Yeah, you're right. I knew I saw those threads and then didn't see them. Not sure what the problem was since they weren't linking to a specific auction.

Sucks how it feels like walking on egg shells over there... That's why I didn't start talking about any of the titling stuff, which is apparently now okay despite the stickies still being there, until I saw some 2016-2017 join date folks not getting slapped for it.

And thanks for the link to G503! Will be interesting to see what prices settle at. 1400 Marine Corps trucks in just California is a lot!

It was found:
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/03/27/troopers-stolen-national-guard-humvee-found-ohio-garage.html?ESRC=airforce-a_170329.nl

Sorry, cant figure out how to hotlink on my phone.

There, I linked it. Wasn't a problem for me though, I use the Linkification add-on in FF.

I honestly figured they'd find it in the woods buried up to its windshield in mud or wrapped around a tree so that's a little surprising.

Wonder what made them look for it where they found it...

Anyone know the size of the rubber coupler that mounts the fording snorkel to the intake base? Think it's 4" but can't remember...

Should be 4.5" ID 90 degree rubber elbow. The factory one has one leg longer than the other.

Attached File


The short leg gets installed on the filter housing inside of the airbox and the longer leg is supposed to come to the top of the airbox for the snorkel.

Apparently though if you're Kascar, you'll ship a plain old 90 degree 4.5" plumbing elbow with equal length legs. It will be a little below the top of the airbox making the snorkel install slightly off (like 1/4"-1/2" lower) but, it will still work and you can get the snorkel arm to mount to the windshield bracket with a some effort.

If you want to get the correct one, get it from Mac Motors or HPG. Part number 12339840.

I would really try to find parts at Mac Motors, Hummer Parts Guy, Ebay, Equipment Parts Sales or members on g503/ss such as 86humv before going with Kascar or Eastern Surplus & Equipment. I have had issues with Kascar selling knock off parts or poor reproductions and Ryan has too. I hate to think of all the new people buying from them and getting poor parts and time spent trying to make them work.

Ryan, maybe you could post a link to all of the good guys to buy from in the first post?

That's a great idea! I'll add that tonight.

So have been corresponding back and forth with GovPlanet re: the M1045A2's, thought you'd find their replies interesting:  

From the EUC folks:
This is the first sale where they listed the M1045A2 Humvees and I realized I needed give you some more information.

Not sure if you know about the approval process for the Marine M1123 and M1045A2 Humvees or not, but they go through a couple different processes prior to it being approved and could take 8-10 weeks to get it back. These Humvees are being sold straight from the Marine Corp and are not the normal ones being sold by the DLA and basically not only does the DLA and TSC have to approve the sales, but the Marine Corps and Department of Defense does as well.

We wanted to let you know because we do know that you are a previous buyer, but unfortunately the Marine Corps and Department of Defense do not take that into account.

And from the customer service folks when I asked if they were coming with SF-97's already built in to the service fee:
We have reviewed your item number.  Since these are government surplus items they have never been titled so we have to create registration documentation for these items. I have attached an SF-97 Request form to this email. This item is missing the year which means our inspectors could not view the year on the data plates or there was a discrepancy. In these cases we issue a request form to the buyer. The buyer can then contact the manufacturer, run and internet search or provide us the missing information from their knowledge and we can create the registration documentation/SF-97. Once you have filled out the documents please email to [email protected] or fax to 844.660.3199 and then contact customer care to complete the purchase of your registration documentation. It can take up to 30 days to create registration documentation.

Soooo, sounds like they're just getting their feet wet on these M1045 sales, and their coming straight from the Marine Corps (which I'm not sure is better or worse than from DLA -- will just have to wait and see).  The good news is that the process to get the SF-97 should be pretty straightforward -- just match the serial number to the production year and have them run the paperwork through.  I'm sure there's a chart or table out there posted somewhere showing the years and associated S/N's, or I'll send an email to AM General asking what year it was assembled.  And their de-mil code is still a "Q" -- so meaning I should be able to take possession as-is and not have to cut anything up :-)

Compiled from a few postings elsewhere (and to make it easy for anyone here to look up):

1985 100 to 8500
1986 8500 to 23000
1987 23000 to 43000
1988 43000 to 56000
1989 56000 to 73000
1990 100000 to 110000
1991 110000 to 124000
1992 124000 to 138000
1993 138000 to 159000
1994 159000 to 162000
1995 162000 to 169000
1996 169000 to 175000
1997 175000 to 180000
1998 180000 to 183000
1999 183000 to 194000
2000 176000 to 192000
2001 197000 to 199000
2002 199000 to 204000

This seems to match what my and my buddy's M998's are (both 1990's).  Anyone have something outside this range?

