VAULT: The Lost Deuce-and-a-Half Films

[@jeffreyt991]

Watching these Vault videos is where you realize that you miss Heather's intro and outros.

[@Jack.Waters]

They are fun toys. I’ve an M816 for when we get 4’+ snow drifts. 4ish MPG. I’m not multi-fuel. 200 Cummings eng. 10-ton crane, 270 degree rotate, 18’ boom. It’ll go anywhere. Recover about anything. But can’t tow with it. Nothing has steel bumpers anymore. Hope you find another toy.

[@jimbeam2501]

I heard you talking about it before but I wasn’t expecting that beast. 👍🏻

[@katiekane5247]

We toured what looked like a dinky museum in Carabelle, Florida while on vacation last week. I was blown away! US military leased 178,000 acres there in the 40s & troops trained there for the beach landing at Normandy. Terrific displays in a pole building & an amphibious vessel in an adjoining building. Free admission, worth the stop if around Apalachicola area. Lots of POWs, German mainly, where housed there as well. Huge display of "found" ordinance, land mines & grenades. The forgotten coast, East point was a great family vacation spot.

[@108gk]

I lived in Carabelle for a few months in 1977. There wasn't much to the place back then. Around 30 years ago I was scalloping in St. Joe Bay and found a .50 caliber bullet that was corroded enough to be WW2 era. Probably target practice. Got a lot of scallops too.

[@daveallen8824]

I drove one of these all over 3 corp in Vietnam in 69-70. What a beast it is to drive - gotta love that shift pattern...

[@Hiker_who_Sews]

What a great ride. I briefly lived in the Cascade foothills and was a volunteer firefighter. Our tender (water tanker) was an old deuce-and-a-half.

[@CalPil0t]

Great review and story. Glad you found the lost footage. Definitely get another one further down the road.

[@bearsden28]

Awesome. Just awesome. A friend of ours bought one of these 3 or 4 years ago and they are indeed massive, rough riding vehicles. They use it on the beach and you would think it would sink but just floats across the sand. So far ...

[@steveskouson9620]

When I was in the Army Reserves, we had a Deuce that had had a big communication box on the back, when it was sent in for major service. Just after that, the box was removed. Well, they adjusted the governor to hit 56 MPH, with it on. I was living in Mt View Ca, and our source for food for the weekend, was in The Presidio of San Francisco. That truck did well in excess of 56. World's largest convertible. No cab canvas, no bed canvas, and I could fold the windshield down. Thanks for bringing up those memories. steve

[@michaelgarrison4599]

Had a M923A2. The state considered it a large pick-up. Used it for beer runs to Wally world and parked in Handicap with my permit on the air hose for the wiper

[@stephenknutson1343]

I drove the earlier version while in the Army; multi-fuels were the new trucks. Both were loud, rough riding, and could climb a wall. Fun for a little while but not a long trip.

[@frederickmoller]

Thanks Steve, that was a great story, pics and of course the video...now that was very entertaining!🥰👍👍👍

[@JimsEquipmentShed]

For my Unimog 406/U900, I bought an aircraft intercom, and then we could talk to each other with out yelling. I miss my truck too. There is just something really fun about a monster like that.

[@SIGINT007]

The Lehto Duece…sounds like a drink.

[@bcdarling3488]

I was in the Michigan National Guard 76-82 as a 2.5 ton truck driver. They went anywhere thru anything. Always good times driving the tank trails around Grayling. Sun morning weekend drills we would hit the local gravel pits!!

[@donmedford2563]

I was in the Army from 73-76 and drove an M-816 wreaker. I had it weighed before we loaded it onto a C-5a to fly to Ft Polk La from Ft. Campbell Ky. It was fully equipped and full of all fuels and tipped the scales at almost 38,000 pounds.

[@workingfolk]

They make great farm trucks. The black dirt onion farms where I lived in New York used them. They would creep alongside the onion harvesters in the fields and when full, drive the harvested crop to the packing house. The sod farms there used them also, If I remember correctly.

[@G.Harley.Davidson]

I’ve been many a mile in an old deuce… more than I’d like actually 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@samshearer6955]

Looking at one of the pictures I see you have the anti theft device dangling from the steering column, without the padlock. If memory serves then the turbo would get you 60 to 64 MPH. We used to have to “exercise “ ours once a week otherwise some of the engine seals had a tendency to dry out. Nothing like losing a rear main on the autobahn, one or two quarts won’t get you far.

