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Purchasing my first Deuce

Cataclysmx

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California
We did it again, answered the questions without asking the important ones, the most important of which are how much maintenance has the truck received in those ~30k miles and how long has it been sitting? Also as stated, definitely have the guy who has it take you for a ride in it. If he's unwilling, something big is up, no sane kaiser owner on the up and up will say, "No, it drives fine, take my word for it." The hub/wheel temp worry is usually reserved for trucks that aren't being driven much, but as previously stated, after you have the current owner take you for a toodle, touch the wheels (not tires, WHEELS) and feel for anything hot. Warm wheels after a run is fine, a wheel that makes you pull your hand away and think "ouch!" Is not fine! Oh and the shift pattern, idk what kind of manuals you're used to driving, but I guarantee the Kaiser pattern will throw you at first. Doesn't take too long to get used to. As far as giving yourself an out in the event of brake failure, what that means is if you're going down the road, everythings cool, all is happy, a signal light changes, you hit the brake and the pedal goes to the floor with no brake pressure being applied to the wheels. You are now in a 7 ton chunk of steel moving towards slowing traffic with little to no way of stopping. An "out" would be an uninhabited sidewalk, or a ditch, anywhere you could put the truck where you won't be a danger to others or yourself and get "out" of the bad situation. It is rare, but does happen. Complacency is always your enemy, but with these trucks, it is especially important to remain vigilant, you are on 42" tires, even with no winch and "stripped" as that one is, it's still almost 7 tons, a full size sedan would fit under the front bumper and not stop the truck. All that being said, hope it works out for you and everything goes smoothly.
And the brakes I forgot to mention they seem fine to me however when i was testing and braking hard I noticed it pull to the right a little. But they got me all the way home just fine!
 

US6x4

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...however when i was testing and braking hard I noticed it pull to the right a little.
Ah, yes, pulling to the right under hard braking is a clear indication that you now need to purchase a 5-ton. One MV is just not enough and once your deuce has a yard buddy it will start to brake straight again...
 

ToddJK

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Sparta, MI
I think most of the guys gave you good advice you should be able to have all your bases covered. I'll just add, be sure to check the TM section on this site and download all the TM's that have the M35-A2 designation. These are very helpful to learn more about your truck but also how to troubleshoot and repair it. Also, YouTube is a wonderful thing, Tactical Repair, that channel is a gold mine for deuce owners, he shows how to repair, tricks and tips, as well as give some good advice on many things. One thing you'll need to invest in are some big tools, I recommend a torque multiplier to make removing lug nuts easier vs using a 3/4" breaker bar and pipe unless that's what you prefer and remember the lug nuts need to be turned towards the rear of the truck to remove, yes, the driver side lugs are reverse or left hand threaded. It's easier to remember, just turn the nut towards the rear of the truck on either side and that's loosening them, opposite for tightening. Lastly, don't expect to go anywhere and get back home in a timely manner, these are slow and whenever you stop somewhere, there's always someone who wants to talk to you about the truck, best part are the vets, some share some spectacular stories, sometimes it's just some good laughs.
I'll also include a chart you can put on your phone, this will get you by with the basics from Napa and a couple other places .
 

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Cataclysmx

Member
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13
Location
California
Than
I think most of the guys gave you good advice you should be able to have all your bases covered. I'll just add, be sure to check the TM section on this site and download all the TM's that have the M35-A2 designation. These are very helpful to learn more about your truck but also how to troubleshoot and repair it. Also, YouTube is a wonderful thing, Tactical Repair, that channel is a gold mine for deuce owners, he shows how to repair, tricks and tips, as well as give some good advice on many things. One thing you'll need to invest in are some big tools, I recommend a torque multiplier to make removing lug nuts easier vs using a 3/4" breaker bar and pipe unless that's what you prefer and remember the lug nuts need to be turned towards the rear of the truck to remove, yes, the driver side lugs are reverse or left hand threaded. It's easier to remember, just turn the nut towards the rear of the truck on either side and that's loosening them, opposite for tightening. Lastly, don't expect to go anywhere and get back home in a timely manner, these are slow and whenever you stop somewhere, there's always someone who wants to talk to you about the truck, best part are the vets, some share some spectacular stories, sometimes it's just some good laughs.
I'll also include a chart you can put on your phone, this will get you by with the basics from Napa and a couple other places .
Thank you! Saved that chart and I’m planning on making a large order of tools and parts for the duece tomorrow so I have everything I need! The owner included about 10+ tms so I have a bunch of physical copies of everything which is cool. I just finished flushing the radiator for the second time and it’s finally clear of any rust so I’m going to top it off with some 50/50 coolant and call it a night
 

