From: V SCHWARTZ (vsaws@optonline.net)
Date: Sun Feb 12 2006 - 06:32:49 PST
Good post , I'm going to check that location on My a2 just to be sure
Thanks Vinny
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chance Wolf" <bigbadwolf@telus.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2006 9:30 PM
Subject: Re: [MV] mutt M151-A2
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Convoy Magazine" <convoymagazine@yahoo.com>
> To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
> Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2006 6:40 AM
> Subject: [MV] mutt M151-A2
>
>
>> When seeking a MUTT for purchase, what specific points
>> of this family generally (related to all versions)
>> should one examine closely on a used vehicle prior to
>> buying,
>
> Three little words: Rust, Rust, Rust. You can overcome anything
> mechanical
> because so many mechanical parts (both NOS and used) are available through
> Supply Line and Military Vehicles Magazine vendors etc., but rust in the
> key parts of the monocoque undercarriage is not so easily dealt with.
> There
> are also lots of cut-in-half rewelds out there which have been put
> together
> less than professionally, so aside from the integrity of the welds (and
> look
> very closely underneath indeed - paying special attention to the main
> channels and anything freshly undercoated), grab a measuring tape and
> measure the vehicle from stem-to-stern and compare it to an uncut one.
> One
> of our members (WCMVHS) did some amazing rewelds the *right* way (and
> measured the vehicle to get it exactly right), but others I've seen have
> misaligned front and back halfs 'camouflaged' with bucketloads of
> fiberglass
> filler and/or worse malaises. Seriously, if I were looking for another
> one
> tomorrow, I would spend my entire time looking over the body with a
> magnifying glass and taking the relative quality of the running gear as a
> healthy bonus.
>
> Also watch people who look at your reaction to various rust-outs and say
> things like, "Well, you know that you can get the Big Rust-Out Kit for 200
> bucks, so what's your worry?" Well, the "Rust Out Kit" doesn't have
> everything, and it specifically doesn't have the cross-member running
> underneath the vehicle just behind the seats that the rear suspension kind
> of puts a strain on. If you have rust there and/or the areas the
> differentials mount to (and prod and poke with a screwdriver until you're
> satisfied), you have problems. The Military used to condemn bodies for
> rust
> here. My own 151A2 is sidelined because of nasty (unsafe) rust there, and
> I
> have to get the affected bits (the whole crossmember, actually)
> fabricated.
> On the AM General bodies also take a good, hard look at the
> rear-differential mounts. They had a bad problem where the frontmost one
> would rip clean away from its moorings, and they even came out with a kit
> to
> 'fix' it. Unfortunately many were 'fixed' post-Army, and done less than
> competently with $100 arc welder and a great deal of haste.
>
> Floor panels, battery box floors and the support structure underneath rot
> out quite regularly, but you can buy replacement panels for this stuff and
> the entire rear floor pan (behind the gas-tank) in repro now. Plus that
> sort of rust isn't structural, so even if you're doing a 'combat
> restoration' you're not compromising your safety. As far as annoying
> stuff
> goes, let the clutch out on your test drive and listen for a pronounced
> 'bang' underneath the rear floor pan of the vehicle. That's almost always
> a
> bad suspension bushing (if not a bad axle-shaft u-joint), and if not dealt
> with fairly quickly, generally results in an elongated bolt-hole on the
> bracket assembly(ies) which will require either replacement or welding up
> and redrilling (being metal-on-metal action) before you can change the
> bushing itself (real cheap - 12-14 bucks.)
>
> If you're driving it home, also check the bolts/nuts holding the lower
> a-frames in place up front. I've had quite a few of the nuts which are
> either really loose or not there entirely, which would make for some
> rather
> fun random suspension geometry on the way home, and a few white-knuckle
> moments we could all do without. :)
>
> Anyhow, my two bits.
>
>
>
>
>
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