New M1010 owner

[Canadacucv]

Hello everyone, I’ve been cruising this forum for about a month now trying to gather as much info as possible since buying my CUCV.

My initial concern is getting the truck to a reliable state, I’d like to start with the electrical system and get it to where it’s simple and replacement parts are readily available. I’d like to keep the 24 volt system. That being said I like the idea of the Plan B modification.

Currently it’s equipped with two 24v alternators both grounded to the engine, and what seems to be an external 24v regulator that is hooked up to both alternators and then what I believe to be a 24v to 12v converter.

do I need to replace the bottom alternator with a 24v alternator with isolated ground and internal regulator and then put a 12v alternator with internal regulator On top wired to the front battery?

I will attach some pictures to hopefully help make sense of it.

 

[m1010plowboy]

It's a new fella from frozenada. Welcome aboard and let's go abroad. That's your first post so eventually these guys will give you instructions to get to Arizona or California so you can get warmed up. Within a year of signing on to SS I was loaded with truck parts and headed to Yuma to hang with some fine people.

I'm not your electrical fella and worse I don't recognize anything in the pictures. My guess would be you're stuffed with aftermarket parts and someone made it work. If it was the original system we'd look at the Technical manuals, but something is shiny new with the gear you have. The manuals are cumbersome but the basic info is there if you need it. https://www.steelsoldiers.com/forums/cucv-tms.114/

Post up some more pics of the entire engine bay and others might recognize something. We want to see the entire truck too so more front/side/angle/under/over pics are always welcome. Once you're up and traveling we can get you to the dome in Alsask and grab pictures with friends.

 

[87cr250r]

Looks like your truck was done up by these guys for extreme temperature operation.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=127915&d=1464019316

Looks basic enough, I see nothing that would make it unreliable. Maybe get a spare voltage regulator if you can. Everything else is off the shelf.

Just be careful with big 12V loads. If you can, make sure all of your high draw equipment such as winches and compressors are 24V.

 

[Canadacucv]

Thank you both for your replies, so to make sure I understand, the red box is just the regulator for both alternators and the big black thing with all the cooling fins is basically just a big resistor and all the 12 volt loads run through it, is that correct?

I will post a few more pictures.

 

[87cr250r]

It's not a resistor, it's a DC to DC converter. Think of it like a transformer.

I recently converted my M1008 to serpentine belt using the accessory rack from a 2001 C3500. Your setup is what I wanted to do but was not able to piece together an alternator that could charge at 24V and fit the CS144/CS130 mounting. I was only going to use a single alternator but I had the same plan for supplying 12V with a power supply.

 

[87cr250r]

Also, you may want to call that phone number and get a replacement fuse for the 24V terminal.

 

[Canadacucv]

Also, you may want to call that phone number and get a replacement fuse for the 24V terminal.

yeah thanks, I tried to call that number to get some spare parts, the company has gone out of business. I also tried to get a spare transformer but of course that particular one isn’t made anymore, when they were in stock, were quite pricey.

 

[87cr250r]

The converter should be quite reliable. It's also a common enough item that you don't have to buy it from that manufacturer. Two manufacturers that come to mind immediately are NewMar and Victron. If you want to go cheap Chinese, Mean Well makes the power supplies for a host of companies.

 

[Mad Texan]

Welcome!

 

[Canadacucv]

Thanks everyone,

as far as reliability goes, other than electrical, what else are common areas? So far I plan on changing all the dried out belts, spin on fuel filter conversion, and obviously changing all the fluids, anything else common on these things?

oh and I will add gauges, mind blowing that they don’t have oil pressure or coolant temp gauges on these things.

I plan on putting quite a few miles on it, so have been researching nv4500 swaps to get some more speed out of it, and then if the 6.2 ever blows up will swap in a 12v Cummins in front of the nv4500

 

[Mad Texan]

Thanks everyone,

as far as reliability goes, other than electrical, what else are common areas? So far I plan on changing all the dried out belts, spin on fuel filter conversion, and obviously changing all the fluids, anything else common on these things?

oh and I will add gauges, mind blowing that they don’t have oil pressure or coolant temp gauges on these things.

I plan on putting quite a few miles on it, so have been researching nv4500 swaps to get some more speed out of it, and then if the 6.2 ever blows up will swap in a 12v Cummins in front of the nv4500

Rubber items! Belts, hoses, brake lines, motor mounts. Lots of choices for the fuel filter, there’s a thread about it.

Gauges give peace of mind to see what’s going on. Might include a tach also.

Overdrive is great for some more speed and reasonable rpm’s

 

[87cr250r]

The torsional vibration damper is also a rubber item that should be replaced periodically.

 

[Mad Texan]

The torsional vibration damper is also a rubber item that should be replaced periodically.

I forgot the harmonic balancer...