Military deuce and a half what to watch for

old · Oct 12, 2011

Well friend called this morning and I get to go help him bring home his Deuce and a half tomorrow. Has a Cat diesel and an Allison automatic transmission. So since I have never driven one any thing to be careful of?? Will if have air brakes or just hyd type brakes?? Like I said never driven one but have driven 18 wheelers many many mile

Anonymous-0 · Oct 12, 2011

Being a retired Motor Pool SST , BRAKE way before You think You should ! , not a sports cars there
Orgwayne

Anonymous-0 · Oct 12, 2011

Should be air/hydraulic brakes with a hydrovac that'll go bad from one second to the next...Just make sure your handbrake is working good.You think your back hurts now...........wait'll you drive that thing...

showcrop · Oct 12, 2011

Be sure you have the Hi-Lo auxiliary in high.

LeonardWD45 · Oct 12, 2011

Old, these trucks are actually pretty good. It"s been a while since I worked on one but your buddy will like the CTIS system for use in the fields in all weather and conditions. The automatic trans is a lot better than the old manual gear box and the brakes are actually very good on these trucks.

The deuce that you will be driving was first ordered by the Guard and picked up by the active duty afterwards as a replacement for the older style. They are easy to work on and are very reliable.

I hope your friend and you enjoy it.

Leonard

old · Oct 12, 2011

Understand the braking a long ways before you think it should be done but then one of the trucks I drove a lot was a 1963 Diamond-T that only has rear axle brakes so go us to braking early. I also prefer to have lots of room between me and the other guy any how

old · Oct 12, 2011

The fun part will be figuring out how to build and install a dump bed on it for him. He wants t for hauling gravel out of a creek he has on his place for his long ruff and I do mean ruff driveway

Ultradog MN · Oct 12, 2011

Make sure you the the half.
Otherwise they're just a deuce.

elmersooner · Oct 12, 2011

the one at our fire dept had an issue with the emergency shutoff solenoid---turned out to be low voltage in one of the batteries. good thing about them is they are darn near impossible to tear up and they go anywhere.

Mike (WA) · Oct 12, 2011

I drove one in the Army.

Lets see. . . What to watch out for. . . We always kept an eye out for the First Sergeant- you wanted to stay under his radar, if you could.

Back in the day, the "automatic" transmission (which I assume was an Allison) would have you in high gear at about 10 MPH, and luggin' away. 0 to 40 by about Tuesday. We always shifted them manually, with much better results.

Don't recall any specific problems with them- I don't think mine ever broke, and we put them in some hellaceous spots.

Ky Hauler · Oct 12, 2011

Don't pull out in front of anything going more than thirty miles an hour. They leap and then crawl before they get up speed. LOL They sound good, too.

VaTom · Oct 12, 2011

Good application for the truck. Wonderful farm truck.

My deuce has an aftermarket dump under the bed. Don"t know what it"ll dump, more than 8 tons. Works great operated by a shaft off the PTO to drive the hydraulic pump. Only problem is the tank sits where the spare used to. Dual cylinder of course.

Driving"s no problem, other than power steering by arm-strong. Brakes can be excellent, depending on condition. Air wipers leave a lot to be desired, I try not to drive in rain. Hope your buddy sprung for a hard top, not the short-lived canvas one.

kj(seil) · Oct 12, 2011

check out steel soldiers dot com there are a lot of guys that have done amazing thing with these trucks, there were several styles and a dump truck was one of them, checkout a combat engineer guard unit for ideas, most of the full-timers could give you some ideas on mounting a dump bed

old · Oct 12, 2011

Well do not know what cab it has. Friend likes to buy stuff on the computer and then goes and gets it so may be fun to get it home. It is said to run and drive but one never knows till you get to it

