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2000 mile road trip in an FMTV

TNriverjet

TNriverjet

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That squeal may be the alternator belts?? There are two, but if one broke, the one remaining one may whine some doing all the work.

I’m glad to know you are close to home! I know this was a hard trip, but you will look back on this trip as valuable experience. You know the truck better than most know theirs and will be more confident on future trips.
 
G

Givinup

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Recce01 said:
Trans cooler fan working, yes sir!

Thanks man! I am glad to have done this, I am really learning this truck. I have some minor things to do to it, the main thing is to get it home tomorrow. I am traveling a little slower, as the center driveline is getting a little worse, but I am getting pretty good at driving around the issues :) You sold me a great truck, and I am very thankful to you and everyone here who has been over the top helpful. I’ll try to get some pics up soon, though truth be told, I have done very little of that, and a lot more being paranoid and measuring the wheels off of it lol. There are a few on my IG @Recce01
Click to expand...
I'd say it's worth checking the gear level on your hubs and center driveline before leaving for your next leg. I had a very slow leak on mine.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
R

Recce01

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I made Barstow, had it in my mind that I wanted In n Out burger, but I just couldn't do the wait today.... it will be a 2 hour stop :( 150 more miles to go!!
 
coachgeo

coachgeo

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Awesome... looks like the misses and your three hairy kids where very happy to have you home.... or they were just sucking up to you so you will take them on a ride :p
 
R

Recce01

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haha I know! Sorry guys, I have had so much work to catch up on as well as sleep. My body is still pissed off at me. I am working on my wrap up now, hopefully posted a bit later this evening. sorry for lagging!
 
R

Recce01

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What an adventure! I have been on a rollercoaster of emotion through this process. I have been so paranoid that my decisions were somewhat irrational and crazy. To be fair, you don't see too many threads that say "I bought my FMTV for 10K from auction and drove it home 3,000 miles and it was perfect" Instead, you read, I made it 30 miles and it cost me 7K. That is the very nature of a forum like this, a place to discuss issues and get answers to help people with their progress. EVERYTHING I know and researched about these trucks came from this forum. I was scared, not sure what to expect. You can ask TNriverjet how much I was shaking while we were going over the truck. I didn't even want to drive it until my nerves calmed down LOL. I am so glad I bought this truck from a private party, a lot of concerns were alleviated by this decision!

https://youtu.be/64G6iQJxISg

TNriverjet was awesome to deal with. He was extremely fair and honest about the truck and its state. He showed me the vibration that happens at higher speeds and how to drive around it. He also took a lot of his time to check some items (air compressor nut etc.) that he didn't have to do. For that, I am very grateful!

I would also like to thank Reworked LMTV for purchasing relays and delivering them to Tnriverjet for my journey, which was very cool of him!

I started my journey with temp gun in hand, stopping every 30 miles or so, learning the temps of all the hard parts (seen earlier in this thread). I discovered a driveshaft out of phase (U-joints not lined up) from the intermediate axle to rear axle. I was hoping that fixing that issue would eliminate the higher speed vibration. It did not. In hindsight, of course a driveline vibration couldn't be as bad as the one I was feeling, but in the heat of the moment, I was hoping. Later in the trip I did start to feel a driveline vibration, much more subtle and harmonic. The center shaft needs rebuilt, as it has a little play in the splines.



This is the kind of thing that can only be determined by driving the vehicle, getting to know it and understand what does what and why. I remembered my old lowered 1992 Chevy truck had a driveline vibration due to a bad pinion angle,what I was feeling in the 1083 later in the journey was the same. YES! I thought to myself, I know what that is. It was a small win to distinguish between a driveline vibration and a bad tire or bent wheel.

I even tried to change the tire that simp5782 thought was the culprit. We were wrong on which tire it was, but I got to learn how to change a tire. It kind of kicked my ass, as it is not an easy job messing around with such heavy equipment. As you can see by the video, I made mistakes. It is these little failures that helped me to learn more and more about the truck and what it takes to own and work on one.

https://youtu.be/QYd_LmuS7Ig

https://youtu.be/IeRjEfts4jY

https://youtu.be/agRZTjFOTS0

https://youtu.be/Jy_IjfLc7QI

https://youtu.be/66tP-kMpCTA

https://youtu.be/eHASaDNlx5s

On that note, simp5782 is an awesome guy, he dropped everything he was doing and came out to meet me 30 miles out of his way. Then he proceeded to help me with things we determined to be a potential issue. In trying to change the driveshaft phase we had a u joint get stuck in the yoke, we had to basically destroy it to get it out. When I say we, I mean simp5782, he jumped right under the truck and got after it. As you read earlier in the thread, he did all of this and refused to charge me labor. I just paid parts. To be fair, he mentioned earlier that he gets $100 an hour to work on these trucks, so I just assumed he was on the clock and let him do his thing. When he refused to charge me labor later after the job was done, I really felt like an idiot not jumping under the truck with him getting oily and dirty. I was merely a tool chaser at that point, watching how he did the job.

https://youtu.be/91ncJLJQP_A


I also want to thank Suprman, who was on the phone with simp5782, they were discussing the vibration and center axle temps. He is the one who recommended the oil we use for the center axle, it dropped temps by20-30 degrees!

