Picking up my M820A2 from Pineville, LA

[goldneagle]

UPDATE:

Well after trying for over a day I finally got Insurance set up for my truck. I tried all the major carriers as well as some local agents and was told they do not cover Military Vehicles.

I finally contacted Gulfway Insurance in Florida and they said they would insure my truck. The only glitch is that they do not take applications over the internet or fax. Forms were emailed to me to fill in, but I had to send it UPS Next Day Air in order to get coverage before Thursday.

I called yesterday trying to reschedule my p/u day to Thursday. All I got was the voicemail. I finally got through this morning and was able to reschedule for Thursday Morning.

I went to NAPA and got all the part I ordered for the truck. Oil and Fuel filters, all the fan belts (5), DOT5 brake fluid, power steering fluid, 7qts motor oil, FL-1 gear oil, new fuel line, 2 new COMMERCIAL batteries and a jumper wire, antifreeze, wiper blades, glad hand, light bulbs, and Diesel fuel treatment.

While I was p/u my order i received a call from Gulfway that the application for insurance was approved. She emailed me a copy of the ID card.

Here is a list of some additional items I am taking with me to the recovery tomorrow:

My 1" impact gun with 50' of air hose. My 1/2" impact and 3/8" air ratchet. Air chuck to fill tires. Tire air gage. Hammer and hand tools, pliers, screwdrivers, wrenches. 1/4",3/8",1/2" combo socket set. 3/4"breaker bar and ratchet plus extensions. Pry-bars, Air blow gun. Electrical wire and wirenuts, black tape. 20 ton bottle jack. Empty bucket with funnel. WD-40. Battery booster pac (in case we need more power to start the truck and to plug the NAV system in on the way home) Long iron pipe for leverage of ratchet if necessary. Foam pad for working under truck (Used as a padding under sleeping bags in the military)

Will also bring documents for picking up the truck plus color photos of the truck from the auction (to make sure nothin is missing)

I am gonna have Mike bring the extra Diesel with him to cut down on the weight in the Crown Vic. i hope I will not need half the stuff I am taking with me!!!!

I will also try to remember to bring the camera with me to document the trip.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Sa-weet! Glad you got it all set, nice truck.

 

[Lorax]

B-U-T-Full

 

[davidkroberts]

thats a big big truck.....

 

[mattgw86]

Nice lookin truck. Whenever you get it back in the area, I'd like to check it out. That and your deuce. I'm thinkin I'm about to end up with another expensive hobby.

 

[mistaken1]

WOW!

Congratulations and good luck on the trip home!

 

[goldneagle]

Nice lookin truck. Whenever you get it back in the area, I'd like to check it out. That and your deuce. I'm thinkin I'm about to end up with another expensive hobby.

I'll be happy to have SS members come by and check out my Green Iron. The Deuce will be going up for sale as soon as I get the M820A2 ready for the road.

 

[mattgw86]

I'll be happy to have SS members come by and check out my Green Iron. The Deuce will be going up for sale as soon as I get the M820A2 ready for the road.

Dont think i'll be ready real soon, but I'd love to come look at it. Who knows, maybe I'll have to start selling off some stuff. I seem to do that a lot.

 

[wiggall]

Is that a liftgate FTG2 Wiggles USS EDSON DD 946 1969-1973

 

[goldneagle]

Is that a liftgate FTG2 Wiggles USS EDSON DD 946 1969-1973

Yes that is a liftgate on the back of the truck. The side walls of the box expand out 3 feet on each side. Box dimensions become 14' wide and 17' long.

 

[papabear]

GE dont forget the extra 6 spark plugs in case the original ones are fouled out.

Just kidding...looks like you are just like a scout...always prepared!!

BEST OF LUCK ON THE RECOVERY SIR!!

 

[Chevytruck]

so is that basically a camper truck or a shop truck??


and you took the ::
right out of our mouths

 

[mbarber84]

Man that thing is awesome! Congrats on a GREAT save!

 

[DaveP]

Looks like your prepared.
good luck with the recovery.

