"Rescued" M816 Wrecker

[red]

Went on a drive down to Phoenix az to meet up with Castle Bravo and pick up some parts for the wrecker and trailer.

First part being some replacement 3/4" cable for the rear winch. Used his 916 to pick it up.




Then lots of storage boxes, a pair of dog bones, and an air ride seat

 

[M35A2-AZ]

It was good to meet you and good luck with your truck.

 

[red]

Good to meet you as well!

Here's a few pics of the storage box ideas. Will have to remove the steps from the 2 boxes that will go between the bumper and fenders. With the boxes rolled over to open from the top the vise will have to move as well. Probably place it somewhere on the bed.



The bumper boxes will be for the snatch blocks, figure 2 doubles in one and a double with 2 singles in the other. Couple hundred pounds extra up front should help distribute the weight better, especially during a lift tow.

The fender box will be used for either lumber or to store the cargo cover when not in use. Don't want to put too much weight up there.

 

[red]

Bumper box #1 is mounted and loaded. Might have been able to squeeze another single block in there but thinking they would get wedged in there while driving around. Stood on the box and jumped around, seems to be pretty solid. Between the box and cargo it's about 300 lbs.

 

[Another Ahab]

It seems like you're always keeping your wrecker busy with missions, Mr. red:

- You been on any rescues lately?

 

[red]

It seems like you're always keeping your wrecker busy with missions, Mr. red:

- You been on any rescues lately?

Currently out of state so the truck is getting a break for now. Looks like I'll be moving up to Washington state at the end of the month so truck will have a long road trip coming up

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[truck1]

Fun thread to follow. Great can do attitude. Thanks!!

 

[Another Ahab]

Fun thread to follow. Great can do attitude. Thanks!!

It might be hard to say where that "Can Do" comes from:

- I'm sure that Mr. red has it in him, absolutely.

-But I think also that you get yourself a Wrecker and you realize then-and-there that there is nothing you CAN'T do with the beast!!

Happiness is a kick-a** Wrecker coaled-up at idle, standing-by for full and immediate action.

 

[red]

Haha most of that "can do" is because I like to modify stuff, and the wrecker really is incredibly versatile. It can't pull a 5th wheel or have a camper on the bed, but I have 2 ideas rolling through my head on ways to fix that and make the truck more capable

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[truck1]

I want one ! But have no place to park it. I've restored a '44 GPW, and a 1028 CUCV. Also own a Dodge 5.9 Cumins, so I'm familiar with diesels, but they are miniature in size compared to the Wreckers. Need to get out of CA. Need more elbow room.

 

[red]

Depending on the model the wrecker is either built on the standard length chassis or the long chassis 5 ton. The 816 is on the standard length, and the bed is a little bit shorter than the 14ft 5 ton cargo bed.

Finished mounting the second bumper box today and loaded it up. Next is to cut the steps off the boxes and make some kind of step to climb up onto the front bumper/fenders. Vice and it's mounting plate came off without much complaint. Will find a new place to mount it somewhere on the bed.



Placed 2 double snatch blocks in this box, just about a perfect fit for the pair and still removable. With these opening upwards the crane can be used to remove/return the blocks




Figure the vice and mount weigh in at 100 ish pounds and each box with snatch blocks are right around 300 pounds, so that's roughly 500 pounds of equipment moved to the front of the truck. Makes for a bit of a counterweight to help when lift towing other vehicles.

 

[red]

Cut the steps off the front boxes today, will post up pics later. The extra weight up front doesn't seem to have affected the steering, only takes 1 finger to turn from lock to lock sitting still on the pavement.

Also took the truck for its first drive since the EGT gauge has been wired in. The probe is mounted in the exhaust manifold, just above the flange that bolts to the muffler. 1300F is not hard to reach, and on the hills near the house it can creep up to 1400F. Will be installing a turbo sometime next spring/summer to get the temps down.

Truck drives smoother as well. When I buried the truck 2 of the valve stems were ripped off, so had to disassemble those wheels and got rid of their CTIS wheel parts. Poured 1/2 a gallon of antifreeze into those wheels to serve as a liquid balancing media. Can't use the equal powder, airsoft BB's, or anything solid since there is a layer of the tar inside the tires left over from the run flats, but the antifreeze doesn't mix or get stuck with the tar so it's able to move/balance the tire at speed.

 

[wcuhillbilly]

Looking good, wow get those temps down. My turbo cooled it off to about 700-800 running, 900-1000 hard pulling, next you'll be wanting Jake's

 

[red]

Will be keeping an eye out for a donor turbo to install.

Jakes and a transmission with better ratios would be nice, thinking of swapping in a CAT 7155 when this stock trans goes (and I have the money).

With the temps I'm wondering if my gauge is not reading correctly. The exhaust is not smoking like a freight train, light haze of black smoke when under heavier load but not much. Clean when cruising.

 

[red]

Got around to cutting the steps off the front boxes and mounted the box onto the passenger fender. Eventually will pick up some hinges so one of the steps can be mounted to the mounting brackets on one of the bumper boxes.




Even with the extra boxes, I'm still running out of cargo room between my tools/equipment. Problem with having been a mechanic right? So thinking of swapping the passenger side fuel tank out with the large storage box from the 5 ton cargo trucks (tan box in the pic). Will be tight, but should be able to have both the large box and the tractor box in that location.

 

[Another Ahab]

With those front boxes, that thing looks totally "loaded-for-bear"; nice, Mr. red.

 

[red]

Rides pretty well with those front boxes loaded and 2 tires on the middle axle balanced. Truck cruises very well at about 55mph. EGT gauge seems to be correct so I have to keep my foot out of it on the longer hills.

No work to the truck today but plenty of use. Started off with about an hour drive to go help Greg out with the front seal on his truck. Crane was required to pick up the engine a little bit for some clearance.



After that took the wrecker and wrecker minion 1.0 over to Valence's place to load the donor/scrap trailer into his m105.



Then loaded the last of the heavy remains from the deuce onto wrecker minion 1.0

 

[raeme]

Cool. I was happy mine ended up in the muesium.
raeme.

 

[red]

Nice, good that a wrecker made it to be preserved. This one won't be a museum quality build, maintained and upgraded for my uses so it will be taken care of but not original.

Finally got around to installing a commercial air ride seat that I picked up awhile ago. Air ride will be more smooth during the drive, even though the wrecker is pretty smooth because of its weight all comfort improvements are a good idea. Provides more leg room than the MRAP jump seat did and doesn't touch the back wall of the hardtop either. Moved the MRAP seat to the passenger side. There is an air valve behind the dash on the driver side that the seat will be plumbed into.





Next on the list is installing the heater that was on the M51a2 I'm parting out. Will set it up to recirculate the air in the cab, hopefully make it more effective that way. For plumbing I'll probably pull from the coolant rail that runs along the top of the motor (supply) and return it to the filter.




A second alt (12v) and onboard welder are soon to follow. Been awhile since I've had a welder and it sucks haha.

 

[Valence]

That seat will certainly sit you up straighter, but I think it looks way more comfortable than the MRAP jump seat. Especially for getting legs under the steering wheel

Hopefully that blower fan still works. Does that style of heater have its own "radiator" like a the deuce? If so, I wonder if it's worth getting tested for leaks first.