[@markhoffman4903]

Actually had hydraulic brakes, with an air booster. I loved driving mine in the army. It was also a 1967.the exhaust note is distinctive that I can spot from a mile away

[@kevinfry2105]

This brings back some memories, both good and bad. Thanks for sharing your experience Steve.

[@clayz1]

Love the deuce. I’ve spent many hours behind the wheel back in the early eighties. They say it is the journey not the destination, lucky for Army convoys. Washington Army National Guard. Seattle.

[@earnestburditt9867]

I've worked on government vehicles for over 13 years. The plate on your old deuce was more than likely showing that it had gone to a approved government Depot for complete overhaul. These are government contractors or military depot. That do partial or complete overhaul or restoration to like new or newer serviceable conditions. The process is to have the military work up an estimate of what it would cost to restore the vehicle. They have a value placed on the vehicle (what it is worth to the government at that point in time) inspect the vehicle, go out for bids based on the estimate and award it to a repair depot. I was a fire truck mechanic at an Air Force base and did several of these type of inspections to send out for bids. Hope this helps explain the vehicle plate. I'm sure you can access the history of the vehicle, the government loves keeping records.

[@davidpalmer6352]

My dad had one my older brother still owns it we use it all the time I have lots of miles in the seat and yes ours did not have a heater either love your videos

[@mykline1]

If you use gas just add a quart of oil to the fuel tank. Using straight gas will burn out the injector pump because the diesel fuel lubricates the internals of the pump and gas will cause it to burn out. Worked on and drove these trucks from 1969 through 1979.

[@KurtAspaas]

That looks like a blast!

[@bobfincher1767]

Great video

[@david9530]

Every single deuce and a half that I saw in the Army had a torn top.

[@alanhuskey2404]

I got in so much trouble taking a deuce and a half off-roading at Benning back in the 80's, lolol!

[@kdeupser]

my privates drove a duece to the top of a sand dune in Desert Storm and got it mostly stuck up there. We let most of the air out of the tires and was able to get it to crawl over to a very steep side of the dune. I didn't trust any of my privates to drive it down there so I did. It was so steep it bounced off the front bumper down at the bottom. It probably would have flipped over but I had in 3 gear granny lock and floored. The turbo in that thing was screaming all the way down. Sheez, I drove alot of different ones in various units. Hell of a truck!

[@kevininny2625]

Very cool truck 🛻

[@davidsellars646]

That would have been fun to have during my five years in the Keweenaw. None of us had four wheel drive or a winch. I recall a friend and I getting his truck stuck on the sands out at Redridge. That was years before I knew to lower the tire pressure when in the sand.

[@cosmicinsane516]

I remember taking my buddy’s Chevrolet Caprice down to the beach at redridge trying not to snag the oil pan on a rock. Probably about 1999. Some wild parties on that beach and back by the old dam.

[@grandpaganja8507]

Great video.. i like your brother.. looks like lots of fun

[@laurelvilleohioareadrones]

That is a neat vehicle with a great story.

[@buzzardbear6889]

great video, thanks

[@johnnysechrist6313]

Back a few years ago I installed an emergency battery cutoff on one for a friend.

[@ButchNackley]

I busted out laughing when you said you loaded the bike in the back. I got a mental image of a mountain bike strapped down on the bed, like some folks do with a normal pickup.

[@StevenEverett7]

Thanks for another entertaining video Steve. I appreciate it!

[@xiaoka]

And that’s when Uncle Steve official became the Cool Uncle.

[@tomroberson5040]

Thanks for sharing very cool

[@mikes1345]

Trained on those in the military and being in transportation was better on my feet than being in infantry. They were loud, rough riding , and could bust knuckles and kneecaps but to a 19 year old it was a big Tonka toy!

[@jimnotter6046]

Two comments: I had to laugh at "the windshield wipers didn't do much," they were air driven. They had little hoses that went up to each one. Also, they each had little levers on them so you could reach up and manually work them.

[@LouT1501]

Sounds like the setup in most railroad locomotives.

[@workingfolk]

My 55 Chevy had vacuum driven wipers too.

[@drswaqqinscheckingin7210]

@@workingfolk not vacuum on these, its actually positive air pressure from the compressor.

