M923 5 ton 6x6 cutting up for axles? - Page 2

Originally Posted by ScrapmanIndustries

If all you want is the axles we normally just cut the leaf springs near the hangers. then the driveshaft and what ever else might be attached and rip the rest off with the senebogen. But those trucks are pretty much infinitely repairable. people will buy them for parts or to fix up if it doesn't run. Why on earth would you torch a truck worth at least $5K? I'm actually looking around for one at the moment to use as a heavy hauling scrap truck if I start buying AC Compressors in bulk. I would hate seeing a perfectly good military truck getting the torch just to get an axle out.

i.e just torch the axles out and tear down the rest?

Re: great trucks, that they are! If I don't do this I'm keeping it (more I think about it, keeping it, and before I had the idea for a 4x4 wanted the M923 already). If you want someone to potentially school you on them, shoot me a PM. I have contacts that could find you a good one. I myself love these trucks for their infinite repairability and how basic they are.

The more I think about it I'm leaning back toward keeping the truck as is, until in many years it finally gets too rotten to be road-worthy, which as mentioned above takes forever. Thanks for the information though, still interested to hear others' methods though for when and if that time does come, keep the suggestions coming!

If i were going for the axles, i think i would just block the truck up and cut the U bolts with a grinder or a torch. Seems senseless to destroy the rest of the truck when you could possibly part it out for better than scrap. If it's one of the later versions of the M923 it's got a nice turbocharged 6 cyl diesel under the hood. There's the auto tranny, frame, cab, body parts. If the truck were low hours / low miles you might be able to double your money by parting it out.

It's a medium duty truck but it's got that nice 6 x 6 feature. Not many trucks have that. One half truck / one half tractor / built for battlefield conditions. Why not use it in the way it was intended ? It would be a fairly decent woods truck. If it was the long wheelbase version with a box ... it would be a decent delivery vehicle in the remote areas of Alaska. A 6 x 6 short wheelbase would be great for plowing the main roads with. Rig it up with a 10' front plow & and an 8' wing plow ?

It's a lot of bang for the buck in the 6 - 12 k price range. Can you imagine what it cost Uncle Sam to buy one new ?

Originally Posted by hills

If i were going for the axles, i think i would just block the truck up and cut the U bolts with a grinder or a torch. Seems senseless to destroy the rest of the truck when you could possibly part it out for better than scrap. If it's one of the later versions of the M923 it's got a nice turbocharged 6 cyl diesel under the hood. There's the auto tranny, frame, cab, body parts. If the truck were low hours / low miles you might be able to double your money by parting it out.

It's a medium duty truck but it's got that nice 6 x 6 feature. Not many trucks have that. One half truck / one half tractor / built for battlefield conditions. Why not use it in the way it was intended ? It would be a fairly decent woods truck. If it was the long wheelbase version with a box ... it would be a decent delivery vehicle in the remote areas of Alaska. A 6 x 6 short wheelbase would be great for plowing the main roads with. Rig it up with a 10' front plow & and an 8' wing plow ?

It's a lot of bang for the buck in the 6 - 12 k price range. Can you imagine what it cost Uncle Sam to buy one new ?

Gotcha. That was kind of what I pictured doing anyway, until it was suggested I take it to a yard whole. (Man that would be convenient though).

That said, I'm leaning more and more to keeping it. They are incredibly capable trucks, I'm a bit of a hobbyist with them anyway! I think now the only reason I'd chop it for the axles is if my state starts refusing to register former military vehicles (it happens in some states). At that point if the frame is gone/scrapped I think one can legitimately argue the vehicle "doesn't exist" anymore, if that ever becomes needed, though I doubt it will.

And arguably their bang for your buck ratio is huge, absolutely massive. They cost the American taxpayer $75,000.00 when new...I kid you not, this is an actual statistic I have read!

Originally I wanted one bone stock as a mud toy, I've just considered using the axles much more recently.

Re: good delivery vehicle, etc. if I keep it I would make it my daily driver. I kid you not. May need a Class B but I don't care.

I was just thinking scrap if I did part it out since geographically it might not be as easy to sell parts and if I didn't have a secod one like it I would have no use for a parts truck...hence asking the scrap metal experts what they would do.

Thoughts?

Originally Posted by hills

I wouldn't be at all surprised at the 75 k price to buy new. Couldn't find anything on the M923 but the base price for a new Hummer was about 70 K. The " armored up" versions were closer to 200 k.

I'm just a working man so the M923 wouldn't be feasible as a daily driver. It would just cost too much to own. Fuel mileage is somewhere between 6 - 10 MPG. Twin 50 gallon fuel tanks so about 300.00$ to fill them up ? Oil changes are 21 qts ? Six to ten truck tires that have to be replaced every so often ? ( About 900.00$ each) The batteries must be big and expensive. Oil change,battery and tires are just common wear items that you would probably have to replace before putting it back into service going over the road.More due to age than mileage.

There's a lot of heat that comes into the cab from the motor & transmission. There's a lot of sound too.