Anonymous-0 · Oct 12, 2011

What Deuce did your friend get ? Must be rather new with a Cat engine and a Allison transmission. The CCKW (WW2 era) used a GMC gas 6 and a 5 speed. The M211 (Korea war or so) used a GMC gas 6 and what they called the Hydromatic (a 4 speed auto of sorts) and the M35 (Korea war and still in the reserves) used a Hercules or White and a 5 speed, thousands of those are becoming surplus now and are the most common. If it is a M35 or varient and the breaks (vaccume over hydraulics)are working at all everything is fine. With all the drag on those gears, shafts and tires all you need to do to slow down and stop is step on the clutch, you are not going to be going that fast anyway. Like their speed, they were not built for comfort either (heaters were a add on option. Taking hearing protection along for the ride is not a bad idea.

aFORDable · Oct 12, 2011

The only thing that comes to my mind is watch out for those viet cong sympathizers hurling a grenade in the back!

David from Kansas · Oct 12, 2011

24V system

gbs · Oct 12, 2011

if it has a cat and an allison it could be a 5-ton didn't know they used this set-up in a 2 1/2 ton not to say it isn't how many lugs are on each wheel, 2 1/2 has 6, 5 ton has 10 and is three times the truck

fixerupper · Oct 12, 2011

Scott, you're right about the M211's tranny. The engine is screaming before an upshift and it's best to be going downhill when it finally slams into fourth. Jim

VaTom · Oct 12, 2011

Cab didn't vary, only the top. Mine was canvas until I bought the hard top. $500 option at the time. Also makes it quieter inside, not that you don't still need hearing protection particularly for a road trip.

Great trucks. Like anything, maintenance- or lack of- determines what you get. I had a couple surprises. Mine's been here for a decade, bought a spare for parts and drove it home. Both turbo diesel, about the same age but different manufacturers. Parts are interchangeable.

Don't forget to ask for the ignition key. LOL Oh, and I once spent an hour looking for the fuse block. You won't find it either.

VaTom · Oct 12, 2011

Vacuum or air assist hydraulic brakes? Probably there's an air compressor on the engine. Mine has one. With the cab outlet, handy for emergency tire inflation, if slow. Even has air to the rear for trailer use. That's what operates the brakes on my military container mover, a truly amazing piece of hardware.

I installed a heater, never needed it here even when it was snowing. Lots of engine heat.

Paul from MI · Oct 12, 2011

Lots of parts available for it. Look up "Military Vehicles" magazine and subscribe. Also look into MVPA (Military Vehicle Preservation Association). Their magazine "Supply Line" also has a lot of parts suppliers listed. They are tough vehicles and well suited for farm use. I use my M38a1 Jeep for all sorts of things.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 12, 2011

Hi Tom, is yours a M35 ? It has been something like 30 years, CRS disease. Most of my time was in armoured vehicals. Keep in mind these trucks were designed in the late 1940's to be maintained and operated by 19 year olds. I remember, and I could be wrong, it was a hydravac system. I don't remember a air compressor on a M35. If there had been I am sure we would have rigged a air hose to fill tires, and we didn't. Some of the 5 tons yes, they had air brakes. The trailer we we pulled behind the M 35 (M 105 ?) did not have any air brakes. They were hydraulic and had a mechanical parking brake. I think I am accurate but no guarantee, 1985 was a long time ago and memory dims. Perhaps oldtanker will read this and clear up any wrong ideas I have. One thing for sure, when they are empty they are heck fun to drive. When I retire and move back to the farm I am going to get me one.

VaTom · Oct 12, 2011

Yup, both are M35, far as I know they all have air. Air assisted hydraulic, not air brakes. My licensed one is a Kaiser.

The brakes on the container mover are hydraulic, self-contained system for each axle, operated by air from the tow vehicle. A truly amazing contraption. Think trailer with no bed and axles on the far ends. Front axle has to steer of course, the back one has a manual parking brake on each drum. Each axle has a manual hydraulic pump to raise the container.

What operated the hydraulic brakes on your trailer? I would have expected air from the M35.

