New to the forum and a new deuce and a half

[WvGibson]

OK, first apology if I posted this wrong, I'm new. I bought a new deuce and have been putting it back together (came with parts just not on the truck).

It is a 1972 w/w m35a2 multi fuel with the D turbo. Military rebuild was 1989. In 2011 all the rubber seals, brake, fuel, and air lines were replaced. The truck had when i bought it, 5,669 miles and 326 hours. Every thing functions and runs well. It still has the fdc in use. I added a dynomaxss muffler from napa and a plastic battery box because the box wouldn't slide out. Then put 250 miles on it. Still runs great.

Here are the minor problems/questions.

1. Horn dose not work. I checked the button its good and good ground there at steering column, but no ground at solenoid. I do have a contentious hot at the solenoid. I jumped a ground to the solenoid and still no horn. I suspect a bad solenoid and a broken wire in the steering column. Where can I get a solenoid?

2. Where can I get a 24v headlight? The low beam on one side is burnt out.

3. Is it normal to have weak breaks? The air pack and master cylinder seems good. It will slide the rear tandems, but the petal has to be almost on the floor. Any suggestions? or is that normal.

Thanks

 

[kwest]

Welcome WvGibson Sounds like you have a really nice Truxk I have a M109 A3 and love it... M35 series trucks are known for weak or non- working breaks. First bleed the brakes. No I take that back. First read the TM's on this site and go thru them real good.. research all topics on brakes then find out how the brake pedal will tell you what you need to check. I just finnished the brakes on my M105A3 trailer and this site was very valueable. I am not sure If your brakes are air over Hyd. the M35A3's are yours may be just Hyd. Look on E-bay for lights and the venders that advertise on here for parts
Again welcome from Arizona and good luck

 

[dmetalmiki]

1)Put a hot cable diect to the horn (not the - side) or put a + and _ to the horn direct. and see if it sounds. then go from there.
2)Any headlight "glass" works. I use standard old voltswagon units with 90/100 watt (24v volt) bulbs.
3)no. if everything is adjusted up correctly the brakes (not breaks) should work fine and the brake travell should be as in the tms. no more than 2"
your truck sounds like a nice acquisition.

 

[sandcobra164]

1. You've indicated that your using a multimeter and that you also tried to ground the solenoid itself. That's a great start and it's refreshing to hear a new member on here post that they've already checked that far before asking a question. This may sound like a dumb question but when you did your troubleshooting, did you make sure the truck had air in the tanks. Mine leaks down in about 3 hours sitting time. There are a few sources for solenoids. People list them on e-bay or you can do a quick search and you'll find people that sell parts for your truck.

2. Same source as first question.

3. The brakes can seem very weak on these trucks if the air pack is not moving like it should. When I first bought mine, the air pack was only moving a little and it was scary to drive. I could lock the brakes with a very hard push on the pedal. I read up on "oiling the airpack" and learned there is a plug on the back of the air pack that you can remove to oil it. As my luck would have it, the plug was stuck but you can remove the "J" pipe and oil it that way. Since mine was stuck, I used PB Blast and it helped a lot. A quick way to check is to start truck, build air, shut off and press and release brake pedal. You should hear the air pack "Vent" when you release the pedal. Mine was not making that sound before I oiled it. Lastly, I should have mentioned there are two different style airpacks. The long style seems to be more prevalent on older trucks, I put a short one on mine but the brakes feel the same. Also, I just noticed that yours lock when almost on the floor. You may want to do an adjustment on your brakes. It's easiest if you remove the axle shafts. I can do it in about 20 minutes per axle.

Lastly, Welcome to the site, there is a wealth of information to be had here.

 

[XchaosX]

The brakes I would try bleeding with a power bleeder. Do a search and there are a few threads on here on how to build one. From there I would check for leaks. It's easy enough to get rebuild kits for the master cylinder and air pack if needed. Next I would inspect the axles, check the brake adjustment and replace wheel cylinders as needed.

 

[VPed]

As for the horn, there is a Packard connector near the steering gear box. It is on the wire from the horn button to the solenoid. Maybe there is a loose or defective point there. Erik's lists the solenoid on their website.

 

[AceHigh]

Welcome from the bottom of the Mountain State!

 

[WvGibson]

Thanks guys, sorry about the grammar and lack of details in my troubleshooting.

