Attention!! Please use caution when driving vehicles home from auction!

[Jesse6325]

For those of you who might not think registration or insurance isn't important USAFSS has a post on a deuce wreck with two fatalities in the chaplains corner. that was me, I had had that truck for 9 months and during that time I got to know every inch of her, her sounds and smells and how she felt driving. I had bought her from a private owner and months before I picked her up I had downloaed all the TM's I could find as well as did a good amount of work on her before I even moved her. It's worth mentioning that I am also a professional driver with over 15 years of safe driving and I still got nailed by a drunk.
Lesson is ACCIDENTS HAPPEN! Please for your sake if nothing else be leagle. I was and the whole expierience still sucks like an elecrolux.

 

[jatonka]

Brother, you have said it in a nutshell. JT

 

[FireFighterHill]

Jesse, you have my extreme condolences. I would not even venture to guess what you must be going through. The tragic accident you were involved in through no fault of your own has made myself and im sure many other reevaluate or at least take an extra moment to consider the safety aspects of our vehicles. I know for me it has made me think of not even letting passengers in my soon to be recovered vehicle except on trails or non-public roads. I would feel much safer to have my family, friends, and son especially ride in a modern vehicle with modern safety features to a rally or other event and not put them in the cab of the vehicle on public roads. This may sound extreme to some but I think we all owe it to ourselves and passenger's to look into ways we can minimize the chance of loss of life in such tragic events. I also concede that in tragedies like the one mentioned above, sometimes there is nothing more that can be done by us and being on the highway with others we cant always anticipate what we might encounter, but we owe it to ourselves and those around us to be as well prepared as possible.

Jesse, I think I speak for everyone when I say the steel soldiers community is here to help you in any way we can, you have just to ask and we will act.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

For those of you who might not think registration or insurance isn't important USAFSS has a post on a deuce wreck with two fatalities in the chaplains corner. that was me, I had had that truck for 9 months and during that time I got to know every inch of her, her sounds and smells and how she felt driving. I had bought her from a private owner and months before I picked her up I had downloaed all the TM's I could find as well as did a good amount of work on her before I even moved her. It's worh mentioning that I am also a professional driver with over 15 years of safe driving and I still got nailed by a drunk.
Lesson is ACCIDENTS HAPPEN! Please for your sake if nothing else be leagle. I was and the whole expierience still sucks like an elecrolux.

Thank you Jesse. SAFETY can never be underemphasized. Always be aware of your vehicle and everything around these big lunkin' trucks, right?
Glad you're recovering from the trauma so well.
John

PS: For those who may not have seen the other thread mentioned.... http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?100218-DEUCE-WRECK-2-Fatalities&highlight=wreck

 

[Jesse6325]

Firefighterhill, I have though long and hard about whether I'll ever let passengers ride with me again when I get another FMV,,,, I honestly don't know at this point. If I had though that my truck was in any way unsafe it wouldn't have even been on the road, Much less with passengers, Every time I think about it the only real conclusion that I can come to is we would have had to be in a piece of heavy armor to be ok.
Thos two girls were having an absoute blast right up to that point. When we took off my friend was going to ride with me to where we were going but they asked if the could ride with me instead. Of course I said yes, I had given my neice her first ride in it less than two hours ago and she got the biggest kick out of it. Big Green Ugly was by no means the best looking truck out there but she was mine. Boy I rember all the waves and smiles and thumbs up I used to get.
I argue with myself a lot still about wether to allow riders, Would I be being selfish or paranoid? I like to think we all can rember our first ride in an MV,,,I know I sure can, I'll REALLY never forget the first time I got behind the wheel, fired her up and put her in gear and took off. Better than a Rolls Royce. (Cheaper too).
Sometimes it doesn't matter how careful and responsible you are there is some cheese brained idiot out there who is gonna make your life miserable no matter what you do.
I for one refuse to hide under the bed in fear of meeting him or her again. Doesn't mean I won't think long and hard about letting passengers in my next FMV though.
One of my big worries through all this mess is how it will impact the MV hobby in general. I thank God that I had her registered licensed and insured. I had used my Dad's old unit numbers for bumper numbers.
On more thing,,, If the worst happens, Be SURE to tell the emergency dispatcher to send a heavy wrecker, do NOT tell them it's a M35A2 or whatever. The probably will not know what you are talking about. Tell them it's a tractor trailer. We had a 1 ton tow truck out there in minutes but it was over an hour before a heavy wrecker showed up and the wrecker was only 5 miles away.

