Do you guys bid on "does not run" trucks?

[todds112]

Just looking at the trucks on the reinstated GL site. Seems like 90% say "won't start" or "doesn't run". In the pics they look pretty decent. What's the chances it's something really simple? Do you guys bid on these?

 

[otisroy]

How close is it?

 

[gimpyrobb]

Sure we bid on them, we need parts too!

 

[todds112]

Doesn't look there are any close by. Then again, nothing is close by here. There are a bunch in Columbus, OH which is really close to my hometown (Dayton). Got lots of friends and family still there. Just kind of "what if-ing".

 

[gimpyrobb]

I think if you can't look at it before you bid on it, plan on it NOT running or stopping.

 

[FreightTrain]

Yea,I bought a truck 400 miles away that said doesn't start.Went,Slaved it off,and drove home with another Doesn't run truck tow barred behind it(it had a level 3 fuel leak on #2 fuel line.....totally broken in half at the injector but ran)

 

[hole]

Mine said " doesnt run " but it just had dead batterys. It was close enough to preview so we had the chance to pull start it and know it was a runner, that helps in the bid process. Short of a hole in the block it seems that alot of these old girls are just have dead batterys and could be jumped and driven home, but a preview is always best

 

[LanceRobson]

I've bought a number of "does not run" trucks, both with and without previews. The furthest away from home were about 320 miles.

As stated, most "does not run" trucks are dead batteries or ignorance (emergency fuel shutoff in an M809 series or "gee, that's what the WAIT light is for!!") or lack of a key (CUCV) or the standard GI lock was changed on a CUCV.

The only truck that ever had to be trailered home was a M1008 with no third or reverse gears that was 320 miles from home. If it had been 100 miles, I'd have nursed it home on back roads.

That said, some really are dead, broken or stripped of essential parts. Some GL yards do much better than average job of trying to start them and have very accurate listings with good pictures. (Fort Drum, for one) Some are useless and generally counter-productive.

Columbus, Dayton and Drexel Gardens, IN have had a lot of good looking trucks for sale. Maybe a post headed something like "Preview help at Xxxxx needed" would get you some experienced "eyes on the target"

Lance

 

[Recovry4x4]

In current times many are runners as units are being instructed to turn in the G-742 trucks. In times gone by you would most likely get surplussed trucks that either were residue or broken and the occasional disabled truck because a unit no longer wanted to see it. For the next period of time (maybe up to a year) I'd bed a decent portion of deuces will be runners.

 

[bpj911]

trucks

Todd:
There have to be some closer to you. Look at Craigslist. I am headed over to Nebraska today to look at another one. He has quite a few I think.

 

[jasonjc]

All of my truck were non runners. With some work most all are runnig now. Some needed big parts like transmissions or radators. All but one had pic that clearly show that the tran or radator were missing. One 5 ton did not show the 2 fork lift hole in the radator thought, all that truck needed was a jump and a radiator. I had a M109 towed home to find all it needed to get it off the trailer was a jump, but after driveing it around some I found the the front hubs had no grease. I had I drove it home I would have done lot of damage to it.

 

[citizensoldier]

When they do the inspection for the auction. If they hit the key and it does not start they have to put it does not run. They dont mess with jumping them or doing anything to get them started at most yards.. I have purchased many trucks only to fiddle with them check over some major things and fire them up. Either drive it home or back it off the trailer..
With that said.. Noooo dont bid on it .. leave more for us... LOL... Its junk... Look into my eyes! you dont want that truck.... Your feeling sleepy,,, your feeling a deep sleep... and when I snap my finger you will forget about paragraph one...

 

[MWMULES]

It's really a crap shoot, the "does not run" is a CYA for the seller. GSA auctions will do the same. 2 other guys and I bought 3 M109's at Ft Riley in Sept. We got all 3 started with jumps , had to bleed brakes and add fluids to 2. We planed on driving 2 back and were going to trailer the worst one. It turned out the best runner would not move, the small drive shaft between the tranny and transfer case had been pulled and was nowhere to be found. If you can't inspect, really send time looking at the pictures for missing parts. When we picked ours up there were some there we were outbid on that looked good under the hood in the pic's but on close inspection were missing parts of the drive line, pulled oil pans, steering box. There is a thread on here that has list of what to bring if you plan on trying to drive one home. We used the list plus had a case of oil, 6 gal of antifreeze. Picture is rest stop in Lawrence Ks 2 hours into the trip home.

 

[Jones]

If at all possible, inspection is the key. Got a deuce super-cheap once; listed as "cab and chassis residue". Turned out everything 'missing' was stored in the bed.

I agree that most are poorly screened but it's always good to make your own determination; or that of an obliging SS member who lives close.

 

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

mine said running condition unknown and it fired right up on the base

 

[todds112]

I'm thinking I might just steer clear of the whole GL thing. IMP is only 6 hours away. The extra $$ would be worth it to me to know the truck has been gone over really well by someone that knows what they are looking for.

Now if I was still back home, I'ld have to go check out a couple of the runners at Wright-Patt.

Bryan, that 900 mile trip back here in the Pinz is not something I want to repeat...at least not in February! The truck did great, my extremities not so much!

 

[EdMontana]

I have now formed my opinion about GL auctions....... the big percentage is "how luck" you are until you recover it.

The ad just give a small idea and most of the time is a general "cut and paste". What will happen till you actually recover it is another issue.

My last purchase, I paid more from the ongoing truck because was a "start and run on it's own" truck (at preview at least)....when went pick it up, had parts missing and they crashed the front of truck so bad that the radiator is trashed.....

So, no much of a deal for a running truck huh? What one can do? camp by truck for weeks to make sure nothing happen?

When you complaint is just a game of fine prints and you never win, was the military or was the unattended SOB picking up another truck....but of course is never GL's problem....but they are the ONLY entity actually that should be responsible for the item that you paid for until you pick it up.

 

[KaiserM109]

I bid on my m109 (avatar) without knowing much about the process or MVs. I won the bid on June 25th and got laid off June 26th. My original plan was to have it hauled, but that plan soon changed. It's 11 ft. tall, so it requires a lowboy trailer. I began making other plans.

I called them a week before the pickup date and asked "Does it have an engine?"

The woman who answered was insulted. "Of course it does, if there was something wrong I would have photographed it!"

"Does it start?"

"Call me back in 2 hours and I'll tell you." I waited 2 hours, called back and her answer was "No."

Long story short, I went out there with a hazy Plan B to have a local garage store it and work on it if I couldn't drive it home. I climbed up in it and it fired up in the first turn of the crank. Before I got home, though, it died dead because of a loose battery cable.

In my avatar you can see the blue '69 Bronco I towed home 470 miles.

Most of these trucks were in good shape when they left their units, but they are old and have usually sat around for almost a year before you finally lay hands on them. Time takes a serious toll on rubber parts. Mine had loose battery cables and water in the brakes. Another we retrieved from Ok. had leaked all the brake fluid in the main line out through the RR wheel cylinder.

My advice on driving one home is if it doesn't look like it has had parts stolen, give it a shot, but have a Plan B. Look for what could have gone wrong during the year it sat around without maintenance. Be ready to charge or change the batteries and DRAIN THE AIR TANKS twice or more if you still get water. Mine had at least a 1/2 pint (BAD!!). I didn't do that in the GL yard and I lost my brakes in traffic in Manhatan, KS.

 

[Chevytruck]

wow thanks for the story KaiserM109

very good point when it comes to checking the vehicles before we begin our trips

 

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

even though mine ran and drove it still came home on the bar behind an M813 and i only had a 25 minute drive up a strait road from the lakehurst to my house