Yep, mine is outside that range. It's a 1994 and says date of delivery 4/94, corroborated by it being an A1 and various parts have 94 stamped on them, but my serial is 153951.

Yeah, that makes sense, since the chart seemed to come from a "date of manufacture" provided from AM General and could be off a bit from the "date of delivery" to the end user "AKA Uncle Sugar".  I'll see if I can hunt down some more "delivery" information somewhere...

True... The serial could just be tied directly to the tub's date of manufacture.

Mine is a 60000's and falls right in for a 1989. Glad to see some real info posted on these.

Matches the civilian VINs as well I believe.  The VIN for my 1998 HUMMER ends in 180144.  I heard this before on the HML many years ago, but had never seen this posted.  Thanks!

Do you have any interest in going to Haspin this year? The SS June trip has gotten too big and kind of 'clicky' (not so much fun last year) so I might arrange for a smaller group to go on an earlier weekend.

That actually sounds like a really good idea!

My two brothers were supposed to go with me but a friend of theirs up and scheduled a wedding for that weekend.

An alternate date might work out better for them.

I'd like to get in touch with my buddy Dave who's got a HMMWV and a couple other MVs and see if that might be something he's interested in as well.

Got my exhaust crossover pipe wrapped today. Was going to get my shocks changed but it turns out I didn't have a large enough socket.



It looks a lot better in this pic than I think it turned out. I had to do each section with a couple pieces with the exhaust being in the truck. Not ideal.

This is the exhaust wrap I bought. Titanium 2" wide x 50' for $15 a roll. One roll was enough to do the whole crossover pipe with some left over. Still have a whole second roll.

It's really too cramped to get to the rest of the exhaust without taking things out so I don't know that I'll be wrapping any more of it.

Comes time to do the 6.5T drivetrain swap, I'll wrap the exhaust before everything goes in the truck.

By the way, one thing I did find funny when doing the wrapping, one of the welds on the heat shield on my brand new crossover pipe is broken with nothing more than some street driving on it.

I am getting ready to mount the gunners platform and have seen a few posts with some measurements on G503. However, I understand the best way is to find the plywood piece with the cutout made and use it as a template. The problem is, I can't seem to find the part number for that piece of plywood in my Tech Manuals. Has anyone seen that part number?

Is this it? That square looks like it would be the right size for the gunner's platform.



I spent yesterday and today getting my old shocks out of the truck. The two fronts are definitely shot. The rears are very marginal.

No, it did not go nearly as easy as that sounds...

I had to go buy a set of large sockets from HF to get the nuts off of the upper pins/bolts. The nuts are 1-1/2, biggest I had was 1-1/4. Got those all off no problem.

The problems came from the bolts that hold the shock mounting brackets to the underside of the control arms.



FML...

3 of the 8 bolts broke. These aren't small bolts either. They're 5/8"! I suspect it is a combination of the red Loctite they had applied and rust. 2 of the bolts broke outside of the threaded holes in the control arm, 1 broke inside. The inside one broke on the front passenger's side control arm and the other 2 broke on the rear driver's side.

I've already partly drilled out the one inside. Tried heat and an extractor. It wouldn't budge with some decent force and I wasn't about to get an extractor broken off in there too. So, I made a trip to Grainger and got taps and bits on order, 1 5/8" tap and 1 3/4" tap in case I have to go up a size. The two ones broken outside, I'm going to see if the shop in town can weld some nuts on them and finish getting those out. Also got some new bolts from Fastenal to replace all of those.

