Jay's September 22 2011 Riley M35A3 Recovery

[91W350]

Jay contacted me with some questions about Riley and concerns about his A3, so I told him if he could go Thursday, I would just meet him there.

He got back with me and said he had a 0830 to 0900 appointment. I had told him we could tow it to Salina or down to Saginaw Missouri if needed, I really did not mind. From the GL ads, his truck looked really great, but then, you could not ask for a much nicer looking rig than Steven and I recovered two weeks earlier.

It was about 0810 when I arrived at the GL lot. There were no Missouri vehicles around and they only had half of the gate open, so I decided to wait and tore my instrument cluster out of the dash to fix the temperature gauge. I found the faulty connection, crimped the clamping tabs a little tighter, assembled the panel again and presto! 160 degrees.

I decided to go sign in and maybe preview another A3 for another member, what do I see? A handsome young man with a big grin on his face driving his A3 up to the other side of the gate. Jay had already been there and fired it up. The thing looked new!

They sign out and we go over it pretty thoroughly in the east parking lot, really saw nothing that caught my eye. The cord that holds the bed cover on was broken, we decided to stow away the cover and bows for the trip home. The bows came out easily, all of them I ever removed were tough to get out. After a few photos, we headed to the Junction City Cracker barrel for breakfast.

 

[91W350]

After the required photo op in the parking lot, we went in for breakfast. As usual, there were no complaints about the food. We had a good time, a good waitress...

The truck was shifting fine, Jay was like a kid who inherited a free pass to the candy store. We went out, took a few more photos, I grabbed my ratchet and headed under to check the differentials and transfer case. Everything was like new. I had to hunt to find anything dirty and the only thing I was successful in finding was an old mud dobber's nest.

I agreed to keep my phone handy, but assured him I did not think he would need to call. We shot west to the Sapp Brother Truck Stop on US 77 and he got fuel. He aired the tires up, but his CTIS seemed to be working fine.

I told him I would follow him down to Herington, if there was a major issue, its ugly head would arise by then. He took off and my A2 did not have enough juice to keep up with him. That A3 leaps! He has all kinds of acceleration. He also runs a lot faster than I do, but I am overly conservative on rpm I suppose. Anyway, I caught him again in the construction and again in Herington.

We looked it over, everything looked great, no leaks or noises, he headed east for Council Grove and I headed west to Salina.

A few hours later he called to let me know the truck ran super and he was in Joplin. I hope we are not both posting the same recovery story this morning...

He sure did not need any help from me for this rig1 Glen

 

[91W350]

A few more photos...

I ran into some cool looking low lying fog on the way over. The bouncing of the A2 sure played havoc with my camera's ability to focus!

The fog rolling off of the river at Riley and blowing north west over the hill was beautiful to watch, unfortunately my batteries died and I could not find the replacements fast enough while driving. Had I known he was already about done firing it up, I would have pulled over and shot some video.

Just one of many small treats for the day, take time to enjoy the simple things my friends. Glen

 

[M35A2-AZ]

Looks nice in the photos!!!
Great job!

 

[wsucougarx]

Outstanding. OK I'm ready to go and recover something......anything.......I miss those trivial unknowns associated with a recovery. Hmm, I need to sell something so I can get something...haha

 

[91W350]

Outstanding. OK I'm ready to go and recover something......anything.......I miss those trivial unknowns associated with a recovery. Hmm, I need to sell something so I can get something...haha

I agree, the recovery and trip home is as good or better than owning the truck! They make a great mini vacation!

 

[RealCavDog]

Glen, you may say you didn't do much, but a second set of eyes is always invaluable ! And the sense of security of a towbar is always a good thing !

Kid in a candy store ? ! Look who's talking ! You were under that truck before I could blink and I can see the look on your face also in my pictures ! Talk about a man that truly loves the hobby and the trucks !

That truck is amazingly quick , but the day was long because I tried to keep the Cat at 2500 RPM and 45-46 MPH, did not want to push it too hard that far from home, but it did hit 50-53 a time or two, but only for a short bit !

I do see 395's in its future for a bit more top speed, but no hurry on that !

XXXXX Readers, this member comes highly recommended and you will not meet a nicer guy ! XXXXX

 

[glcaines]

Congratulations on a good recovery! I sounds like you got one of the good trucks. Have fun with your new toy.

 

[RealCavDog]

Guys ! Glen even tried to give me his tire tools for the trip home, as that was the one thing I missed, then ship them back to him !

As it turned out, not only was the truck better than I dreamed, it had the vinyl tool bag with the long and short tire tools, a few screwdrivers, a newer canvas manual/paperwork bag, a new US load tested bottle jack with handle and a boxed reflector set !

Did I mention the nearly full tank of super clean fuel !

Maybe all that bad karma I accumulated over the early years has been worked out !

 

[AMDOOR]

Great looking truck, Jay. I'm still waiting for my EUC. I think that my A3 was parked next to yours. I hope that my recovery goes as well as yours. Your story is good to hear. I look forward to meeting you, Glen. Thanks for the help and the story.
Dale