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#1
25-05-17, 13:14
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Australian M816 wrecker build.
Hi all. I am widening my search for anyone that can shed more light on the changes/modifications/spec differences between US Army M816 wreckers and those that the RAEME operated.
I am part way through converting my own M816 over to RAEME specs - lots of fabrication, sourcing of 'down under' lighting and other CES kit. There were purchase specs, base modifications - to meet Aussie road regs, in-service changes and end-user 'comfort'/job specific/task mods.. Have already had a load of help from various Recy Mechs etc., but would always like to hear from new sources. Hi to all I have met on other forums.. 
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#2
25-05-17, 16:54
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Welcome
G'day Howard,
Welcome to the forum. How's the M816 coming along? We would all welcome some posted images of your progress. Mike
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#3
26-05-17, 03:08
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Hi Mike - trying to upload some pics.
Here is the welding bottles relocation/resize and the trailer board stowage/telescoping beacon post ('T' piece and beacon bases yet to be fab'd) before I removed the hard cab. Soft top awaiting install, however minor hick-up to progress being rot to the compound sections in the cab under the door shuts. I tried to add multiple pics but kept getting "failed" message. Will try to get pics of modified rear steps, Holmes gear sub frame, TAC plate holders, Hollebone and spade stowage, transfer lever extension, external lockers, marker lamp guards etc., all things so far fabricated. I have gotten some lamps from down under - though the cab side turn repeaters are so far illusive. The paint on the trailer board, board support and the telescoping beacon post is the end colour that you sent me the official paint chip/card of. Currently, I am doing all the mods and some protective painting as I go, but overall paint will be done later. Last edited by Howard Smith; 26-05-17 at 03:40.
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#4
26-05-17, 03:24
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Passenger side stop end with rego plate lamp.
Had to resize pic before it would upload.. Need to find source for reproduction Army number plates!
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#5
26-05-17, 04:58
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Sorry I cant tell you about differences on the Aussie M816.
I did do some miles on them at 2 EME services at Homebush who had a few. I know at the time they were a couple of inches too wide for then Australian rule rules and we had restrictions on driving them over Tom Uglys, Ryde bridges and Parramatta rd during peak hours. I do remember the front bumper being white and back striped .....I think for the extra width and caution left hand drive painted on the rear. They were not often used off road as the high wheel loading meant they sunk easily and you spent a great deal of time doing self recovery. The auto front wheel drive didn't help. I remember the M816 being extensively used with the Freighter 15 ton dual axle tilt bed trailer and we mostly seemed to get jobs of moving around M113s to save track wear. Rarely did lift tows as the trailer was nearly always on the back. Heavy clutch, light steering, cool exhaust noise if siting in passenger seat. When loaded with a M113 on the trailer splitting the gears on the main gearbox with the transfercase was common climbing steep hills, the synco in the transfercase helping, but the ratios line up between the main box and transfercase was no where ideal. Ron
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#6
26-05-17, 05:17
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Quote:
See His Ebay listings for his AMF plates to suit the period of your truck. The TAC signs he lists are the 6"x6" light vehicle size, but will make the larger truck versions on request.
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#7
26-05-17, 11:50
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Gday Howard,i dont have any useful info to help you with ,but was just wondering if you were an ex-pat aussie now residing in the US or just happen to like the look of the Aussie spec wrecker.
I ask purely out of curiosity . Cheers John
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#8
26-05-17, 12:53
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John - yes Ex-pat but not an Aussie..... a pom!!
I am more a-kin to REME stuff from the UK and had an opportunity to get a wrecker cheap'ish a few years ago. When I saw a vid of John Bellfields 816 I noticed the differences... then more differences. With the Blue/Yellow/Red TAC plate on the front ....Well that was all I needed! Been researching ever since. I have full size TAC stickers - with the roo for out of country! Oh yeah - I will need a couple of genuine, made in Oz, plastic water Jerry Cans... saving up for the postage!!
