Katahdin
Active member
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- Location
- Scarborough, ME
Got home from Drum several hours ago after picking up a sweet 62' Atlantis Electronics Corp M105A2. It must be a rebuild because its in such good shape with a few A1 and A2 features and fiberglass racks. The body appears galvanized, but I understand that might be a rust proofing.
The wife and I had a great time on the trip, first stopping in Waterbury Vt to tour the Ben & Jerry's plant and later the Magic Hat Brewery. The next day we took the ferry over lake Champlain and route 11 to a hotel near Fort Drum for the night, a route I picked because it had the most auto parts stores to keep my 93' GMC Yukon tow vehicle running if needed.
Arrived at GL at 0655 this morning. Kevin let us in a little early and was very accommodating and helpful. Although I think he was on his better behavior because my wife was present. With surgical precision he brought out the 105 on a fork lift and lowered it onto my raised pintle hitch. Incidentally I wanted to use my own jack and flip the lunette but Kevin insisted it was not necessary. He also seemed to dismiss the need to break down the racks and lower the tailgate but I went ahead and did that anyway. Kevin was also very helpful helping me run the magnetic light wires and securing the racks.
A throw out to Doghead: Kevin mentioned your name and described you as a "Special Person"
Although I brought a spare tire I didn't need it. The trailer tires were brand spankin new and came inflated to 35psi. I bumped those up to 45psi using a 5 gallon air tank I brought along with me. I was also prepared with a 2.5cfm 12 volt air compressor of needed. I also had a set of bearings with me.
Leaving the base I detected a slight driveline wobble, so we pulled over into a empty Ames parking lot and flipped the lunette. All it took was some PB blaster and the "lunette nut against a splitting wedge" trick and few light taps with a 6lb hammer and it came free. Flipping the lunette did seem to help a bit but I was disappointed it didn't ride more level, but that may be due to the arsenal of tools and spare tires I was carrying as cargo. The crappy cell phone pic at the gas pump was before the flip, the pic in the Ames parking lot was after the flip. The pintle sits on a 12" raised hitch and stock 4x4 suspension.
Health of the tow vehicle was probably my biggest worry but it held up great. While towing without overdrive we kept the Chevy 350 spinning at about 2500 rpm and 60-65mph and despite being a really hot weekend the coolant stayed between 200 and 215 degrees the whole trip. Auxiliary tranny and oil coolers I installed for snow plowing I think helped a bit.
All in all it was a great recovery and I'd like to thank the SS members who posted their 105 recovery experiences because it over prepared me for mine, and being 400 miles from your home that is a very good thing.
The wife and I had a great time on the trip, first stopping in Waterbury Vt to tour the Ben & Jerry's plant and later the Magic Hat Brewery. The next day we took the ferry over lake Champlain and route 11 to a hotel near Fort Drum for the night, a route I picked because it had the most auto parts stores to keep my 93' GMC Yukon tow vehicle running if needed.
Arrived at GL at 0655 this morning. Kevin let us in a little early and was very accommodating and helpful. Although I think he was on his better behavior because my wife was present. With surgical precision he brought out the 105 on a fork lift and lowered it onto my raised pintle hitch. Incidentally I wanted to use my own jack and flip the lunette but Kevin insisted it was not necessary. He also seemed to dismiss the need to break down the racks and lower the tailgate but I went ahead and did that anyway. Kevin was also very helpful helping me run the magnetic light wires and securing the racks.
A throw out to Doghead: Kevin mentioned your name and described you as a "Special Person"
Although I brought a spare tire I didn't need it. The trailer tires were brand spankin new and came inflated to 35psi. I bumped those up to 45psi using a 5 gallon air tank I brought along with me. I was also prepared with a 2.5cfm 12 volt air compressor of needed. I also had a set of bearings with me.
Leaving the base I detected a slight driveline wobble, so we pulled over into a empty Ames parking lot and flipped the lunette. All it took was some PB blaster and the "lunette nut against a splitting wedge" trick and few light taps with a 6lb hammer and it came free. Flipping the lunette did seem to help a bit but I was disappointed it didn't ride more level, but that may be due to the arsenal of tools and spare tires I was carrying as cargo. The crappy cell phone pic at the gas pump was before the flip, the pic in the Ames parking lot was after the flip. The pintle sits on a 12" raised hitch and stock 4x4 suspension.
Health of the tow vehicle was probably my biggest worry but it held up great. While towing without overdrive we kept the Chevy 350 spinning at about 2500 rpm and 60-65mph and despite being a really hot weekend the coolant stayed between 200 and 215 degrees the whole trip. Auxiliary tranny and oil coolers I installed for snow plowing I think helped a bit.
All in all it was a great recovery and I'd like to thank the SS members who posted their 105 recovery experiences because it over prepared me for mine, and being 400 miles from your home that is a very good thing.