When I put the new bolts in, I don't know if I'm going to go with red Loctite since I definitely think that contributed to the problem. These bolts do have lock washers on them (which I got new ones of as well) so I'm figuring since blue Loctite is good enough for the upper bolts with no lock washers, that's what I may use on the lower ones and just keep an eye on them for any signs of backing off. Either that or just a very little bit of red Loctite near the top (in relation to the bolt head) of where the bolts end up when fully seated.

Still haven't gotten the mounting brackets off the old shocks. The pins/bolts on those were rusted pretty heavily so I've been soaking them in PB Blaster and will for the next couple days. I'll try getting them off this weekend.

So far I've ended up having to spend an extra $55 on taps and bits and $35 on replacement bolts. I guess it's a good thing these surplus shocks were so cheap and I've only got about $60 in them.

Forgot to mention... Since I was working on the shocks, I also decided to install some T-bolt clamps I had picked up for the new fuel filler hose. The new hose I had installed is more rigid and has a steel wire insert and, I was a little paranoid the hose clamps weren't going to give the best seal. The thought of them eventually letting fuel leak or water get in when submerged doesn't appeal to me.



Now they're very secure!



On a side note, they're calling for a good chance of severe weather in my area tomorrow. Looks like my newly rebuilt shelter might get put to the test. Its new uprights are 16 ga steel fence posts and those are secured via ratchet strap and chain to cinderblocks buried a foot down. Also, no more little bungee attachments for the sides and top. Everything is zip tied as are the corner seams.

Potentially me tomorrow...

Ryan the link doesn't work. Also I know how you feel, one step forward two steps back. But in the end it will be better than before. Hope the weather holds out for you. We have been under bad weather watch twice in the last week and the forecaster were way off, no major storm events at all. Hopefully it will pass over your area too.

Try this. I think the ARFCOM Viglink stuff boggered up the last one.

ETA: Nope. Viglink still screwing things up. Going to notify Goatboy... Try searching eBay for "US MILITARY HUMMER VEHICULAR INSULATION, NSN: 2510-01-373-8445"

I put GT/CEPEK on my H1 4-5yrs ago, chase all the threads on the lower arm holes and torque to spec, don't use red Loctite, mine was a total bitch to remove as well, thank god the bolts didn't break, you'll enjoy torqueing the shock bolts if I recall it was like 450ft/lbs, I rented a 4' long torque wrench..

That's good to know. Figured I'd do exactly that and run the tap through the holes that didn't have any issues to clean them up. The more I think about it, the more blue Loctite seems a good idea. If a shock comes loose, it's isn't catastrophic like a half shaft coming loose so I don't mind red Loctite on those. Plus, the half shaft bolt holes are enclosed and not going to get rust on the opposite end like the shock bracket bolts.

TM says 300 ft/lbs for the pins/bolts. I hadn't gotten that far so hadn't crossed that bridge yet. Where'd you rent that wrench from?




Lucked out with the weather. The bad stuff ended up NW and SE of me. We got some decent wind (maybe 45 MPH tops) but I didn't have to put the shelter to the test.

I did get this nice shot before the storm moved in:



Saw we were getting some good cloud to ground lightning and fired up burst mode on the iPhone.

My bad 300ft/lbs is correct, I remember fighting to hold the wrench and 4' torque wrench, it sure wasn't easy doing it alone....I was buying tractor parts from a local JD shop, they rented it to me for $5 bucks...
http://www.flashoffroad.com/Maintenance/shocks/shockInstall.htm

After a quick read on Garage Journal, I realized I may already have the solution to the 300 ft/lb torque spec!

When they mentioned torque multipliers, it dawned on me I already have one in my RoboTools impact wrench set!




And, my 1-1/2" 3/4" socket fits perfectly!




Talk about that impact wrench set being a great buy! Now I just need to figure out what the ratio is. It may be too tight a fit in the rear so I might have to go pick up a 3/4" impact extension. I'll have to check clearance.

According to this, the ratio is 4:1. I've got an email into Aircraft Dynamics just to make sure.

I know it seems like I'm busy having a one man discussion but, wanted to follow up so the information is here for any one looking for it.

