The Jason and Jeremy Good Times Show!

[91W350]

My son was supposed to go help me today, we had everything loaded into the pickup. The plan was to go to Riley, check out Jason and Jeremy's 5 tons, hook one up behind the other and go home.

My son came home grumpy last night, was up all night, so I grabbed the tow bar, threw it in the 68 and took off. I grabbed the rest of my recovery tools out of the 71 and was on the road before sunrise. I decided to take the 68 because I think it has more power and a newer transmission. If I was going to tow a five ton with a deuce, I wanted the powerhouse of the two.

I had scheduled a pickup for Jason's truck first thing this morning. Rebecca at Ft Riley is always so sweet, I should thank her in the GL employees thread.

Anyway, I took a few shots along the way this morning. Kansas Cottonwoods are bright yellow right now. This is the time of year to pick a morning or evening when there is a gentle breeze and go hang out in the eco system a big cottonwood makes. They are a eco system all their own. The wind blowing through the drying leaves is sweet music!

I did see some military vehicles and equipment along the way....

 

[91W350]

I got signed in and drove back to the lot. We found Jeremy's truck first. It had a little juice, but would not turn over. It was low on coolant, in my morning confusion and frustration, I left the five gallons of coolant in the pickup, sure wish I had it now.... Wait! There is a cooler in the bed of my deuce with water from the last Riley recovery. I am not going to say I did a beautiful job of pouring water out of that corner of the cooler into the overflow tank, but I did a good enough job to fill the tank about half full after it quit gurgling. Oil was fine, slaved it off and it fired instantly. I think the coolant loss is from the radiator cap not having a gasket, looks like a great source for evaporation.

I drove my deuce down to Jason's truck and it was clear dead. I slaved it off and took Jeremy's truck out the gate and parked it. I walked back in, checked the oil and coolant, BOOM!!! She took of when I bumped the starter and she was screaming. I would guess around 1500 rpm or so.

I had to hook the go pedal with my sole and pull it up, then it fell to a nice idle. While it was warming up, I drove my deuce out the gate and parked it next to Jeremy's truck. I walked back in and drove Jason's truck out, turned in my ID and started hooking up to the tow bar.

I had shut down Jeremy's truck in case it started spewing while I was away from it and it would not fire on its own. So, I tied the deuce to Jason's truck and headed for Salina.

Jason's truck averaged 37 MPH coming home and according to my gps, we hit 53.5 mph. If we did, it had to be coming down the hill into the Fort Riley Valley from US 18 highway. Other than the sticking throttle, the trip home went fine. An hour and 38 minutes driving time....

 

[91W350]

As I was pulling up next to the hot rod shop, the turn was a left in the grass and my deuce tires went right. I stopped as soon as they took off the wrong way, I was watching closely for that... and thankfully the bar was not damaged.

Unhook and stow the bar in the bed and head back for Jeremy's truck. I want WesTech to know that his deuce and high GPS reading has nothing on my truck. Somehow, somewhere, between Salina and Fort Riley, I pegged the Maximum speed on my GPS at 81 mph! That is one smoking deuce, that baby hauls azzzzzzz. But I never broke 2200 rpm and my overall average to Riley was a whopping 43 mph. My 81 is a GPS fluke.

You get to see a lot and think a lot at 45ish and I grabbed some more photos along the way....

 

[91W350]

On the return trip, I parked next to Jeremy's truck, could have slaved it with a four foot cable. It fired right up again and I set about hooking up.

I have found that a 42" breaker bar placed at an angle to the Y area of the tow bar supports it quite nicely. When I hooked to Jason's truck, I managed to wedge the bar between the tow bar and the gravel lot. A love tap with a 3 pound hammer took care of that, then I just released the park brake on the deuce and finished hitching up.

On Jeremy's truck, the bar fell out when the hitch bottomed out and then the eye fell right into the hook, awesome! I had a big audience on that one and it felt good to hit it in one shot. A bunch of GIs were standing outside the building to the west, on break I suppose, with nothing better to do than watch me.

Closed everything up and headed home for the second time. I snapped some more photos along the way, it sure was a pretty day. It was very windy though.

 

[91W350]

With Jeremy's truck I hit a top speed of 48 and averaged around 34 mph.

