New SS M818 made it home!!

[steelsoldiers]

Hey all,
Here's some pics and details from today's 818 recovery. My brother, Chad, and I left my house at 0530 and headed for BigWheelBob Stevens' place near Jacksonville, NC. BWB towed my 818 from Lejeune to his place for staroage until I could get down there to bring it home. We got there just after 0900 and got busy checking fluids, bleeding brakes, greasing every fitting, etc... One challenge was getting a firm pedal. The MC was empty and the lined were full of air. We went through 2 pint bottles and almost a quart bottle of DOT 5 getting the brakes bled out, but dang, they will flat stop that thing now!!

Finally, we were ready for a jump from BWB's bob deuce. After a minute or so of charging, the NHC-250 lit right up. It sounded great, but.... a few little test drives around the yard revealed we had a sticking sprag! The dang thing was stuck in reverse. When shifting from 1 to R, you could hear a little hiss, but no thunk, so I guess the valve on the tranny or the actuator in the t-case is sludged up. I jacked the left front wheel off the ground and confirmed that the R sprag was engaged all the time. We backed the truck over to BWB's shop and dropped the front prop shaft with the impact wrench. I'll dive into the sprag issue at a later date.

After that, the drive home was perfect, well... aside from the dang PS fluid spraying out of the vent and down the side of the truck. I got a little over-zealous when filling the reservoir I guess. It runs fantastic. I was holding 60-65 MPH for most of the trip with no issues. I love that big Cummins! Enjoy the pics and stay tuned for the resto!

A BIG thanks goes out to my brother and BigWheelBob Stevens for all their help in getting this big tractor home!

 

[AMGeneral]

Good save Chris,you'll really love that 250,they really do have a lot of bottom end grunt.

 

[M1075]

You didn't stay out of the game long!

I think the M818 is one of the best looking MVs ever!

 

[steelsoldiers]

Thanks guys! I love that darn thing already. I may go sleep in the cab tonight. It feels really "sporty" for a 20,000 lb vehicle

Here's a vid from when we got it running today:
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?module=pagesetter&type=file&func=get&tid=4&fid=file&pid=179

 

[DavidB]

Great find ,now where is the trailer.
DavidB

 

[NC_Pinz]

Nice rig. Glad you got it home alright.

 

[alphadeltaromeo]

Nice lookin' tractor Chris...congrats on the new purchase!

 

[jasonjc]

I think it's a MV LAW that you MUST have a trailer for a tractor.
Next time you can come use my lube trailer to grease your truck ,it has two grease hose/guns(I hope there are there)

Nice truck.

 

[Recovry4x4]

You need 2 things Chris. One is the super duper power bleeder with a gallon of BFS. Second thing you need is the M447C semi trailer in my yard. I'll try to have it ready for you when you come to the FL rally.

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

Chris:
That is fantastic! I am glad someone like you got one of those Marine base M 818's. We want to see the little guy in a car seat with earplug riding shotgun soon. Look around for an M 127 they are great trailers and I got mine for $400.00. You will love towing it around.

 

[steelsoldiers]

Yeah, that 447C is sweet Kenny. Thanks for calling me back today What a road trip!

 

[steelsoldiers]

Re: RE: New SS M818 made it home!!

Chris:
That is fantastic! I am glad someone like you got one of those Marine base M 818's. We want to see the little guy in a car seat with earplug riding shotgun soon. Look around for an M 127 they are great trailers and I got mine for $400.00. You will love towing it around.

Thanks David. I can just see him bouncing around in the spring seat as we go merrily down the highway The 127 would be handy too.

 

[Recovry4x4]

No wonder I could hear you on the horn, that thing has the boots and at least some of the insulation left from the arctic kit.

 

[steelsoldiers]

Ha! I wondered about that. It still has quite a bit left in the cab. The shift boots are a nice touch I was looking at the tabs around the hood and grill at the truck stop for the hood blanket, but it never sank in that it was for the arctic kit!

