Today's M-185 Recovery

[3dAngus]

Today, Tim (TVoss) came to Perry, Ga. to complete his recovery operation on his new prize, a M-185 purchased from Robins AFB. I did a presurvey for him, put in a part or two, and removed from the Base as Tim was out of the country. He brought along his friend Damian (sp?) to drive the chase vehicle. When I did the first leg of the recovery, I consulted with Gimpy, who told me you could run without batteries in this M35A2 whistler turbo, but it would be best if I went ahead and changed out the batteries for lights and such. I got a slave jump from the guys at GL, who are GREAT at RAFB, and was so excited to see her start right up I decided to make a run without changing out the batteries. Bad mistake. Always listen to the wise ones. I missed a gear coming out of the parking lot, she died in the middle of the road, and I quickly changed out the batteries. All fluids checked and she had 3/4 tank of diesel.

Tim and Damien changed the batteries, put air in the tires, checked brake fluid and others. The only problem for some reason, was the push button for start, but Tim had prior experience or problem with it before and quickly guessed that might be the problem. I never had a problem with several starts on it, but this was the time, and he just jambed it up and she perked right up in about 1/2 a second.

I loved driving that thing, though loud and hot in the cab, it could be a rough 8 hours of driving back to Central Florida. I'll keep in touch with Tim along the way and he promises a phone call or email when he arrives, giving me gas mileage data and operational problems, if any. Wish Tim good luck on the way home. He should arrive about dark tonight. Sending pics of his recovery.

 

[wsucougarx]

Truck looks great! Were there any workbenches in the van?

 

[3dAngus]

No workbenches wsucougarx. Just the regular electrical panels and all. Nothing in the back. The wood looked very salvageable, though oil stained, it could be reworked real nice if sanded out I think. She run like a top! What a great MV. I tried to get him to sell it to me, but he has another and will make a really nice one out of the two. The 11 Tires were fantastic and probably worth about 80% of his paid price.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Glad things went well so far. I was him a safe trip home. Dell, for future recoveries, wind up all the windows and open the passenger side windshield. It will provide a nice breeze and force all the heat from the motor/drive line out of the cab.

 

[3dAngus]

Tim called. He made the 380 mile or so trip to Central Fl. fine with no issues, and just before dark. Congrats Tim. Nice truck. Still wish you'd sell it to me.

Darn, and I always heard possession was 9/10 of the law.

I miss it in the yard already. Neighbors loved it. Surprise!

 

[Recovry4x4]

Glad things went well so far. I was him a safe trip home. Dell, for future recoveries, wind up all the windows and open the passenger side windshield. It will provide a nice breeze and force all the heat from the motor/drive line out of the cab.

What Gimpy says only I prefer the driver s windshiled open, something about the taste of the bugs! I've got many thousand miles like this. If it gets too cold just roll down the side window a bit and heat will rush in the holes in the floor!

 

[tvoss]

Just wanted to say Thanks, Dell for all your help getting it off base so I could drive it home on Saturday. The return trip to Florida went as smooth as could be, with no problems at all. I got about 9 mpg.

I noticed the speedometer reads high, which I thought was unusual. It reads 59 mph when you are actually going about 54-55 mph at 2300 rpm, which is exactly what you would expect with 11x20 tires.

 

[Ripcord01]

Congrats on the recovery.Glad you and the truck made it home with no problems.