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As some of you might know I bought an XM211 with a M108 wrecker body on it from
an add in craigslist for $1000. It was supposed to have been free, but the person who put the add in craigslist didn't actually own the truck.
The truck has been sitting in a fenced in area behind a warehouse out by the tracks in
Oakland CA. Needless to say, it is not your neighborhood yupy back yard.
The truck had been gone through and the instrument panel, etc. had been ripped off.
As for the wiring, you touched it and all you got was some dust for insulation.
The previous owner had bought it from someone who had made the mods to adapt the M108 wrecker body, and boy were they some mods. They replaced the hydromatic with a manual transmission so that they could get a readily available pto to drive the hydraulic pump.
This also meant putting in a clutch pedal. This was done by putting in a master slave hydraulic system right where you would put the driver side battery.
The list goes on, but the hard part was doing this under time preasure, since the owner of the building just wanted the thing out of there, so I was constantly being threatened with the
idea that they would just have it hauled off and scrapped. Yes, I could then sue, etc. but then he could sue for back rent etc. and the lawyers would go to lunch. So I kept at it and begged alot. I also had help from another list member, Paul, who put in quite a few weekends
crawling under and doing the dirty work, for which I am etremely gratefull.
Finally I got the beast running, but when I tried to move it, it wouldn't budge. Jacked up each wheel and attempted to turn manually. One wheel wouldn't budge, so I broke down and replaced the wheel cylinders. Did I mention that I had previously replaced the master cylinder before I discovered this problem. So now I figure I have this licked. Started the engine up
and...you guessed it, it wouldn't budge. Opened up the drain valves on the air tanks and low
and behold, it now moves. I then tried to remove the air pack, but had to back out since
I couldn't get any of my wrenches to fit in the confined space to release the air line fittings.
And you guessed it, I now had run out of time.
So, with no air assist, I managed to drive it out from where it had been for ten years.
I had rewired the truck with a modified M54 wiring harness and fixed/replaced the lights,
so that part was done. I also had managed to fit a winterized soft top that had been on my M54 to fit sortof. And I had mounted a M998 seat to replace the old rotted out one.
Then my buddy Tim came over and he drove it half way to his house....I say half way, because, other than the little fiasco of misjudging the fuel capacity and having to do a refuel on the side of the freeway, the truck starting producing large volumes of smoke. I was following in my CUCV. He managed to pull off the freeway and onto a street where he could park.
The last 300 feet or so I could not even see the truck in front of me.
I pulled up behind him and ran over. He had just raised the hood when there was a bang
as the top radiator hose gave way. I had all but given up, but upon further investigation
we discovered that it was a failed water pump that had caused the disaster. Luckily, I had
decided to mount a NATO cable socket on the side, sine there was a place there for it.
The M139's had them. We hooked it up to my CUCV and were able to turn the engine over periodically as it cooled down. When it got cool enough it actually attempted to run for
a bit but we shut it off right away.
There is a bit more to this story, but it will have to be told in person......
Hopefully things will be all patched up and running in a few days, provided that it is not vandalized. But it is in a much better neighborhood and I do have a temporarry registration
so it is legal where it is.
Wish me luck.
Bruce
an add in craigslist for $1000. It was supposed to have been free, but the person who put the add in craigslist didn't actually own the truck.
The truck has been sitting in a fenced in area behind a warehouse out by the tracks in
Oakland CA. Needless to say, it is not your neighborhood yupy back yard.
The truck had been gone through and the instrument panel, etc. had been ripped off.
As for the wiring, you touched it and all you got was some dust for insulation.
The previous owner had bought it from someone who had made the mods to adapt the M108 wrecker body, and boy were they some mods. They replaced the hydromatic with a manual transmission so that they could get a readily available pto to drive the hydraulic pump.
This also meant putting in a clutch pedal. This was done by putting in a master slave hydraulic system right where you would put the driver side battery.
The list goes on, but the hard part was doing this under time preasure, since the owner of the building just wanted the thing out of there, so I was constantly being threatened with the
idea that they would just have it hauled off and scrapped. Yes, I could then sue, etc. but then he could sue for back rent etc. and the lawyers would go to lunch. So I kept at it and begged alot. I also had help from another list member, Paul, who put in quite a few weekends
crawling under and doing the dirty work, for which I am etremely gratefull.
Finally I got the beast running, but when I tried to move it, it wouldn't budge. Jacked up each wheel and attempted to turn manually. One wheel wouldn't budge, so I broke down and replaced the wheel cylinders. Did I mention that I had previously replaced the master cylinder before I discovered this problem. So now I figure I have this licked. Started the engine up
and...you guessed it, it wouldn't budge. Opened up the drain valves on the air tanks and low
and behold, it now moves. I then tried to remove the air pack, but had to back out since
I couldn't get any of my wrenches to fit in the confined space to release the air line fittings.
And you guessed it, I now had run out of time.
So, with no air assist, I managed to drive it out from where it had been for ten years.
I had rewired the truck with a modified M54 wiring harness and fixed/replaced the lights,
so that part was done. I also had managed to fit a winterized soft top that had been on my M54 to fit sortof. And I had mounted a M998 seat to replace the old rotted out one.
Then my buddy Tim came over and he drove it half way to his house....I say half way, because, other than the little fiasco of misjudging the fuel capacity and having to do a refuel on the side of the freeway, the truck starting producing large volumes of smoke. I was following in my CUCV. He managed to pull off the freeway and onto a street where he could park.
The last 300 feet or so I could not even see the truck in front of me.
I pulled up behind him and ran over. He had just raised the hood when there was a bang
as the top radiator hose gave way. I had all but given up, but upon further investigation
we discovered that it was a failed water pump that had caused the disaster. Luckily, I had
decided to mount a NATO cable socket on the side, sine there was a place there for it.
The M139's had them. We hooked it up to my CUCV and were able to turn the engine over periodically as it cooled down. When it got cool enough it actually attempted to run for
a bit but we shut it off right away.
There is a bit more to this story, but it will have to be told in person......
Hopefully things will be all patched up and running in a few days, provided that it is not vandalized. But it is in a much better neighborhood and I do have a temporarry registration
so it is legal where it is.
Wish me luck.
Bruce
