glcaines

Great job on the jeep! It looks great.

This has got to be the best MV-related Christmas yard decoration I've ever seen. It's located near the Oak Creek Bridge on the St Michael's Road MD 33 (Maryland, USA) Ultimate MV Christmas Yard Decoration[1].pdf

Actually, the CTIS is fairly dependable. The problem with losing air on the M35A3 is normally the rubber grommet between the valve stem and the wheel. It ages, cracks, and the nut gets loose. Also, occasionally the O-ring sealing the two halves of the two piece Michelin wheel will leak, but usually it's the grommet.

While rebuilding one of the hubs on my M35A3, I discovered that one of my CTIS hub seal retainers was bent and battered. This was likely the cause of the seal failure. This is the retainer that holds the quad o-ring seal and each hub has two. It appears that someone in the military beat on the seal retainer in an effort to drive the outer roller bearing race out of the hub and either didn't succeed, or did succeed in removing it and then re-installed the damaged retainer ring. There was also a small amount of damage to the inner surface of the hub itself. Someone in the Army really did a number on it. I was able to grind the roughness on the inner surface of the hub and polish it with emery cloth.. I used Permatex Right Stuff to seal the hub seal rings to the hub and pressed the bearing races back in. According to the TM I needed to wait at least 12 hours prior to re-mounting the hub. I've attached some photos showing the damage to the hub seal retainer. I have now reassembled everything. Unfortunately, I had to leave to work in China for 1 week so I got behind schedule. I still haven’t hooked up the CTIS yet. I need to rebuild the CTIS wheel valve before re-installing it.

Welcome to the forum. You'll find a lot of nice people here and a lot of knowledge.

Sorry for the late reply. I've been sent to work in Asia for awhile - currently in China with very limited internet connection. You are correct, using the heel of the fork would have been better, but there was no clearance for the wheels. I haven't decided what to do about the top yet. Where I live, I can legally buy an M2 Browning .50 caliber gun, but they are very expensive and I would likely have to get a new wife. I do have the cradle that holds the M2 Browning.

Well, I gave up and visited some Buddhist Temples today, and saw the Great Buddha of Kamarura. Had a great time until it started raining heavily and no umbrella. I leave to work in Seoul tomorrow morning so anything else will have to wait until I return.

I don't have a problem visiting the Yasakuna Museum other than there is apparently almost nothing there except one Zero fighter and the railway engine you mentioned, although I'm taking the word of others. I had two uncles that suffered heavily during the war. One was a Bataan Death March survivor and the other was tortured in a POW camp and later served as slave labor in a mine in Japan. The PLA military museum in Beijing is very interesting with a very large amount of military vehicles, planes and firearms. There is also a lot of propaganda there. It was a little sickening because there was also American uniforms and gear on display from the Korean war that had obviously been removed from dead bodies with dried blood on them. They had purposely arranged the uniforms to show the names and dried blood.

I finally got around to installing the 4820-01-490-1773 pressure safety relief valve on my M35A3 compressor. The installation is covered by MWO 9-2320-386-20-2. All M35A3s were required to have this kit installed prior to 30AUG05, but for some reason my truck did not have the kit installed. Catastrophic failure of the air pressure system can occur if the air pump continues to build pressure uncontrollably. I'm not sure what the weak link is that lets go under these conditions. It only took about 20 minutes to install the kit. According to MWO 9-2320-386-20-2, you are supposed to replace the compression nut and attached ferrule. I did not do this because to do this required cutting the copper tubing to shorten it and there is not enough room to use a tubing cutter without removing the section of copper tubing to grant more room. The existing nut and ferrule were in excellent condition and after assembly, there were no leaks. I did have a little trouble screwing the 'T' into the top of the compressor because the hose next to it was in the way. I was able to pull on the hose and gain just enough clearance to screw it in. According to photos in the MWO, the hose is mounted slightly to the side to gain more clearance. My truck was not like in the MWO photo.

I've been working in Yokohama, Japan for a week now and have the weekend free. I decided to see if there were any museums in the Tokyo area that might have MVs. I've never had much free time during previous trips to Japan. Apparently, there is no such thing as an MV museum in Japan. The only military museum I could find was the Yushukan War Museum and I wanted no part of that. This is the museum that is attached to the Yushukan Jinja, a Shinto shrine that has all of the controversy because it defends Japan's actions during WWII and basically denies any atrocities against the Chinese, Koreans, et al. The Shinto shrine has memorialized Japan's war dead and has some certified war criminals buried there. I'll be in Seoul, Korea on Monday and Tuesday, but will have no time for MV museums. Then I go to China where there are a lot of military museums. I've already visited several and they are very interesting, but you have to filter out the PLA propaganda. I don't know if I'll have any time to search out any new ones.

