M939 Series 5 Ton Winterization for Winter Driving? Fairbanks, Alaska Edition...

[71DeuceAK]

Now that winter is here (not officially per the calendar, but per the snow flying and joking daily about how a good chunk of people in a college town/military hub just moved here and don't know how to drive even their subcompact cars in the snow, I've gotten to really wondering about this, in preparation for potentially eventually bringing a M923 I have a line on up here and ideally driving it year round.

I tried search but didn't get super relevant results. I tried to make the first half of the title of this thread as searchable as possible for somebody else in the future with my same situation.

Anyway...What all does everyone do, or did the military do, for making these trucks drivable and safe in winter conditions? Everyone has told me at least the G177's and the 53's are absolutely horrible in the snow, chaining up is supposedly a must. Anyone have personal experience with this? I should clarify that in a perfect world I would like to still be driving mine on-road, on the pavement, on the highways, year round regardless of weather conditions. With what I'd use my truck for, it would be both playing in the snow drifts and hitting the freeway just as equally, both extremes.

Of course I'll need to do some engine winterizations as well. I know a block heater is a must, and I'm told changing to (5W40? Rotella synthetic if I remember right from what a fellow Steel Soldiers member who has a M923 outside Fairbanks told me) also helps with the NHC250 in the M939/A1 models, being it's frankly a cold-blooded beast; at even zero degrees Farenheit they said theirs doesn't hardly start...the oil just congeals and the starter just does nothing but drain already-weakened, cold batteries. Anyone else have any other suggestions? I know a heating pad on the oil pan could also help. And of course, the proper antifreeze coolant blend for the -40*F Fairbanks winters.

As far as the batteries, I know a heating pad on those and possibly a maintainer also helps; they only freeze if they go dead as I understand it, also from having lived off-grid, with a bank of daisy-chained 8Ds running my house through an inverter, though in a different climate where -40*F wasn't an issue to worry about. I'm definitely leaving mine under the passenger seat in the cab, not moving them down to the passenger side toolbox, so they may be more sheltered there- though these cabs are so drafty I don't think it makes a difference in temperature, besides maybe wind-chill factor.

I know even from riding shotgun in one on a 40*F rainy day that the stock heat isn't all that robust. Sure, idling in a parking lot the cab will feel toasty when you climb in, but as soon as you hit the freeway you're putting layers back on. I know fuel-fired heaters exist that burn diesel, but has anyone had any experiences with those, or any other ideas? I've heard/read crazy stories of people putting a generator in the bed and running electric space heaters before, on a temporary basis, but I'd like something more permanent.

Of course, I'd like to get a hard top, even just for snow load, but has anyone tried to stop the other drafts? I've wondered about even something like pipe insulation around the window frames...or has anyone even just stuffed them full of newspaper, etc successfully? I'd like it to be a non-permanent fix so I can open the windshields in the summers, they still get to triple-digit temps around here and these lack A/C in stock form of course. Of course I'll also be warmly dressed in the cab as well.

I'd also like to find, or make my own, canvas hood kit. I know they exist.

I'm sure I'm probably missing other categories, any suggestions? I'd like to keep this thing on the road year-round, regardless of what the weather is doing.

 

[603hellmutt]

In my a2 i had the 48" XZL and they were great in the snow. I added a 3 ton jersey barrier in the bed for better handling and never had to chain up. The coldest I ever started it was -21F and that was with my block heater plugged in and my battery blanket on. Probably overkill but it worked for me. The heaters are 50/50 from my experience some will cook you out some will let you freeze. The grill covers are nice but i didn't drive far enough to comment on weather they made that much of a difference.

 

[71DeuceAK]

Interesting idea with the 3 ton jersey barrier! Even -21F isn't bad, that's a good chunk of our winters.

I see you're parting out the 928? I sent you a PM on Facebook....

 

[74M35A2]

If you can run a 120v block heater, oil pan heater, and battery charger, when vehicle is off, it will think it is always a warm summer day. Don't expect much cab heat, unless you switch to a fuel fired heater, which was part of the artic winterization kit and bolts in place of the heater core box. I have a complete brand new one available with fuel pump, exhaust, and control head if you are interested, it is not cheap. But, it does more than over-compensate for the drafty cab and soft top. Those leaky areas become concern no more. There is a low and high setting, but you basically control the cab temp via how far the windows are rolled down when it is on.

I started my 8.3L a2 @ -23F with only the stock ether kit, cranked right up. Make sure your engine is in a top state of tune, batteries are fresh, and the alternator works correctly. Set it to about 28.8v charge if adjustable for winter temps.

Nice M939 grill cover: http://www.jatonkam35s.com/M939winterfronts.htm

30k BTU arctic fuel fired heater on M939 series (a2 in this pic):

 

[71DeuceAK]

Thanks 74M35A2! Sounds like getting this beast roadworthy for Fairbanks winters isn't as bad as I actually anticipated. Any thoughts if the NHC250 will be any harder to get running at -23? I know some people say the 8.3 is a little easier starting in those conditions.

Re: the heater, I'd be curious for sure, but would want to get a truck first. Feel free to shoot me a PM.

