Many M816 Questions

[m715mike]

It's called a Whiffletree - spreads the lift of the crane hook out to the two lifting shackles on the front bumper for a suspended tow. Check the operating instructions in the TM. There are a ton of posts on it's use. The unique pins that go through the lifting shackles are like rocking horse poop... The 1/2" bar loop is used by the crane hook to pick it up from the ground when tossed over the side or directly off of the crane bed. Then, as it hangs horizontal - it is presented to the two lifting shackles on the casualties front bumper - where they are positioned at the correct holes, pins are inserted then it is lowered to the bumper and the hook is then repositioned into the big oval hole in the main body of the whiffle tree for the lifting of the casualty. Attach a tow bar to the wreckers pintle hook and the casualties axle and away you go (safety chains, air lines and tow lights also).

With pictures >>>>

M816 5 Ton Medium Wrecker

Ok guys, I have finally been sent some photo's of the wrecker that has been advertised. They aren't all that great. Can you wrecker experts cast your eyes over the pictures and let me know what you think? Does everything look like it is all there? What engines do these have in them? I notice a...

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[G744]

The stock engine in the 800- series trucks is a Cummins 250, a naturally aspirated Diesel.

Real tough, not real powerful compared to a turboed sibling (but more poop than a Multifuel).

DG

 

[Guyfang]

Wrecker BII. Invaluable.

 

[BillTWD]

TM9-2320-260-10

I had seen mention of it there but didn't dig in deep enough until now. Good information. I wish I would have gotten the field chocks with my purchase but they unfortunately were missing.

 

[BillTWD]

Looks to me your tach is stiff, that is what wore out the drive tang on the cable.

You should replace the inner and the tach as well.

DDG

Where I'm from the only way to get parts is by mail, which is often a slow process. In the mean, I welded and ground the square shaft on the cable and shot some lithium grease inside the tack (and inside the cable lining). It works great now.

 

[G744]

DIY repair at it's best. Kudos.

DDG

 

[simp5782]

There are 809 series tachnograph electronic units on ebay for cheap. That is graph. Electric sending units for tach and speedo, wiring. Etc

Internal paperwork in the box shows 809 series on the one I got.

Tach Meter Speed Clock NEW Tachograph Speed Meter VDO Complete Kit MPH & RPM's | eBay

1 EACH, NEW, VDO Tachograph. Cool Item, recorded driver actions to paper disk. Includes connectors, cable sensors, instructions.24 VOLT SYSTEMS. Want more??. 25 bucks each.

www.ebay.com

 

[fasttruck]

The recording speedometer/tachometer described in post 14 requires the appropriate dashboard/instrument panel to fit it as it is bigger than the separate instruments found in cargo trucks and such. Recording speedometers are unique to 818 tractors issued to line haul units which kept track of the driver's activities. The graph would last 7 days. The Army was trying to make the 818 the maid of all work but it was slow and not too powerful. They got smart and came out with the 915s for road work and the 6X6 tractors went to the field.

 

[Canadian Gunner]

Ironically, there's an upside to purchasing an old gem that needs more work than anticipated. It's kind of a blessing in disguise because it forces us to learn more about the vehicle than we might have if everything already worked perfectly. I haven't mastered the fuel system by any means but I have made progress. The governor was "gummed up (for lack of a better term) . I got is loosened up and now the engine roars.

Now it's time to move on to other issues. The next topic is going to challenge my intellect. ELECTRICAL. If this were a 1972 Chevy Blazer (which I do have) with a 12 volt system I'd be good-to-go. These military 24 volt systems however just blow my mind. Basically, I just need to make all the lights, blinkers, switches and heater fan work. I might be able to stumble my way through it on my own but any tips, tricks, advice would be much appreciated. I've only attempted to work on a 24 volt system once before (a 1952 Dodge Army truck) and it could have just as well been quantum physics because I was totally and completely lost from the get-go.

