Military surplus trucks and related stuff.
I have a HMMWV. It’s a 1986 USMC M998 that I bought back in December of 1999. It was stripped of all accessories when I got it, and it had some mechanical issues to work out, but I fixed it up into a well-running truck… and it only stranded me 250 miles from home once! :) This is my rambling post in which I consider whether and how to reconfigure my truck again.
I’m getting ready to start construction on my 5 acre property near Riverside, CA soon. At least that’s the plan, assuming that the nice, friendly folks at the county who need to approve my permits don’t drive me insane first!
I have trucks and trailers parked all over the area where the grading will be done, and they all need to move. Unfortunately, a lot of them need some work done before they’ll be moving again!
Instructions for Installation of Radio Sets AN/GRC-9 or SCR-694-C in Combination with Radio Sets AN/GRC-3 to 8, AN/VRQ-1 to 3, AN/VRC-8 to 10, AN/VRC-16 to 18, AN/PRC-8 to 10, or SCR-619 in Truck, 1/4 Ton, 4×4, Utility, M38 & M38A1 (Warning: 35 meg PDF file!)
Thanks go to Ken Perkins for the scans, and Wes Knettle for passing them along to me.
I bought this S-448 communications shelter on 11/22/2005 from another military radio and vehicle collector. I plan to use it as my primary radio room at home. It originally housed a Collins AN/TSC-60(V)1 “Communication Central” set. The interior was completely stripped of equipment when the previous owner bought it, and he installed some equipment racks, desks, drawers, etc. He also re-wired it to run from single-phase power instead of three-phase power. The shelter would have originally had a panel on the right side of the door with a whole bunch of connectors and binding posts, but that has been replaced by a blank metal panel. If I need to add any external electrical connections, that would be the obvious place to do it. Some of the ventilation panels leak, but they look like they’ll be fairly easy to repair. Overall, the shelter is in good shape, and it’ll make a really nice radio shack.
I sold this truck in September, 2005, and I’ve preserved the for-sale listing because it has lots of good pictures of the truck.
This page contains excerpts from PS Magazine (a monthly magazine published by the US Government for Army personnel involved in maintenance) which describe how to perform a necessary brake vent modification on M44-series 2.5-ton 6×6 trucks such as the M35 cargo trucks or my M109A3 shop van. I used to have a couple of pages with many PS Magazine excerpts with 2.5-ton and HMMWV tips, but they are no longer necessary now that you can download individual articles from 1988 on at the PS Magazine web site. I kept these particular excerpts here because the vent line modification was published in 1983, and is not yet available on the PS Magazine web site. It’s a very good idea to check the PS Magazine index for other articles which may apply to your truck. For example, there’s an article in issue 542 (January, 1998) which describes a necessary brake light switch modification which replaces the old hydraulic pressure actuated switch, which could blow out and leave you rolling without brakes!
Once again, the annual meeting of the Military Radio Collector’s Group was held at the Camp San Luis Obispo NCO’s club. The meeting was held on Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6, 2000. Friday was mostly dedicated to informal activities and display setup, along with some radio operating events and several really fun hidden transmitter hunts using 6m FM military radio gear. Cam Ogan, WA6VVC provided a fancy little hidden transmitter for us to find, and I bet it was funny to watch all of us guys running around with big, green radios and “rug-beater” direction-finding loop antennas! The swap meet, formal presentations, and David Ragsdale’s great barbecue were on Saturday. Unfortunately, I had to cut my visit short due to some engine trouble with my HMMWV, so I missed most of the fun on Saturday this year.
This page lists cross-reference data for some of the common expendable supplies and replacement parts used by the M44-series 2.5-ton 6×6 trucks with LD-465-* and LDT-465-* multifuel engines, such as the M35A2 cargo truck and the M109A3 shop van. This data may not be applicable to trucks with other engines (such as the OA-331 gasoline or LDS-427-* multifuel engines). I will update it occasionally as I find more information. Please comment if you find any errors, or if you can provide any more information.
This page contains pictures of various M44-series 2.5-ton 6×6 trucks. This is one of the families of trucks commonly called “deuce-and-a-half” trucks, due to the 2.5-ton off-road cargo capacity of the basic cargo configuration. They are also commonly called “multifuel” trucks, because all but the earliest versions were made with multifuel diesel engines. The M44 series includes the following trucks (most of these trucks were made in several versions; for example, the M35 was also made in later versions called M35A1 and M35A2):
Here is a scanned copy of GTA #9-1-185, dated October, 1977, which details a 140-step inspection procedure for M44-series 2.5-ton “Multifuel” trucks. The document is seven pages long.
This page contains links to scanned images of electrical wiring diagrams for the M44-series 2.5-ton 6×6 “Multifuel” trucks. These diagrams were scanned at 300 DPI from TM 9-2320-209-20-2-2, dated May, 1981.
This page contains links to scanned images of a 1966 installation manual which describes the “correct” way to install radio set AN/VRC-12 in 2.5-ton 6×6 trucks. Each page was scanned at 150 DPI and saved as a GIF image. This is the complete manual; the original was unbound, and consisted of two double-sided sheets followed by five foldouts, 3-hole punched and stapled together without any cover. The scans were performed by Buzz KD7BZ, and then I touched them up and spliced together the foldouts. Buzz’s scans looked better before I converted them to 2-color images to make the files smaller… :-)
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