Brought an M-725 home today!

[rpgdeity]

Well, I added another truck to my collection today (03-03). Headed up to Yakima WA and picked up a '67 M-725. It looks to be in a little rough shape, and the front axle was taken out and totally disassembled (not sure why though, as I got all the pieces and everything looks to be in good condition). The surprising thing is how original this truck is. My M-715, being an ex-forestry/fire service truck, had many of the original items removed/hacked/modified. As far as I can tell, this 725 is only missing a few things.

I left my house at 4:00 a.m. this morning. The 250 mile drive up there had us arrive at 8:45.

Thankfully, the neighbor had a small backhoe that was able to lift the front end of the 725. We then drove the trailer underneath it as far as we could. I then laid boards underneath the springs to slide on, and put the ramps on.


That 3-ton chain come along was a lifesaver. It pulled the 725 without too much effort, it was just slow going, as it moved maybe 1/8" every time I ratcheted.


Started getting everything tied down. Everything looked good, felt fine for the first few miles, then we checked everything before heading back on the freeway.



I was able to borrow this awesome trailer from a friend of mine. It was rated heavy enough for the 725 and pulled like a dream during the whole trip. Tracked wonderfully. Tomorrow I might have to take some quick dimensions off of it, because I think I'm going to build one just like it.

I'm not sure if this was some kinda joke, or serious Army rules, but 25 on the freeway!!?


Here is the back end/inside. First thing tomorrow I'll be cleaning out all that junk.


Well, I'm looking forward to working on this one, as I have with the 715. First priority is to put the front axle back together, and see if the engine will run. Then from there I have the usual list of mods planned, along with some interesting custom interior ideas to better suit this for Search and Rescue activites, as I have with my 715.

For Brute4c to add to the database, Date is 12-1967, Vin #11422.

[saxon]

Brandon, I just PM'd you asking you how it went, you must have been just posting... Congrats on you're safe journey and....... you lucky dog. It's always fun to start digging through the stuff of a new "find". Rest up, it's just begun, again! Looking forward to seeing it. Dan

[brute4c]

Nice score!! Looks like you had a good time getting it home.

25 on the highway....well...that tcase aint gonna overheat....

[boghog]

Looks like a very good score!

[SOCAL]

Nice score dude!!!!!!

[rpgdeity]

Well, today was very productive. I got the inside all cleaned out and got it off the trailer and into the bay it will be sitting in for a while, at least until I can finish the front axle and get it running. We have an All Unit practice search for Search and Rescue April 28th. I want to take the 725 to it. Not sure if this will happen or not, as I don't know if I can get the engine running or not, and I've got some pretty big problems with the axle. After digging through all the boxes of loose stuff, I discovered a few things:

First off, I found out why the previous owner tore the axle all the way down. Not sure what happened to cause this. It also appears that the guy bought a new ring gear, because the ring gear doesn't have any marks on it at all.


Also discovered the pass. side (short side) axle shaft has a slight twist of the splines, lol. I don't think I'll be reusing this.


Here is basically all that I have for the front axle. All of the steering components are kinda hidden to the left of the pic. The open diff. is not shown in this pic, but its in perfect shape and I can reuse it. I'm not sure what would be better, get all the little things and rebuild this axle, or try to find someone on this side of the US with a complete axle.


The only thing that I can find missing from the 725 is the front spotlight, part of the gas fired heater (the elec. fuel pump and plumbing is there) and 1 of the 2 stretchers. How hard is it to find the gas fired heater? I think it would be a good idea to eventually have some heating device for the back half, but is the gas fire heater worth messing with?

Another odd ball question, what was the passenger side compartment used for?

I will soon be removing the 24 volt generator, 24 volt starter, possibly both front and rear blackout lights and the hood blackout light.

The 1 stretcher that came with it appears to be original. I won't be using it, and would like to see it taken by somebody doing a restoration or something. It is in very good condition.

What is the surgical light worth? It too is in perfect shape, and I'm not sure I would use it to much, would also like to see it taken by somebody doing a resto or something.

I'll be calling the usual places (AB Linn, Memphis, VPW) to see about prices on the parts that I need for the axle. However, if anybody has a whole axle, or the parts that are messed up with mine, let me know. I've got a bunch of parts leftover from my 715, as well as the items mentioned above from this 725. I'd be willing to deal or eventually sell this stuff.

[compexp]

I sold my heater to Dave, as I didn't like the thought of a gas-fired heater sitting over the fuel tank - yes, i know they were like that, I just don't think it's safe.

The surg lights I've seen go for $75-200 - I paid 125 for mine. I paid $150 for both rear litter racks, if that's what you're referring to as stretchers.

Hope that helps - glad to have another 725 rescued!

[rpgdeity]

Alright, I know its been like a year since anyone posted on this thread, but I figured I'd use this thread to continue my M-725 buildup.

So dad has a bet on me that I won't get this thing running on the highway by August (the goal is to have dad drive it to the August PNWFE). Maybe this thread will hold me to actually getting it ready by then, lol.

Seems like this project kinda "sat" in the shop for a long time as we mulled over it and made little bits of progress. Well it finally is about time to finish her up, we have amassed almost all the needed parts. Here is a quick list of specs:

Engine: Dodge 318
Transmission: NP435
Transfercase: NP200 (this might change by the end of the week, working on acquiring an NP205)
Axles: Stock Dana 60/70 with 4.88 gears and Dana Power Lock in Dana 70
Tires: 36" to be decided

Oh, if any of the moderators see this, could I get the title changed to something like: "M-725 Buildup", thank you.

[rpgdeity]

Alright, first thing I got done this weekend was to make the needed jackshaft to go between the transmission and x-fer case. I wanted this to be a slip style shaft, unlike the stock solid shaft. I had a couple shops quote me roughly $300 for a shaft that was the required length of about 10". Decided I didn't want to do that, so here is what I did.

I had a spare rear M-715 driveshaft that had a dent in it, so it wasn't good for a regular driveshaft anyways. I cut the ends off, machined them down, and here is what I made. It works perfect, fits in there, and I can compress it enough to remove it without moving any of the cases.

[brute4c]

Nice work and good use of parts!