I got a reply from Aircraft Dynamics a little bit ago with the specs on the torque multiplier.

They stated it is a 4:1 ratio and that input is limited to 360 ft/lbs clockwise and unlimited counterclockwise.

From what I can see, quality torque multipliers like this are pretty pricey. Most of them by themselves are more than I paid for the entire impact kit!

Ryan keep posting the great info. I keep meaning to pick one of those up and place it in the tool box to have, but the supply seems to have dried up some. A few months ago there were a bunch for sale.

Oh yeah, no problem guys. Just didn't want to seem like I was +1ing this thread and my post count for the hell of it.

There's a kit up on eBay but its missing the expensive slave port plug and is way overpriced. Definitely recommend snagging one if you get the chance however. It is faster getting the lug nuts off of my truck than my air impact, plus all the extras that come with it.

Any SS rallies in your area in the near future?

They just had one. I couldn't make it but my parents went. It was mainly a WWII re-enactment but was also a SS get together/overnight camping. No real vendors or selling other than shirts and hats type stuff. There was only 1 HMMWV there.

Eat a dick old shock absorbers! You're out of here!




I think my torque multiplier just became my new favorite tool.

Going to get the one broken bolt I've partly drilled out addressed tomorrow and install the two, possibly 3, shocks I can. Will have to go talk to the shop in town Monday and see when they can get me in to weld the nuts on the other ones.

Did you just say that!? Lol that must have sucked aarss!

I may or may not have said that out loud when I got the last one out and then thrown it across the yard.


Interestingly, the top pins came out no problem with just my impact wrench. These bottom ones mounted to the brackets though, I thought I was going to get a hernia on until I got out the torque multiplier.

Lol glad you got them out! Now get them back it!

I was thinking about leaving them out for a bit and enjoying the stagecoach like ride quality.

I went to install my fording exhaust to night and come to find out the exhaust is for a up-armored truck and sticks out like 6"-8" !!! It was advertised as fitting a m998 and didn't say anything about being for a armored truck! He better make this right!

I replied to you on SS. Like I said, it should still be usable with some work but will require cutting it down. Lawdog/Lawman (on here) ran into the same thing, IIRC.

Who'd you buy it from on eBay if you don't mind sharing? Curious if it's the same person I bought from.

militarypartscenter Was the seller...

Ah, okay. I got my fuel tank skid plate from them.

Got my stack from rockfordarmysurplus. It's a little rough, and I'm going to have to refinish it, but it was $100 cheaper and bolted right up. Was hoping you didn't buy from the same person and I just didn't get lucky having one fit.

Well this exhaust is like brand new! But it doesn't fit! My luck!
I have gotten zero response from the seller as of now??
If I get no response I'll have to contact Fleabay...

On the up side I got a one piece snorkel to windshield bracket and snorkel from another seller on the Bay and the quality is KILLER!
Here's a link.  The guys very easy to deal with.
http://www.viglink.com/shop?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.viglink.com%2Fshop&ca=54582&cp=1659178&c=j19iap7z7s00zk8a04mjk<=&ou=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FHMMWV-Humvee-Air-Intake-Snorkel-HEAVY-DUTY-UPGRADE-an-bracket-deep-water-fording-%2F152416888165%3Fhash%3Ditem237cc12565%3Ag%3AEjsAAOSwPCVX9AwN%26_trkparms%3Dpageci%3A6bcc1a6f-1c7c-11e7-833a-74dbd1801504%7Cparentrq%3A4e7f98d615b0a86642b9085efffebd63%7Ciid%3A1

Ryan, good to see you got them off. Shocks aren't usually hard, but those put up a fight. I hope when it's time to do mine, I don't have these issues.

bravojmc, the vig linking messed up your link to ebay.

Sucks... well he is the only one on there selling nice snorkels.

Well I replaced the front driver side seat belt today. Old one was having problems going back in and was the green one. It popped open as soon as I got it off. With the hardtop, its a lot harder to replace as you have to take several pieces off. Wish I would have replaced it when I assembled the top.

