RECOVERY UPDATE:
On short notice, I'm going to make a solo RECON trip to Midland to scope out the situation.
I'll be carrying basic tools and supplies, camera, and TWO FRESH 6TL Batteries (from our Deuce) to attempt a start-up if everything passes inspection (fluids, belts & hoses, Air lines, etc.).
If she starts, I'll let her self-charge her batteries for as long as I'm on site. I'll then reinstall the driveshaft if all the hardware is present. If she doesn't start, then we'll punt with the hauling option.
HOWEVER, if she does start I'll button her up and return to San Angelo. To do a drive off, I will need to arrange insurance and obtain a ONE WAY TRIP PERMIT. Then I'll return on Monday, Wednesday or Friday (have commitments on Tuesday and Thursday) with a Soldier B to fire her back up and drive her home.
No matter what I find and no matter how things play out, I KNOW that this is another time that God is going to show off!!! We serve an AWESOME GOD !
Rolling out at 0700hrs.
Pray if you're so led.
SITREP: RECON AAR:
Well, this weekend has been a BLAST !!!
Friday evening was Recon Trip prepping and and early lights out (relatively speaking).
Then Saturday I was westbound just before dawn, scoped out the location of the truck, hooked up with the Sheriff's Deputy/Point Of Contact for the Midland County Sheriff's Office, together we had fun getting incredibly DUSTY working on the truck. All the fluids were EXCELLENT, hoses look great, and the belts and the batteries were cold and DEAD. The eight rear tires, while about 7-8 years old look "showroom new". And, every part sheltered from any occasional west Texas rain was otherwise covered with 1/4-1/2" of good old DUST !
My only MISTAKE was simply connecting my Deuce Batteries to the truck with jumper cables... This immediately voided most of the charge in the deuce batteries, but at least PROVED that she will crank - there just wasn't enough juice to turn her hard enough to fire.... But I believe that when recovery time comes she may just be able to make the trip under her own power.
While I checking fluids etc, the Deputy recalled some "parts" that might be around the far side of one of the buildings... Turns out they still had all the parts for the SPARE TIRE RACK (excluding fasteners).
Since this was really intended to be ONLY a recon mission, I decided that rather than working any kind of heroics with the batteries I would instead haul them home for a testing and deep charge, then see what plans evolved following those results.
So, we pulled all four batteries out of the M818 and added them to the back of the minivan. Covered them with a thick packing blanket and added the spare tire rack parts and the splash panels from the left side of the engine compartment that "they" had removed for some reason. I also loaded the driveshaft to carry home.
The BEST NEWS from this inspection is that the REAR driveshaft is installed and that part of the drivetrain should be fully functional. The driveshaft that had been removed was from the FRONT axle's driveline ! ! ! So all prior discussions of moving the truck via only the front axle's motive power are moot. Now I just wonder WHY the front driveshaft was pulled?!?!?
The Deputy also gave me the TITLE, so transfer and registration will be on an upcoming TO DO LIST.
YAY! A springer seat
Mud flaps and a rear-roller for winching up drop-trailers !
I'm thinking of fabbing some gin poles for a little crane action !
Odometer: 06656.15 Miles !! 249.9 Hours on the clock!!
I know - KNOW - you cannot trust MV meter readings, BUT judging by the condition of this truck and the apparent LACK OF any rebuild tags (I failed to take pics of data plate(s)) I would not be too surprised if these are the original SPEEDO & TACH.
Notice the THICK "preservative dust" on everything sheltered from the rain.
(TO BE CONTINUED...)
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I kinda like the SHERIFF script and star paint job with the light bar! Good luck with your recovery and be safe!
Spare Tire Rack and other loose parts.
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