 

[simp5782]

The block heaters on the NHC work fine. As will an Oil pan heater pad. Also another thing that works well before starting is an in cab plug in heater. It is a small forced air heater with a house plug. I would always have my block heater, pan heater, and inside heater come on approx. 4 hours before I had to fire it up for work/etc. No need for it to run all night. The inside heater got the interior warm and made switches and gauges work a lot better. Plus it just helps get things un frozen.

Normal cab heaters are ok, blowers are fine as well. It is just the cabs are not well sealed so air comes in from a lot of places. Sealing the cab up is the hardest part.

 

[snowtrac nome]

the oil used here in Alaska was oea. oil engine arctic. a fuel burning heater is a must you also might plan on shoveling the cab out after the wind blows. The arctic kits had electric block heaters swingfire heaters and a fuel burning personnel heaters. they also had a winter front. In the guard we usually tried to piggyback a coolant personnel heater with the fuel burning model as there was some reliability issues with the old sw 10530's. when on convoy between Fairbanks and delta its a bad time to have a heater failure. I will pm you a phone number let you know what I do up here to make things work

 

[Jericho]

I have an M931A2 I live in the Great North Woods of NH. We experience bigger swings in temperature than your region some winters are - 40 below plus for days at a time. You might get to 20 above in the day and plunge to 40 below or better. At night. I run two 1200 CCA batteries. And do not use ether to start. I do start every week at least once and let it idle till warm. My heater is toasty compared to my M109A3 it takes about 4 miles at 1800 rpm in first gear. Length of my driveway. I don’t use a block heater either. It takes about 15 seconds for the engine to light off when cranking. It has always started. I do run fuel treatment for water build up and anti gel in the fuel my biggest problem has always been mouisturevin the air system. Installed the larger air dryer from an MRAP this year. Hope it cures it. No air no brakes. No front wheel drive. Run michilien (sp) super singles. No chains and I live way off grid. As long as I can engage front wheel drive I can go anywhere

 

[snowtrac nome]

I ran the 855 cummins engines at - 40 at ft greely one year, at the time the national guard standard was still 15 w 40 there was no starting with out engine pre heat. 15w40 looks like honey at - 40. If the wind blows you will find the limitations of the coolant heater real quick. going forward traction never seemed to be a problem, braking with their touchy brakes on an unloaded truck on ice could be real exiting especially down hill with ndt tires. you want to be careful of pumping brakes with the engine at low rpm's you can use up air real quick, and if you are on ice that's the last place you want your maxis starting to lock up. You get the impression I might have experienced that once in the past. I have the good year mvt's super singles on my lmtv in my opinion they are just about the best selection for a snow tire on these trucks.

 

[Jbulach]

Get a heater assembly out of the back of a old school bus, it will be your new best friend on those cold drafty winter days.

 

[74M35A2]

^This^. Reason being, the standard heater air intake is in front of the grill. If you can re-heat cab air, you will be further ahead. Not sure about fogging up the windows though. Maybe the cab leaks enough to prevent it.

 

[71DeuceAK]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!

Snowtrac Nome, Re: your descriptions of Ft Greely to Fairbanks and the like, at one point my dad and I looked at a house in Big Delta...I considered making that drive to Fairbanks all the time in a Deuce or a 5 ton.

 

[oboyjohn]

Up here in Canada, we would run with rad covers installed and it would help a lot when driving at highway speeds. We would also go crazy with gun tape and try to seal up all the cracks around the windshields and foot well vents. As for tires, we used 11.00R20 Michelin XZL singles on our deuces and they performed pretty good, but on ice, as with any tire, they have their limitations. Our trucks had an 8.2 litre Detroit V8 with ether injection. I have personally started a deuce with this set up at -36 Celsius after sitting all night in the open at an ammunition depot. It took about 3 tries but it started. Once started, I would set the fast idle at around 1200 rpm and monitor it for at least 10 minutes for it to warm up. As it would warm up, the rpm would increase so you would have to lower it. After 10 minutes, the engine and Allison automatic would be sufficiently warm enough to drive, but you`d have to take it easy until the t/case and diffs warmed up too. Adding weight in the back does not hurt either.

 

[71DeuceAK]

I was wondering about the cracks myself...good to know tape has been tried.

 

[snowtrac nome]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!

Snowtrac Nome, Re: your descriptions of Ft Greely to Fairbanks and the like, at one point my dad and I looked at a house in Big Delta...I considered making that drive to Fairbanks all the time in a Deuce or a 5 ton.

One time we were in a storm it was like -30 and blowing snow, had the arctic heater running on high through the defroster. The wipers would ice up so bad, my assistant driver would have to open his windshield and reach out and bust the ice off my wiper so we could see the next truck in front of us in the convoy.

 

[bluehorse]

74M35A2, Im interested in your cab heater kit if you still have it. I have a 1993 M925A2

 

[74M35A2]

bluehorse, I don’t have a swingfire heater/kit for sale. I do have a 30,000BTU fuel fired forced air cab/bed heater kit for sale. Let me know if this is what you think you wanted.