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#9
26-05-17, 13:00
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Quote:
Quote:
Cheers Last edited by Howard Smith; 31-07-17 at 13:19.
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#10
26-05-17, 13:05
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Quote:
Can't wait to get it on the road with the CAUTION LHD on the back - gonna get some funny looks/questions. Last edited by Howard Smith; 28-05-17 at 03:56. Reason: Oops - got my RHD and LHD mixed up...
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#11
27-05-17, 02:47
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Hi Howard,love your way of thinking,will be good to see pics of it at shows etc you will definately get some curious looks etc.
Are you actually going the whole hog and converting it to RHD or just going with the stickers,and if you are converting will it be legal for the road there?,i couldnt see Aussie state road authorities letting anything on the road here unless it was imported and came that way from its country of origin . W.A. and the N.T. let LHD cars on the road pre 1988 but anything after that date has to be converted to RHD,other states have different rules(i think)but i dont think anyone has actually tried to convert something RHD to LHD and still stay registered in Aus on the road (unreg or off road they dont care). American DOT may have a more liberal approach than our guys,im not saying it cant be done but i reckon the hoops they would make you jump through would be enough to make MOST people shy away,if it was possible you would probably have to run on a special permit-limit hours etc etc. My son has a 1942 Diamond t 980 and a Diamond Reo M35 here both rough conversions to RHD we will probably convert at least the Diamond T back to orig LHD configuration.I have a Humber fv1601 and a Inter Acco 6x6 f1 GS Again Howard i am just fascinated by what you are doing and would like to see how it all turns out,a U.S. truck converted to RHD Aussie spec piloted by a pom in The U.S.of A---Lucy you got some splaining to do---.' cheers and best of luck John
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#12
27-05-17, 14:36
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John - I am going as "whole hog" as I can... BUT that doesn't include switching to RHD! The purchases of M816's in '71 and '73 were factory LHD - and hence the "Caution Left Hand Drive" stenciling on the rear.
There are other Aussie LHD's - mostly WWII yank stuff. Here in the States RHD isn't a problem - both my Land Rovers were imported without issue and have never had any problems driving them either. I can convert the gauges to metric but that question hasn't come up yet in my research - I think Australia went metric from the early '70's to late '80's but as far as military purchases from overseas - not sure. Pick attached is of "Shakey" at the Puckapunyal Tank Museum. The other wrecker is a M543, Vietnam era, also LHD. Seen in this pic is the subframe (4"tube) above the drag winch rollers - an inservice mod, when the Mack troop carriers entered service, to switch over to Holmes tow gear from tow bar (Hollebone) and Whiffletree.
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#13
28-05-17, 01:58
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Quote:
Holden HQ series 71 to 74 is my way of remembering roughly when MPH to KPH took place ,early cars were old measurement and around late 73 leading in to 74 their speedos showed both miles and kilometres on the speedo face,the next model HJ series were just in metric (i think) my memory has dulled though so i could be wrong.Dont think you would have to convert even on a truck that was imported in to Aus as there were probably no metric gauges available yet for direct fitment to m816 dash anyway,although a decal/sticker was available for quite a few years by various makers to suit a wide range of vehicles speedos.My guess would be they stayed in miles per hour for a fair while at least and then MAY have copped a conversion sticker at some stage of their later life. If you are aiming for a Vietnam era wrecker i think MPH is a fairly safe bet. Cheers John
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#14
28-07-17, 18:23
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Ground Anchors RCEME M816
Just curious what ground anchor set the RCEME guys used on their 816's - any one know?
Plate and hex pin sets - like the Brits and Aussies or the collapsible triangle type that the US had WWII+
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#15
29-07-17, 15:04
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Guages. when I was driving them in the 1980s was as per delivered in imperial/.....MPH measurements.(standard M series instruments)
It would not have changed in service until they were desposed of in the late 1980s to 1990. I remember the stop lights had to be turned on before driving them on a public road. The other interesting thing was to double pump the brake pedal if you wanted to stop with a trailer on or you would get trailer only brakes and a big lock up with little braking effect. Last edited by Ron King; 29-07-17 at 15:22.