On the upside ... there's a million kool points for driving around in a 6 x 6.

I guess it's all situational. If it's something you can afford, and it's something you really like driving, why not go for it ?

You only go around once ... might as well make the most of it and have some fun while you're here !

You have to be a special kind of crazy to own one of these in the process, and I literally know people who have driven them daily for months/years at a time as an ONLY vehicle, or their sister variants anyway.

I read 75K for the M925A2, a sister model M939-series truck.

-Fuel tank is 85gal I think...

-Batteries: Two 8Ds or two or four Group 31s

Tires: About 300-400-500 each actually.

About 5-12 MPG, depending if you have the NHC250 Cummins or the 8.3 Cummins.

I'm talking about scrapping it above but you best bet I'm driving it as is for awhile first...For one thing I wouldn't do it until prices hit $400/ton again.

Hills- if you're looking into getting one, shoot me a PM. I run/admin an entire Facebook group devoted to M939 series trucks, others who know their stuff when it comes to these trucks.

Well...If I do continue with the 4x4 project, I did have a piece of advice to use a 2.5 ton transfer case for such. This may mean, I know, I know, also cutting up an old Deuce. (I'd be driving it around for awhile first of course!).

So in that case, I guess this is something the shear won't reliably do, so maybe pull the bed and cab and pull the case from above if I scrapped the truck anyway? Or am I better to go from the bottom up?

I think i would just crawl under the truck and drop the transfer case with a transmission jack. Next, haul the old duece up on a heavy equipment trailer with a winch. Transport to scrap yard.

Alternately, you could just have the truck towed to the scrap yard.

This way would be a lot quicker and easier than doing a tear down.

I think that's what I'd do then, drop the T case haul the rest up on a trailer, haul it to the yard, they shear it...

So with the Deuce I might do this, with the 5 ton torch it or have it sheared.

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

Would love some PICS of this endeavor

Absolutely. I'd document it. Try and get video or pictures of the rest being sheared as well.

Originally Posted by hills

It might be that the simplest thing would be to put the 5 ton up on the trailer, block it up with 8x8's, and then torch the U-Bolts.

To be honest though ... i think you would be better off to simply buy rebuilt axles and the transfer case from somebody that specializes in military parts.

It's all time and money. You were saying that the whole reason for doing this is to get parts to build a mud truck. Stay on task, chart the shortest route to your mission objective, then follow it through to completion.

It adds more work every time you go off on a tangent. Add enough extra work and you'll never get anything done.

False starts and failed projects nibble away at your self confidence and you eventually lose your Mojo.

Case in point:

Imagine walking out the door for the next ten years with the axles just sitting there in the yard.

Now imagine walking out the door and hopping into the really kool mud truck that you just finished building.

See what i'm saying ?

I'm thinking I may find takeouts as well. Otherwise as far as simplicity I think I agree, haul/drive it up on a trailer, drop the axles, haul the rest to a yard. Unless a yard will shear it down for me. Same with the Deuce, haul it up on a trailer then drop the t case, tow to scrap yard.

My main reason for tearing them out of a truck is that I wanted an MV as well, for awhile anyway...Drive one until something else does finally wear out, which could be awhile but I'm in no hurry.

Drive the m35 and m923 as is and get parts from like eastern surplus or something to build the other truck. the stock 923 is probably more capable off road than 90% of what I've seen people build/buy civilian wise. I just saw a 925a2 around here that i'm inquiring about. The sticker from the auction said it cost the taxpayer $73k for that vin number truck. I just got back from driving government owned 1088's around the desert for a month. them things are beasts. too bad I can't afford the half million dollar asking price for the new armored ones. once you remember that you got CTIS its really hard to get those things stuck. Although the last time I was there I forgot about airing down and kept sinking the M1120 I was driving.

Originally Posted by ScrapmanIndustries

Drive the m35 and m923 as is and get parts from like eastern surplus or something to build the other truck. the stock 923 is probably more capable off road than 90% of what I've seen people build/buy civilian wise. I just saw a 925a2 around here that i'm inquiring about. The sticker from the auction said it cost the taxpayer $73k for that vin number truck. I just got back from driving government owned 1088's around the desert for a month. them things are beasts. too bad I can't afford the half million dollar asking price for the new armored ones. once you remember that you got CTIS its really hard to get those things stuck. Although the last time I was there I forgot about airing down and kept sinking the M1120 I was driving.

That's awesome you're inquiring about an M925A2. Absolute creme of the crop there, think you'd keep it?

Scrapmanindustries, ever find an M925A2?

Just got an M939 series. Nonrunner but cheap. Needs some love.

If if I lost storage space and it had to go any pointers for scrapping it if I have to?

Any pointers for trying to get core for a dead NHC250 Cummins? Also, junking an old pumper bed off this one?

Originally Posted by M923

Any pointers for trying to get core for a dead NHC250 Cummins? Also, junking an old pumper bed off this one?

A bit light on horse power by today's standards, now if you had a KT series Cummins you wild be in the money I got $12,000.00 for a core that had a good crankshaft.