I might be a little crazy – 4,000 mile M1079 recovery Illinois to Alaska

[AKPacker]

And it begins! I made good progress today, got the ecohubs installed. Tires are next on the list.

Before, during, and after photos:

 

[aw113sgte]

If you can, I'd recommend getting paint on the hubs before your trip. They like to rust quickly.

 

[71DeuceAK]

Small world, I bought it from Green Valley just south of Peoria.




Not sure, the turn signals/hazards didn't work when I inspected the truck. I didn't have time to fully troubleshoot the cause at the time, but I noticed that the hazard relay wasn't original, so I'm hoping it is a simple relay swap. Would a failed flasher module totally disable the turn signals/hazards?

No kidding? I have a house in Mason City and have an M929A2

 

[AKPacker]

Wheels tires, and filters galore! I got all 5 tires mounted and everything went ok except for a couple of spun studs that mount the split rims together. They should be good with the remaining 19 bolts right? Is there a field expedient fix for spun split rim studs?

I got the 3 piece run flats installed on the front wheels. It was a massive pain in the rear to get the run flats and the 2 bead lock rings lined up correctly in the tire so that everything would go on the rim smoothly. Definitely Type-3 fun, I do not recommend doing this solo.

All new engine oil, oil filter, fuel filter, and fuel/water separator were installed. The fuel/water separator on the C7 is hard to change without getting diesel everywhere.

Tomorrow I've got a few minor things to finish up, grease points, and the desiccant cartridge, then hopefully it'll be time to hit the road!

 

[Keith Knight]

Knock the spun stud out and just put a standard grade 8 bolt in it or put a couple spot welds on it.

With the taller tires how is the spare going to fit?

 

[coachgeo]

.....

I got the 3 piece run flats installed on the front wheels. It was a massive pain in the rear to get the run flats and the 2 bead lock rings lined up correctly in the tire so that everything would go on the rim smoothly. Definitely Type-3 fun, I do not recommend doing this solo.
...



View attachment 925201

Is the black part in above pic what you had real hard time keeping aligned to fit the outer rim bead rings on?

 

[AKPacker]

Well, I made it as far as Spearfish South Dakota, I'll write more about the journey later. I've developed some pretty severe wheel hop on the front axle. I'm going to try to find a truck shop to get the front end checked out, but might not have much luck on a Sunday. Any troubleshooting ideas/suggestions in the mean time?

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Well, I made it as far as Spearfish South Dakota, I'll write more about the journey later. I've developed some pretty severe wheel hop on the front axle. I'm going to try to find a truck shop to get the front end checked out, but might not have much luck on a Sunday. Any troubleshooting ideas/suggestions in the mean time?

Wheel hop? Can you take a video? Not sure what you are describing. Vibration? Is it speed dependent?

 

[MGVFD]

Would check the run flats to see if the tire is out of balance.

 

[AKPacker]

To update this, the truck is running amazingly besides the wheel balance issues I posted about in another thread. I'm currently in BC Canada with limited internet service. I've driven bout 2500 miles so far, the ecohubs are awesome, I got approximately 10 mpg going through the mountains from Alberta to BC yesterday.

 

[tennmogger]

Wheel bounce is probably due to out of round tires. Common with the tires I have tried, sadly. No solution that I know of other than slow down or get the tires trued. Balance beads do not help.

Moving the worse tire to the rear might help.

 

[ab705]

Wheel bounce is probably due to out of round tires. Common with the tires I have tried, sadly. No solution that I know of other than slow down or get the tires trued. Balance beads do not help.

How about tire shaving/truing? If they aren't too far out-of-round, you shouldn't lose too much tread depth.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

How about tire shaving/truing? If they aren't too far out-of-round, you shouldn't lose too much tread depth.

If you just drive the truck regularly they will true up on their own. Also having a working CTIS system with the wiring mod for multiple highway pressure settings or manual control is VERY useful. You can simply drive the speed you want and alter the tire pressure dynamically while you are driving till you find a pressure at which your desired speed has the least vibration.

 

[Mrgior31513]

To update this, the truck is running amazingly besides the wheel balance issues I posted about in another thread. I'm currently in BC Canada with limited internet service. I've driven bout 2500 miles so far, the ecohubs are awesome, I got approximately 10 mpg going through the mountains from Alberta to BC yesterday.

Just wanted to say, the amount of planning, work and effort that you've put into trying to make this happen is just inspiring and awesome. I can't add much to your current endeavor, except some encouragement in that I think your current journey is pretty impressive. I've seen a lot of people take risks and try to make things happen, but the level of planning and work accompanying it is where it's at.

 

[AKPacker]

Made it to the Alaska border late last night (yes that is midnight sun)! Just under 400 miles to go to get home, truck has been running like a top. I'll write replies and a full trip report when I get home.

 

[AKPacker]

Better late than never, here’s the trip report:

Day 1 – 421 miles – Green Valley IL to Kansas City MO
Day 2 – 750 miles – Kansas City MO to Spearfish SD
Day 3 – 0 miles – Troubleshooting wheel hop in Spearfish SD
Day 4 – 546 mile – Spearfish SD to Great Falls MT
Day 5 – 185 miles – Great Falls MT to Lethbridge AB
Day 6 – 615 miles – Lethbridge AB to Prince George BC
Day 7 – 278 miles – Prince George BC to to Seely Lake BC
Day 8 – 242 miles – Seely Lake BC to Kinaskan Lake BC
Day 9 – 176 miles – Kinaskan Lake BC to Boya Lake BC
Day 10 – 313 Miles – Boya Lake BC to Whitehorse YT
Day 11 – 325 miles – Whitehorse YT to Deadman Lake AK
Day 12 – 382 miles – Deadman Lake AK to Anchorage AK

Total: 4,233 miles

Mile 0:


After finishing up the mechanical work, I packed up the truck and left the seed warehouse in Illinois where I’d been prepping it (Thanks Eric!). I headed towards Kansas City for the night with plans to swing down and pick up some new seats from Midwest Military Equipment in Missouri on the way.

Things didn’t start off too well, within the first 50 miles my driver’s side convex mirror flew off the truck, it was 90+ degrees out, I’m from Alaska, and I didn’t have A/C. I made it to MME just before closing time, loaded up my new seats, and threw the boxes in their dumpster. Lo and behold, I spotted a discarded FMTV mirror at the bottom of the dumpster. Serendipity! I dove right in and retrieved that sucker and installed it on my truck right in their parking lot, maybe things weren’t going to be so bad after all!

I drove the first 1700 miles solo, and then met up with my wife and daughter in Great Falls Montana for the rest of the trip North. In Canada we convoyed up with some Alaskan friends who also bought a new truck in the Lower 48. It was nice to have a second vehicle accompanying us through the most remote part of the trip, but the truck ran like a champ. The only significant issue I had was with wheel balance, but that was mostly solved by adjusting the tire pressures and avoiding certain speeds. Other than that, the only issue was the driver’s side window regulator falling apart inside the door so I couldn’t roll it down for most of the trip.

Since getting it home we’ve used it for several camping trips and put another 1000 miles on it. This truck is awesome and I’m excited to get it fully built out!

Valdez AK:

 

[Keith Knight]

They are a blast traveling in them. The views from the cab are high and panoramic.

 

[71DeuceAK]

Funny, having lived 30 minutes from Green Valley I know exactly how far of a drive it is from that area to MME!