M915A1 Repainted

[gpcpilot]

Couple more shots of the General working on the farm. Hope you like 'em.

-Tony

 

[Mack Attack]

Absolutely GORGEOUS ! You have a beautiful truck and its great to see it earns its keep too !
Very cool it really is a beautiful truck, How does it pull ? Will it pull 55-65mph ?

M/A

 

[gpcpilot]

Absolutely GORGEOUS ! You have a beautiful truck and its great to see it earns its keep too !
Very cool it really is a beautiful truck, How does it pull ? Will it pull 55-65mph ?

M/A

Thanks again! During harvest, we our typical gross weight was around 65K lbs, though on one load of soybeans we grossed 87K! Every load she pulled right up to 62mph (58 indicated, GPS determined the actual speed) without any trouble. With another step in the transmission, she'd probably gone faster.

Bobtail to the paint shop earlier this year, she did an actual 67mph on I-80 (75mph speed limit). The speedometer seems to be a bit pessimistic though, I've only ever seen it show as high as 62. I've gotten the top speed from my GPS.

 

[Old Lincoln County Iron]

Sweet! Just about makes me want a third M915A1, just to paint it up like yours! But the purist in me would want another 3 color camo truck, that also doesn't atract any extra attention from the DOT. Most of the time they just wave me on through the check points, when they don't they just want to check out the truck ( cool factor).LOL

 

[Mack Attack]

We used to dress in camo and pull the plates on the farm trucks before passing the scale houses they too would let us roll on by without weighing in. Which is a good thing most times we were well over GVWR

M/A

 

[Gunfreak25]

Little late to the game, but this sir is an excellent example of how we every day folks find the many way's to enjoy owning and maintaining these SteelSoldiers, many of whom have served their country so well. I like it!

 

[gpcpilot]

Thank you kindly! I was a truck mechanic in the Army and got to drive the M920 and was impressed by it. Enough so, that when we needed a truck for the farm, I was glad to find the 920's "little bro" and just love the thing.

 

[Mack Attack]

Yep its a wonderful truck, I thought the 916 was just right for me but never bought one.I'm guessing the 920 and 916 being all wheel drive run way slower than the 915s ?Been a long time I don't remember everything M/A

 

[quickfarms]

It looks good

 

[TurboMustang370]

Looks great.

 

[swbradley1]

That is one nice looking truck. While I would like one in green or tan that red certainly has me thinking I would have to have two just so I could have one like yours.

 

[Mack Attack]

Green and tan, I shot so many coats of those 2 paints it makes me puke. Also shot plenty coats of grey paint too.Red paint is perfect I have plenty in stock.

 

[plowboy]

That looks great, gpcpilot. We have had one for thee years. I bought kind of rough the first time, so it ended up getting parted and I recently purchased a number of very nice rebuilds. I might have to paint one up nice after seeing how good yours looks.

 

[gpcpilot]

That looks great, gpcpilot. We have had one for thee years. I bought kind of rough the first time, so it ended up getting parted and I recently purchased a number of very nice rebuilds. I might have to paint one up nice after seeing how good yours looks.

Thanks! We love the truck, it is an absolute beast. We have grossed 97K during harvest and she will pull right up to the 60mph limit on the way to the Co-Op to unload, without complaint. We'd decided to paint her from the beginning, and wanted something that would stand apart without being to garish.

 

[Ord22]

It gives the truck a different look, totally! Very nice.

 

[RoadBoss]

I really like how you kept this truck clean and classy. Does your truck have the automatic transmission? There is a butt load of these truck for sale on truck paper right now.

 

[gpcpilot]

I really like how you kept this truck clean and classy. Does your truck have the automatic transmission? There is a butt load of these truck for sale on truck paper right now.

Thanks, yes that's the truck's strong suit. It has the Allison 5-speed "automatic" in it. I quote the automatic because there are recommendations in the TM that suggest you select certain ranges depending on the traffic expectations. Plus, when you're grossing 85-95K, you REALLY want to downshift and jake brake when coming to a stop, to save on brake wear and avoid lockup. The grain trailer has antilock brakes, but of course the tractor doesn't.

Interestingly enough, when researching trucks and the possibility of an automatic (we figured wives would be more willing to help drive if there was no shifting) more than one mechanic told us that the only transmission that could hold up to farm duty was the Allison (for various reason too long for here). It was a search of trucks that had the Allison that lead to the M915A1.

The transmission if also its major hold back. The truck is a strong puller and will handily roll 95K loads right on up to the governed 57mph. The transmission could use one more step higher. Because of the limit, it isn't a good long-haul, over the road type truck. We cheated a little with slightly larger rubber on the driven axles, so we can get 62 loaded and 67 (GPS-indicated speed) at red-line empty.

We found ours on Truck Paper. I drove up to look at and test drive before buying, once we'd set on one that had a good description. I know that's not always possible, especially buying from government auction.

This is an awesome truck, easy to find parts/service for. But, like any purchase l recommend careful research and make sure you can live with it. There's no creature comfort, beyond a heater in these trucks. They're crude, the ride is solid with the spring suspension, especially on the occasional bobtail run. But, they're are a heck of a lot of fun to drive and you always get comments, compliments and thumbs-up on the road.

 

[plowboy]

what is your high idle speed set at? ours would run about 63 mph.

the ones i just bought have A/C!

we have a couple drivers (including my wife) who think the allison is a major selling point.

Here in Kansas we of course never weigh more then 85,500, but with the low gearing they handle that wonderfully even on marginal farm roads.

 

[RoadBoss]

Yeah, I know the Allison is a good transmission. I have been in Artillery for 18 years now and seen M813 to M923 to know the powerful MTVR prime mover. On the MTVR the allison 7 speed works really well with the C13 Cat. Of the three that we have used I think the M923 is by far the "dog" when being used to haul ammo or artillery pieces.

 

[gpcpilot]

Actually just had the high idle raised a bit this past week and the low idle too. It now idles about 600rpm low and 650 high. We also added an engine block heater for the cooler weather. Though we have no intention of every driving it when the weather's below 20-degrees F, it will reduce the amount of time we have to idle to warm it up.