Currently building the AFV Club M51 Dump truck converted to a M52 (Hobby Link Conversion) with the M132 Tanker trailer. Stuck as I know there are connections of various types (air hoses, electrical connectors, chains, etc), but I can find little reference photos showing how they attach. Looks pretty empty. Hobby Link has end connectors, but no instructions how to connect. Found plenty of modern truck pictures, but no Vietnam War era photos.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
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H.P.
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They are still pretty much the same as modern ones.
Frenchy’s photos show it well. There are two air lines with end connectors. They were usually red and yellow on Vietnam era trucks.
The Hobby Link set comes with the lower air connectors that mount on the deck.
You need to add about 2 1/2 inches of hose to them and another set of gladhand ends. I use 1/24 scale car spark plug wire for the air lines.
These ends attach to the two sticking out of the trailer front. However, the two on the trailer have caps on them which have the long handle pieces. These need to be replaced with just the ends like on the hoses.
Our own James Lee (@Petition2God) has some really nice, 3D printed gladhands that can be used.
There is also a cable for the rear lights that attaches below/between the air lines on the trailer. This cable comes out from under the deck next to or between the air lines.
It is the cable hanging down below.
Looks like this connected on a similar M932A2 and M872 trailer.
By the way, your truck/trailer combo are looking really nice. Great job so far. I used the Hobby Link M52 conversion to make an M818 5 ton tractor. I have another to do an M52 as well. It is a really nice set.
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And let’s not forget the “pogo stick”. Very fashionable among truckers in the seventies, the civilian trucks don’t use it much anymore, but the military trucks do. It’s that vertical post behind the cab with a spring in its base. Air lines are clamped to the top of the pole and then go to the trailer. In a tight turn the pogo stick bends to extend the air lines, and when the trailer is straight again, the pogo stick straightens and takes the slack up.
I believe you have it on your model, too:
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Did you look in the technical manuals, like TM 9-8028 orTM 9-2320-211-series?
You will probably have more success looking for an M131 semitrailer than M132. It’s TMs were the TM 9-2330-208-series or TM 9-2330-272-series.
KL
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Thank you to all that have responded. I will use this info gladly. However, it won’t be perfect, as I am just trying to make it look period correct. Mainly I wanted to know if the hoses were curly or straight and what were the colors, as the ones I see on current trucks are colored. I have little practical knowledge of big rigs but know that when I finish, someone will be commentating on how it’s hooked up incorrectly (probably based on current rather than 1960’s Vietnam War US Army techniques).
This forum is a wealth of information and I really appreciate it. Thanks.
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Thank you! Just what I was looking for!
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