My Build Thread: M909 Recreational Vehicle

[DJones]

Great work as always Todd. I'm glad you repaired that spot lol. Will you be able to make the summer rally at Haspin?

 

[reddneck8182]

Is the SS event still going on at haspin. Just pulled in and I am the only military truck here

 

[TJ4man]

It's not exactly related to the 'camper' portion of my truck, but I just finished an upgrade to the truck. A while back I decided that I wanted extra fuel capacity, so I added a tractor tank on the right hand side in place of the cargo truck toolbox. To keep from making the plumbing more complicated, I just added a transfer pump mounted on the spare tire carrier, and welded a bung into the original tank to dump fuel from the second tank. I added a second fuel gauge so I could tell how much fuel each tank has, without needing a switch like the tractors use. I relocated the battery gauge to a new hole I made in the dash, which meant I also had to relocate the defroster pull cable further right. The way it is set up now, the bottom corner gauges are both fuel gauges, which I'm hoping makes it easier to remember which is which. The fuel pump is the left of the two added switches with the indicators down below (the right one is reserved for a future use - TBD).

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The new tank is shorter than the original toolbox, so it left a little extra space behind it that I decided to use. I took a different cargo truck toolbox and sectioned it vertically and on the length, and then turned it 90 degrees to look kind of like the tractor toolboxes. It took making some custom brackets to make it stable there without 2 "L" brackets underneath it, but it should give me a place to store the power cords and water hoses that I carry. I was happy that I could do all this without having to drill any more holes in the frame - I had enough fun with that when I mounted the van body!

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I made some custom brackets and a step so that I can still stand behind the cab when necessary. I have magnetic mount antennas for my phone and for the TV, which won't fit into the barn if I leave them up on top of the van body where they work best, so I do need to climb up there regularly to attach and remove them. It was easy enough to add in a locking cover for the fuel cap too, so I went ahead and did it. It may not keep anyone from draining the tank since there is still a drain plug on the bottom, but it should keep foreign objects out of this tank.

I did an overdue maintenance activity over the last few weeks, too. I had wanted to repack the wheel bearings for a while since I hadn't done it when I got the truck. It took me a while, but I finally got through all 6 hubs. In the process I found torn knuckle boots (which were OK last year) and replaced them with non-zipper style boots, which wasn't particularly hard to do but it did feel like it took forever! I'm glad I did the job though, the front axle bushings in the spindles looked like they could use a bit more grease, and the left middle wheel bearing was definitely adjusted too tight, although the bearings were still good enough to be reused. I'm glad my truck is an A2 too, the outboard brakes make the parts that you have to lift much lighter!

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And just for @DJones I sanded and re-painted that flaking spot of paint that you pointed out at Haspin last year. I hope I've brought things up to compliance with your standards

Hello, Neighbor,

I have a feeling you are going to be a wealth of knowledge... going to have to buy you a beer. Keg size. My M934A1 is at my brother's shop down at the south end of Hancock County while we build on it.

Going back through all of this post with a fine tooth comb. I have similar ideas on a lot of this, just a different starting point!

~ TJ

 

[TJ4man]

Great work as always Todd. I'm glad you repaired that spot lol. Will you be able to make the summer rally at Haspin?

DJones -

Was there a rally at Haspin this year? Looks like we might be neighbors too.

- TJ

 

[cbrTodd]

Hello, Neighbor,

I have a feeling you are going to be a wealth of knowledge... going to have to buy you a beer. Keg size. My M934A1 is at my brother's shop down at the south end of Hancock County while we build on it.

Going back through all of this post with a fine tooth comb. I have similar ideas on a lot of this, just a different starting point!

~ TJ

I don't know about being a wealth of knowledge, but what I have learned, I'd be happy to share! These things are fun to build and work with, and you can make what YOU want and not just what a company thinks you should want. Having the extra interior space in a 934 body will be nice for you too! The key is to make sure you know what you want before you start building it, otherwise you do things multiple times and it takes longer and gets more expensive...

If you want more information on something specific that I did, or just want to run ideas on your build by someone, you can PM me your cell number and I'll give you mine.

You did just miss the "official" Haspin rally this past weekend, but we usually have an unofficial gathering sometime in the fall. It's generally a smaller group of people but the weather is usually cooler too so it has its benefits. You can either look for a post about it in the gatherings section, or if I have your number, I can text you when I find out about something happening.