M35's are wonderful trucks. Cheap to buy, cheap to insure, cheap to license (in Virginia). A little thirsty of course. And you need some room to turn them around. Oh, make sure you get a winch, you're gonna get it stuck and a tow truck probably won't be able to help. I've used my winch to pull 60' logs and pull the azz of my Cat sideways when I got it stuck. Have to nose the truck into a substantial tree to keep the truck stationary.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 12, 2011

It wasn't mine it belonged to the Army. They just let me drive it. Most of my time was spent as a armour crewmember. I think you are right, it was air assist. Just curious, what do you use your container movers to move ?

oldtanker · Oct 12, 2011

HMMMM yea the M35 is the most common one to find on the market. I served from 74-96, Armor! To the best of my knowledge they didn't come with an auto or Cat. The early ones used a multi fuel engine and later they were upgraded with a turbo "clean air " diesel. The trucks that came out with the auto were 5 tons not the 2 1/2 ton "deuce and a half". When the drawdowns in the early 90's started the army got rid of all their 2 1/2 tons because there were enough of the new 5 tons to go around and the 2 1/2T were a very old fleet.

They did have an air compressor and used the hydrovac brake booster with hydraulic brakes. No power steering, 5 speed tranny with 2 speed aux gear box. Heater was an add on too. The early ones had an air controlled actuator to engage the front wheels while, the later ones used a sprag unit that kicked in the front axle automatically. If they did upgrade it too a Cat/auto I never saw one and I did not see one after 93 at all except in the PDO yard. It is possible that guard units had up graded units that took avanatage of the draw downs and the extra engines and trannys that were in the supply system.

Rick

2x4 · Oct 13, 2011

take along a can of brake fluid. Ours used to lock up the brakes in the middle of the road & we'd have to crawl under there & crack a brake line to let pressure off so we could move again. Forget what the fix was.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 13, 2011

(quoted from post at 23:36:40 10/12/11) take along a can of brake fluid. Ours used to lock up the brakes in the middle of the road & we'd have to crawl under there & crack a brake line to let pressure off so we could move again. Forget what the fix was.

hydrovac..........more you use the brakes, more often you hadda crawl under.........we always just replaced them with rebuilds (weren't allowed to tear into them)

greygoat · Oct 13, 2011

Lots of aftermarket surplus outfits are doing
Cummins and Cat conversions. I only drove a
Diamond T, M35, in Korea, that had a 5 speed
stick and Continental, multifuel 6 cyl. engine.
M135 and M211 GMC's had automatics that "Jumped"
when they shifted.

VaTom · Oct 13, 2011

Scott, nothing so far, as did the military. It's never been used. Thought I was going to move a log cabin intact with it, but the owners decided my price was too high (half of what a commercial company wanted). Yesterday I arranged for a guy to remove it for the logs, free.

I also occasionally want to transport a large rock, say 10 tons. The only thing necessary is fabricating whatever bed you need for the job. No large tractor necessary to do the lifting. In the case of the cabin, 30' I beams attached to a frame on each axle.

I'd never seen one before it was advertised here. Got it for $500, with 4 new tires and 2 portable hydraulic power units on it. Came with enough cable and air line to reach the rear axle. The seller, original civilian owner, was told the military paid $35k. He figured to use it with a civilian truck, but he wouldn't have any trailer brakes.

A friend in Oregon happens to also have one that he used to move a loaded container. Too heavy for the attached hydraulics to lift, he had to use several hydraulic jacks. Then worried about breaking an axle as they were obviously very over-loaded. It worked.

Get yourself out to that farm, and start playing! Time's a'wastin'. I've also occasionally used my deuce winch to pull a shed delivery trailer with it's tow vehicle when it couldn't get where it needed to be. The delivery guy was real tickled the first time, asked for my phone number. Winch and a snatch block or two are real handy.

LenND · Oct 13, 2011

How did you guys rate a deisel? When I was in Korea e had WW2 2 1/2s until the fall of 53 then we traded them in for the newer style ones. They were a 2 speed auto, 1 and 2 in low range and 3 and 4 in high. Hardly ever used 4 high cause it would suto shift to 3rd too easy. These were all GMC in line six motors, trannies I don't remember. The WW2 ones were GMC 6 cyl or Studebaker flat head sixes.

Military deuce and a half what to watch for

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