US Army expandovan conversion.

[M934A2]

Hello everyone,

This will be a slow moving project as my truck is low on my wives honey do list as I am sure most of you can relate.

The vehicle is a BMY M934A2 6WD 5 ton truck. Commonly called the Expando van or expansible van mostly used as communication shacks for the US Army.


I purchased the vehicle in June of 2016 and flew out to Wisconsin with a buddy of mine and we drove it 2206 miles home to Oregon.

So far I have mostly been tackling preventative maintenance and repairs and have not made my way back to the box to start my build. That time has given me time to think about my plans for it and decide what I want and don't want.

I will try to update this post as much as possible or when I make any progress.

 

[pappawheely]

Subscribed, love to see what you come up with.

 

[Marine]

Will follow this for sure

 

[chet6.7]

I will follow along as well.

 

[patoz]

Same here, following with interest!

 

[mr_ed]

That thing looks awesome!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[boll_rig]

Agreed. How many miles are on the clock?

 

[chilliwak]

Cool looking rig there M93. That has a lot of potential with the huge living space in the rear with the sides folded out. Thanks for posting a pic of your rig and welcome to the site. Cheers, Chilli..

 

[Martinjmpr]

Wow, interesting rig! I drove those in Germany and Korea. Yours has the Super Singles which is a nice upgrade over the dual wheels that ours had. Driving one of those on the Autobahn is quite an experience. The cab puts your head about 10' off the ground!

 

[Martinjmpr]

The vehicle is a BMY M934A2 6WD 5 ton truck. Commonly called the Expando van or expansible van mostly used as communication shacks for the US Army.

.

In my experience the commo trucks were normally M35 Deuce and a half's (2 1/2 ton trucks.) The 5 ton expando vans were command posts. In both Germany (1st Armored Division) and Korea (2nd Infantry Division) the Division Tactical Operations Center (DTOC) was made up of about 8 or 10 of these trucks, parked either side-by-side or around a common "ramp" in the center. It was HUGE. We would have to back them all up and get them set up perfectly and if done right, you could walk from one truck straight into another through the side doors on the expanding panels.
.
I wish I had pictures but this was during the film camera era and in any case I worked in G2 (intelligence) and we were forbidden to take pictures of anything out in the field.

 

[M934A2]

Agreed. How many miles are on the clock?

When I arrived in Wisconsin it showed 4,930 miles. I have a little over 9000 on her now.

 

[M934A2]

.

In my experience the commo trucks were normally M35 Deuce and a half's (2 1/2 ton trucks.) The 5 ton expando vans were command posts. In both Germany (1st Armored Division) and Korea (2nd Infantry Division) the Division Tactical Operations Center (DTOC) was made up of about 8 or 10 of these trucks, parked either side-by-side or around a common "ramp" in the center. It was HUGE. We would have to back them all up and get them set up perfectly and if done right, you could walk from one truck straight into another through the side doors on the expanding panels.
.
I wish I had pictures but this was during the film camera era and in any case I worked in G2 (intelligence) and we were forbidden to take pictures of anything out in the field.

Is this like what you are talking about?

 

[Martinjmpr]

Is this like what you are talking about?
View attachment 382209View attachment 382210

.
Yes but with a big a** camouflage net over the whole thing.

 

[M934A2]

This is my current camping setup as I have not done anything in the back other than clean it out.
It is 17' long and 14' wide with both slides out. The way that the slides fold out rather than slide out is making for some design challenges so any ideas or tips is greatly appreciated.

 

[Martinjmpr]

This is my current camping setup as I have not done anything in the back other than clean it out.
It is 17' long and 14' wide with both slides out. The way that the slides fold out rather than slide out is making for some design challenges so any ideas or tips is greatly appreciated.
View attachment 382218

Yeah, you really can't attach anything to the walls since they have to lay flat against the front/back and top/bottom panels. I think with that kind of setup, everything that is permanently affixed will have to be in the center floor. I notice you don't have the heaters, they usually sit in the area behind the truck cab. When they work, they work well. I'm pretty sure they run off diesel from the engine although they may have their own fuel source (my recollection is that they don't.) In Korea ours never worked so we had a big kerosene stove that sat on the floor for heat.