Need help deciding on an M-? truck

[twrecks]

Hi all new here on the forum and I came here because you all seem to be the best knowledge base on the 6X6 trucks and I need some help deciding what to go with. I have heard pro and con here and there from everyone I talk to but nobody that can give me solid information. So here I am. I am looking to build a bobbed off road recovery truck. I have looked at several M35A2's. They are old and LOUD! Not a lot of provision for hydraulics to my knowledge either but they are cheap and plentiful and will run on anything. Next the M35A3's. I like that they are automatic and have provisions to run hydraulics and have a more modern engine. I have heard they are incredibly expensive to repair, slow, and that they utilize a special tire that is getting hard to come by. A mistake of engineering I had one guy tell me. Now on to the 9 series 5 tons. Not too bad on price it seems, fairly plentiful, more of a modern style of truck but they are Freakin HUGE and a guy told me today that they don't pull as well offroad as the older A2's. So I solicit all of your input please and look forward to learning from you all.

 

[welldigger]

Well to start with both the a2 and a3 can run hydraulics. There are provisions for a PTO on both trucks transmissions. The a2 is a bit faster especially when upgraded to 46" tires. The a3 comes standard with 43" tires. The a3 can also be upgraded to 46" tires but will still be slower than the a2. There is also a member here that manufactures a taller 5th gear o.d. kit for the a2. This is not available for the a3. The a3 has air assisted steering while the a2 has manual steering. However it can be upgraded to the air assist if you can find it. The same member who makes the o.d. kit for the a2 also has a hydraulic power steering upgrade kit. He goes by the handle M35-Tom. The cat is an expensive engine to repair and maintain but the multi fuel has its drawbacks also. Mainly that is a pretty anemic engine.

The 5 tons are much more powerful. They are indeed huge and in most cases require a cdl to drive. The m-35 series does not. I can't speak on the of road performance of the trucks side by side. Actually I have never driven a 5 ton. The m35 is decent off road. The main thing to keep in mind is these trucks are not a cj jeep. They are heavy and long. So they will go through some pretty rough terrain but if you do get stuck your going to need a bull dozer to get out. Your buddies f-150 won't cut it. This applies to the m35 and especially the 5 ton. The 5 ton is much heavier. Just something to keep in mind if you do off road it.

 

[welldigger]

And welcome to Steel Soldiers. I just noticed this was your first post. The best advice I can give is read read read. Almost anything you want to know about the trucks in question can be found in the forums and tech manuals. Information is your friend.

 

[Bighurt]

When you say off-road recovery truck, what are you recovering?

Having both an M35A2 and a M925 I can say neither is a nimble creature. Typically new guys are into the rock crawler scene, these vehicles even bobbed need quite the trail to operate on.

Which is why I asked what are you recovering?

 

[swbradley1]

Welcome to the site. Get an M35A2 and you won't be sorry. Well, maybe you will be after you then get an M35A3 to go with it, along with an 800 series 5-ton and a 900 series 5-ton because you don't the first 5-ton to be lonely. Then you get a 915 with a trailer to move the other trucks around. Since you will want to sleep in one at any gathering you will get an M109 and then an M185 to keep it company.

Do you now see what kind of can of worms you opened?

 

[ryan77]

Once you get a deuce you will want a 5 ton! I sold my deuce this summer and i just passed my written for a cdl so i can legally drive a 5 ton! Now to find a nice 931!!!

 

[Scarecrow1]

No military truck is going to make a good recovery truck if you cut it up. There are some people that will tell you different ,the reason these trucks are able to go where few can is because of the 3 axle 6 or ten tires that pull them . These trucks are big loud and ugly as a junk yard dog but they are supposed to be. You can put lipstick on a pig but you still have a pig. You want a good recovery vehicle then use these trucks the way they were meant to be used. The 5tons are better because of the power steering and are a little quieter but they are big , The Deuce is the better of the two if you are in tight spaces, the weight diff means it will not be as heavy and there fore able to pull it's self through some very bad places the 5 ton would just sink to the axles and stop.

 

[wreckerman893]

You can get a M932 (5 ton tractor with winch) fairly cheap out of Camp Shelby, MS. Since it already has a PTO pump for the winch you can put a diverter on in and use it to run a boom or crane. The tractor has a short wheel base which makes bobbing easy.

 

[Sephirothq]

Get an M816. Designed for off road recovery.

