I would highly recommend you disconnect 2 of those batteries, especially if they are AGMs. That 4 battery bank was a gross milspec error. Cat specced a pair of group 31 batts for these engines and that is all they need. Because the batt was so big to meet a specification, but they neglected to match the alt, on the A1, they came up with a bandaid fix called a LBCD to disconnect weak/failed batts and put them on a trickle charge to keep from cooking the alternator. For the A1R they finally put in a 260a alt, but that was also necessary for AGM batteries. AGMs want 45% of their AH capacity from the alt when thirsty. You have a 240AH bank wanting 108A out of the alt, and you only have 60A@12/40A@24 to feed it with. Unfortunately You also have what looks to me to be what I call an A0.5. 3126 engine, circuit board power panel and A1 indicator panel but the rest is A0, so no LBCD. Those dual volt alts are horrendously expensive, so don’t let it set, keep a trickle charger on it when not running to keep the batts up. The real answer is 2 batts, and wet cells at that as even 2 AGMs are a little to much for the 100A…
Do those batteries specifically say AGM on their label anywhere? That 7256 P/N from Napa says it has a manufacturers P/N of 6TMF. Both the Napa 7256 and the 6TMF spec sheets say those are wet FLA(flooded lead acid) or standard wet cells. The removable caps got me looking into it, AGMs don’t usually have removable caps. In the case of theA0 or A1 LMTV with 100A(60/40) alternator, that is good news, as a wet cell only wants up to ~25% of the AH rating from the alt. Thats still 60A and on the 12v side once you add in lighting load(~25A) is still more than the alt can handle. Not sure the A0.5 has the same vampire load fault that plagues the A0, with the transmission sucking the 12v batts to nothing if you don’t keep a float charger and balancer on the battery bank. I suspect not as you should have a WTEC3 transmission and I believe they set them up 24v for both battery and ign, where the A0 feeds the trans 12v batt and 24v ign… I still recommend you drop to two batts, your alternator will thank you…
@RRONMAR This is very in-depth knowledge that I was unaware of. I appreciate this great feedback! It does not say AGM anywhere on the batteries. These are indeed wet batteries. Ill definitely take you up on this recommendation. As a side note, I love the videos you created and are very insightful!
Thank you for the videos............questions: where do you get parts for this truck? How available are the parts? How long to get the parts? How is the pricing on the parts? Thank you!
@maxvanrunkle1052, Thanks for the comment! I appreciate the support! I downloaded the operator and part list manuals for this truck. These manuals have the name, part number, and dimensions of this truck, which is invaluable. The availability of parts really depends on the item/part. In this video, I had to find a steering support column to mount the steering box to. This was a little tricky because the steering support column is not a heavily advertised item. I googled the part number which came up with limited to no results. From my research I know midwestmilitaryequipment.com/ works with these trucks all the time. I decided to emailed the sales rep with name, part number, and what I needed. They were able to work with me and pulled off a used support column from one of their parts trucks. So far everything I have needed for the truck I was able to find, it just takes time looking at forums, googling, browsing ebay, and getting creative. From the few things I have ordered the delivery time is usually a week. Since these trucks are behemoths, every part is pretty expensive. For example a used steering support column cost me $1800 used or $3300 for new. A drag link cost me 500+. In addition to the cost of parts, an added cost is needing bigger tools to get anything done on the truck. With that being said I have loved every minute working on this thing! I am taking my time doing one project at a time that I can afford and before you know it Ill have an overlander! I plan on making a video on the costs of these vehicles as I believe this is an item people would like to know.
M2 Expeditions thanks very kindly for your reply. I’m thinking about finding and buying one of these trucks and the learning curve is a concern. What you’re doing in your videos is valuable to this process!! Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge! Max
@@maxvanrunkle1052 I am not a mechanic by trade and these trucks were designed by the military which have 18 years old with little life experience working on them. If they can do it I am confident we can haha
Im not really a mechanic so this is a first heard for me. After googling the difference that makes sense as to why I should use the grade 8 bolts. Ill look into finding the right bolts and replacing them. Thanks for this good information.