So, how much would it cost to get it home? This was the big debate before we decided I would fly out to drive it home. The shipping quotes came between $2.10 per mile and $3.00 per mile. That meant at the low end, it was a minimum of $4200.00 We decided to “risk it” and see if we could save a few dollars. Below is a breakdown of the cost for the trip:

Airline flight $301.79
Hotel (2 nights) $206.22
Bedding (to sleep in truck- 4 nights) $88.00
Hagerty Insurance $234.00
Tools – Harbor Freight $435.00
Parts (Ujoints/synthetic fluids/etc. ) $288.00
Donation to SS Tennessee rescue fund $350.00
Spare tire and wheel $150.00
Food $210.00
Fuel $942.98

This totaled $3205.99

The amount seemed like it didn’t save hardly any money at first glance, but when you consider I would have to eat one way or the other (albeit probably less $$ at home), I’d still have to buy the tools specifically for the truck, I wanted another spare tire, I had a few U joints replaced and changed intermediate Axle fluid. So in that total amount, I got new parts, spares and a full set of tools. Actual Fuel cost, flight and a few necessities would have run about half that amount. What isn’t taken into consideration is the experience and adventure. That can only be summed up as priceless!

Thank you very much to each and every one of you who took the time to chime in and help me get through this adventure safely, whether it was advice to look into solving my imagined or real issues, it was comforting, knowing that this community is here for me and will have my back. I certainly hope to return the favor in the future as I get to know these vehicles better and become knowledgeable enough to offer assistance.

Here are a few interesting side notes I learned on the trip:

Pajama pants are not just the pant of choice for Walmart outings, they are now the pant of choice for cross country travel (no, I didn’t wear PJs) as I saw a lot of people rocking these colorful masterpieces.

Most semi drivers are cool, I only had 3 tail slaps the whole trip. A tail slap is what I am calling a semi that veers into your lane immediately after passing you, then whipping the wheel back to the passing lane sending their trailer right across your bow. 1 of which was extremely close and uncomfortable.

People don’t like having to be stuck behind you at 45mph.

Tow truck drivers absolutely love the FMTVs always thumbs up and horns blazing

Oklahoma roads are terrible, TERRIBLE

Guys and girls like the FMTV, guys in Arkansas and Arizona ask a lot of questions, girls asked all the questions in Oklahoma,Texas and New Mexico.

Cops actually gave me thumbs up…. Normally I only see their thumbs flipping through their ticket book getting ready to issue me a tax.

Texas girls appreciate military trucks via voluntary wardrobe malfunction

You can sleep in the M1083, simply remove the center seat, buy 2 body pillows for the front 2 folded down seats, and procure a nice memory foam dog bed from Walmart for the center. Actually pretty comfortable! Thanks for the tip simp5782!!

Stopping at inspection stations is a thing of the past, they simply step aside and wave you through…. Kind of felt like America in California there for a minute… Kind of.

What the he-doublehockeysticks is DEF fuel? I seriously don’t know, and I wouldn’t put it in my truck lol

Just because there is a gas pump with hose and nozzle, doesn’t mean it can take a card and is operational

My gas gauge doesn’t actually go below the quarter tank mark, it stops at the yellow and stays there, that was an interesting discovery trying to make it to Albuquerque New Mexico

Need way better mirrors

At 45-50 mph on the highway, I was a hazard. I almost had 2 bad accidents. The 1[SUP]st[/SUP] was when a passenger car attempted to overtake a semi that was passing me, he jumped out into my lane right behind the semi and had all 4 locked up sideways trying to avoid rear ending me…. The 2[SUP]nd[/SUP]was a dually and horse trailer that was riding a van really close. The van pulled a last minute lane change in front of a semi trying to pass me, leaving the dually and trailer nowhere to go, more white tire smoke and halfway jackknifed truck and trailer. He ended rolling up next to me in the “bonus” lane. He settled in behind me and hung out for the next 20 miles. I figured it took him that long to get a change of shorts sorted out…

Military trucks and the community on Steel Soldiers are awesome J
 
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