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#16
29-07-17, 15:20
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Australian Army during the 1980s used a hold fast system which was a cast steel frame with about 8 holes for ground pins to be hammered though.
Early pins were round and later pins were hexagonal as the hex pins when twisted round a bit were easier to remove. The cast frame had a big D shackel which could join it to other holdfasts in line to increase anchoring force.. I don't remember any special anchoring gear just for the 816 as it's 20 tons weight with hydraulic micro switch brake lock on was usually enough for most jobs. On the East coast of Australia where I did use the 816 plenty of trees are around. Heavy winching done out the back with the front winch for self recovery and if necessary out to a tree or another anchor point.
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#17
29-07-17, 16:36
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Dear Howard,
congratulations on another barking mad project, great read and great attention to details. Do you still have the 1 Tonnes? Love reading this Robin
__________________
Robin Craig Home of the Maple Leaf Adapter 2 Canadian Mk1 Ferrets Kawasaki KLR250 CFR 95-10908 ex PPCLI Canadair CL70 CFR 58-91588 Armstrong MT500 serial CFR 86-78530 Two Canam 250s Land Rover S3 Commanders Caravan Carawagon 16 GN 07 Trailer Cargo 3/4 T 2WHD 38 GJ 62
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#18
29-07-17, 16:40
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Ron,
I call them ground anchors, but hold fast works for me also. was this similar?
__________________
Robin Craig Home of the Maple Leaf Adapter 2 Canadian Mk1 Ferrets Kawasaki KLR250 CFR 95-10908 ex PPCLI Canadair CL70 CFR 58-91588 Armstrong MT500 serial CFR 86-78530 Two Canam 250s Land Rover S3 Commanders Caravan Carawagon 16 GN 07 Trailer Cargo 3/4 T 2WHD 38 GJ 62
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#19
30-07-17, 02:47
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The Aussie ones were the same in concept with the same pins, but the main body of the holdfast was a steel casting and thinner in the body of it.
The pins were angled the same. The Aussie holdfast did not use a pin arrangement to join them together, but had a hole in the end of the body which took a large D shackle which was normally left in place. I remember it well..........having to knock in those pins into the ground with a sledge hammer in rocky ground,40c degree heat .............and having the drama of trying to get those pins out again. Then having to lift it all into the back of the wreaker which is shoulder height on me. Last edited by Ron King; 30-07-17 at 02:53.
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#20
30-07-17, 03:02
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Found a picture of the body of the holdfast we used in the Australian army in the 1980s.
 ground anchor by john smith, on Flickr
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#21
31-07-17, 12:37
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Ron/Robin... I was actually trying to find out what the Canadians used!!
For mine - I have a pile in the UK (same as you pictured Robin) slowly building - I need 8 sets, that's 64 pins! Used in a V formation with two links of 4 out each side. They will all "just" fit in one of the tool boxes up on the bed. Trick will be to fab the carrier so that I can get them out with the crane in one go - I believe that was sometimes an "end user" mod... The Recy Mech I have been taking to in Oz used the same MoD style though I had seen pics of the thin cast ones too. Robin - you got any of those for sale maybe? - yup, still have the 101! Just ordered a load of parts from the UK to get it tidied up a little bit. Ron - stop lights - I have the Hella "stop, reflector, turn" lamps that were road reg necessary (amber turn) but do you recall what functions of the original US lamps were retained seeing as the red turn had to be disabled...
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#22
31-07-17, 12:46
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Howard,
no I have no stocks here. Glad to hear you have someone finding them in the UK for you, I would be interested in a co loading perhaps for some lumpy bits. Sent you an email also.
