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Hello, Allow me to introduce myself, My name is Curtis Newman, and after years of looking, I finally found an m-715 that is close to home and in my price range, so after wiping off some drewl I got out the check-book and drove home my new 1967 m-715
yesterday(man it was sweet), It is all stock, with a top speed is 45mph, and I am wondering what the top speed of a slightly modified 350 chevy powered m-715 is?
With stock gearing and size tires you will still only run 55-60. Which is what a good running 230 should do. 45 means that you motor just need a tune up to get the best out of it. A search here should turn up plenty of tune up tips. The big limiting factor in speed is the stock 5:83 gearing. If you want to run hiway speeds then start looking to regear the axles, or switch to a larger tire.
Dave
1967 Kaiser Jeep M715 weapons carrier:http://www.davidallenracing.com/M715.htm
1967 Kaiser Jeep M35a2 2.5 ton cargo truck: http://www.davidallenracing.com/M35A2.htm
Delta Team Decals: http://www.i2k.com/~schwarzd/
45 is wide open, yes it will go faster but if you want it to live 45 max JMO
If the truck is one of the later models with the governor under the carb, 45 may be about all one can do without removing that.
It should be able to do 60 MPH, but it is at a fairly high rpm for the stock engine, close to 3500 RPM's, which isnt a good constant speed in most cases. The transfer cases also have penchant for developing super high temperatures that lead to seal and lube failure....the latter ruining the case. For any kind of distance driving, more than 30-40 miles of fairly flat ground at speed, 50 MPH has been shown to be a reasonable speed lmit to self impose on the system. More than that, or even trying to maintain that in steep terrain, leads to high heat and problems in the t-case.
with the 725 and all stock drivetrain, with a 350 and 38.5 boggers, I had an emergency and it was taching 6000 all the way home (13 miles) to get my step daughter to the hospital and by the formulas, I was close to 100 mph.
nothing was found out then but later we found that she had heart problems with the valves, needs a regrind job.
on the highway I can keep up with traffic but not recommended as about 3500 rpms is hard on the engine and it wont live long. the low gears work real good offroad as most people try to regear there trucks to be as low as our are stock.
IF....you change out the stock tcase for an NP205 and have a decent running 350, you could run 60 as long as you like....course you still would be pushing 3500 RPM's on a contant basis and over time, thats not the kindest thing for such a motor. The NP205 will not have the heat problems of the stock NP200...so much the better...
You can go to a 38 inch tall tire without doing any suspension mods or lifting the truck...drops the 60 MPH rpm from 3482, with the stock 34 inch tires, to 3115...a bit easier on the motor and the gas pump....
Up to you then how much you want to push it....
I generally run my 725 right around 3000 rpm with 36" tires - I'm told that's around 54-55 mph, fast enough pushing a barn.
Budget allowing, I prefer to stick to the stock configuration. 45 mph is fine
for now; But I do have a spare small block in my other truck, worst case I will drop it in, until then it will be 45mph.
With a 383, TH400 tranny, an NP203/205 Doubler, 4.56 gears, and 38.5" tires, my truck cruises very well at 60-65... I've had it to a top speed of 75-80 a couple of times, but that's more excitement than I need in a day's fun...
one other item here... If you DID stick with a stock driveline, the NP200 would be your limiting factor. All other things being equal, it won't live too long above 45MPH.
The change to 4.56 axle gears is the key to that kind of speed....
Changing the axle ratio to 4.56 gives the same RPM at 60 as if one left the stock 5.87 gears in place and mounted up 44.5 inch tires....big change there!!
why ruin a good thing? there is nothing wrong with cruising along at 35mph and commanding respect from others who are driving behind you while in a 45 mph zone. i see it as community service by controling the speed at which people drive in my town.
That is pretty much what I am thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any way, "SPEED KILLS"
Thanks, Jon, for correcting the stock gear ratio in this thread. Someone earlier stated 5.83, which I believe is correct for M38 M38A! and M37s, but not the M715. (or isit 5.38:1? I think 5.38, not 5.83...
Secondly - since noone mentioned yet - always remember that getting up to speed isn't always the end of the quest. Controlling the truck (cornering, wheel wobble, yadda yadda yadda) also come into play, as does the normal desire to whoa it back down. Sans trailer or load, the stock drum/drum brakes are quite adequate when properly maintained and adjusted (remember these are NOT self-adjusting!), and are generally sufficient with a rated load. Add "extra" loading, wet roads, steep grades, or other factors, and you'll soon learn why radial tires, disc brakes, and ABS were developed!
Happy motoring, and welcome aboard!
I feel the need.... the need for speed!
But I do like coming home to my good ole rusty, I mean trusty barn (as someone so nicely put it)
Yep....all good points.
One thing that seems to escape the younger foks I talk to is something that was stressed on me many years back...
Your brakes and your front end are your life.
The motor can blow, trans fail, tcase go out....lots of stuff can happen and you can still get safely off the road or trail....but your brakes or your steering go....I hope your prayers are up to date...
driving slow is cool as you can see the looks on peoples faces as you drive by and no one can or will try to run you off the road. LOL!
these trucks are made out of real steel and unlike cars of today they will survive and probably out live us. As soon as it warms up here, Im going to start building up the 715's, one for me and one for betty. hers will be mild and mine will be wild.
After looking all over my 715 now my wife wants me to build her one. She is epileptic and had a siezure and totalled my 97 Suburban a while back. She normally drive an Explorer and everyone from the crash site said that if she wasn't in the 'Burb, she would not have walked away. Fortunalty she only ran off into woods and nobody else got hurt. First thing I said to her about a 715 was NO, God forbid she hits another car. I would rather her in something that crumples a bit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dave
I'd see it as being a rude driver and can't imagine that it would command respect from anyone. I usually pull off and let them pass, as some folks actually have important objectives to accomplish in their lives and time is precious. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by IAN_M715
Of course with a 350/4500/205 and 39" tires, I generally don't have to drive 10 miles under the speed limit. Nor do I need to command respect from anyone by the type of vehicle I drive. :p
....yeah. so there is a sports talk radio show in boston that has this thing called the "whiner line" where callers can leave messages and complain, give opinions or just whine. each day at 1700 they broadcast the whines of the day- the radio station even has whiney awards that is a sponsored event every year for the best whiner. i think the zone needs a whiner line thread under the BS board. this would be perfect! could even give out whiney awards too! same but different.
I heard the new speed limit in Tx has gone up to 85mph. I think I'll take the speed of 45mph in a tank then a tin can doing 85mph.....I take that back aluminum can.......Quote:
Originally Posted by cnewman425
Not really on the new speed limit. A House bill proposes that on specific roads in specific areas, it can be raised. Think middle of nowhere that has no people.
I've found a 715 actually handles surprisingly well at speed... It handles at lot nicer at 70 than my f-150 did!
We need more texas politicians here in california... they keep lowering speed limits here, not raising them. And every time they do, accidents go UP, not down. So they use the increased accidents to say it's obvious the speed limit is still too high, and needs to be lowered again. We're now down to 50mph on the local 4-lane flat, open freeway. Accidents have gone up 22%. Now they want to make it even worse. Of course, revenue from speeding tickets has gone up dramatically, but that couldn't possibly have anything to do with it...
--Randy
Of Course not Randy come on you don't really think all those politians are greedy do you? That would be insain..... And I agree lower speeds = higher risk on open road think of it like a combination of tunnel vision and being to relaxed and not as alert. If your doing 80 your more alert to dangers and pay more attention or at least you should be. If not your a statistic and in some cases need to be removed from the gene pool, but then again I am a bit cynical when it comes to that kinda thing.