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Here's the only mechanical failure of the trip: The well-worn rain cap broke. At first I thought it had just slipped down, but it fatigue cracked and is broken, so I ordered another one. It looked like it had been struck one too many times by loads handled by a careless crane operator. It's...

Thanks everyone for all the support and offers of help, I really appreciate it! Fortunately help was unnecessary. I can talk about it now without jinxing myself: This trip was absolutely perfect and went according to plan or better than planned. Therefore there is little drama to report, and...

We made it home! I'm going to sleep, will debrief later this afternoon...

Phoenix ETA is 5:30-6:00, we're considering a few hours break there if any of the AZ gang wants to meet up somewhere! I'm going to try to call Agazza... Jon

We're staying the night in Deming, New Mexico... The internet here is terrible! I give up trying to upload pics, they'll have to wait. Another great day though... Made it from Abilene to here, pretty nice weather, relatively smooth roads, and the truck ran great. Average mpg went up to 4.2...

The transmission and transfer case have rebuild tags, the transfer is undated but the transmission is '04 I believe. Certainly drives perfect, I couldn't be happier. My brakes are not touchy at all, it takes a fair amount of pressure to stop. Maybe they need adjusting, but they look unworn...

Here's a few pics... It runs fantastic, no problems at all. It was 38 degrees this morning, it started right up. Everything works, tool boxes are full including the crane remote. There was even a maintenance log in the cab! The owner of the towing yard let us service it there, and it took 7...

Thanks! So far, we've averaged 3.4 mpg and run about 56 mph. Insurance is through Gulfway.

We made it! 1,700 miles in 30 hours. Here's a peek over the wall...

Thanks guys! We're almost to San Antonio, about 3/4 of the way and speeding along at 80+ mph... Legally! Thanks Texas, you're the best!

We just crossed the New Mexico border, and we're not tired yet... I think we'll make it 2/3 of the way tonight. That way we'll arrive in LA tomorrow afternoon, maybe check out the truck before it gets dark, and get plenty of rest before our Tuesday morning pickup appointment.

Very nice installation, I'm curious what the advantages are... Isn't the MRAP air dryer still a desiccant dryer? You can get a HEMTT air dryer kit for like $20. What does 'fass' mean, and what makes those fuel filters better? It's not like the Parker/Racor unit on the HEMTT uses expensive or...

You've got some hoses to replace, eh? I saw the hydraulic pee-stream in a few of the pics of yours. Mine will need hoses too, the site manager said my "crane has leaky hoses" but he described them as seepage, not squirtage. Jon

Nice building and a good use of the HEMTT to raise the trusses... If you ever want to remove it, the HEMTT can also raze the trusses! Jon

The oil drains are high up there too, aren't they... Tough to do fluid changes on a windy day I bet. I got two buckets with lids today, but I did have two 6-gallon oil drain pans already... I'll probably use both, maybe leave some of the oil in the buckets rather than funnel it back into the...

I plan to put the spent fluids into the empty containers after I fill the engine and transmission, and bring it all back with me... Possibly burn some of it on the trip home too, like the transmission oil if it's clean, but some clean new buckets with lids is an excellent idea. Jon

Well I'm just about packed up... I pick up the rental van tomorrow, load up, and head out Sunday Morning. I've grabbed and thrown in a lot more than this list, but this is the list of things I thought to bring over the last few months. Some stuff, like the block heater, I won't be installing...

And then there's the 'tink' sound heard when tightening the head... I think something is cracked.

Yes! Interested! Don't break that up for the bows, sell it to me! Is it HEMTT or Mk-48? Or are they the same? edit: I looked up the NSN number (I'm assuming the 'R' in 2540-R1-539-3903 is supposed to be a '0') and it comes up as for a FMTV 5-ton... The NSN for the M977 series HEMTT cargo...

I think it's just that the engine is so high above the fuel tank, and there is a lot of feet of fuel line from the tank to the engine. Most diesel engines that don't have an electric fuel pump are hard to start if you get air in them... I don't think the Detroit is worse than any other would be...