I was surprised that these five tons did not pull my deuce up hill any easier or faster than my deuce does. I thought they would pull much harder, but maybe the wind has something to do with that.

I like the Allison, it worked very nicely in both trucks. The compression braking surprised me, I did not realize they kicked down early and provided a little compression braking. That was kind of sweet.

I will say that the way that big Cummins growls and rumbles its way through the first three or four gears is almost sexy.

It was fun to drive them and I am sure the boys will call me later for more low down. Neither one has a working Tachometer. Both need batteries... both are knee deep in rubber. Jason's turn signals do not work and his horn was unplugged, when I plugged it back it, it set off on its own, so I unplugged it again. Both trucks have nice quiet running drive trains. The right hub on the front rear axle of Jason's truck was warmer to the touch. Not hot, but we ought to pull it and see if it is dry, bearing too tight, has moisture, or if a brake shoe is dragging.

They both had various little things, but seem pretty solid over all. Jeremy's PTO lever for the winch is disconnected. I shoved it forward when I got in the first time and thought it went pretty easily. Then driving down the road it would vibrate back into the engaged slot. I could see me sucking the hook into his radiator. It was kind of panicky the first couple of times.

Enjoy boys, they are fine where they are until it is handy for you to pick them up. Thanks again for the fun! My deuce seems kind of puny around those two... Glen

 

[Bighurt]

Thanks Glen for all your hard work. Appreciate the effort and I'll be sure to pick your brain as time draws closer to mid Nov.

Sure wish we had that kinda weather here today. Seams a high Pressure system in Nebraska caused rain all day here today. Don't ask me how that works but it was a miserable day.

Thanks

 

[jtron79]

You are the best Glen! I hoped and prayed everything would go smooth!! The fall colors are amazing. Was it enough to get you hooked on getting one?

 

[91W350]

The Allison is awesome! The Cummins I have always liked. We need to haul a deuce in one to smooth out the ride. The steering is almost too quick and easy. What is with the Max speed 40 mph warning? Is that from the darty steering? Nice trucks, if a guy was serious about working out of one, I would recommend these. Yours has left over mud evidence. Glen

 

[jtron79]

the 40 mph warning was from the pre abs, i guess before they got abs on them they had all kinds of bad accidents so they lowered the speed limit to 40, there is abs non abs sticky in this section about it. I really appreciate all your hard work glen, YOU make this forum and hobby worth being around!


expect a call after 1900

Jason

 

[Bighurt]

What is with the Max speed 40 mph warning?

Well I guess that answers the question if I got an ABS truck or not. Jason hit the nail on the head, ABS 55mph, non ABS 40mph.

 

[indy4x4fab]

Wish I was closer I would have loved to have taged along for the day. looks like a DAY OF FUN IN THE SUN TO ME.

 

[91W350]

We have a handgun qualification tomorrow and all this wind is supposed to suck in some precipitation. We definitely need it! I am one of the Glock armorers and the Sig armorer. I will be in it for nine or ten hours. You guys are more than welcome. I have said it many times, I enjoy these recoveries. Thanks! Glen

 

[jtron79]

I thought they changed all the trucks to ABS? there's an abs light on the dash. I thought the 40mph warning was just a remnant of that era?

 

[91W350]

They both have that light. 45 in today's wind was too much. I pretty much stayed around 40. I ran a little faster for the five or so miles of Interstate.

 

[Bighurt]

Wife was very pleased the truck started and runs, she less enthusiastic at the prospect of following me at 40 mph...LOL

 

[crasheej]

Glen you are such a nice guy. We need more of you, or more like you. Ernie

 

[91W350]

Thanks Ernie! I see guys on here all the time going out of their way to help others. As a group we are very fortunate to have the core members that we have. Glen

 

[91W350]

Jeremy, Your truck is filling rapidly, 1600 20s are space eaters! I have some bolster tires to load and will wait until you get here to toss the top in. Was there anything you needed that we might have? Glen

 

[Bighurt]

Jeremy, Your truck is filling rapidly, 1600 20s are space eaters! I have some bolster tires to load and will wait until you get here to toss the top in. Was there anything you needed that we might have? Glen

Had I know you had 1600r20's I might have, I'll send you a pm...

 

[91W350]

REB87 bought those at Riley, I just picked them up in July and we have not crossed paths yet. I almost delivered them last weekend, then I found out that you were coming through. Glen