Inspection day in Yermo: Exterior, front and rear views, showing big dent in van body.
8/27/99
Inspection day in Yermo: Cab, seen from passenger's and driver's doors. The passenger seat is actually green under all that dust! Note how the Army helpfully painted right over nameplates, indicator lamps, etc.
8/27/99
Inspection day in Yermo: Van interior.
8/27/99
Here's a picture of my Toyota 4Runner and my M109A3 next to each other, to give you an idea of just how BIG this shop van is!
10/23/99
Curbside power entry connector on front of van body, at upper right corner: This big 60A connector allows you to supply 115VAC to the lights and outlets in the van body. The van body has 6 115VAC lights (5 regular, one blue for blackout conditions), and 2 24VDC lights for use when AC power is not available. The exhaust blower can be operated from 115VAC or 24VDC. Also shown are a few pictures of the correct (and hard to find!) connector for the power cable.
10/2/99, 6/25/00
These scanned catalog pages show the curbside power connector (and other connectors from the same family). Warning: these are big images!
6/25/00
It's the Flying Deuce!
10/30/99
At 212 pounds each, this truck's wheels alone weigh more than some whole cars! That's a Ford Mustang in the background.
10/30/99
Here's the rear suspension, on the right side of the truck. The front of the truck is towards the right side of the picture, of course.
10/30/99
Here's the front suspension.
10/30/99
This is the forklift-like wheel dolly I built out of 2x6 redwood, 2x4 pine, a 2-ton bottle jack and lots of hardware, to help lift the BIG, HEAVY wheels on and off the hubs. Don't build one like this... it's way too flimsy for handling 9x20 wheels, and it barely survived one tire rotation. The parts for this one cost about $100. Commercial wheel dollies cost about $200-$800, can lift around 750-1000 pounds, and are available from companies like Harbor Freight and Grainger.
10/30/99
Here's the left middle wheel hub, disassembled, right before I replaced the wheel studs.
11/6/99
I finally got around to snapping a picture outdoors after removing the duct tape from the windows and lights.
12/11/99
My license plates and title finally arrived!
5/7/00
Here's the engine, seen from the left and right sides. At the front of the truck is the radiator (it's a bit washed out by the sunlight). The item with the cooling fins behind the radiator is the air compressor. The two large cans behind the air compressor are the engine oil filters, and rectangular box behind the filters is the oil cooler. The two smaller cans (partially obscured by the steering wheel shaft) are the secondary and final fuel filters. The fuel injection pump is visible below the front oil filter, and the six injectors are visible along the left side of the engine. There are two valve covers, with an oil filler in the front one. The metal plate in the foreground of the picture holds the hot-water personnel heater, which I removed to try to fix the bad blower motor. I found a complete NOS heater installation kit, so I'll just install a new heater, instead. The silver duct is a piece of dryer duct that I used as a temporary repair; I'll replace it with the proper cloth-covered duct later. The box on top of the engine next to the front valve cover is the intake manifold flame heater, which is used for cold-weather starting. This engine does not have any glow plugs.
The right side of the engine is a lot less interesting than
the left side. The air filter, turbocharger and alternator are
visible. That loop of black hose is temporarily connecting the
hot-water heater supply and return valves together; they were
a bit crusty, so I connected a hose between them in case they
leak.
8/20/00
Last day! My truck is on its way to its new owner in Washington.
11/13/04
Last day! My truck is on its way to its new owner in Washington.
11/13/04
Last day! My truck is on its way to its new owner in Washington.
11/13/04
Last day! My truck is on its way to its new owner in Washington.
11/13/04
Last day! My truck is on its way to its new owner in Washington.
11/13/04
Last day! My truck is on its way to its new owner in Washington.
11/13/04
Last day! My truck is on its way to its new owner in Washington.
11/13/04
Last day! My truck is on its way to its new owner in Washington.
11/13/04