What model is this?

[BKubu]

I concur with you the direct tranny is better for multifuel work trucks.. I have 1967 and 1969 M51A2's with the direct-5th, and a couple others with OD... However, all of the multi's (and 673's) in my units during the 70's thru 90 had an OD-5th. .. I have to wonder if some of the post-1964 multifuels came with direct-5th from the builder, or did some of them lose their OD due to a MWO or Organizational Maint directive in the late-80's thru 90's? .. This question is not about former gasser-to-A2 conversions

I had a 1967 M543A2 that had the direct drive transmission. I don't know anything about its history other than I bought it from the State of Delaware and it came to me like that.

 

[eric67camino]

It seems like I've read that, while most gasser to multi-fuel converted trucks got the overdrive, they kept the direct drive trans in the dumps on purpose.

Could also be a case of using whatever transmission was available (be it in inventory or from parted out trucks that were deadlined) to keep the trucks going.

That said, my 1952 M51A2 has the direct drive trans.

 

[msgjd]

It seems like I've read that, while most gasser to multi-fuel converted trucks got the overdrive, they kept the direct drive trans in the dumps on purpose.

Could also be a case of using whatever transmission was available (be it in inventory or from parted out trucks that were deadlined) to keep the trucks going.

That said, my 1952 M51A2 has the direct drive trans.

My '53 M62 kept its direct-5th when it was converted to multifuel as well, and a good thing because all that weight doesn't agree much with the LDS under the hood.. One of my last units (armor) kept its two M62's as gassers on purpose, right up to the day they got replaced by M936's. The shop guys kept the old gasser 5-tons set up just right with the better replacement carb and tweaked governors., they rolled pretty good after the driveline got all warmed up

So far I have come across about seven factory M51A2's with direct 5th.. All were built new between 1967 and 1973, and depot rebuilt between 1989 to mid-90's, which I presume is when their OD's got pulled out, that's if all the non-gassers came from the factory with the OD 5th in the first place, which is the mystery. Each of them came from different units situated in the northeast, and a few have the de-rated LDS with deuce pistons which adds insult to injury. Perhaps there is no sense to my trying to make sense of it .. Makes me appreciate my tweaked M51 gasser and the M817. It reminds me of the days we would race to the trucks, 1st ones there got the Cummins' , then the Mack's and gassers. Ha ha to the ones stuck with the multifuel 5-tons. However the opposite was true when it came to drawing Deuces, of course

 

[Recovry4x4]

When I can I'll go back through the 34P TM and pull the info. I seen to recall that only A1 trucks got the 6453. My 67 M51A2 has a 6352 in it.

 

[m1010plowboy]

That is a beautiful truck. The stance, the lines, the box floor, the rack, the hat, just everything.....beautiful. I'd even stay in the same room if it had to make a dump.

MV beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

 

[msgjd]

When I can I'll go back through the 34P TM and pull the info. I seen to recall that only A1 trucks got the 6453. My 67 M51A2 has a 6352 in it.

that would be great, but all six of the M54A2C's in my old armor BN had the OD 6453. All of those had LDS power, except for two re-motored with mack 673's on purpose but kept their A2 tags.. We did have a pair of downspout M52A1's, yes with the 6453. None of the units M54A2C's were former gassers although they did still have two gas M54's and four M52's still in the mix into the late 80's.. Their gassers were the only trucks in the BN motor pool with the direct-5th 6352. By the end of 1989 the last of their gassers went via the DRMO as had the others .. My youngest son and I visited Moore's in Keeseville in 2006 and surprised to find some of my long-time friends rusting away there .. A few of the gassers, the A1's were there as well as a couple of the M54A2C's, all retaining their unit markings. It was good to take photos of him with some of the same exact trucks I had operated , and photos of him with a few M123C's from a unit he would eventually serve in a few years later

 

[BKubu]

that would be great, but all six of the M54A2C's in my old armor BN had the OD 6453. All of those had LDS power, except for two re-motored with mack 673's on purpose but kept their A2 tags.. We did have a pair of downspout M52A1's, yes with the 6453. None of the units M54A2C's were former gassers although they did still have two gas M54's and four M52's still in the mix into the late 80's.. Their gassers were the only trucks in the BN motor pool with the direct-5th 6352. By the end of 1989 the last of their gassers went via the DRMO as had the others .. My youngest son and I visited Moore's in Keeseville in 2006 and surprised to find some of my long-time friends rusting away there .. A few of the gassers, the A1's were there as well as a couple of the M54A2C's, all retaining their unit markings. It was good to take photos of him with some of the same exact trucks I had operated , and photos of him with a few M123C's from a unit he would eventually serve in a few years later

I would love to see some pics of your trucks in service and also in the scrap yard. Thank you for your service.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Here is the info I recall seeing. UOC codes are as follows. A; all trucks, AA; 6602 gas, AB; LDS engine, AC; ENDT engine.

So, with that said and according to the parts TM, gassers and multifuels were supposed to have 6352 trans and ENDT trucks the 6453. Thankfully, there are plenty of 6453 trans out there thanks to the M809 series. Who knows what was installed at unit level or maybe higher.

 

[msgjd]

I would love to see some pics of your trucks in service and also in the scrap yard. Thank you for your service.

no need to thank me, but thank you .. it will take some time to dig those out, they are real pics on Kodak paper somewhere in a box in storage .. been meaning to go through them for awhile now and post them and many older ones starting in the 70's, including GMC M211's, M215's, M220's, etc lined up in rows at a base DRMO waiting for disposal

 

[msgjd]

So, with that said and according to the parts TM, gassers and multifuels were supposed to have 6352 trans and ENDT trucks the 6453. Thankfully, there are plenty of 6453 trans out there thanks to the M809 series. Who knows what was installed at unit level or maybe higher.

That sure puts it straight,,, at least as to what the trucks are supposed to have according to "the book" unless "the book" has a misprint about the subject, or the book's intention was to replace 6453 trannies in multifuels with the 6352 upon rebuild or failure. But still, thank you for providing this tidbit for us all here

I'm still not convinced my armor BN had oddballs.. All of their diesel and multifuel trucks had OD trannies for the 13 years I was with them and nobody said anything different about it. Everyone I knew at BN Maint is no longer with us to ask what they did to those trucks prior to my arrival in the unit.

IAW TM9-2320-211-10 with 1977 issue date which the unit was still using at the time I was there, it states the top speed/rpm of diesel (mack A1) models is 50mph@2100, and the multifuel A2 models is 56mph@2600 .. Also in same manual, on page 2-52, the illustration shows tach redline at 2600 and shift pattern of the 6453 OD 5th tranny... Is there anyone reading this who's 5-ton multifuel with a direct-5th tranny can do 56mph? (not flying off a cliff with a tail wind) .. The A2's which I own with direct-5th barely make 51mph on USGI 1100x20 NDT's , and their shift tags indicate top speed at 50mph in 5th direct.

With conflicting info in the Dash-34 book and Dash-10 op manual, and what I experienced for 13 years in the armor line-haul section, plus conflicting examples of it in my own yard, I resign myself to give up on the question. The question was not intended to hijack Sandbar's thread, but it sure has taken off and should be a thread all its own. Thank you all.

Sandbar has a nice old International , welcome to the Corn Binder club, Sandbar ! I hope you can get your SF97 straightened out to indicate the correct builder and year