Welcome to the forum! And, welcome to the MV addiction!

Have fun with the restoration! Keep photos coming.

My first contact with an MV was with an M114A1E1 tracked personnel carrier while in the Army in 1970 during training. The first contact with a privately owned MV was with a 1953 M37 a friend of mine restored. Then I bought a 69 Kaiser Jeep M35A2.

I finally finished mounting my M66 gun ring on my M35A3. I did it by myself which was very difficult and not advised. Also I ran into some difficulties. Installing a gun ring on an M35A3 is more difficult than an M35A2 because of the exhaust stack. Also, the cutouts in the cab reinforcement plate installed by AM General did not line up very well with the u-bolts which made tightening the nuts a real chore. I have a John Deere 5520 tractor with forks and that made the job much easier. I also used the forks on the tractor to press the right front leg into the receptacle.

When I picked up the truck from the Army, I drove it home 1076 miles, so any fuel in the tank was burned up. After I got it home, and more driving, I ran the tank almost dry. Looking in the tank revealed that it was extremely clean. Every other military fuel tank I've looked in was loaded with crud and/or corrosion and had to be cleaned. I was lucky with this truck.

I finally got around to changing the oil in my M35A3 today as well as the fuel filter. The oil was obviously fresh when I picked up the truck from the U.S. Army, so I wan't in too much of a hurry. I used John Deere Plus 50 II oil (15W-40W) and Caterpillar brand filters. When removing the oil filter I needed a three foot lever to turn the old filter. Someone really overdid it in the Army. Oil and fuel filters are supposed to be hand tightened to seal contact and then turned another 3/4 turn. I found it interesting that the oil in the M35A3 was synthetic. I didn't think the U.S. Army was using synthetic oil, but apparently they are. Next I tackled the fuel filter. It was so tight, I twisted the old CAT filter like a piece of taffy before it finally broke loose. I was really concerned that I would break the mount. I also had to clean out the drain valve on the bottom of the water separator with a piece of welding rod before I could drain the fuel from the filter. it was plugged solid with crud.

The following URL is to a video 'VJ Day in Honolulu, August 14, 1945'. It's pretty good and some different MVs as well. Hard to believe it was over 65 years ago. Amazing how good quality the shots are. http://vimeo.com/5645171

My M35A3, as received from the U.S. Army, had 10W-30W motor oil in the Allison 1545 automatic transmission. The Army used motor oil to eliminate one more fluid they needed to support. I have now changed out the motor oil with fresh Dexron III ATF. I used the repetitive drain and fill technique to purge the system of motor oil. What a difference! The transmission shifts much smoother now and runs cooler. The lock-up feature is also much smoother. I'm absolutely amazed at the difference. I also changed out the external filter and plan to change out the internal filter, but have not done so yet. Originally, I planned to upgrade to Castrol TranSynd synthetic ATF that was designed for the Allison transmission. I purchased a 5 gallon (US) pail of the TranSynd fluid, but now I think I will sell it and stick with the Dexron III.

Sorry, I don't like diet soda, warm or cold! No, I didn't rely on the CTIS. I was glad the CTIS worked because I was able to inflate the tires to 45 PSI without having to go get the air compressor to do it. All six tires were double checked with a manual gauge after inflating and the CTIS then turned off. I also checked the pressure manually several more times during the trip home. I already knew the CTIS systems can cause air loss, especially if left on when the truck is shut down, so I had no intention of leaving it on. The CTIS wasn't the cause of the failure. I believe the tire blew due to low tire pressure, but this had to be caused by something else. Perhaps I ran over something and didn't realize it.