 

[jwentz57]

No military truck is going to make a good recovery truck if you cut it up. There are some people that will tell you different ,the reason these trucks are able to go where few can is because of the 3 axle 6 or ten tires that pull them . These trucks are big loud and ugly as a junk yard dog but they are supposed to be. You can put lipstick on a pig but you still have a pig. You want a good recovery vehicle then use these trucks the way they were meant to be used. The 5tons are better because of the power steering and are a little quieter but they are big , The Deuce is the better of the two if you are in tight spaces, the weight diff means it will not be as heavy and there fore able to pull it's self through some very bad places the 5 ton would just sink to the axles and stop.

Did i read ugly that is a matter of opinion I guess . I like the look of the trucks and i would call it cool . or even different . but not ugly

 

[F18hornetM]

The military already makes a recovery vehicle, with lots of winches. Look up M816 or M936.

 

[twrecks]

Man all I can say is wow you guys are quick. As for the type of recovery work it would be some beach work and recovering hunters from the nearby hunting preserves. Not really trail recoveries that rock crawlers get into. My initial thought was to bob a A2, put a real wrecker bed on it and some 46" tires. If nothing else it would look cool and make a great advertising vehicle for my towing company but as a gearhead I can't build anything that is not completely functional and in eastern NC we have a lot, I mean a lot of places to drive your truck to the waters edge and sometimes it's more than the F350 4x4 wrecker should really tackle. Like a crew cab dually that a surf fisherman got stuck, was swallowed by the tide and pulled out into the Ocean. Graveyard of the Atlantic doesn't apply to just ships around here. A deuce with a Big winch looks really appealing, but then sometimes you need to lift and pull, then there's the hunter that didn't know that stump was going to completely remove his right front suspension that you have to tow out of the game lands. y'all get the point. So the obvious answer becomes get a military wrecker until you actually look at them. They are way to big, heavy and completely useless for towing your f150. I just watched a competitor buy one of those and he has no idea he won't be able to use it. They are a crane not really a tow truck. But since you have to drive it to the site, the automatic trans looks good on paper, but the A3 is slow not that I would really want to go over about 60 in one of these anyways, the A2 is loud, but could be quieted down and I hear if bobbed will do a reasonable 55-60mph on singles. Please keep the comments rolling

 

[DieselBob]

Also just a fyi you can install power steering on a deuce if you are leaning in the direction of the A2 but want easy steering. Also the A2 can be equipped with 2 PTO units to drive pumps if it doesn't have a winch already. There is a .69 gear kit available for the manual transmission in the A2 to lower the engine rpm and help you cruise 60 all day long.

 

[wreckerman893]

For what you are describing you don't want a full sized military wrecker that weighs 36K and has the turning radius of a battleship.

A M900 series bobber with a twin boom Holmes and a front winch would do what you want.

 

[quickfarms]

A friend has a 5 ton wrecker with a custom under lift that doubles as spades.

You can always add the straps to the 5 ton wrecker for towing civilian vehicles.

 

[bearboley]

NO NO NO. a 816 is HEAVY and will get stuck in a mud puddle, and it takes something BIG to get it out. Trust me.

 

[bearboley]

Military vehicles don't really go across rough terrain any better than their civy counter parts, its the design that makes a deuce go, and part of that design is the walking tandem in the rear and both axles driven. Plenty of civy trucks have walking beam suspensions and power dividers. Bobbing it kinda takes that away, along with the reduced ground pressure of having more tires on the ground. If you have your heart set on a military truck get a a3 with a working ctis. You need to air down to get across the sand. I would think a nice medium duty 4x4 with a/c and a travel speed of 75 and cup holders and all that comfy stuff would be great. Just get you more cable and stay on the hard road. If you want a dream scenario I would choose a 114.

 

[nk14zp]

Here is a bobbed 5t wrecker.

 

[F18hornetM]

Thats a neat looking bobbed 5 ton. Serious looking front bumper and boom. As far as beach recovery, here tow companys use F350-F550's for the most part. With single rear wheels. As far as the size truck it seems your typically pulling out. A M35A2 might be the best. With a few modifications and a civilian wrecker body, it would be heaveier than most pickups so pull better. But not so heavy as to sink fast especially with super singles on it. The no power steering can be changed but really doesnt steer that hard. The noise can be corrected with a muffler...or ear phones! Would be tough looking for sure. When you build it make sure you post pics.

 

[twrecks]

Gentelman thanks for all the insights. The military wrecker is out of the question definately for a host of reasons. I really was looking at building this out of an A3 until I heard they were very slow and more exspensive so I thought about bobbing a 5 ton 925 for this project. I like that the A2,3's are physically smaller but like that the 925's are already power steering, air, brake and hydraulic capable as well as alot of them come already on super singles saving the money of having to swap out, rims, tires, and hub flip time. Thanks again I look forward to hearing more. Diesel Bob, do you have any links to the A2 power steering setups and that overdrive gear??