 

[o1951]

Again, my prayers and condolences. I have been hit twice in my life by drunken drivers. Sometimes, there is just NOTHING you can do to avoid them.
I doubt a modern civi vehicle with all the air bags could have fared better - probably worse. That Dodge outweighs even a GM Suburban or Ford Expedition by at least a factor of 2.

 

[Amer-team]

First, condolences to Jesse6325 on this tragedy. Second please add Common Sense to the list of registration and insurance, of things that we should not leave behind. this last summer, while horsing around with 2 passengers in the 42 GPW, I managed to hit an 18" boulder along the shoulder of the gravel roadway we were traveling down. Alcohol was not a factor or any other substance. We were playing blackout tag, something that we had done for the previous 14 years that we had attended this event. The jeep hit the rock with the left front tire, pitching the jeep to the right, and causing the passenger to lose his balance. I was trying to get it under control, stop and figure out what I hit, as the rear wheel hit, causing the already off balance passenger to take a header out of the jeep onto the graveled roadway. Fortunately he survived with a pretty nasty scalp abraision. I have owned jeeps for 40 years with no incidents involving others. I did race for awhile and rolled two jeeps, but that was just me and I had all the safety gear, so no problems. This is the only MV I own that does not have seatbelts and I am rethinking that.

Bottom line is to think about what you are doing when you get behind the wheel and take every precaution. Watch out for the horseplay. These tragedys happen in seconds and you will think about it for the rest of your life.

 

[Jesse6325]

Again, my prayers and condolences. I have been hit twice in my life by drunken drivers. Sometimes, there is just NOTHING you can do to avoid them.
I doubt a modern civi vehicle with all the air bags could have fared better - probably worse. That Dodge outweighs even a GM Suburban or Ford Expedition by at least a factor of 2.

Bad thing is that one of the girls parents/stepparents were right behind me in a restored 71 bronco, total of four people in the bronco. If I had somehow avoided getting hit and he had nailed that bronco head on,,,,,

 

[GHall]

My insurance company insures any vehicle I buy for 30 days since all my vehicles are covered with them. Of course I'd have to call, but it does work that way for regular vehicles.

My insurance is the same way with regular vehicles also.. Not too sure if it works with a 5Ton. I already had insurance by the time bought my truck but I bought it private party from a friend so there wasn't much of a recovery especially since I had been storing it for him at the ranch I work at.

Prayers and condolences from South Tx..

 

[Capt Pat]

I've not seen it mentioned here, but it seems like GL is ahead of us on this, I've read several places that they will not allow the vehicle to be driven off base, it has to be towed or hauled. They know what they are selling, (or at least the military knows) and has probably told them no 'cowboy crap' anymore. Its just too dangerous for them and us. One problem and all our access to this stuff goes they way of the MUTT and HUMVEE. Crushed for "residue" and sold as scrap. Then watch the prices on what is left go up if congress doesn't make us turn them all in as hazards to the public good.
Discussion of things is good, protecting our hobby is great, bragging about being a 'bonehead' and getting away with it in a forum like this with others who share the hobby and do all they can to be better and safer than the next guy isn't the smartest thing I've seen and I'd be so ashamed of myself to admit it to my peers to the point of never posting again at the least.

 

[TehTDK]

Anyone who buys a MV and doesn't give it a thorough inspection AND knows the vehicle is just asking for serious trouble. But sadly the thorough inspection practice doesn't just relate to retired MVs etc....