We have about 10 inches of snow on ice here. I have a lot of experience driving M35 trucks with conventional NDTs in winter conditions, both in the U.S. and in Germany while stationed with the 3rd Armored Division in 1970-71. I have owned my own M35A2 for over a year now and just recovered a new M35A3 last Monday. I have been out playing in the snow today in both trucks (sorry, no photos). The A2 did reasonably well in the snow, and much better with chains as I remember from my Army days. However, comparing the A2 and A3 in the snow is like comparing apples and oranges. The A3 is substantially better in the snow and on ice than the A2. I could not stick the A3. Most of the time I didn't need the front axle engaged. The Allison transmissiion also helped the A3 as it is smoother starting off. The difference was so significant, I immediately parked the A2 and continued playing with the A3. I drove it to town and found a hill that a Ford F-250, GMC pickup and a Jeep Wrangler couldn't climb as the snow had compacted to ice. All were 4X4 with limited slip rear axles on the pickups (don't know about the Jeep). I went up the hill with zero slippage. I then went down the hill with no slippage. I then re-climbed the hill with the front axle disengaged and had some minor slippage but still made it up the hill. I then found a large parking lot and practiced donuts on the ice with the A3. Not much fun as it didn't slide very well. I came back with the A2 and slid all over the place. If you WANT to slide around a lot, use the A2! After returning home, I found a hill with a 3-foot drift at the bottom. I didn't try it in the A2, but the A3 simply pushed on through and climbed up the hill. Obviously, the key difference is in the tires. The M35A3 has 14.5 R20 Michelin X singles and the M35A2 is running 9.00 X 20 NDCCs. I still have a problem, however, as I really like both trucks. I really prefer the A2 on the highway over the A3 for the stability and higher top speed.

I completed the recovery of my M35A3 but not without incident! The M35A3 started without having to be slaved, but just barely. Ether did the trick. I checked the fluids, and all were topped off. The oil and coolant were obvously new and clear, but the brake fluid was discolored and brownish - something to change in the near future. No problems with brakes or lights. Everything worked, including the CTIS. It was good that the CTIS worked because it immediately pumped up the low tires. The Interstate U6TLs in the A3 are obviously in good shape having started the engine after having sat in extremely cold weather for a couple of months prior to the recovery. There are absolutely no leaks anywhere that I have seen on the A3. I started off from Fort McCoy in Wisconsin at 11:30 AM on Monday January 3. The total trip was 1076 miles, start to finish. The first 700 miles went without incident, except for the extreme cold in the cab. The heater and defroster put out a lot of heat with good air flow. However, unless you put your hands right in front of the vent, you didn't feel much heat in the cab. It would have been much worse without the heater, however. After about 700 miles, the excitement started. I was driving down I-75 in Kentucky. Just before Exit 90 in Richmond, Kentucky, the front rear tire on the passenger side exploded. I was driving at exactly 45 mph, the speed I tried to maintain during the entire trip. When the tire blew, I lost control of the truck. The truck immediately dropped on the right side. For some reason this caused the truck to veer to the left, almost hitting a semi. I then zig zagged down the expressway back and forth over both lanes until I got it slowed down and shot for the exit. There was a lot of crashing noise coming from the blown tire and the back right side of the truck was hopping up and down. I pulled into a Shell station on the corner and shut it down. This all happened at 0430 in the morning. I had been stopped for about 5 minutes, when the tire then suddenly caught on fire. Mind you, this burning tire was the one next to the fuel tank and flames were all over the tank. Not having a fire extinguisher, I ran to the Waffle House restaurant about 250 feet away and they called the Richmond Fire Dept. They arrived within 5 minutes since the fire station was just up the road and were able to extinguish the fire, although it kept flaring back up every minute or so, even as they put water on it. Fortunatley, there was no damage to the truck, although it is hard to believe based on the amount of flames and smoke that was present. There also appears to be no damage to the wheel, but I need to do a closer inspection. I called S&S tire service and they dispatched a truck to help me change the wheel for the spare. The whole operation took 3 hours in the freezing cold due to lack of an impact wrench strong enough to remove the lug nuts. They ended up using a 3-foot long 1-inch impact wrench. The two lug nugs securing the spare had to be broken loose with a five-foot torque wrench. There was no way possible for me to do this work with the normal tools I had with me. Unfortunately, one of the guys from S&S stripped out one of the brass fittings on the CTIS for the damaged wheel and now I need to find a replacement. I also need to find a replacement tire for the A3. Interestingly, the spare tire that came mounted on the A3 still had the paper sticker attached to the tread as the tire had obviously never been on the road. The manufacturing date on the tire was 05/88. Since the A3 was manufactured in 1993, it was obvious that a 5 year old tire was used on the truck straight from AM General. I haven't verified the manufacturing dates for the other tires. The entire trip took 32 hours from Fort McCoy to my house in Hiawassee, Georgia. Subtracting three hours for the tire fiasco, I drove straight through for 29 hours. I tried to maintain 45 MPH and at no time exceeded that speed. However, due to the very poor road conditions with ice and snow, I was often going as slow as 25 MPH, hence the long drive time. Due to a bridge closure, I also had one significant detour. If I had it to do over again, I can't think of anything I would do differently. I believe I was well prepared and the truck appeared to be in excellent condition. I was travelling alone, and that presented difficulties, but it is difficult to find anyone willing to drive a Deuce over 1,000 miles continuously without paying them. Having driven an A2 in the Army years ago and having put close to 2,000 miles on my current A2, I have now garnered enough experience in both the A2 and A3 for a comparison, at least for highway driving. Offroad comparisons will have to wait. Here is a synopsis of my thougts on the two trucks. 1. A2 is a much better looking truck from the front than the A3, although the A3 does look good. It is not an ugly truck like some have indicated. The problem with the A3 looks includes the fender mounted headlights and the atrocious riveted hood. 2. The A3 does not have a step to assist in climbing up to service the engine. 3. The A3 seat is MUCH better than the hard plywood seat in my A2. 4. The tires on the A3 cause it to have a somewhat bouncy feel as you drive. The NDTs on the A2 feel more stable to me, expecially on curvy roads. The tires on the A3 did well on the ice and snow, but so do the NDTs on my A2. 5. Although I did not have any problems with the Allison automatic transmission in the A3, which performed flawlessly, I always seemed to be prepared for a failed shift. I inherently do not like automatic transmissions. That being said, the Allison transmission made the A3 extremely easy to drive. 6. The power steering in the A3 made it easier to steer, but I didn't like the smaller diameter steering wheel. This may simply be a matter of getting used to the difference. 7. While driving the A3 there is a somewhat squirrelly feel to the front end, but not overly so. In the A2 the front end is dead-on solid. This could be caused by poor alignment of the A3 front end. 8. I have west coast mirrors on the A2, but the mirrors on the A3 are clearly superior from a visibility standpoint and lack of vibration. 9. The engine in both trucks are extremely easy to start and do not use any oil. 10. The highway speed for the A2 is better than the A3. I believe they should have put in an Allison 6-speed transmission in the A3 with overdrive. The A3 accelerates very good and then suddenly you are at a low top speed. 11. The noise level for the A3 inside the cab is significantly lower than for the A2. However, the engine noise from the Cat engine in the A3 is noisier than the multifuel in the A2 while standing next to the truck. 12. The backup lights on the A3 are very helpful, but could be brighter. 13. The brakes on the A3 are significantly better than on the A2. In addition to having more confidence that the brakes would not fail due to the dual master cylinder, it took very little pedal pressure to stop the A3. 14. I have had zero leaks from any source on either the A2 or A3. I have attached some photos of the truck and the damaged tire.