First, the brakes. It is air over hydraulic. The air pack is activating and releasing fine I think. When pumping the pedal you can hear the air release and the intensity of the "pshhh" increases the harder you push the pedal. It looks to function correctly too when I have a buddy working the pedal. The pedal has about 2 inches of free travel, but for the next approximately 4 inch of travel the brakes grab you feel the truck slow down (slowly). They feel "spongy" and ill come back to this. In about 2 inches from the floor the brakes really start to work well and about an inch from the floor the 8 back tires will skid. I can not physically push the pedal down to touch the floor. They work, I just want to make it better. Back to the "spongy" brakes. I assumed air in the hydraulic lines. I bled the brakes (a buddy pumps the brakes as I open and close the wheel cylinder bleeder) as i don't have a power bleeder. It helped a little, but not enough. I quit because I didn't have more dot 5 brake fluid. Ill have to find a place that sells that. P.S Last year all new brake shoes and wheel cylinders were replaced. 3 years ago the brake lines were redone.

Second, I jumped a ground to the horn solenoid and no cigar. The continuous positive wire works so I didn't jump that wire and there was air in the tanks. No click or hiss of air just nothing. I pulled the connector apart at the base of the steering column and no ground there. When I took the horn button out, it functioned and the column was grounded. I even tried using a screw driver to jump the button. So I think I have two problems. The solenoid and the wire in the steering column. The new question is how to take that wire out?

Thanks.

 

[WvGibson]

I was using a multi-meter, but for simplicity I used a light probe.

By the way I can not find any leaks in the brakes.

 

[XchaosX]

You've still have air in the in the lines, they just need a good bleeding. A power bleeder will make it a lot easier but with a buddy helping you can still do it, just more work. You can find DOT 5 at nappa and I've found small bottles at AA.

 

[WvGibson]

Thanks, I'll start there again.

The only other issue is the front tires are wearing or cupping towards the outside of the tire. I have read that this is normal for the deuce. Short wheel base between the front axle and first rear axle, steering and hard top driving. It has the ndcc tires and they are fairly new. I haven't tried an alignment, curious if anyone experience this. It does drive fine, nothing noticeable in the steering.

 

[sandcobra164]

If you've adjusted and bled brakes and you still have too much pedal travel, you may want to adjust the linkage between the brake pedal and the master cylinder. I learned this when putting a new master cylinder on a friends truck. Somehow mine went on without adjustment but you never know the history of these trucks.

As for the cupping of the tires, that is basically a toe in or out condition that can be corrected by adjusting the crossover link between the front tires. If you have access to some string and a tape measure, I can teach you how to fix that as well. I read it on here as well.

 

[WvGibson]

That sounds great. I'll have to look at that adjustment soon, I'm going to wait till I can get some dot 5 and bleed the brakes one last time with a power bleeder. The master cylinder was a little low when got the truck, so it may have a small leak, that takes 3 years to reach the current level even though I can't find it. I'll adjust the pedal then too. It may just be a combination of everything at once.

On the toe in or out... Are you talking about the steering link bar between the wheels? I ask because I haven't checked that, I did notice if you step back from the front of truck about 10 feet. It looks like the tires are tucked in at the bottom compared to the top. If that makes sense? As a camber issue? Either your method of checking toe in or out I'd like to hear. Thank you guys.

 

[sandcobra164]

I am talking about the steering link bar between the tires. However, if you think the tires are tucked in from the bottom to the top, that would mean that it's time to get some new kingpin bushings for your steering knuckles. It's not a bad job to replace those. The top ones can be a pain to break loose if they've been together for any amount of time but patience and a big hammer can get you there. I would check to see if you need to go that route by jacking up the front end and see if you can grab the tire by the 6 and 12 a clock and move it in and out. No movement and your kingpin bushings are probably ok. Now grab it by the 3 and 9 a clock and if you have movement there, you have balljoint issues on either your drag link (only causes loose steering) or your steering link bushings (could cause cupping). If all of that it tight, your issue is alignment of the steering link between the two front tires.

 

[WvGibson]

Brakes are fixed!!! I think Woo-hoo.

So there was air in the line between the master cylinder and the air pack, while bleeding the air pack I noticed several problems with the master cylinder. First the breather line on the cap is completely missing, have new line, just need to run it and where too!? Then I noticed the bracket attached to the master cylinder for the pto lever was very loose, tightened that. Then noticed a small wet spot around a bolt on the mc so I tightened it too thinking it may have leaked all of my brake fluid out of my mc. After words it took a 12oz bottle of dot 5 to fill it up. So now with no air and just pushing the pedal down it only can go half way. (Ferm brakes). I can hear the brakes in the wheels tighten as I push on the petal. Now just have to wait and test drive and see if my fluid level leaks down.

 

[sandcobra164]

Fluid around your master cylinder could be a leaking transmission output seal. Mine does just enough to ensure my master cylinder and air pack will never rust on that side but no so much that I have to top it off between oil changes. My master also was missing the line and only has one of those breather caps on it. I will remedy that soon but that is how it came. I'm going to vent my axles, trans, t-case and brake master to the aircleaner case. I figure if I get water in there, the rest of the truck is sunk.