Being active in the national guard I happen to come across a lot of active MV vehicles, and until recently I actually expected my fellow soldiers to keep on top of PMCS and report any issues with the vehicles in question. I picked up a Mercedes GD Jeep and went through the inspection along with 2 other soldiers as a part of our military driving qualification. The vehicle was a National Guards vehicle, but when we were done with our inspection we had 4 full pages of faults, errors and items that needed looked at and fixed. Suffice to say I was surprised... and not in a good way.


Only goes to show that nothing can really replace a personal overlook and inspection when picking up any vehicle retired or active to make sure its safe and up to scratch. The vehicle in question had no serious defects, but some that could potentially become serious if not looked at.


So again, nothing can replace a personal inspection, that way at least, you can be sure that the vehicle is up to a standard you at least can agree with before driving off. And if its not, then better to leave it where it is and order shipping.


As a fellow soldier said to me; "When in doubt.... do not proceed"

 

[iatractor]

Back when I bought my deuce, I downloaded many tech manuals, read different websites (including one that a ss member has describing the ins and outs of owning deuce), talked to what few owners I could find around me, and did a fair amount to homework before purchasing. Thought about going through GL to save a few bucks, but after finding a dealer in this part of the state, decided it was worth it to purchase from him. Put many miles driving there, test driving trucks, going through an informal class with the guy showing me the things to look for, potential problems and maintenance items. One thing I did everytime I left his place was map a route home. Different than the one I took to get there which was mostly all 4 lane highway. Decided taking the two lane route home was more conducive if a problem would happen driving home, plus I would rather have to pay to park the truck on a farmer's barn lot than to get towed off a major thoroughfare. Mentally I had a map of potential blind curves, narrow points, and spots to pull off if needed for oncoming farm traffic. Plus the remaining 50 miles were routes I knew by heart from the days of running fuel and propane trucks in the area. Since the truck I bought had over 600 miles put on it after purchasing from GL the previous fall, and had a full service done in front of my eyes, I knew the 100 mile trip should be uneventful. Used my pickup as a chase vehicle so my entire roll away tool box was in it, chains, binders, come alongs, tech manuals, 3/4 and 1 inch socket sets, and you name it were loaded up. The dealer had two 5 ton wreckers and said he would be on standby for my trip home, and a friend of mine had his drop deck waiting-along with my route map. (He knew the route by heart so telling him to stop at the old brick barn on highway 22 wouldn't have been an issue.) Took along my handheld Motorola to stay in contact with the pickup mobile. For the first 20 miles I had him follow behind looking for any fluid leaks along the road that may not show up while idling at a check point. In the first 30 miles I would get out and check things over every 5-8 miles just to make sure nothing was showing signs of failure. Biggest issue was that one of the highways that I ran was very narrow and farming season was in full swing. Had to pull off a couple of time so the passing tractor had room to get around me, and the tourists lined up behind me. But having a wrecker on standby and a drop deck, was kind of peace of mind. Made it home with no problems or incidents. Just hot since the front window was stuck shut. Key things to take away, have tools for any emergency, have people know your route, have back up plan in place, and know your route and escapes if needed.

 

[drician]

I just have to say thank you to everyone who has posted in this thread. When I had my first recovery this year in May, I had insurance and temporary plates for both trucks. My uncle drove his truck as a chase/mobile repair vehicle full of any and all tools, fluids, and chains we hopefully wouldn't/didn't have to use. Finally, a fellow SS member met us there as an extra set of eyes to make sure we hadn't missed anything on our pre-trip inspection. It pays to take things slow and do them right the first time.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

I just have to say thank you to everyone who has posted in this thread. When I had my first recovery this year in May, I had insurance and temporary plates for both trucks. My uncle drove his truck as a chase/mobile repair vehicle full of any and all tools, fluids, and chains we hopefully wouldn't/didn't have to use. Finally, a fellow SS member met us there as an extra set of eyes to make sure we hadn't missed anything on our pre-trip inspection. It pays to take things slow and do them right the first time.

You didn't mention what type vehicle you recovered, but I'm guessing it was the M923 mentioned in your signature line. Cool deal! Congrats on your recovery!

 

[drician]

Sorry about that, yes they were both M923s.