[@richlaue]

My 52 Next had vacuum powered wipers, the harder you pressed the pedal, the slower the wipers whipped. Press far enough the wipers stopped midway.

[@zarfer]

Had some old ones (probably WW ll era) in 1955 Nat. Guard and all of them had auto transmissions. Can run the ones from your era on heating oil but if caught, heavy fine for using non-taxed fuel.

[@tomjoseph1444]

I have more hours driving an M35 than you can imagine. A lot of stories. And trust me, you definitely can get one stuck LOL.

[@cosmicinsane516]

Trust me, I’ve seen every type of US army vehicle get stuck.

[@tomtheplummer7322]

Wish ya still had a few in the tree row, just in case?😏👍🏻💪🇺🇸

[@MrFixItGa]

This was a cool look into your life and hobbies. Thank you. Oh, down here in the south, instead of saying it'll pull a building off its foundation, we say it'll pull down the gates of Hell. 🤣

[@StevenPenny]

Get a humvee! You can use it a lot more, I always wanted a larger truck but unless you own a lot of land, it’s not really that fun. I drive my humvee all around town on a daily basis and people love it.

[@timothyball3144]

I had an M35A2 for almost 2 years. Well, it wasn't actually mine. It belonged to my Uncle and I got to drive it around West Germany.

[@stevejette2329]

See the truck in EXTREME driving in "Rambo: First Blood". (Steve reminds me of Rambo)

[@DrT1250]

They have them in the USAF too. Yeah, not the most comfortable. Can't get out of their own way. But they'll run on just about anything and didn't break in the 120 to 130 heat in Dhahran Saudi Arabia.

[@FirstNameLastName-hz4kv]

I've actually seen someone driving around in one. Not very fast, but they were probably having some fun.

[@jamessimms415]

I’d love to have a mid 80’s CUCV Blazer in Woodland Camo. Know it’s late now, but since it was built in ‘69; was there any historical if it served in Vietnam? Not having a defroster or heater would seem it might have. When I was in the Army, we had to get a sample of oil to send to get analyzed for metal filings, etc.

[@sidserv1978]

I have been looking for one also. They are difficult to find now. I know where 2 are but he won't sell. He also has 3 of the full size truck models too

[@scofab]

So Councilor... would it be reasonable for the members of the jury to agree that you liked the truck? Lol I've had some fun ones too, oldest now a '73 Suzuki Jimny. Is it fast... no. Will it go straight up... you bet. Fun stuff, thanks for sharing.

[@waffalobill]

Actually air brakes work the opposite of hydraulic brakes. When you press the pedal , it takes air away. Without air the brakes are on. If your driving and you loose air, the brakes come on.

[@Enigma-Sapiens]

If you had a Deuce and a half and then bought another Deuce and a half... would you then have three Deuces?

[@joelee2371]

Not likely, but you'd have s pair of jokers.

[@Enigma-Sapiens]

@@joelee2371, Lol! Best answer in the spirit of the question!

[@mellissadalby1402]

That is pretty cool

[@tomjoseph1444]

Winter kit. LOL. In the summer or winter you have to remove the canvas top for "air defense".

[@theprodigalstranger5259]

Looks like Stevel Knevel and Ben are going to jump the turbine car!

[@the_omg3242]

I wonder how reliable something like that would be on heating oil. You'd think it would be a lot cheaper than diesel these days since it doesn't have as many taxes on it.

[@ShainAndrews]

What's the difference between diesel and heating oil... What are the legal implications...

[@MrTechKey]

I have to wonder if that truck has a governor on it to limit its top speed to 56 mph.

[@jeremyhanna3852]

Real alternative fuels for it would vegtable oil used motor oil, trans fluid, hydraulic oil,

[@PierreaSweedieCat]

Coooooool!

[@daveallen8824]

Never had earplugs...we were young and dumb. Mine had arear exhaust - later ones like yours showed up in the motor pool as I was leaving nam. I did have a lock on my OVM box ( the compartment under the driver with just a latch). You had to or the little punks in Saigon would halp themselves as you drove along in town - but you did get respect from the Citroens and Lambrettas - I guarantee it!

[@claudiodiaz9752]

That thing will probably run on used motor oil.

[@hugokatz]

Yeah, but....I bet ya people don't tailgate your truck.