__________________
Robin Craig Home of the Maple Leaf Adapter 2 Canadian Mk1 Ferrets Kawasaki KLR250 CFR 95-10908 ex PPCLI Canadair CL70 CFR 58-91588 Armstrong MT500 serial CFR 86-78530 Two Canam 250s Land Rover S3 Commanders Caravan Carawagon 16 GN 07 Trailer Cargo 3/4 T 2WHD 38 GJ 62
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#23
31-07-17, 13:04
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Ron - Just realised that Phil also lives in Nowra!!! I think I have his address somewhere - he was in 21 Const Sqn.
He currently has a WWII Jimmy shop van (CCKW) so you should know him!! I found out that his actual M816 is in the back lot at Bandianna! Apparently they are going to make a special exhibit of it, to show off the ingenious skills of the 'crafties' seeing as his was the most modified of all in service. Last edited by Howard Smith; 31-07-17 at 13:14.
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#24
31-07-17, 13:43
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I am very vague on the 816 tail light arrangements.
I think the big M series stop light was used..........And may be direction indicator/tail light from a Australian International truck fitted as a extra light either side. Yes Phil lives only a short distance away with his modified GMC. I have not spoken to him in a very long time. I do see him giving his truck a run every now and then to keep it a live and road worthy. I think a Aussie fitment was also a amber clearance light near the mirrors and I think there was a amber direction indicator light ...........A long thin thing high up on the cabin somewhere too. Last edited by Ron King; 31-07-17 at 13:54.
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#25
01-08-17, 03:03
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<<I am very vague on the 816 tail light arrangements.
I think the big M series stop light was used..........And may be direction indicator/tail light from a Australian International truck fitted as a extra light either side.>> Yeah - I am trying to figure out the logic with the regs and the spare stop lamps..... <<Yes Phil lives only a short distance away with his modified GMC. I have not spoken to him in a very long time. I do see him giving his truck a run every now and then to keep it a live and road worthy.>> So glad that you know him - he's been a fantastic source of info for my build - and the stories he has too!!! <<I think a Aussie fitment was also a amber clearance light near the mirrors and I think there was a amber direction indicator light ...........A long thin thing high up on the cabin somewhere too.>> I do need to try and locate a pair of the long cab side direction indicators - though I am going to hate mounting them through the soft top! The mirror ones appear to just be little round amber lamps.
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#26
01-08-17, 08:53
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Supplementary side direction indicator lamp
Hella p/n 2119 or P/n 2120.............should be the ones on the side of the cabin. http://www.downunderah.com/page005.html Hella P/n 2404 I think were used with the ON TOW sign. Last edited by Ron King; 01-08-17 at 09:06.
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#27
01-08-17, 09:03
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I do not remember really well what was used on the rear besides the American M series lights.
Logic would suggest the Aussie army would use a rear light already in the parts system from a Australian ACCO 4x4 truck made by International Australia. This link shows what the lens look like. P/N....857716R91 http://www.aussieedsworldofoldtrucks.com.au/lenses Extra stop lights don't matter in Australia.......but a amber direction indicator does and usually mounted closer to the side of the vehicle than the American M series lights. Amber clearance light on mirrors or cabin roof common in Australia from the late 1950s Ron PS Phil would Know me as the 101 landrover and 1945 6x6 Studebaker man. Another interesting thing is the Australian Army Studebakers were fitted with extra stop light replacing the original WW2 US army lights and Amber swing back clearance lights on arms from the cabin roof. They also had a complicated yellow mechanical hand signal for right turns( left turn hand signals done by drivers left arm) and stop hand signal position on that indicator . They were also marked Caution Left Hand drive.( even civie owned ex army WW2 jeeps at one stage) Caution air Brakes was marked on some of the heavier Australian army vehicles.........but not now as air brakes are common. It was all about the Australian army trying to get the vehicles to Australian road rule standards of the time. Last edited by Ron King; 01-08-17 at 09:25.
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#28
01-08-17, 13:19
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Quote:
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#29
01-08-17, 13:23
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Hella rear Stop/turn I have already gotten from Phil - see Trailer board in post 3, though I need to get some torpedo 24v bulbs....
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