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My 54 M35A2, NY to PA, 450 miles in 2 days

joshs1ofakindxj

Active member
738
120
43
Location
SW PA
1954 M35A2

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.ne...526115343_755350342_20965718_1462234191_n.jpg

Bought this from a guy on craigslist in Syracuse.

Has troop seats in the bed, winch, cab hard top, block heater and grill cover for winter, no cover for the bed yet.

Most importantly, it was retrofitted in 1984 and it has a whistler multi-fuel turbo diesel and a synchronized manual transmission.

I literally just got home. What a ride.

I rode my KLR 650 up to Rochester from Pittsburgh Thursday after work and hung out with friends. Yesterday (Friday) morning I rode to Syracuse to meet the guy to buy the truck.

He gave me the paperwork so I could go to the DMV and get a NY temporary in-transit permit and as soon as I get to the DMV I feel something funny with the rear tire. I look, and in two spots, the cheap ass Shinko tire is bubbling for lack of a better word, like the tread is separating from the tire, so it is junk. I got my permit and carefully rode back to the guy's house and loaded the bike in the truck. Talk about timing.

I took the thruway from Syracuse to Rochester and hung out with some friends there for awhile and drove the truck around. Once the sun was setting I headed towards Buffalo to spend the night with the girlfriend.

Well it started raining, and I mean pouring. Because the windshields open and flip up, they don't seal too tight so rain was running down the inside of the windows. Between wiping it with a shirt and the crappy windshield wiper I was working manually to clean the outside of the glass because I couldn't find the knob to turn it on, I gave up and slept in the cab at a rest stop till the rain stopped for about 2 hours. Finally got to Buffalo around midnight and spent the night there. I left today at noon and just got home. I went straight south on 16 to Bradford, then south on 219 and 119 to home.

What an experience. The comfort factor of the ride was bearable to me, because I have low standards when it comes to vehicles, but man was it loud. Ear plugs aren't enough. I had to put on muffs and I stuffed my ipod headphones under them so I was good to go. I pretty much held it to the floor the whole trip, so that stack next to the passenger window was just roaring the entire time. Top speed was a little under 60 mph, but I mostly cruised at 50-55 mph.

Probably spent $300 in diesel fuel, but I got the truck at a great price so it was worth it. $30 in tolls.

About 450 miles total.

What an experience.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.ne...696425343_755350342_20961004_2080476208_n.jpg
 

DieselBob

Active member
2,891
15
38
Location
Arnold Maryland
Welcome to the site. Good looking truck. Nice to hear you had a fairly trouble free trip. If you don't mind me asking where in SW Pa are you located.
 

two.fiveM35

Active member
1,234
11
38
Location
Victoria , Texas
Very nice truck. I also thinking 54 may not be the right year, I'm think 1970. But that really doesn't matter, glad you had flawless pick up.

Check out the CARNAC's "2011 vin info thread" to get more info on your deuce's history.
 
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joshs1ofakindxj

Active member
738
120
43
Location
SW PA
Just checked the frame, under both fenders is a date in 1967, and I can't find the VIN that is on my title anywhere. Interesting.

Also it looks like a dash plate is missing, that that one probably had the info I'm missing. I'm trying to find the loaded and unloaded truck weight so I can get the truck titled in PA. Looks like I need to stamp a new dash plate.
 
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