This list from olive Drab is essential to

Ironically, there's an upside to purchasing an old gem that needs more work than anticipated. It's kind of a blessing in disguise because it forces us to learn more about the vehicle than we might have if everything already worked perfectly. I haven't mastered the fuel system by any means but I have made progress. The governor was "gummed up (for lack of a better term) . I got is loosened up and now the engine roars.

Now it's time to move on to other issues. The next topic is going to challenge my intellect. ELECTRICAL. If this were a 1972 Chevy Blazer (which I do have) with a 12 volt system I'd be good-to-go. These military 24 volt systems however just blow my mind. Basically, I just need to make all the lights, blinkers, switches and heater fan work. I might be able to stumble my way through it on my own but any tips, tricks, advice would be much appreciated. I've only attempted to work on a 24 volt system once before (a 1952 Dodge Army truck) and it could have just as well been quantum physics because I was totally and completely lost from the get-go.

This list from the Olive Drab website is invaluable when tracing M series 24v circuits: https://olive-drab.com/od_mseries_circuits.php

 

[BillTWD]

This list from olive Drab is essential to

This list from the Olive Drab website is invaluable when tracing M series 24v circuits: https://olive-drab.com/od_mseries_circuits.php

Sensational. Thank you.

 

[BillTWD]

I looked in the TM's for the cable. The CABLE Assy, has a part number of: 10900237. That gets you the cable and cable end. The TM tells you to MAKE the cable from Bulk cable, part number of: 7600767. The tech spec's for the bulk cable are below. But I could not find the length of cable needed. Strange.

	DIAMETER	0 1/2 INCHES NOMINAL ROPE
	LAY METHOD	RIGHT REGULAR ALL LAYERS
	BREAKING STRENGTH	23000 POUNDS NOMINAL
	CORE CONSTRUCTION	FIBER
	PREFABRICATION FORM	PREFORMED
	MATERIAL	STEEL IMPROVED PLOW OVERALL
	MATERIAL DOCUMENT AND CLASSIFICATION	RR-W-410 FED SPEC SINGLE MATERIAL RESPONSE OVERALL
	STYLE DESIGNATOR	6 X 19

I did some measuring and some estimating and ended up buying 150', which is 50' too much. In case anybody else is wondering, I'd say 100' is just right.

 

[simp5782]

Its 100ft for the boom. Upgrading to swedged cable is a great investment if replacing one for future reference

 

[Canadian Gunner]

On the topic of wreckers, would anyone have a pair of boom shipper jacks/braces? These are the short ones used to stabilise the boom while travelling. The same ones were used on the M62, M543, M816 and M936. I have an M543 gasser from 1955.

 

[Canadian Gunner]

That is the same part number that I found but I did not see those specs. Thank you. I had to use a cutting torch to get the old cable off. They had it wrapped around the bottom spool several times and bound so tight that they bent the control lever trying to do whatever they were trying to do. It took a couple of hours of cutting and hammering to get it out. I measured a piece of it with a caliper and it was shy of 1/2" so I assumed 7/16" although I suspected it might actually call for 1/2". As for length - I suspect that you don't want it too long (and obviously not too short). I noticed the bottom spool is grooved. Does that mean that we don't want overlapping wraps? I could see how the length might vary depending on whether we use a single pulley or a double pulley hook. Would we want to determine the length by rising and extending the boom to max with the hook touching the ground?

100 feet. I had to replace mine recently. Buy 110 feet so you have a bit extra for clamps and fiddly fu*ks.

 

[mortarman]

Hello all,
I am after some help with my M816 Wrecker. I have bought a wrecker body and the M816 truck separately. I obviously want to put the two together but I am having so much trouble identifying what I have missing in my drive line. Is there a easy explanatory driveline layout showing me the engine, transfer case and ALL the tailshafts. I need to buy quite a few parts from Dave at Eastern surplus but as I am in Australia I want to make sure I get everything correct before I place the order.
Thank you in advance
Colin.