M109A4 recovery in progress...

[mactiredearg]

M109A4 recovery complete

Have to make this quick since we're still on the road tonight and I'm doing this from my phone.
9Had fun getting to GL at Nellis this morning since the official directions say go to the main gate and its actually on the other side of base through a completely seperate gate.

Anyways checked the truck over twice, cleared out two wasps nests, stuck a gallon of fluid in the transmission and swapped batteries. All of which took a lot longer than expected.

Will be passing flagstaff shortly on the way home to Denver.

Only have the three lame pix on my phone thanks to forgetting the cable for my camera. Will upload the better ones once we make it home.



Quick question for folks. I'm used to my M35a2 being slowish, but the top end on this truck is ridiculous. To hit 55 I've got to peg the tach at 3k. Obviously not a good idea. The engine has power and is running smooth. Its quicker accelerating than my A2, it just has no top end. Any suggestions on what I can check while in route? Thanks!

 

[area52]

I think the top speed on the Cat motors is lower than the mult-fuel ones. Just the nature of the beast.

What way are you going up to Denver? If you are going through the 4 corners area, let me know if you need help.

 

[jaymcb]

As an owner of an M109a4, with a whopping 60 miles behind the wheel, I can tell you that the top end is the top end, it's how it's geared. WYSIWYG. If you decide to mess with the fuel pressure, you're gonna blow it up.

BTW, the rev limiter is 2900-ish, and it's going to run a lot longer at 2650. Good luck on your recovery. Out of curiosity, what kind of shape were the tires in?

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/69636-m35a3-cat-3116-max-operating-rpm.html

If the (lack of) speed kills you, there's always the 395 tire solution. http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce-modification-hot-rodding/76053-deuce-m35a3-tires.html

 

[3dAngus]

Those looked like some of the nicest A4s I've seen. I low bid on one due to the long mileage to recover (2000 miles).

Don't overrev it. Top end will probably be about 52mph at 2800 rpm. Watch the tach, not the speedometer, or you'll regret it.

 

[wsucougarx]

Beautiful truck! I too was bidding on those A4's. Good luck on your recovery!!

 

[BadMastard]

Yep, that's your top end. If you are getting 55 at 2950 (rev limit, except when downhill), then your speedometer is probably broken and reading too high. My suggestion is to stick at 48-50 MPH and call it a day until you get bigger tires.

Why? You're likely going to have a seal or two that is weather shrunk, and running higher rpms and temps are likely to bring it to the top of the problem lists!

BTW, awesome trucks! I wanted one, but it went high enough to keep me out of the market. I picked my m35a3 up out of nellis on a balmy 97 degrees, and have loved it ever since!

 

[jaymcb]

Don't overrev it. Top end will probably be about 52mph at 2800 rpm. Watch the tach, not the speedometer, or you'll regret it.

^ What he said.

Yep, that's your top end. If you are getting 55 at 2950 (rev limit, except when downhill), then your speedometer is probably broken and reading too high. My suggestion is to stick at 48-50 MPH and call it a day until you get bigger tires.

Why? You're likely going to have a seal or two that is weather shrunk, and running higher rpms and temps are likely to bring it to the top of the problem lists!

BTW, awesome trucks! I wanted one, but it went high enough to keep me out of the market. I picked my m35a3 up out of nellis on a balmy 97 degrees, and have loved it ever since!

Why I'm already looking at bigger tires for my A4, plus finding a whole buncha patience .

 

[M35A2-AZ]

They did look like nice trucks. I was up at Nellis picking up some M105's
and I took a quik look at them. Nice!!

My M35A3 is not as fast as my A2's, but I do like the Cat motor.

 

[mactiredearg]

Quick update then sleep. (Tried to post this at 0430 local but phone wouldn't finish POST)

Made our exit at Gallop for the hotel around 0140, but the truck only made it halfway up the ramp. I was in the chase car, but leading with GPS navigation for the hotel. Had to double back 4 miles to come back up behind the truck. Old man told me fuel had just stopped and the engine died. I went thru the engine, fluids, checked the tank. All good. Hazard lights going so it had power. Tried to crank and nada, maybe a click and that's it. Time to check batteries. Pull the tray out, wiggle the connections and both the positive and negative leads from the truck POP right off. Crap.

Luckily previous exit had a TA. Their service truck showed up to jump the 109 with a 12volt setup. Hah. Ended up spot charging each individually enough to crank and drive back to their shop for a full charge.

Now for some sleep.

Btw I knew the truck would be slow, just surprised me how much slower than my A2. O'well, still a cool truck and the girls will love it.

And I'm kicking myself for no pix of the breakdown.

 

[nk14zp]

Keep us posted.

 

[Thunder in NWOR]

When my -A3 died on the road - It was a clogged fuel filter....

 

[mactiredearg]

A truck that starts without external cables: priceless

Nimrod jerkboy blasting his radio outside my window 2 hours before my wake-up call: not so much

Back on the road.

 

[mactiredearg]

We pulled into the motor pool (my backyard) at about 3am yesterday morning. 1070 miles and ~39 hours after pulling off base. Other than the one battery connection issue the truck ran like a champ the whole slow way.

Considering that this was my first GL recovery, and a long distance one at that, I'm very happy with how well it went and ended. The relief driver (my old man) and I had shown up with all the tools and fluids needed for a full change out and top off if needed. But other than the one gallon into the transmission the truck was fine the whole way home. Aside from the speed (which we got used to) the only other thing about driving the truck was relief driver complaining about how loose the steering is.

The route we chose was to drop down to I40, take that across Arizona and New Mexico and then head up into Colorado on I25. Added probably 250 miles onto the trip, but meant that any steep grade we encountered was long and straight. Much rather the longer distance than dealing with steep and sharp on I70 in a new-to-me truck...

The truck is in great shape, as one would expect from a rebuild. AM General missed some rust spots, but nothing that a bit of sand paper and spray cans wont fix over the next couple of weeks. And it is odd which parts they chose to reuse. The steering wheel is in almost as bad a shape as the one in my A2, but the drivers seat is completely new. The spare tire is brand new but the tires on the ground arent.

Anyways, I'll post another thread in Member's Rides when I get a full set of pictures of the truck taken.

But in the meanwhile, and as promised, here are more recovery pix. Note the wasp nest under the dash in #4 and the one between the driver's seat and the cab cover in #5. We got really lucky that they had died and dried out before we showed up. I would have hated trying to deal with them and then the left over spray the whole way home...

 

[mactiredearg]

If you are going through the 4 corners area, let me know if you need help.

Thanks for the offer, it is appreciated. Luckily the only issue turned out to have a quick solution.

 

[mactiredearg]

Out of curiosity, what kind of shape were the tires in?

The spare is literally new with nubs and all. The rest are more used than the miles on the truck can account for but are very decent shape...

 

[mactiredearg]

If you are getting 55 at 2950 (rev limit, except when downhill), then your speedometer is probably broken and reading too high.

Now that you mention it, I think that one 55 hit was on a downhill. Just a tease I guess...

 

[mactiredearg]

One other thing we noticed on the way home, the transmission did not seem to like downshifting on hills. Does this sound familiar/right?