please help.

[n2spd]

I went to buy my doner truck and it turned out to be a half ton on a 3/4 ton frame with twin eye beam front. :wacko: Anyways my question is I have a friend with a 1954 2 1/2 ton army 6 wheel drive truck he said I could have for $1000. Its actually in decent shape. Anyways are the axles usable or worth anything? It has a gas straight 6 and I dont kno what transfer case. Thanks for your help. I plan on buying this truck as soon as I hear something back. Thanks again.

 

[Broncobill78]

Do you really understand what you're getting into ? Don't misunderstand, a Duece & a half is a great truck but you pretty much need to be a diesel heavy mechanic to work on it, either that or you need to have deep pockets (*really* deep pockets) because you'll need a *whole* new set of heavy tools to do anything with it. A 1/2" breaker bar might open the glove box but that's it. Unless you're a diesel mechanic you don't have a single tool you can work on that rig with and a truck like that is a completely different animal, there's a fairly long & steep learning curve. 2.5 ton axles are nice and sure we all like planetary differentials & pinion brakes but is it really practical in anything less than a full-blown monster truck or Ultimate Unbreakable trail machine ? Do yourself a favor and just look into what it's going to cost you to fab up 4 rims to mate standard 40" tires to those axles, you're not going to do all that work and just run the hard rubber military pizza-cutters are you ? Because those are the only tires that you'll fit onto the stock rims and trust me, Alcoa, Coddington & Craiger don't make rims for a Duece (just TRY finding spinners for one of those). Even if you keep the truck intact instead of hacking it up, the very first time something breaks you're going to spend more fixing it then you did to buy the truck.

They're great trucks, I love them and so do a lot of other guys, it's just that you should have a good idea of what you're getting into before you take on a project like this because that's probably how your buddy came to own the Duece in the first place <grin>. If you're looking at it as a long-term project and you understand up front that you're going to be investing quite a bit in factory/military manuals and spending enough on tools to buy yourself an Expedition that's cool. I applaud & envy you because I sure would like to have one myself. It's just that I enjoy being allowed to sleep with my wife even more and I know for sure it would be one or the other if I brought one of those home. Grab it if you want it, $1000 is a killer price if it runs & drives but just know what you're getting into.

I went to buy my doner truck and it turned out to be a half ton on a 3/4 ton frame with twin eye beam front. :wacko: Anyways my question is I have a friend with a 1954 2 1/2 ton army 6 wheel drive truck he said I could have for $1000. Its actually in decent shape. Anyways are the axles usable or worth anything? It has a gas straight 6 and I dont kno what transfer case. Thanks for your help. I plan on buying this truck as soon as I hear something back. Thanks again.

 

[Tennessee Jed]

A 1/2" breaker bar might open the glove box but that's it.

That is funny stuff! I had no idea they were that major of an ordeal to wrench on. I saw an M-715 ARMY Jeep truck I was going to bid on...not now.

It looks like a rock breaking jack hammer the way the full floating axles are built, suckers stick out of the wheels about 10" or so.

 

[n2spd]

Do you really understand what you're getting into ? Don't misunderstand, a Duece & a half is a great truck but you pretty much need to be a diesel heavy mechanic to work on it, either that or you need to have deep pockets (*really* deep pockets) because you'll need a *whole* new set of heavy tools to do anything with it. A 1/2" breaker bar might open the glove box but that's it. Unless you're a diesel mechanic you don't have a single tool you can work on that rig with and a truck like that is a completely different animal, there's a fairly long & steep learning curve. 2.5 ton axles are nice and sure we all like planetary differentials & pinion brakes but is it really practical in anything less than a full-blown monster truck or Ultimate Unbreakable trail machine ? Do yourself a favor and just look into what it's going to cost you to fab up 4 rims to mate standard 40" tires to those axles, you're not going to do all that work and just run the hard rubber military pizza-cutters are you ? Because those are the only tires that you'll fit onto the stock rims and trust me, Alcoa, Coddington & Craiger don't make rims for a Duece (just TRY finding spinners for one of those). Even if you keep the truck intact instead of hacking it up, the very first time something breaks you're going to spend more fixing it then you did to buy the truck.
They're great trucks, I love them and so do a lot of other guys, it's just that you should have a good idea of what you're getting into before you take on a project like this because that's probably how your buddy came to own the Duece in the first place <grin>. If you're looking at it as a long-term project and you understand up front that you're going to be investing quite a bit in factory/military manuals and spending enough on tools to buy yourself an Expedition that's cool. I applaud & envy you because I sure would like to have one myself. It's just that I enjoy being allowed to sleep with my wife even more and I know for sure it would be one or the other if I brought one of those home. Grab it if you want it, $1000 is a killer price if it runs & drives but just know what you're getting into.

Thanks for the info. I was thinking if the axles were worth anything maybe I could sell them and buy a hp Dana 60 and 10.25 for my bronco.

