MI to GA

[alphadeltaromeo]

RE: Short Update

Lane...ur next bud...I can see it now...a migration down to the land of milk and honey and sweet tea!

 

[devilman96]

RE: Short Update

yummmmmmm... sweet tea!!!!

Anyone heard from Matt? *awaiting a emergency parts order*

 

[citizensoldier]

RE: Short Update

I hope that order has nothing to do with M101A2 parts!!! I will call him tomarrow if he has not let someone know how it is going. Long trip in a deuce....

 

[FSBruva]

RE: Short Update

Sorry for the delay-

We are safely in GA, and checked into the hotel. I will provide a full(er) write-up soon, but thank you all for the phone numbers and "votes of confidence" (devilman - I know you're just being realistic!!!)

Trip went well - I was towing the M101A2 with some stuff. Total GVW of the whole rolling monstrosity was just over 20K lbs. Karma is an evil, evil being sometimes. My clutch repaid me (in full) for all the abuse I dealt it by starting in 2nd all those months when I first got the truck. With the load in the truck and the trailer, I was unable to "put the coals to her" up hills without the clutch slipping. This was discovered on the first day, but there wasn't really an option to turn back - worst case was that we put the stuff in a self storage place, and drive an empty duece down. Nevertheless, we altered our route to take the most direct route, removed the mountainous camping segment, and shortened the trip by one day. So, we stayed in Ann Arbor, Cleveland, Cinncinati, and Knoxville. On the flats, we were going 55 (by the chase car) @ 2550 rpms and most of the hills required shifting to fourth or even third, because of the slipping clutch. This made our lowest uphill speed 25 mph. I cannot wait to load up the truck and take it on the road once I get the clutch/flywheel fixed!!! On the plus side, I never was able to heavily load the motor, so it was very happy at 75% throttle @ 2500 rpms, and ran like that all day long.

We had a flat in Cleveland, but that was fixed in 2 hours at the local truck place. We also chose to replace the passenger boot at high noon while we were stopped at Cleveland (not the brightest bunch). Didn't really need to, as I had desplined axle flanges on the front, but wanted to stop dripping peanut butter (GAA) all over the place. The check engine light came on in the chase car, but we remedied that by reconfiguring the intake/filter (in the middle of a thunderstorm) and resetting the computer. Other than that - it was a pretty straightforward trip, with average daily distances of 200-250 miles. I am kind of bummed that I have to wait 2 years before I get to do it again!! (that's right, I said *get to*!!) OH... forgot, we also pulled the forward tandem's driveshaft for the trip.

After 1100 miles and 5 days of driving a 1965 deuce, I quote the immortal words of 73M819-

LONG LIVE BIG GREEN IRON!!!!

Matt

 

[mangus580]

RE: Short Update

Silly question, but did you try to adjust your clutch? Is it possibly adjusted too tight? I know when I picked up that 109 last summer, the clutch would slip when you really got into it with torque. When i pulled the pin out of the clutch linkage, it sprun back bigtime. Readjusted so the pin went in with all the slack, and it was great after that. Never slipped again!

 

[DaveP]

Thanks for the update. i was fixen to call if we did'nt hear from ya soon.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Good deal Matt! I remember my notorious trip to OH in 2003. Jellico in N TN cut me down to 25 in 3rd gear going up both sides. I was grossing about 28,000#. Jellico had to be your worst hill of the trip. 250 miles a day sounds like a vacation! Anyway, post some pics of your venture please.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Cincinnati?! Man I can't believe I missed you. I know the reason was, you blasted through at 6:00am and didn't want to wake me, right? No worries, glad your safe so far!

 

[FSBruva]

gimpyrob-

Sorry about not contacting you. My PM folder is already maxed, and your phone number got auto-deleted, and when I left the house in MI, I thought I was skipping Cinncinati! Sorry about that.

Mangus-
I might try adjusting the clutch, but i wasn't about to mess with that on the road. (I have a habit of opening cans of worms when i try to start "simple" projects. Plus, when I hooked up the linkage following the rear main seal replacement, it went together really easily, with no tension. The other thing is that my flywheel is pretty deeply scored, either by my actions or the actions of those before me. However, when I was taking a load of scrap to the dump that weighed MUCH more, the clutch didn't slip, or I didn't notice it. That was a year ago, so I don't know. Anyways - I will get a properly faced flywheel and a new clutch plate and then see where we stand.

Kenny-
Yep... leaving Cleveland on 71 we had some hills, but the day from Cleveland to Knoxville was a challenge, to be sure. The 250 miles a day was my choice, and I paid an extra hotel night, because Uncle Sam figures I should be driving no more than 350 miles a day when moving. Next move, we migh up it a little bit, but leaving after breakfast and arriving before dinner was sure nice!!! And, it was the closest thing to a vacation we've been able to take in a while.

Thank you all for the concern and desire for updates. Unfortunately, the digital camera was OOC for this outing, so pictures will have to follow the "film - developed - scanned" timeline.

Matt