brackets. A2 Fuel tanks. Has a side Cat walk for the gondola. Truck has 3 super winches on it. Hydraulic. 1/2" cable. Rear winch was a chain drive from the motor next to it. Front winch hung low. All winches are equipped with free spool.

Has air quick connection fittings on the front service cans to add air to engage the brakes.. truck has abs sensors on the front steer axle. I did not check the rear drive for sensors to see if they were just switched to the front. This would be possible and feed the steer axle air delivery thru the rear abs delivery ports.
Truck was a little over 34,000# so it is lighter than other 936s. It did have some of the BII.

At first look it looks home made, Especially the front winch. Winch tags are blank except for TACOM and a 3 digit serial number. No ratings are listed. Crane winch looks very nice on it with a lot more cable than the stock 100ft.

A test mule? Or done up for commercial use by a wrecker company?


It is a lot of money to dump into a truck, but I guess is possible. I know certain state wrecker contract requirements state you must have "xxx" ft of cable on a rotator. There was a thread about this for a twin spool setup on the boom.

The new owner is a newly signed up member here so he may share some of his own pics of the truck and his plans for it.

Hi Wes!

I really appreciate you moving my truck to Charlotte. Your hauler was definitely impressive!

I was looking around here - and thought "That looks like my truck!". A little more looking, and sure enough it was. That is so cool to see my new toy posted here. I have managed to get the batteries out and on the charger. Work has been a little crazy, so this weekend should be my opportunity to fire her up. I hope to get to the bottom of the PTO / Transfer Case noise or at least figure out where the problem is.

Plan is to use the truck in parades and with the ability to lift stuff - it will come in handy for all kinds of projects. Seems that there are some hydraulic leaks here and there. The floor of the gondola is a bit nasty. Already shot some degreaser there and the big time rain we had cleaned a lot of that out with no effort on my part! I hope to have a good report by the end of the weekend.

THANKS for posting the pics and I will try to do a few of my own as I get her cleaned up and ready to play.

 

[Csm Davis]

Hi Wes!

I really appreciate you moving my truck to Charlotte. Your hauler was definitely impressive!

I was looking around here - and thought "That looks like my truck!". A little more looking, and sure enough it was. That is so cool to see my new toy posted here. I have managed to get the batteries out and on the charger. Work has been a little crazy, so this weekend should be my opportunity to fire her up. I hope to get to the bottom of the PTO / Transfer Case noise or at least figure out where the problem is.

Plan is to use the truck in parades and with the ability to lift stuff - it will come in handy for all kinds of projects. Seems that there are some hydraulic leaks here and there. The floor of the gondola is a bit nasty. Already shot some degreaser there and the big time rain we had cleaned a lot of that out with no effort on my part! I hope to have a good report by the end of the weekend.

THANKS for posting the pics and I will try to do a few of my own as I get her cleaned up and ready to play.

Welcome to the green sickness unlike the COVID-19 there is no getting out or over the green fever and now you have a wrecker welcome to buying everything you can get to outfit it! By the way you have a very special wrecker I believe that may be a test mule for the military and or BMY ? Please be gentle with any markings that you find and we might can figure out who had the vehicle built to such a different state than all the others. Please take lots of pictures of everything, we do want to see it all.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[fasttruck]

The average wrecker has level winders on both front and rear winches which are missing here. This does not dispel the mystery if the Army made this modification or a previous civilian owner was involved.

 

[Mullaney]

Welcome to the green sickness unlike the COVID-19 there is no getting out or over the green fever...

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I couldn't agree with you more! This is definitely a sickness like no other. I have been having a lot of fun with it. Not really accomplished anything outstanding but slowly but surely I am fixing little things and hunting down non-standard wires that go to nowhere. The three of four main outrigger tubes are still pretty solidly stuck. Been blasting them with homegrown penetrating oil that seems about thousand times better than anything commercial. about a half gallon so far! Simp5782 gave me the formula...

I don't see any markings on the front bumper. There is a white block on the left front. Hoping maybe some wet-dry sand paper will reveal some numbers under it...

Got a few pictures to share. The front winch hanging below and the metal plate look pretty non-standard. Out back on the right rear is a deckplate box. And there is a chain driving the back winch (attached to a hydraulic motor). The cover for the chain takes up most of the space where the second "foot" for the heavy lifting A-Frame would be stowed. I have one foot 2540-00-040-2299, a set of spades and no A-Frame. Need to hunt those down - just because. And a wiffle bar. and the outrigger bar (handle) 2540-00-860-2359

Was hoping to pop of the deck plate cover - Picture #8 - but the "talking heads" are calling for rain tomorrow. Hate to say it, but I am a fair weather mechanic. Don't have a garage or shed to work in - at least for now. Maybe that can change!

Thanks for the encouragement. Hopefully we can figure out it's pedigree.

 

[Mullaney]

It has a home-made (flat steel plate and two big springs) on the boom winch. No green paint. Almost makes me think that part was a civilian fix - but maybe not. Hard to see, but #6 above shows a little of what I am talking about.

 

[Mullaney]

So, today I spent some time operating the PTO for the rear winch and boom on my M936. Everything I see says she is a rotator and that 360 degree rotation should be possible (TM 9-2320-272-10, Page 2-134, 2-24-d). Being that this was my first time around this particular machine - everything was operated really slow. Pushed the winch and crowd controls forward to play extend the boom to maximum distance.

Then raised the boom just a fuzz. Climbed down, walked around back and removed the pins from the Shipper Braces. I can't really describe how happy I was that the "fuzz" of lift was exactly the right amount to free those pins!

Ran the boom to maximum up - then figured out I needed to raise the cable to avoid taking out the cab of the truck as I made my swing around.