 

[hulk31st]

Congrats! What will you use it for? How does one use an expandable?

 

[54reo]

Good luck GE!

Don't forget to take extra batteries for the camera.

The "my camera's batteries were dead, so I don't have any pictures" thing won't work!

 

[goldneagle]

We left the house at 4:30 AM and drove to Covington to meet with Michael Hassett. Both got there around 5:00 AM. Transfered all the tools and supplies from the Crown Vic to Michael's Ford Super Duty pickup. We had to make a slight detour do to an overturned tractor trailer that was blocking the interstate. We managed to get to Pineville using the Mapquest direction. Then we got lost on the last leg of the trip due to bad instruction in the directions. I had to pull out the GPS unit and wait for it to locate our current position. The GPS took us right to the gate of Camp Beouragard.

Guard just let us pass when we told him we were there to pick up our truck. After a bit of searching we found the correct building. We were told to go out to the field where the trucks were and wait for the Specialist to come by.

We drove out to the field located at the edge of the camp. The road there was gravel and dirt with lots of bumps and holes. As soon as we reach the field I could see my truck sitting there.It stood out from the rest of the trucks. It was bigger and the paint job was NICE!

While we waited for the Specialist we started to look at the truck more closely. It looked great! Just as it was in the pictures! We started to open the air filter housing and Michael said "close it Up, its like brand new" After securing the cover on the air filter we raised the hood and Michael started to check the fluid levels. First he checked the coolant storage tank which he said was att he correct level. Next he checked the oil and he said it looked almost new and was full. He then checked the power steering pump and it was also full. Everything looked good under the hood!

We opened the trap door in the floor of the cab and checked the brake fluid level. It was also full. Next was the fuel tank. Michael opened the cap and said "looks like there is half a tank full of Diesel in there!" (thats almost 40 gallons!)

We continued to look at the truck and Michael noticed that the Passenger side front tire was flat. All the rest of the tires looked fine and there were 2 spare tires on the racks. One spare tire was a VIRGIN and still had the little hairs still on the tread. The 2nd spare is about 80%.

We tried to inflate the tire but it did not seem to go beyond 30 lb. pressure. I was holding in the brake peddle while Michael was inflating the tires. (That was the only way we could get air through the glad hand.) Michael suggested that we shut off the engine to hear if there was an air leak in the tire. He said he couldn't hear it with the engine running. Even though I was hesitant I agreed to shut off the truck and hope it would restart again. We found that the tire has a leak where the stem goes into the tire. We needed to replace it!

Michael suggested we use the 80% spare since there was more room to lower it from it's perch. We wrestled the tire to the ground and I rolled it to the front bumper. Michael set up the 20 ton bottle jack and we jacked up the truck a bit.

Using the 1" breaker bar and 1 1/2" socket Michael removed the lug nuts from the flat . We raised the truck up further and removed the flat. After a bit of wrestling with the spare we got it on the lugs and started to reinstall the lug nuts. While Michael were struggling with the lug nuts I started to bring the 2 extra batteries and booster pack to the truck in order to try to restart it. We used jumper cables from each battery to a separate battery. At this point i had 3 oft he trucks batteries attached to 3 power sources. (one for each) Even with the additional batteries attached the truck would not start!

Michael continued the slow process of tightening the lug nuts. After a while I suggested it would be easier and faster to just restart the truck. The problem was that we were out there alone in the field! THe Specialist had driven off to do other tasks. We walked around looking at the truck some more and Michel checked the rest of the tires for pressure. All the tires needed to be inflated more. Some of the stems were unreachable so we left those tires at their current pressure level.

A short time later I heard the Humvee coming down the dirt road! I asked Michael to flag him down. Michael was able to catch him. He told me afterwards the the Specialist had asked him who the idiot was that shut off the truck? Michael answered that he was the ******* who turned it off to hear for an air leak. The Specialist told him he would be back to jump the truck after he completed a couple of tasks.

We continued to manually tighten the lug nuts on the front tire. I disassembled the battery jumper assemblies and put the batteries and cables into the back of Michael's truck. I managed to take some pictures of the truck and Michael. I will attach them at the end of this posting.