ToddJK

Well-known member
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4,518
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Location
Sparta, MI
Than

Thank you! Saved that chart and I’m planning on making a large order of tools and parts for the duece tomorrow so I have everything I need! The owner included about 10+ tms so I have a bunch of physical copies of everything which is cool. I just finished flushing the radiator for the second time and it’s finally clear of any rust so I’m going to top it off with some 50/50 coolant and call it a night
No problem, is the chart readable for you? If not, here's the link to the thread where I got it from. If you purchase oil filters through Napa, make sure you buy the gaskets too with the supplied part numbers, usually the ones supplied with the filters are wrong, but having extras if they do fit never hurts, otherwise I'd order them through Big Mike's military surplus, he's a good guy to deal with and he puts. The correct gaskets in with the filters.

As far as when braking and pulling to the right, look up minor brake adjustment on YouTube from the channel Tactical Repair, he shows how to do it and it's actually a regular part of maintenance for the brakes.
 
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biscuitwhistler37

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Location
Michigan
Glad it made it home fine. I agree, the pulling to the right issue is due to no 5 ton buddy, mine started pulling to the left because she wants a 10 ton wrecker buddy.... Picky picky girl. Now you've just gotta learn the quirks and keep her happy, and remember always, there isn't or won't be an issue with it that can't be sorted here and to post pics, we really really really like pics.
 

Cataclysmx

Member
12
33
13
Location
California
Glad it made it home fine. I agree, the pulling to the right issue is due to no 5 ton buddy, mine started pulling to the left because she wants a 10 ton wrecker buddy.... Picky picky girl. Now you've just gotta learn the quirks and keep her happy, and remember always, there isn't or won't be an issue with it that can't be sorted here and to post pics, we really really really like pics.
I will be sending lots more pictures like right now I have a question about the tail gate, what bolts should I use? It’s unattached right now.
 

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Mullaney

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I will be sending lots more pictures like right now I have a question about the tail gate, what bolts should I use? It’s unattached right now.
.
Here are some drawings from TM 9-2320-361-24P.
Part numbers are in the PDF below

1710358823385.png
 

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HDN

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Location
Finger Lakes Region, NY
At least it won’t fall off
For the longest time a grade 5 bolt held the door shut on the back of my dad's halftrack. It didn't even have a nut on it!

For the dropsides setup I second the pin/cotter pin setup. I like the copper pin idea!

EDIT: I just realized that this isn't a truck with dropsides. Either way it's nice to have the pin option to remove the tailgate if you wanted to.
 

montaillou

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Location
W.WA
Little late to the thread, but you've got it and that's really the most important thing. I flew 3 states away and drove mine, almost 1k miles, home in winter. I already had a set of tools for working around the house, but slowly have picked up bigger wrenches, etc. for the deuce. Not a fan of Harbor Freight, but they sell a pneumatic 3/4" 1k ft lbs of torque impact wrench that comes in handy if you ever plan on working on the wheels. If you do work on the hubs, there is a specialty tool which you'll absolutely need and unless you bought it in anticipation of your deuce purchase, you almost certainly don't own one. Even if you have a shop work on your hubs, they won't have it either, so it's good to have one that you can lend them.

Hope you live near a good hardware store. Every bolt I've had to remove was either bent or broke off and I've had to replace.

Everything on this truck vibrates - keep that in mind if you purchase aftermarket mods or non-military replacement parts.

At the very back of the manual you'll find the wiring diagram, it may not be in the table contents but that's where it's found. Manuals may be boring but many questions here lead back to them.

On the subject of questions, you'll find people on here who will help and some who try to help, some who are no help, and just a few who can be mean about it. It's a good idea to search before asking your question. The search function here doesn't work all too great, sometimes it's best to do a web search and include "steel soldiers" in the search box. Probably 75% of my questions get answered here, but there are other sources out there on the web so don't be shy about expanding your searches. I learned long ago it's better to ask a question and look like an idiot than venture forth ignorant.

Read the thread: Cost to own a deuce.
 
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