Slowly started rotation. Heard a metal on metal sound. Something dragging on the deck. Climbed out, walked around on the deck of the truck and discovered a U-Shaped piece of channel. Lifted it out of the way and continued slowly. Looking at the pictures below - Obviously somebody has hit the hydraulic tank with the hose on the rear winch. Pure dumb luck (overabundance of caution?) kept me from doing the same.

So, it seems that maybe this isn't a military rework on the winches. I mean I know we operate based on the "lowest bidder" concept - but this obviously "just ain't right".

 

[Mullaney]

The Jerry Can Holder in the picture above... Is that used to carry extra hydraulic fluid?

And, can anybody identify this thing (below)? It was the "metal on metal" sound I heard. Tossed it out on the ground for now. Almost looks like a part of a spare tire carrier or mount of some sort...

 

[simp5782]

The Jerry Can Holder in the picture above... Is that used to carry extra hydraulic fluid?

And, can anybody identify this thing (below)? It was the "metal on metal" sound I heard. Tossed it out on the ground for now. Almost looks like a part of a spare tire carrier or mount of some sort...

View attachment 797748

Fuel, water, fluid. Whatever they wanted to keep in it.

That is the spare tire holder arm for 939 trucks.

 

[Mullaney]

Fuel, water, fluid. Whatever they wanted to keep in it.

That is the spare tire holder arm for 939 trucks.

Thanks Wes. I was going for obvious I guess. Thought since it was mounted to the hydraulic tank that maybe SOP was to carry an extra 5 gallons of hydraulic oil.

939 and 936 - Is the spare tire holder arm different on those two vehicles? I can't see where or how it would be used on my 936.

 

[simp5782]

Thanks Wes. I was going for obvious I guess. Thought since it was mounted to the hydraulic tank that maybe SOP was to carry an extra 5 gallons of hydraulic oil.

939 and 936 - Is the spare tire holder arm different on those two vehicles? I can't see where or how it would be used on my 936.

Its from a variant other than a wrecker.

Wrecker holds 100gal of Hydraulic fluid. 5gal would not help much in a leak

 

[Mullaney]

I found a new "feature" on the front brakes on my M936. I have what appears to be a quick connect feeding out of the pancake for the brakes on BOTH sides. Both point straight up. Both are filled with mud and both have a zip-tie as in the picture below.

My -21 Technical Manual doesn't show that in the air plumbing. Finding the first one made me walk around to the other side. Finding the second one made me scratch my head...

Is this a hack job of some sort?

 

[simp5782]

I found a new "feature" on the front brakes on my M936. I have what appears to be a quick connect feeding out of the pancake for the brakes on BOTH sides. Both point straight up. Both are filled with mud and both have a zip-tie as in the picture below.

My -21 Technical Manual doesn't show that in the air plumbing. Finding the first one made me walk around to the other side. Finding the second one made me scratch my head...

Is this a hack job of some sort?

View attachment 809793

Its so they can activate the front brakes using the emergency side air while winching

 

[Mullaney]

Its so they can activate the front brakes using the emergency side air while winching

So the BII would have had some sort of "Y" hose configuration to hook to those connections? That wouldn't be hard to make up. Getting the dirt out shouldn't be too difficult - and maybe I can find a rubber cap of some sort to cover them and keep out the grime and dirt.

THANKS for the info Wes!

 

[simp5782]

Not standard. Just something you can do on any air brake systems. Most have that port for wrecker applications as well for towing reverse so there are still brakes. Or with the protote system

 

[Mullaney]

Not standard. Just something you can do on any air brake systems. Most have that port for wrecker applications as well for towing reverse so there are still brakes. Or with the protote system

Well, that makes the idea even more appealing... You had told me that when the emergency brake is set that it only engages the center axle.

It would take less than an hour to tie in connections for the back axle. A little time invested for a lot of potential benefit. I need to crawl under and check out the plumbing possibilities. Thanks Again!

 

[simp5782]

Well, that makes the idea even more appealing... You had told me that when the emergency brake is set that it only engages the center axle.

It would take less than an hour to tie in connections for the back axle. A little time invested for a lot of potential benefit. I need to crawl under and check out the plumbing possibilities. Thanks Again!

Emergency brake engages driveline brake in the transfer case. It dumps air to the spring brakes which locks both rear axles. The kid that owned it had 2 of those spring brakes caged

 

[Mullaney]

Emergency brake engages driveline brake in the transfer case. It dumps air to the spring brakes which locks both rear axles. The kid that owned it had 2 of those spring brakes caged

Okay. Well, thanks again. Especially for the technical info. And, glad you have a good memory! I knew that was something on the back axle that needed to be looked at. I just haven't gotten that far back on the truck yet... Slow going. I have fixed a lot, but still have quite a way to go.

I can see good progress in 4 months - sometimes - and other times it seems like I haven't accomplished squat! A couple hours a day with some not worked because of heat or rain... Time adds up but the accomplishments don't add up as quickly as I had hoped they would...

 

[Mullaney]

.
Managed to get a few things done last week when the weather was a little cooler... Posts for the Convoy Lights bolted to the back of the truck and the rotating beacons were powered up for the first time. Sadly, only 3 of 4 bulbs work. Guess that one got beat up in transit on the way here. They do look neat though!



Got the hard top installed. It came with bolts and rubber gaskets and everything fit just perfectly. Had to tweak the right side toward the back of the truck to get the passenger door to close properly. Slipped it back less than an eighth of an inch to make it right. Also installed the new muffler and added an exhaust stack that wasn't almost rusted to nothing to replace what was there.



I can't imagine that I will be going back to the canvas, so I think that set of bars and ribs (bows?) may need a new home. Might not be worth as much as it would cost to freight is somewhere... If anybody "local" needs those "convertable" parts, let me know. Figure I will lay it all out and snap a few pictures...