After about a 30 to 45 wait the Specialist came with the Humvee and gave the truck another jump. With the Humvee hooked up the truck started immediately. WOOOHOO!!!

We thanked the Specialist and went back to tightening to lug nuts. With me at the brake peddle, Michael was able to use the 1" impact gun i had brought to tighten the lug nuts. It took a while since the gun used a lot of air volume and we had to keep waiting for the air pressure to build up. Eventually he got them as tight as he could with the available pressure. After that he went around the truck and inflated the rest of the tires that he could get to.

We then packed up the tools into Michael's truck and started on the way back. At first it was a bit difficult to drive the truck. i had to get used to the shift pattern and the turning radius of the truck. I managed to go through the entire base and out the gate without driving over any curbs or running into anyone!

Once out on the road I was still trying to get used to the truck. Learning to shift the gears at the proper RPM and downshifting. We made it safely to a gas station a few miles down the road. We both filled up out tanks. (Mine took only $31 worth!) We used the facilities and we were back on the road!

I was averaging close to 50 MPH as we drove down the highway. After about 80 miles we pulled into a truck stop. Michael used his 1" breaker bar and 1 1/2" socket to retighten the lug nuts on the front tire. The tire had settled and the nuts were a bit loose! we checked the hubs and they were just warm so they were OK.

We used the facilities and got some snacks for the road. Off we went on our way to Batton Rouge. We hit Batton Rouge at rush hour! Bumper to bumper traffic! ****! It was a real pain to drive a 5 ton with manual transmission in stop and go traffic! Into gear out of gear clutch in clutch out. Brake clutch, shift, brake, clutch....You get the point. Idiots jumpin in front of me in my braking Space! Idiots constantly changing lanes! What a nightmare! We were moving like 5 miles an hour and stopping and driving and stopping and driving.

The day is getting late and we are nowhere near home! Finally the traffic started to move and we were back to doing 50 MPH. I think we lost more than an our in that damn traffic! We were doing good time the rest of the way. My lights were all working and the truck was doing great. My legs were sore from pushing on the peddles and all the clutch work in the traffic jam earlier. Michel was in the lead truck with me following at 50 MPH. I saw many idiots racing past me and then pulling in front of me. Then they would switch back to the left lane to go around Michael who was only doing 50 so he wouldn't lose me. I can't understand why they couldn't just stay in the left lane!

After a few hour we go to my house. At that point it had already gotten dark out. Luck for me we had a pole light installed over our yard- so it was easy to see the driveway. I let Michael back his truck in next to my Isuzu NPR so we could unload all my tools and supplies into the back of that truck. I went inside the house and asked my son to come out and help as well as move his car so I had more room to back up my truck after we unload Michael's.

After we unloaded Michael's truck he pulled his truck out of my driveway into the street and i started to back up my truck into the driveway. It took two attempts to get it centered. The windows were dirty and so were mirrors and it was hard to see any details with the mirrors vibrating from the engine running.

Once I got the truck where I wanted it I had my son park his car in front of the truck so no one could steal it overnight. I asked my son what he thought about my big truck. (He is 25 years old) He answered "you're crazy" I love that! It cracked me up the way he said it!

As Michael was leaving I asked him if I could compensate him for his expenses during the trip. He said not necessary! I again asked if he was sure he didn't want anything. I was willing to pay! He said a handshake was good enough! I shook his hand and thanked him again for all his help.

I went inside the house and had my first meal since 3:30AM that morning. Iwas tired and sore but VERY HAPPY!

Hope you liked the long story. If you do I will continue with the 1st day home tomorrow.

 

[poof]

Sounds like a great time..
J,P,

 

[Stonepicker1]

Yes sir, that is one nice truck. Glad you got it back home safely.

Does it have the 36,000 btu Ac unit in it?

I have the power cable(3 phase,4 wire) that hooks up to the back. We used a 15KW gen to power them up.

 

[Elwenil]

That's a dream truck for sure, Goldneagle. I'm sure I don't want to know what you gave for it, lol.