PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-563
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 563
OCTOBER 1999
PS 563
7
OCT 99
PS 563
6
OCT 99
efore you head out of the motor pool with your M916 tractor and M870
semitrailer, you test the trailer’s brakes, right?
But, do you always remember to
release them after testing?
If you forget, you can burn up the brake pads.
Test the trailer’s brakes by setting them with the M916’s trailer brake hand
control.
Move the tractor slightly ahead to make sure the brakes hold—then
release the brakes by pushing the hand control all the way back to OFF. If
you don’t, the brakes are still applied and
you can burn them up when you hit
the road.
Coat the Fifth Wheel
Another tractor PM tip is to go lightly
with the GAA on the tractor’s base plate
and approach plate. Lube them according
to LO 9-2320-273-12. A
1
/
4
-in coat of
grease is plenty.
Too much lube attracts dirt and crud that
can damage the fifth wheel or the trailer’s
kingpin.
M916 Tractor Truck, M870 Semitrailer . . .
Painting and Marking . . .
here’s no
secret in adding
unit identification
numbers to a
wheeled or
tracked vehicle.
But if you check
around your post
or installation,
you’ll probably see
several different
methods in use.
There is a right
way, but you need two pubs to find it.
TB 43-0209
TB 43-0209,
Color, Marking and
Camouflage Painting of Military Ve-
hicles, Construction Equipment and
Materials Handling Equipment
(Oct 90
with Change 1, May 91), has the info
for unit ID numbering and painting on
Pages 3 through 17.
In Para 9 of the TB, markings are
divided into four elements, arranged
left to right:
1. Major command, organization or activity
2. Intermediate organization or activity
3. Unit or activity
4. Vehicle or
equipment number
(for road march
purposes)
Para 9 also has
some painting
information, but
not everything
Test trailer brakes with hand control
you need. It doesn’t touch on camou-
flage differences.
TM 43-0139
TM 43-0139,
Painting Instructions
for Army Materiel
(Oct 88 with
Changes 1-3), has the rest of the paint-
ing story for ID markings.
Para 4-9 and Fig 4-2 are keys to ap-
plying ID markings over camouflage
colors. You use black over brown or
green, green over black, and brown
over white or tan.
Always use CARC paint to add any
markings to a CARC-painted vehicle.
Holy moley,
that's
way
too
much
grease!
Gotta remember
to test those
brakes after I hook
up and-
-
that
ought to
do it!
it
ain't easy
being
greasy
!
PS 563
6
OCT 99
Back to Top Back to Top
