My parts truck is home!
Well, I made it home with my parts truck today. This was my first recovery.
First, I must give a huge thanks to SS members Warthog and mikew! Warthog let me borrow his tow bar and by the time I arrived at the pickup location he and mikew already had the tow bar attached to my parts truck and helped me get it hooked up to my deuce and steer it until we got it pulled around a corner.
I must admit I was a little nervous for my first road trip in my deuce (70 miles each way) and my first tow with a tow bar. Speaking of tow bars, that heavy duty non-adjustable medium tow bar is heavy! I'm glad I had help hooking it up because unhooking it and carrying it by myself when I got home was right at my limit. Yes, I may be sore tomorrow but it was worth it.
With the help from the great information on this site my first recovery went great. I loaded up my deuce with every tool, fluid, chains, straps, jacks, etc I could think of but thankfully didn't need many of them. I aired up the front tires as people here suggested and it tracked great except as expected on slick ground. There was still snow, slush, and mud on the ground at the place I picked up the truck and I had to stop and straighten the wheels at least 6 times before I got the truck to the pavement. I'm also glad I checked all of the lug nuts. More than half of them were loose.
Last but not least I must thank my wonderful and understanding wife! She had to help steer the parts truck when I got home so that I could back it into its new parking spot. Backing with a tow bar on soft ground is not a one person job. I even got to engage my front axle for the first time.
Now for the important part - pictures. The first picture is at the one stop on the way home and the second one is the truck in its new home. Oh by the way, the driver of the FedEx truck in the background came over to ask about the trucks. He said his dad drove a 6x6 in the military. He was really interested so I pointed him to this site and GL. I guess it was my turn to pass on the disease.