I have bid on and won a lot of auctions through Government Liquidation. I picked up an M35A2 at Fort Indiantown Gap in 2009. I drove it home approximately 700 miles with no major problems. The truck started right up, all fluids were topped of and had recently been changed. I am on Steel Soldiers as GLCaines, the same as on HMVF. You will enjoy your A2. They are very dependable and a lot of fun. If you have never driven one before, be careful. This is especially true if you have never driven big trucks.

I bid on a 1993 M35A3 2-1/2 ton truck from the U.S Army and won it. It only has 2858 miles on it. The drivers seat still has parts of the plastic wrap on it from the factory. For those not familiar with the M35A3, this series of 2-1/2 ton truck was part of what was called the ESP or Extended Service Program. The manufacturer, AM General, took in three used M35A2 trucks, stripped them down and took the best parts to make one new M35A3. The multifuel Hercules engine was scrapped as was the Spicer manufal transmission. A new Caterpillar 3116 diesel engine was installed, coupled to an Allison 4-speed automatic transmission. The Rockwell axles were rebuilt or new. The ten 9:00X20 NDT tires and wheels were replaced by six 11:00 X 20 Michelin radials. There is also a CTIS or central tire inflation system on the truck. New dual brakes were also installed. My M35A3 is a winch truck and the winch is a hydraulically powered winch. New seats and power steering were also added. Unfortunately, the truck is located at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, approximately 1000 miles north from where I live. I will be flying to the site this Sunday and hopefully will be driving it home to Georgia the next day. It has been extremely cold in the area where the truck is located, and the batteries are probably frozen. The truck ran fine when parked about two months ago. The following photos are from the auction listing. I'll provide better photos when I have the truck home.

It doesn't take much of an excuse!

I took my M35A2 out to do some work Saturday. I had two oak trees that I needed to take down that were leaning over the house. I hooked up the winch and put tension on the trees in the direction I wanted to drop them. The winch worked like a champ. I put tension on the trees with the winch, cut them most of the way through with my chainsaw, and then pulled them over with the winch. Amazing how many uses you can find to justify owning a Deuce. Even my wife has come around - somewhat anyway.