This was sick, you gotta a lot of work done installing those batteries and getting that steering system together, cairn wait until that thing drives
Great job
I would highly recommend you disconnect 2 of those batteries, especially if they are AGMs. That 4 battery bank was a gross milspec error. Cat specced a pair of group 31 batts for these engines and that is all they need. Because the batt was so big to meet a specification, but they neglected to match the alt, on the A1, they came up with a bandaid fix called a LBCD to disconnect weak/failed batts and put them on a trickle charge to keep from cooking the alternator. For the A1R they finally put in a 260a alt, but that was also necessary for AGM batteries. AGMs want 45% of their AH capacity from the alt when thirsty. You have a 240AH bank wanting 108A out of the alt, and you only have 60A@12/40A@24 to feed it with. Unfortunately You also have what looks to me to be what I call an A0.5. 3126 engine, circuit board power panel and A1 indicator panel but the rest is A0, so no LBCD. Those dual volt alts are horrendously expensive, so don’t let it set, keep a trickle charger on it when not running to keep the batts up. The real answer is 2 batts, and wet cells at that as even 2 AGMs are a little to much for the 100A…
Do those batteries specifically say AGM on their label anywhere? That 7256 P/N from Napa says it has a manufacturers P/N of 6TMF. Both the Napa 7256 and the 6TMF spec sheets say those are wet FLA(flooded lead acid) or standard wet cells. The removable caps got me looking into it, AGMs don’t usually have removable caps. In the case of theA0 or A1 LMTV with 100A(60/40) alternator, that is good news, as a wet cell only wants up to ~25% of the AH rating from the alt. Thats still 60A and on the 12v side once you add in lighting load(~25A) is still more than the alt can handle. Not sure the A0.5 has the same vampire load fault that plagues the A0, with the transmission sucking the 12v batts to nothing if you don’t keep a float charger and balancer on the battery bank. I suspect not as you should have a WTEC3 transmission and I believe they set them up 24v for both battery and ign, where the A0 feeds the trans 12v batt and 24v ign… I still recommend you drop to two batts, your alternator will thank you…
@RRONMAR This is very in-depth knowledge that I was unaware of. I appreciate this great feedback! It does not say AGM anywhere on the batteries. These are indeed wet batteries. Ill definitely take you up on this recommendation. As a side note, I love the videos you created and are very insightful!
Thank you for the videos............questions: where do you get parts for this truck? How available are the parts? How long to get the parts? How is the pricing on the parts? Thank you!
@maxvanrunkle1052, Thanks for the comment! I appreciate the support! I downloaded the operator and part list manuals for this truck. These manuals have the name, part number, and dimensions of this truck, which is invaluable. The availability of parts really depends on the item/part. In this video, I had to find a steering support column to mount the steering box to. This was a little tricky because the steering support column is not a heavily advertised item. I googled the part number which came up with limited to no results. From my research I know midwestmilitaryequipment.com/ works with these trucks all the time. I decided to emailed the sales rep with name, part number, and what I needed. They were able to work with me and pulled off a used support column from one of their parts trucks. So far everything I have needed for the truck I was able to find, it just takes time looking at forums, googling, browsing ebay, and getting creative. From the few things I have ordered the delivery time is usually a week. Since these trucks are behemoths, every part is pretty expensive. For example a used steering support column cost me $1800 used or $3300 for new. A drag link cost me 500+. In addition to the cost of parts, an added cost is needing bigger tools to get anything done on the truck. With that being said I have loved every minute working on this thing! I am taking my time doing one project at a time that I can afford and before you know it Ill have an overlander! I plan on making a video on the costs of these vehicles as I believe this is an item people would like to know.
M2 Expeditions thanks very kindly for your reply. I’m thinking about finding and buying one of these trucks and the learning curve is a concern. What you’re doing in your videos is valuable to this process!! Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge!
Max
@@maxvanrunkle1052 I am not a mechanic by trade and these trucks were designed by the military which have 18 years old with little life experience working on them. If they can do it I am confident we can haha
You really should be using grade 8 bolts, grade 5 is a bad idea
Im not really a mechanic so this is a first heard for me. After googling the difference that makes sense as to why I should use the grade 8 bolts. Ill look into finding the right bolts and replacing them. Thanks for this good information.