Fort Lewis Recovery

[NEWFDAD]

Well I finally won a big truck from GL (an M813) and am looking forward to getting it home once the EUC clears.My plan was to have it shipped the 550 miles to me here in Western Montana. The problem now is that my wife
just got laid off and we have had some unexpected medical bills. I know that the cheapest way might be for me to drive my M1009 the 550 miles out to Fort Lewis, hope that the truck is roadworthy ( or at least easily made so),
and flat tow my blazer back to Montana. I know this might be a bad idea especially considering the fact that I don't have any experience with the big trucks.
Any help, ideas, or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Keith

 

[BKubu]

Keith, maybe someone in that area can do a pre-inspection to see if the truck could be made roadworthy. I know your mechanic skills...you will be fine.

 

[NEWFDAD]

Bruce, that would be ideal. I figure I should post some pics. So here it goes.(first time with the pic posting)

 

[wsucougarx]

I'd inspect the truck for you but I know nothing about 818's only '35's. Probably the same nonetheless. I can head up on Tuesday and look the truck over for you. PM me if you want me to

 

[kurtkds]

I can help also, with inspection and off GL site storage if you need it.

Kurt

 

[pilot]

We picked up 5 M818s and 2 M813s this summer,and the partial list of defects to look for would be low tires, low brake fluid, low coolant, dead batteries, inop windshield wipers, inop or missing heaters,one differential needed a gallon of lube. One M813 blew an oil cooler about 40 miles down the road so that one we towbared it the last 50 miles behind the other M813. The military towbar, short air hoses and a magnetic towlight kit (I made one that plugs into the military trailer receptacle) could come in handy. If you are going to make or modify a civilian towbar keep in mind the M813 needs the large lunette ring. Also there is the possibility of legal requirement or actual use of tire chains on the mountain passes. I am sure there are other people on this site that can help more but this is what we have encountered.

Greg Blanchfield Devils Lake, North Dakota

 

[NEWFDAD]

Thanks for the replies guys.

wsucougarx- that would be great, I will PM you.

kurtkds- the inspection would be great and the off site storage would be a fantastic option if I had to do any repairs that required more time than would be reasonable on the GL lot, or if I had to order any parts. I will PM you also.

pilot- Thanks for the list of things to expect. I do have the military small and medium tow bars.

This is what the listing said:
MILITARY M818 5 TON TRACTOR TRUCK, 6X6, MFG/ YR UNK, ID# C124-10006-05A01470, ODOMETER READS 00477. 4, HOUR GAGE READS 0005. 0, SOFT TOP, HAS 6 CYL CUMMINS DIESEL MOTOR, MOTOR WILL NOT TRUN OVER ON IT'S OWN

 

[kurtkds]

That is about what the description said about my Deuce from Ft Lewis. It started right up when I got there... Ya never know...

 

[MilitaryRestoration]

Was just there today and got my 818, wish knew you needed yours inspected... I've got an acre avail for storage as well and it's 4 hrs closer to where you live if that helps out. We have two 818's and many 35's and between my father and I many years experience with trucks and especially with the cummins 250/father. He grew up on them. Let me know if I can help out... Also have a wrecker unit for the 5ton tractor of mine and towbars as well, thats what I just did today, towbar'd mine home... -Todd

 

[pilot]

I was looking at the pictures and did not see any heater or heater controls, but I could not enlarge them so maybe I missed some details. I bought a propane camp heater to put in the cabs for temporary heat and defrost. Looks like a nice truck.

Greg

 

[NEWFDAD]

The response from the SS members here in the NorthWest has been fantastic. It's nice to know there are more of out here than I had thought (I am from Maryland and moved to Montana two years ago). Has anyone talked about a NorthEast get together? I have wanted one of the larger truck for years, but stuck with the CUCVs mainly due to storage and the hard time I have convincing my wife that I need one. I bid on this truck without letting the wife know what I was doing until after I had won it, and now I'm in a little bit of trouble. She is pretty good about letting me have fun with my hobby but with her loosing her job this was probably not the best time for me to buy a 5 ton. I still feel like a kid filled with anticipation waiting to get my new big toy.

Todd- Would love to meet you, see your trucks and hopefully get some much needed knowledge. I wish I posted a few days before I did after learning that you had already been there. How far are you from Fort Lewis?

pilot- I sent pics to Bruce back in Maryland and he said that the truck did have a heater. I hope it does since it can be darn right cold out here. Not to mention the two mountian passes that I will be going over.

 

[BKubu]

The cab has the heater controls, but the actual heater is missing from the engine compartment. I saw the controls and told you it had a heater. It looks like I was only partially correct. That will be a simple fix since you probably only have to install and hook up the actual heater unit under the hood.

 

[NEWFDAD]

Corection to my previous post: I meant to say "NorthWest" not "NorthEast" when I mentioned a get together.

Hey Bruce- Thanks- How is the weather out there? We have an inversion here in the valley (cold and fog that freezes to what ever it touches). Looks pretty but I hope it deosn't last long.

 

[MilitaryRestoration]

towing the 818 with my 818 we got from fort lewis to my place in three hours which is really good! usually 2-2.5 hrs by car and both times are with out traffic

 

[bigelk50]

Glad you made it home safe Todd. I made it from Lacey, Wa to Salem, Or in three 3 hrs 15 mins. We stopped only once at a rest stop. Truck ran great! I am going to post my recovery thread tomorrow morning and am going up Tuesday to get my 5 ton!

 

[wsucougarx]

Ok, I went up to FT Lewis and previewed your M818. I got there around 0730 hrs and boy was it cold. I think it was about 25 degrees w/freezing fog. Of course if you know me, I wear shorts all year round. Well, I was paying for it this morning. Your truck is in great shape. I didn't find any major leaks. No leaky hubs, darn near brand new tires all around. Your coolant looked great, no trace of oil in coolant. Your engine oil looked great, no sign of water in oil. All major components accounted for, all drive shaft accounted for. I took a bunch of pics for you so bear with me. Your batteries are completely drained, the volt gauge didn't read anything. Great looking truck!!

 

[wsucougarx]

Here are some more pics

 

[NEWFDAD]

Thanks wsucougarx- Pics were nice to see. The truck does look great. It does look like the rear mud flaps have dissapeared though- I'm not real happy about that (thieves really piss me off). Did you notice if there was a heater under the hood? Is it me or does the engine look not as good as the rest of the truck? I wondered about the advertised mileage and engine hours (477miles and 5.0 hrs) but looking at the different color of the gauge panel I think I may never know what the true numbers are.

 

[wsucougarx]

You know, when they are hauling trailers the mudflaps are placed right behind the cab. To tell you honestly I'm not sure if your's were there or not. Many trucks did have them there however. Gosh, I meant to take a pic of the passenger side of the engine bay where the heater unit would be. It does have heater controls in the cab of the truck as well as the duct diverter on the passenger engine panel, hopefully it's there. I spoke to the GL guy and he confirmed that most if not all of these truck were just overhauled within 6 years.

 

[bigelk50]

We did get ours going Mike! Finally!! It was great to meet you and talk to you! Sorry I was not more talkative though. Pretty much no sleep in the past 4 nights.

Newfdad I did not look at your truck as much as mike did. But if you get it going and double and triple check everything when you do get it going. It should make the journey! I am going to post up my recovery today and will pm you when I do. Be sure to read it cause It will help you get yours going!