gimpyrobb
dumpsterlandingfromorbit!
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Leaving to meet Stretch, Wish us luck!
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m108
- Thread starter gimpyrobb
- Start date
- 34,012
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- GA Mountains
Best of luck Gimp and Dennis!
- 10,861
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- Front Royal, VA
What's the purpose of the trip?
Good luck!
Good luck!
- 34,012
- 1,807
- 113
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- GA Mountains
M108 crane recovery and relocation.
Junkyard Wars Crusher
12B20
- 1,288
- 218
- 63
I spoke with Gimp by telephone at 0920. He had just met up with Stretch in Columbus, OH, and they were headed east to PA. I asked him if he had his camera with him. He replied "yes". I responded, "good boy".
Junkyard Wars Crusher
12B20
- 1,288
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Been waiting all day for a status update. Hmmmm, phone not ringing . . . .
Gimpy!, Stretch!, Where are you guys??
Gimpy!, Stretch!, Where are you guys??
- 2,960
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- Tiro, Ohio
Just got home. Couple of minor problems, didn't take long to fix. M35 ran great, pulled the M108 much better than I expected. Will post details and pics tomorrow, very happy with the truck and trip. A BIG thanks to Gimpy, without him the trip would have taken much longer!
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gimpyrobb
dumpsterlandingfromorbit!
- 27,785
- 749
- 113
- Location
- Cincy Ohio
Yup, just got out of the shower. Pics in a few hours.
- 5,259
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- Charleston, WV
Tapping foot impatiently..... 
FreightTrain
Banned
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- Gadsden,Al
gimpyrobb said:
NOOOOO.NO PICS NO PICS!!!!!We don't want to see pics of that!!
- 34,012
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Well, a few hours has passed many hours ago and I still don't see any pics. I'm headed out to work soon and it would be nice to see some pics before I go. WAKE UP DENNIS & GIMP!
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- Ponchatoula LA
me too me tooo meee toooooo, i want to see some pics??
- 34,012
- 1,807
- 113
- Location
- GA Mountains
To keep you guys busy, here's how I got my M108 home.
Attachments
- 2,960
- 30
- 48
- Location
- Tiro, Ohio
Kind of impatient?
Left the house at 7:30am, meet Gimpy at 9:15 in Columbus. Get in the deuce and head to PA, get to the truck at 2:00. Freaking HOT out. Gimpy and I are sweating like crazy, don't know how hot it got. Put a set of batteries in the truck, buzzer sounds off, and engine cranks over, no start thou. Find a hose and cup to siphon some gas out, but the gas tank is full of crud. So we give up on starting it. Put the rear axle shaft back in the Deuce, and pull the M108 to dry ground. Wanted to start the truck and get the boom retracted/secured, but no go.
Fixed the front brake hose to the axle (knew it was bad and brought a spare), and find out the rear brake hose is shot also. Replace the rear hose with a hard line for now, and bleed the brakes. Put an adapter in the airpack so a air hose could connect the brakes on the truck.
While I'm doing that, Gimpy's installing the towbar and pulling axleshafts/hubs. Put air in the tires, they all hold air. Some dryrot. Owner shows up and has some paperwork, and I give him 1700.00(YES!!!).
So we go to pull out, and I slam on the brakes to see if the M108 will stop. Stops really good, but the brakes stay locked. Check the air line to the airpack, no airpressure, so shouldn't be any brakes. Open a bleeder on the front brake, plenty of brake fluid comes out, and brakes release. Hoping that the truck will fix itself, we continue on. Ended up disconnecting the air line to the airpack, but the brakes still wanted to drag. Had to leave a bleeder open. Took about 3 hours to get the truck on the road.
Tag says M108 weighs 19,000. Some of the really steep hills we are doing 10 mph. Get on the interstate and can hold 55 on the flats, and 35 on most hills. Once in Ohio, and the weather cools off, the truck ran really well. Was pulling 55 on the small hills and 40-45 on the steeper ones. Temp gauge is pegged out on the water temp, but I am pretty sure gauge is off.(cooling system has been gone thru). Truck didn't spit any antifreeze, and ran great. Pyro says 1100 on most hills, and creeps toward 1200 on a hard pull.
Had an electrical glitch. Headlights won't come on, so pull the three lever switch out of the M108. Then figure out some really tall idiot had the switch in the wrong spot. Hook up the original switch, and 10 miles later ALL the lights quit. Talk about fun, dark out and traffic climbing up my ass. Put M108 switch back on. No panel lights, and everytime the switch touches metal I get a nice spark. Gimpy rigged up some LEDs for panel lights, worked good.
Get home at 1:30am, very dirty, sweaty, tired, and happy. Drove 530 miles. VERY HAPPY with how the Deuce ran.
