Made it back! 1700 mile round trip. I drove to Bald Eagle State Forest to camp on the way down. I entered Bald Eagle State Forest into my GPS and started driving.
Once I was close to my “destination,” I was routed off the highway and up a dirt road on a mountain. The road started getting narrow, with a drop on one side and hill to the other. Once the road turned to ruts and trees were encroaching on my passage, I knew this was not the RV park I was going to. However, I had nowhere to turn. Cell service was long obsolete.
I turned on my light bar to see better and found a wide spot to turn around. With a 10 point or so turn, complete with bending my rear license plate and breaking off a corner of a taillight, I was on my way back out. After a while, I turned off the light bar to find that I had nearly depleted my batteries. Headlights were dim and yellow. I guess I chose a good time to turn off the light bar.
Once I had cell service again, I pulled up my reservation and entered the address. Should have done that from the start. 30 more miles. I made it to the campground and promptly got some sleep.
The next morning, the truck was covered in frost. I looked over the engine and found that the fan/water pump/alternator belt was getting a bit loose and wearing a spot thin. I decided to just keep an eye on it each time I stop.
Since my heater core is clogged and generates no heat, I used my buddy heater to defrost while the truck warmed up. It worked great and I was on the road again. The belt didn’t get much worse, but I double-checked that I had my new spare should I need it. I made it to Virginia in 930 miles total. 22 hours over two days.
I spent time with my family for the week and planned to replace the belt before leaving. I wasn’t looking forward to it, as it is so tight when new that I have to remove all the bolts from the alternator and getting the two pivot bolts to start has taken me a long time when I do it. So I did the “smart” thing and just hoped it would hold for the trip back home. Also while at my family’s house, the spare tire fell off in the driveway, pole vaulting the back up and bending the top step. I placed the spare in the ambulance box and tied up the bracket. I need to clean up the mounting hardware, as the rusty threads
I decided to take the more direct i81 route back up and push for 1 day. The belt continued wearing and I knew it was only time, so I stopped every 100 miles to check it. Finally when I got to Easton PA, I heard the belt let go. I was fortunate that nothing was hurt. Pulled into a fuel station parking lot and got to installing the new one. The gearhead gods must have been smiling upon me, as I was able to have it done in about 10 minutes. I got back on the road, now confident I would make it.
The Merritt Parkway was a bit dicey. The barriers made for some tight situations. However, I made it all the way back home at 3 AM, 20 hours total. Average MPG was about 17. My speed was almost always at 52 MPH. I don’t think a few truckers were too enthused, as they would bright light me and beep their horns as they went past. Though I always kept to the right most lane to allow them to pass.
The drive up was 1 hour longer than my previous longest drive. I was amazed that I didn’t get tired at all, but had planned to stop if I did. I guess the sonic assault of a CUCV at highway speeds keeps you wide awake. I Showered and fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed.
Now onto fixing and improving the stuff that broke and was identified during the trip. I have new u-joints, wheel bearings, and picked up a sink and countertop while in Virginia. I also need to put a new heater core in and figure out what is causing that belt to wear so quickly. It jumps a lot and I have noticed this on other M1010s in videos. Maybe adding a tensioner would help.
I wanted to get better pics, but was rushed to get to where I was going. Planning todo better on future trips.