 

[papercu]

M818

they will flat stop that thing now!!

Congat on the new truck. But I would like to point out (for the other folks) that there is NO different in stopping power between DOT-5 (BFS) and DOT-3 in normal vehicles and conditions.
As per the Army PS 586
"BFS is more stable at high temperatures and won't absorb water".
Back when the change was made (before 1982) the water in trucks that saw very little use, was the main reason for the change.

 

[steelsoldiers]

RE: M818

I hear ya Wayne. I used DOT 5 because that is the OE fluid and I didn't have time to do a full-system flush. I have used it in all of my MV's (except the 923A2 of course) and have had good luck with it. If it was a truck that I was going to drive all the time, it would be more economical to make the change to DOT 3 when you look at the cost of fluid changes.

These 818 brakes are something else though! They will throw you through the windshield. I haven't even adjusted the shoes yet! That'll be nice when there is a trailer attached.

 

[papercu]

M818

I've been told that in civilian OTR non fleet trucks, where drivers may own the truck but the trailers belong to someone else, to save wear and tear (and money) on their truck's brakes they will use the trailer brakes for slowing and stopping.
Is that something that is taught in CDL driving school and/or military training schools or just OJT?
Did the Jake brake make a difference for slowing the truck that way?
Does the M818 or the newer military trucks have Jake brakes?
There is a new system out called Atlas AJSS anybody have info on it? I think Cranetruck built and installed a Jake brake on his truck, is it still working well?
TIA, Wayne

 

[Oldvw2]

RE: M818

Good trip yesterday! This is a clean M818 that has been well maintained. We had a nice ride home too heading up US17 through New Bern, Washington, and other small NC towns - and we couldn't have asked for better traveling weather either. I got to follow Steelsoldiers home in his pickup and enjoy hearing and smelling the Cummins at work Here's a "dash cam" shot from the cab of the Ford:

 

[Oldvw2]

RE: M818

Does the M818 or the newer military trucks have Jake brakes?

Hey Wayne,
Steelsoldiers can comment further but this M818 doesn't have a Jake on it. It does have a "johnson bar" on the steering column for manual trailer brake control. I have always heard that this can be a real help in certain situations - kinda like manually applying electric trailer brakes to stop sway...

As far as just using trailer brakes, I am not sure about the OTR guys but I do know that at the plant I work at we always use the trailer and truck brakes even while jockeying trucks around the yard. This may be because we handle mostly tankers and plenty of brakes helps with the "slosh factor".
FWIW...

 

[DDoyle]

RE: M818

A Jake Brake was invented by Clessie Cummins - that name my sound familiar to folks on this list - in 1957. The Cummins engine company, which he no longer owned, was not interested. A family friend, and relation through marriage, was owner of the Jacob's Manufacturing Company, who made industrial drill chucks. Thus, a new venture was formed.

The Jake brake works by changing the valve timing of the engine while the truck is in motion. The exhaust valve is opened near the top of the compression stroke, and is then closed before the piston begins its downward motion. Thus the piston is having to draw a vacuum against the closed valves. (similar to an older gas engine's braking by drawing a vacuum against the closed throttle plates of a carb.)

What Bjorn has done is fabricated an exhaust brake - a very different method of speed retardation. A restriction is placed in the exhaust, forcing the engine to work as an air compressor (whereas the Jake Brake makes it work as a vacuum pump). While a considerable degree of talent and engineering expertise are required by Bjorn's method, compared to a Jake Brake, it is relatively simple.

Independent trailer brakes aid in uncoupling a loaded trailer from the tractor - you can hold the trailer in place and pull the tractor out from under it - without this the friction between the trailer and the fifth wheel would tend to make the trailer go with you. As you have noted, they can also be applied by the hand valve, negating the need to step on the brake peddle.

Regardless, looks like some of these guys above didn't use their brake systems (of any type) properly or in time!

Hope this helps,
David Doyle