 

[Broncobill78]

Whoa there Hoss, I was talking about a full-blown Deuce & you're posting pics of a beautiful Kaiser/Jeep. Apples & oranges my friend. The M-715 you posted is indeed something you, or I or most anyone here can work on in our current garages with the tools we already own. An M-35 Deuce is a completely different story

To be clear here. For most of us, buying a deuce & a half means building a small barn to keep it in & do maintenance as well as purchasing a full set of 1" tooling, much larger compressors than most of us have and 1" & 1.5" air tools. It also means buying a small library of military manuals and essentially learning how to become a heavy diesel mechanic from scratch. Want to change a tire ? Better call the guy with the F450 and the power lift, check you local truckstop because those guys will have his number. Need to change the intake manifold gasket ? Better have a chainfall mounted to a trolly along the roofbeam because you & 4 friends aren't getting it off. And oh yeah, you'll love those 18qt oil changes. Want to do some wheel bearing maintenance ? best to plan on the better part of a week for all 6 wheels and make sure you've got 4 or 5 friends to help (either that or get *real* friendly with the F450 guy). When you buy a Deuce for all intents and purposes you've just parked a semi-tractor in your new barn because that's the level of maintenance & repair it's going to need.

The M-715 is a whole different story. THAT is a machine that you can park in the garage you currently own (or fill with debris as the case may be) and you can work on with the tools you probably already have. Buying a socket for something on *that* truck will not cost $62. It's a military version of what was at the time a standard but heavy-duty civilian vehicle and it's a big-time awesome truck. Well worth a reasonable ammount of cash but not something I'd spend a second mortgage on. If you have a chance to buy one for decent $$$ then grab it & please, please don't let what I had to say about a completely different truck ruin the opportunity for an enthusiast to grab a hard-core piece of history that can also be a great street & trail machine.

That is funny stuff! I had no idea they were that major of an ordeal to wrench on. I saw an M-715 ARMY Jeep truck I was going to bid on...not now.
It looks like a rock breaking jack hammer the way the full floating axles are built, suckers stick out of the wheels about 10" or so.

 

[Tennessee Jed]

Thanks Bill, I first saw this thing about a year ago and now it will be coming up for public auction from our local fire department. They had for years and intended to make a rescue vehicle out of it but had found better options. I think it is a 1968 or 1969. I have seen a few J-10 and J-20 jeep trucks and knew they built a J-30 but this is even heaver in the drive train I had read where the J-30 was a one ton hauler and the guy at the fire department was telling me he thought this M-715 was what they dubbed a 5/4 ton truck. Anyway it is so heavy in the gearbox and axle it looks abstract. Like I said before the axle ends stick way out from the wheel and appear to be 3" or better in diameter. it looks like just taking the wheel off is a job and all the lights are military issue too they are packaged in what looks like an explosion proof box with cast cases and ten or more bolts with nuts and slits for the light to come though. It would be nifty to have and use for a sever trail rig but I am most likely dreaming that I could get it for $500 or less.

 

[Broncobill78]

Thanks Bill, I first saw this thing about a year ago and now it will be coming up for public auction from our local fire department. They had for years and intended to make a rescue vehicle out of it but had found better options. I think it is a 1968 or 1969. I have seen a few J-10 and J-20 jeep trucks and knew they built a J-30 but this is even heaver in the drive train I had read where the J-30 was a one ton hauler and the guy at the fire department was telling me he thought this M-715 was what they dubbed a 5/4 ton truck. Anyway it is so heavy in the gearbox and axle it looks abstract. Like I said before the axle ends stick way out from the wheel and appear to be 3" or better in diameter. it looks like just taking the wheel off is a job and all the lights are military issue too they are packaged in what looks like an explosion proof box with cast cases and ten or more bolts with nuts and slits for the light to come though. It would be nifty to have and use for a sever trail rig but I am most likely dreaming that I could get it for $500 or less.

Unfortunately I have to agree with you, scoring that rig for $500 probably isn't going to happen, but who knows. Chances are there will be others there who also want it and you'd best hope that municipal employees are prohibited from bidding bacause I guarantee you that there's more than a couple fire & policemen who know about it and would love to be parking it in *their* garage as well. Hmmm, come to think of it just where is it that you live & when is this auction <grin> ? Maybe some of the other members can give you a better appraisal of it's actual value but I personally would be willing to drop $2500-$3K on it and it won't surprise me if you wind up telling us it went for more than $5K (I don't really think it will go for that much but I'm just saying I won't be surprised if it *does*). Those trucks truley are bulletproof. Throw on a set of 36" SuperSwampers (and that's a bolt on deal you should be able to run those with the stock suspension) and you now own the baddest trail rig in your neck of the woods. Those trucks are tough, tough, tough. It's easily the equal of a hummer. I'd probably want a modern fuel injected V8 and upgraded brakes but other than that I'd leave it as is.

I don't know what your budget is for this but in all honesty if it were me (and it might be if I find out where you live) I'd be flipping the couch over & shaking it for loose change and figuring that the kids will be just fine with Raman Noodles for the rest of the month to scrape together every possible dime. Trucks like that don't come up very often and 98% of the ones that do are private sales for pretty big bucks. You really do have a shot at a fairly unique opportunity here & believe me this will be one of those trucks that you spend the rest of your life telling people you wished you'd bid a few more dollars for. Spend a few hours doing some research and I think you'll be even more impressed with it than you already are. The flat-fender design, stock heavy-duty suspension and the tall military tires it ran stock are what allow you to run 36" tires right out of the box without any modifications, pretty slick if you ask me.

 

[bidibronco]

An M-715 is only a ton and a 1/4 right? Just for my own knowledge...

 

[Broncobill78]

An M-715 is only a ton and a 1/4 right? Just for my own knowledge...

Yup, sometimes refered to as 5/4 ton trucks.

 

[bidibronco]

5/4 ton!!! thats effin cool!!! I like that..

 

[wileec]

That Jeep is way cool. I am also diggin the Cobra in the background.