----- Original Message -----
From: "Matt Mouser" <webmaster@net-connection.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2001 7:58 PM
Subject: [MV] m151A2
> Hi,
>
> I saw a message in your archives about people using m151's as daily
drivers
> and even on the highway at sustained 65mph. I am very interested in
> purchasing an m151a2 for my dail driver. I need to know if it can handle
> long (very very long) trips on the highway as well as every day city
driving
> (maybe while carrying an m416)? I also heard somewhere that the hot water
> heater package works with a soft top up to -25 ! I live in cold climate in
> winter so that would be awesome.
>
> Anyone have any tips or information, I would greatly appreciate it.
I drove a 1962 M151 (with the swing-axle suspension as opposed to the A2's
trailing arm) to and from work - some 60 miles per day - for about four
years. The 151A2 I own now was my daily driver for around six-seven years
until one of the sub-frame cross-channels (the one the rear suspension ties
to) rotted out beyond belief.
Mine seemed to like 60 mph with no headaches for both the 300-350
miles-per-week commuting treadmill, and also did very long trips to the B.C.
Interior to the tune of 1500-3000 miles each. One of our members took his
151 on the MVPA's Alaska Highway drive (from Vancouver), another took his to
the Kansas City convention, and still another to the California event a
couple of years ago. They're quite reliable (though I'd do regular oil
changes), but I have noticed some things to look out for.
First of all, the electronic ignition is wonderful when it comes to saving a
bit on fuel, starting reliably, and remaining relatively resistant to
moisture-fouling. Provided you have a spare. I very nearly got stuck sixty
miles from anywhere when the ignition on mine packed it in, and had I not
had the presence of mind to pack a spare, I'd still be walking back. I've
had a few coils go as well.
Axle-shafts. Each axle-shaft has two universal joints toiling away at quite
the angle on occasion. They like to fail. The more slack you have in your
drive-train or axle-splines, the more often you'll be changing them (as they
seem to take up all the strain when you let the clutch out .) I've found
that greasing them very regularly just keeps your greasin' arm greased - as
they seem to fail anyway after the prescribed mileage has been reached - so
just pack spares.
Alternator mountings. The alternator bottom bracket and associated bolts
like to shake loose after lots of high-rpm driving, and if you don't check
them periodically, you'll make a mess of the threads where the bracket is
bolted to the block. I have seen many of these. Mine got put back in with
Loc-Tite.
Water pumps. Have yet to find a used M151 water pump worth a damn (one
lasted about a month, and no, my belts weren't too tight), but fortunately
the local water-pump rebuilder can usually help you out with your existing
one if it fails. No help in the bush, so pack a spare.
The only 'plague' with the engines seems to be their frustrating habit of
shedding manifold bolts and/or blowing out the exhaust gasket right beneath
where the carb sits on the intake manifold, or at the end nearest the damn
firewall where the bolt invariably shears off flush with the mount. They're
a positive bitch to remove, and though the Army came out with a mod kit
including stainless bolts and anti-seize compound, I've had those break too.
Have yet to find a workable solution for that one.
Steering/suspension front. Check to make sure every suspension bolt/nut is
nice and tight. High-milers tend to like to walk the nuts off the part of
the suspension responsible for one of the front end alignments, and as a
result, all of your shims scatter out along the road behind you, and one of
your suspension parameters becomes suddenly random. Three 151's I've driven
have had that happen.
Last, but not least, rear suspension bushings. When you let out the clutch,
you wind up with a pronounced 'clunk' from the rear (which you'll assume is
the u-joints again), and you may notice abnormal tire wear. There are two
bushings in each trailing arm, and these like to wear through on
high-mileage vehicles as well. If you leave it too long, you wind up with
damage to the hanger brackets bolted to the main sub-frame rails, and the
only way to fix it is to weld the holes up and re-drill to the correct
diameter, or find yourself a set of new brackets.
I miss driving my 151, but sadly, the one frame member that's rotted through
is the only one not supplied in the "Large Underbody Repair Kit" offered by
Murray and a number of others, so it's off to the unibody specialist to have
the thing removed, replicated and reinstalled. I swore after driving
Renaults until they disintegrated into a pile of iron oxide that I'd never
purchase another unibody vehicle as long as I lived and breathed, but on the
whole, the 151 was worth it for the years of service it gave, so I can't
complain. But I will anyway.
Now if I could only afford one of those lovely NOS replacement tubs out of
Holland....
Andy Hill
MVPA 9211
Vancouver, B.C.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jun 05 2001 - 23:18:35 PDT