Dennis
Left the house at 7:30am, meet Gimpy at 9:15 in Columbus. Get in the deuce and head to PA, get to the truck at 2:00. Freaking HOT out. Gimpy and I are sweating like crazy, don't know how hot it got. Put a set of batteries in the truck, buzzer sounds off, and engine cranks over, no start thou. Find a hose and cup to siphon some gas out, but the gas tank is full of crud. So we give up on starting it. Put the rear axle shaft back in the Deuce, and pull the M108 to dry ground. Wanted to start the truck and get the boom retracted/secured, but no go.
Fixed the front brake hose to the axle (knew it was bad and brought a spare), and find out the rear brake hose is shot also. Replace the rear hose with a hard line for now, and bleed the brakes. Put an adapter in the airpack so a air hose could connect the brakes on the truck.
While I'm doing that, Gimpy's installing the towbar and pulling axleshafts/hubs. Put air in the tires, they all hold air. Some dryrot. Owner shows up and has some paperwork, and I give him 1700.00(YES!!!).
So we go to pull out, and I slam on the brakes to see if the M108 will stop. Stops really good, but the brakes stay locked. Check the air line to the airpack, no airpressure, so shouldn't be any brakes. Open a bleeder on the front brake, plenty of brake fluid comes out, and brakes release. Hoping that the truck will fix itself, we continue on. Ended up disconnecting the air line to the airpack, but the brakes still wanted to drag. Had to leave a bleeder open. Took about 3 hours to get the truck on the road.
Tag says M108 weighs 19,000. Some of the really steep hills we are doing 10 mph. Get on the interstate and can hold 55 on the flats, and 35 on most hills. Once in Ohio, and the weather cools off, the truck ran really well. Was pulling 55 on the small hills and 40-45 on the steeper ones. Temp gauge is pegged out on the water temp, but I am pretty sure gauge is off.(cooling system has been gone thru). Truck didn't spit any antifreeze, and ran great. Pyro says 1100 on most hills, and creeps toward 1200 on a hard pull.
Had an electrical glitch. Headlights won't come on, so pull the three lever switch out of the M108. Then figure out some really tall idiot had the switch in the wrong spot. Hook up the original switch, and 10 miles later ALL the lights quit. Talk about fun, dark out and traffic climbing up my ass. Put M108 switch back on. No panel lights, and everytime the switch touches metal I get a nice spark. Gimpy rigged up some LEDs for panel lights, worked good.
Get home at 1:30am, very dirty, sweaty, tired, and happy. Drove 530 miles. VERY HAPPY with how the Deuce ran.
Dennis
Attachments
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- 2,960
- 30
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- Location
- Tiro, Ohio
Now, on the the truck. Paint layers are Blue, olive drab, then some off color green. So sounds like it was an airforce truck. Thought the Hyd. tank was empty, turns out there was a screen in the way. Pull the dipstick and oil was full and clear.
Truck is very original, didn't see much in the way of modifications. Missing the front outriggers, and some rigging.
Cab is decent shape, some rust on it. Would be easiest to replace the cab, doors and fenders. Hard top is rusted out, and crane needs blasted/painted.
Link to pics of truck/data plates/boom.
http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i104/mjenera/M108/
Hope to start it later, see what works.
Dennis
Truck is very original, didn't see much in the way of modifications. Missing the front outriggers, and some rigging.
Cab is decent shape, some rust on it. Would be easiest to replace the cab, doors and fenders. Hard top is rusted out, and crane needs blasted/painted.
Link to pics of truck/data plates/boom.
http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i104/mjenera/M108/
Hope to start it later, see what works.
Dennis
Attachments
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- 34,012
- 1,807
- 113
- Location
- GA Mountains
Looks good Dennis. Anything in the toolboxes? From what I can see you are missing the 2 front stifflegs, is that correct? I had one gasser tractor that had a bad coil, once replaced started right up. I would say that you got a good deal there, it doesn't look molested. Nice that it has 2 of the 3 spots too! I had one unexpected glitch on my recovery. The boom started turning and by the time I realized it, it was hanging over the breakdown lane. Had to use a comealong and some time to bring it back for the ride home. Congrats man, welcome to the coveted M108 club.
- 2,960
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- Tiro, Ohio
Actually, it has all three spots. Two have been replaced. I could push the boom around about 6 inches, but it didn't sway going down the road. Did take out part of a telephone pole when with an outrigger. Turned too sharp and took a chunk out. There is a wrecking/weight ball, snatch block, and assorted junk in it. And the one boom support is homemade.
Dennis
Dennis
- 34,012
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You lucky stiff. I've been searching for the correct hoist block for mine since I got it. Factory it comes with the hoist block and the headache ball. I've got a hoist block off a 5 ton on mine, works great but not right (in my eyes). There is supposed to be a M108 bed in a wrecking yard in N Fla. I've been trying to get up there but never seem to make it. Once I lock it down, I'll see if I can't get them to sell off the front stifflegs.
- 2,960
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- Tiro, Ohio
Not sure if my hoist block is right. I'll post pics later on, wife is yelling to go. Yea, keep an eye out. My just build the front legs.
Dennis
Dennis