A little old school

Mballor · June 22, 2019

Topic Originally Created on Tow411 in November of 2007:

I bought this Truck in the beginning of october, Its a 1968 kaiser jeep m543a2 6x6 with a military crane. We just got it out of paint last week and its waiting to be lettered. It was a lot of work but everyone in the body shop all did there part and we got it done in a little under three weeks, the worst parts on it were the fenders and the boom and everything was stripped down to the steel. We still have some little things to do to it but let me know what you guys think.

tator envy said:

Sweet, hope you get lots of service from it. Kinda looks like a pissed off bumble bee from the front.

thtdon said:

Nice truck! I like it!
thtdon

hpgtowing said:

Lots of luck with it.... These trucks are extremely under rated... I'm sure it will serve you proudly for many, many years to come... The truck looks great... Stay well.... Steve

timstruckservice said:

I thought the same Thing ..... Nice Bumble Bee !!!......TIM

mballor said:

Thanks for the comments guys .... Steve that is the exact pic i showed the guys when we were getting ready to put it in the body shop, i had to go and search for it to show them that it could be done. I now have a lot more respect for the two that you have reconditioned becouse it does take a lot of work. It looked like they just painted over the military colors and i could see why (in some spots the military paint was about 1/4 inch thick)but we ended up stripping it and we redid the inside also. I just can't wait to get it all done and play with it

The truck has four outriggers.

I ended up naming the truck after my grandpa "St. Len", he would always joke with us by saying that is what they called him whenever he would go into the resteraunts around us. I also put an in memory of him on the back along with the red arrows becouse he was a wwII vet. I only told a couple of people at the shop about this and my dad was pretty excited when he saw it for the first time yesterday. We still have to put on the website and a couple of other things, like a chrome stack, but here it is for now.

**TowZone** · June 22, 2019

In 2012 mballer SOLD this unit and created this post.

military rotator .... the beast..... (SOLD, going to texas)

I have decided to throw this one up for sale... 1968 kaiser m543a2

I have had this truck for about five years. The entire body was stripped down to bare steel and redone when i first purchase the truck.
It has the 45k drag winch, 20k front winch, and the 20k winch on the boom
The stiff legs all work
Has aggressive tires
multifuel engine
comes with torch tanks
Has orignal spades that you put on it
also comes with scotch blocks so you don't have to use the spades
has the boom stands also
Comces with 2 huge snatch blocks and 2 medium snatch blocks
we replaced the grease sleave on the fronts 2yrs ago
Comes with an extra trans still in the military box (nothing is wrong with the one thats in it..... i asked the same question when i bought the truck)
Has a holmes 750 towbar on it.
The seats were all redone last year in camo vinyl
chrome stack is about a yr old
It runs down the road really good and its a blast to drive.

I have even got a couple of trophies at the car shows from it. I am probably going to hate to see it go but i want to open myself up for a couple of more projects. This truck here isn't one of those that is missing this and that, rust all over it, or you have to replace things to get it running.

miracle1 said:

Beautiful piece of equipment...Just too far away and wrong colors......Good luck with it's sale....Kenny

moremph asked:

how much reach do those units have and what kind of lift ratings?

dragonwagonII said:

If that is the original winch on the front they are rated at 10,000 . Its the largest 10,000 lb winch if ever seen . They come with 200 ' of 5/8 wire too .

mballor said:

they reach out at 18ft off the side.... we also own a body shop so paint is always an option. The boom capacity is rated at 10,000 at full extension with the legs down. As everyone will tell you they are extremely under rated. But with that said i personally bought this truck myself... and i also put all the work into the truck buying things for it over the years. This truck has been my baby since i bought it and i have been the only one operating it, I hate to get the damn thing dirty because i am out there the next couple of days getting it back to the way it was before...I actually still have the operating manuals somewhere... if i find them then those will also go with the truck.

front winch is 20,000lb has tag..... I have winched trees out of the woods with just the front winch. Have also rotated 10,000 from side to side with the stiff legs down. The truck has gone through clay and has been through mud past the center of the axles just trucking through. Also all the flood lights and beacons work. It has the brake lock on it for hard pulls. Heater also works, and it has a big ass vise on the front.

DaddyRay said:

Can't wait to get it, thanks again Matt, , Texas will be it's new home soon. It'll be our mud recovery unit....

Dieseltek said:

How do these units pull with the boom winch? Can you pull with them or are they just for lifting?

mballor said:

I am sure you can pull with them, the one on the boom goes through a three part block, and its pretty heavy. With the boom reaching out to 18ft its usually just easier to lift them up...

mballor said:

We are starting to paint the truck before it makes it trip out to texas

Should be able to start adding some red on her today......

updated 4-4 just finishing up the little things on it... have to put on the roof lights and paint a couple of the attachments.... then its all set

I found the camera...... 4-9
Coming in for detailing in the morning

got the frame all painted up... just have to remove the rest of the tape and make those tire shine...

Deck is also painted up...

tow bar is done just have to get up there and spray a couple more spots on the boom that i noticed outside by the sheave.

loaded up the extra trans. and those heavy boom stands

one word of advise... if you ever have to remove that tank use a wrecker...

The wife said you can even keep the picture of her on the door......

I will post some more pics after we detail it up.... should be all set and done tomorrow

DaddyRay said:

Looking REAL good, and on a personal/business note, I must say that Matt has made this entire purchase worry free, and is a great person to do business with.

dragginwagon said:

very nice quality paint work

DaddyRay said:

Brother Matt's work is outstanding!!!!

Mballor said: