I just got my 1965 Kaiser-Jeep M543A2 5-ton 6x6 wrecker last Tuesday.
I looked it over today to gather any information that I'll need to
register it, and find out if there are any conflicting markings that
I'll need to explain during the VIN inspection. Should there be a
serial number on the frame (or elsewhere) on this make of wrecker?
The only frame number I was able to find was on the outside of the
right rail, visible from the right front wheel well, behind the front
spring mount: "(S)3 49". The "S" is in a circle. The dataplate's
contract number of "DA-20-113-AMC-1948[T]" suggests a 1948 contract. I
wonder if it's reasonable that the frame was manufactured in March of
1949, but the truck wasn't completed and delivered until 1965?
The engine is a Continental LDS-465-1A. I didn't find a date of
manufacture, but the dataplates were very greasy, and I just had dry
paper towels with me. I'll examine it more closely later.
For those of you who are interested, the door markings are:
US ARMY
5D 6807
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE CONTRACTOR
Q411
The lettering is applied over white reflective tape. The next-to-last
line is painted over some other text based on the cracking around the
old letters, but I can't quite make out what the old text says, other
than the word "SERVICE". The bumpers, outrigger pads and crane hook
sheave are painted with yellow and black stripes, and there's an amber
strobe mounted on the hard cab top. Tubes for mounting flags are
welded on the ends of the front bumper, and the flag poles and some
tattered warning flag remnants are laying in the cab.
Does anybody have a commercial cross-reference number for the engine
air intake filter?
The lower loop pf the exhaust pipe in the wheel well is rusted out at
the bottome. I'll try patching it with muffler tape.
My truck is missing one rear shackle with pin and both front shackles
with pins. Does anybody have some for sale or trade?
I'm also missing all otehr accessories, including the tow bar,
whiffletree, field chocks, boom jacks with feet, etc., but I'm not in
a hurry to get them right now due to the inconvenience of accepting
truck shipments without a loading dock at my workplace.
My truck has a heavy frame mounted under the pintle with a second
pintle mounted on it. It looks like it was added on to tow trailers
meant for smaller trucks. Is that a normal feature, or a field
modification? It's a bit hard to make out in the pictures currently on
my web page because it's rotated 90 degrees.
The power divider lever only moves forward a few inches, moves
stiffly, and I don't feel a forward detent. Is that normal? The crane
pump seems to operate properly when engaged.
Up close, my truck is a lot uglier than the pictures on my web page
suggest. The paint looks brownish on the right side, and there's a
fair amount of surface rust. Still, it looks like it's in pretty good
mechanical condition for a 1965 workhorse, and I think it's reasonably
likely that it won't require major repairs. The engine runs, the truck
moves and stops, and the crane operates. I noticed today that the
coolant is not visible in the surge tank... I hope there's still some
water down in there, and that I (or the previous owner(s)) didn't
damage the engine by running it without coolant! I noticed that the
rear engine drain cock is easy to reach from the right front wheel
well, so flushing out the cooling system should be a lot easier than
it was on my deuce, which requires some uncomfortable contortions to
get at the rear engine drain cock. My oil pressure looks too high.
Hopefully an oil change and new filters will cure that, and my engine
might be one that wants the newer 120 PSI sender and gauge, rather
than the 60 PSI set that's currently in there.
-- Mark J. Blair, KE6MYK <mblair1@home.net> PGP 2.6.2 public key available from http://www.keyserver.net/ Web page: http://www.qsl.net/ke6myk/ DO NOT SEND ANY UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL EMAIL TO THIS SITE PLEASE SEND PLAIN ASCII TEXT ONLY -- NO HTML OR QUOTED-PRINTABLE
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