Also prepped the rear fender liners I got a long time ago. I had coated them in Monstaliner when I did the inside, but I accidently did the wrong side on one of them. That was a let down when I went to install them last night. So right now I recoated them in some black bed liner I had and I am debating leaving them that way or spraying over with CARC to get a closer color match. At least the texture matches. ETA: Viglink seems to mess up the ebay links, so search for hmmwv fender liner and they should pop up for $25 for the pair. Shipping has gone up since I got mine.

And I keep waiting to hear back from the guy on SS that has the Rhino Tire carrier. I got in touch with him pretty soon after he posted and he was getting me the shipping price together and strapping to a pallet, then silence. Bravojmc, did you contact him too?

I'm wait on a quote from him too...

I hope he has more than 1. He is close to Southern Metals so he could get more there I assume. He also had some doors, but that add is gone. He communicated with me the first and second day, then silence. He has not logged in over there in two days. We will see, I know on some sites, that's how you get banned.

Same story...

Well, I got a later start than I would have preferred so I didn't make as much progress today as I'd have liked but, I did make some.

Had to run to Lowe's to pick up a couple 5/8" Grade 8 nuts for the broken bolts and to HF to pick up a handle big enough for my new taps.

While I was at HF, look what else I found... The magnetic cup holder from ThoseMilitaryGuys!



$10 and no shipping. Only problem is our dashes are aluminum so I'm going to figure out some way to bolt it up. Maybe use one of the existing radio tray bolt holes and add a couple more with nutserts. I've got some camo green Plastidip I'm going to coat it in. Here's the item number if you need it.


I ended up getting the shocks installed on the two unaffected control arms. Hardest part of the install was getting the lower pin torqued to spec on the bracket all the while keeping the shock lined up with the bracket correctly like JohnyRotten posted.

Would have been really nice if AMG had used standard hex head bolts for the upper and lower pins instead of the ones they did, something to get a nice easy grip on since they expect 300 ft/lbs torque. At least I already had a 1-1/4 wrench as part of a HF Service Wrench Set I picked up way back for a 1-1/16" wrench I needed for a Grand Cherokee oil pressure sender.

The torque multiplier worked awesome! Put in 75 ft/lbs get out 300! I did have to rig up a bit of a Rube Goldberg setup to deal with the lower pin but it worked...



Had to stick a metal rod through the bracket and use a cheater bar to leverage up on it since it wanted to twist downward as I was tightening the nut. Found I didn't really didn't need the 1-1/4" wrench braced on that ratchet through the bracket once it started tightening up. Had to use the lower 2x4 to leverage down on the torque multiplier since it wanted to come up while tightening.

I also decided to forego all Loctite and went the opposite direction with anti-seize. Like I said, with lock nuts and the substantial torque specs, I'm not overly worried about them coming loose but will check them on tire rotation. Also made sure to put some Lucas Red and Tacky on the inside of the shock bushings.

Tomorrow I'll tackle the drilling and tapping of the one broken bolt. Fingers crossed that goes well...

Got the nuts on the broken bolts. Will have to get to the shop in town Monday to see when they can fit me in to weld those.


ETA: Something interesting I noticed looking at the HMMWV torque spec sheet. It makes mention of the fasteners that need red and blue Loctite with respective highlighting. The shock brackets have no highlighting....

Success!

The drilling and tapping went mostly smoothly. I somehow managed to bend the 17/32" bit but it was right at the end of the drilling so it didn't affect anything. Must have happened when it snagged at one point. Tapping was hard to work through that steel but I went slow, kept it cleaned (with brake cleaner) and lubed (with cutting oil), and made sure to work it back and forth plenty. Ran a new bolt with some anti-seize in and out a couple times.

Got the 3rd shock installed no problem! Also went ahead and bolted the mounting bracket to the 4th one so once those other bolts are out, I can just get it installed.

The weather here is amazing today and it looks like the warm weather is finally here to stay so, I decided it's time to go ahead and take the tops off!

And since I had the tops off, I just couldn't help but go for a quick run into town. Even with that rear driver's side shock missing, the truck handled 100% better! Amazing how much the new shocks up front improved the ride quality. Definitely looking forward to getting that last one in.