How to get it home?

[Novice1]

Jimmcld & Oddshot Thank you! Being a newbie myself I was initially shocked by the responses this member was getting. After reading your posts I realized I may need to thicken my skin a little. (Initiation Rights, Hazing, etc..) In the end Cowboy21 got exactly what he needed from Steel Soldiers
I really appreciate your advice too because I've tried - unsuccessfully - to bid on a couple of M1009's but if I win one the same logistics apply me trying to get it home as apply to Countryboy21.

There is so much solid, quality info on this site that it has to be the best technical site I've ever been to. The quality and quantity of pictures members are including with their project posts are fantastic. However, some of us are not as "DATA MINING" savvy as others so please be patient and get ready to sell us parts.

Is there an advantage to using the shipping services advertised in the item description on GL?
I know, I know there's hundreds of posts on this site covering this subject.

 

[Unforgiven]

$550 is nothing for towing. The tow truck company does all the work and takes all the liability. All you have to do is fax them a piece of paper with your signature.

Don't let the doom&gloomers scare you new guy.

These trucks are no harder to drive than a 24' motorhome. Just be careful of little cars. They like to sneak up on your rear bumper where you can't see them. And they like to cut you off in the front to get around you. And they'll get right up on your rear bumper on an uphill stoplight. So you have to ride the clutch on the green so that you don't roll backwards, even an inch. Even though it's the small cars fault, the cop will probably ticket you if you roll back and hit him.

As much as possible, try to avoid reversing. Pull into the gas stations & supermarket parking lots already knowing your exit direction.

Use wheel chocks. Don't leave it in gear when you shut it off.

I think GL should be forced to have two lots. One lot for future sale items and one lot for "sold" items. They should give "sold" items more than 10 business days to pick up the merchandise.

Or perhaps give a 10 day grace period, then start charging rent to the buyers who need more than 10 days to fix/coordinate transportation of the vehicle. They'd probably make more money. Charge, say, $10 a day storage fee for any sold items on their lot more than 10 days.

I also think GL needs to divorce their lots from the military bases. Put them right next door & move the chain link fences. That way buyers could inspect/work on vehicles in a much more convenient manner.

Yes, separate lots for sold/unsold, 10 day grace period followed by daily space rent, and shifting the lots off-base would make GL much more consumer friendly.

 

[Countryboy21]

correct thank for the welcome and WOW 4 pages. man i will spend half my life here reading, and half under my scrap steel. "i will call it my truck when i actually get to drive it"

 

[Recovry4x4]

I have towbars!

 

[oddshot]

correct thank for the welcome and WOW 4 pages. man i will spend half my life here reading, and half under my scrap steel. "i will call it my truck when i actually get to drive it"

Yeah, yeah, yea... blab, blab blab ... what ever.


It still don't get you outta buyin' the beer.

All you nubes form up in ranks ... and

GO GET BEER!!!

oddshot

... and welcome aboard to all of you.

 

[EMD567]

GL more consumer friendly? you gotta be kidding me. Man when I won my M814, it was every bit of 800 miles away. Since I didn't have a clue when the EUC cleared, I asked GL if I could have just a few more days to recover the 814 from the yard. Not only was the answer NO, I was told I had 30 minutes to get the vehicle off the property from the time I signed the paper work.
Long store short- SPent many a sleepless day worrying about the recovery, and making many many phone calls to transport companies and towing outfits to have a backup plan.
In the end? It turned out okay. My euc cleared just before a week of vacation, and I was able to get up there and recover the 814. Plus, the DRMO folks didn't care how long we stayed- They were just glad it was going to a good home, and that I had won a "ringer". With a little PMI inspection, we did get the 814 to go 800 miles with no problems.

 

[EMD567]

I'll collect mine at the GA Rally.

 

[paradeduty]

Hey Guys -

Just read through this whole "recovery thread" and just thought I would insert some thoughts from my end of the world.

I get somewhat confused from time to time by folks who might criticize others for getting a little short with someone for the old "wanting something for nothing".

First and foremost, I am not involved in any way with MV surplus marketing (although I do my part to support the "consumption" end!). Nor am I extremely well educated in the MV repair/restoration world. Thus I am in no way just trying to "protect my own behind". That being said..............

I try to be very concious of the investment of time and money that quite a few folks have put into the knowledge and capability involved with working on ANYTHING. I understand that when I need to call a service person to attend to something at my home or to work on my everday vehicles, there is a level of education, experience and specialized equipment/tools that I am paying for. Other than the fact that it may not have to be as time critical, hobby type "service/assistance" really is not much different. As a matter of fact, it may be even more expensive relative to everyday items due to the specialized nature of most hobbys. A few of my hotrod buddys' custom engine projects come to mind - the pricetags are a little more than eye opening. Lets face it, this hobby is not unlike most in that there a quite a few folks who make a living by providing the services or goods that our hobby requires. There are also those who do not, but have invested immesurable time in figuring out how to cope with so much of the hobby so that it can be more fun. I will be the first one to admit that I ask my good friends for help from time to time. But I make sure that this is a two way street. Note that I wrote "good friends" - I would hardly go up to someone that I didn't know and ask them for free help. Even if someone helped me on the side of the road, I would try to return the favor or compensate them in some way (buy them a beer or lunch if they wouldn't take anything). I do find it fairly presumptuous of folks to just pop in and expect the easy answers. Sometimes the stuff that one wants or needs to do requires some work to be invested. This site is amazing with all of the "free" information that is available simply for the reading. But - come on "now how do I get it home?" - I mean, come on. There are some really great folks on here who really try to help folks out and improve others' "hobby experience". But one should understand that there are a lot of folks involved in MV's for a lot of reasons. More than once I have tried to help out an aquaintance with some parts or a vehicle under the guise that they wanted to "get into" the hobby, too. Only to have them turn around and sell the items instead of contacting me or returning them - I know, shame on me. These type of things might be kept in mind when "popping in" to grab some free hard earned advise. I appreciate very much the help that is constantly offered on this site, some very, very generous situations come to mind.

I am sorry for my "stream of thought" post, but I for one try to keep in mind that if I benefit in some way (whether financially or with the pleasure of a hobby) due to the hard work of others, I try to compensate them in return. I never presume to ask for something for free. The work or advice I recieve is at some cost to the provider. Most simply, it is at the cost of a person's time - time that could be spent with one's family, or enjoying one's hobby(s), or heaven forbid earning a living. Everything takes, most importantly, time - which should be appreciated and returned in kind. Something that could be researched or figured out on one's own time, but is instead put in front of someone else to solve, does not seem to appreciate someone else's time.

Just some thoughts.

Dave.

 

[wreckerman893]

We expect to see that deuce in A1 condition ASAP.

If you play well with others (or even if you don't) you are invited to the GA Rally in Oct.

There are several members down there that make it up for the festivities. It is the premier SS event in the Southeast.

Recovery 4X4 is usually the mastermind of that operation and sets up the convoy from down there.

Welcome to the Green Iron Laughing Accademy.

 

[Seth_O]

One other option to consider: I had considerable luck towing mine offbase a few miles to a fellow SS'ers place, and prepping it for the drive home from there.

I had a 650 mile recovery, so a lowboy wasn't a realistic option for me. I had the truck towed off base ~2 miles to another SS members place where he let me park it for a few days while I gave it a good once over, worked on the brakes and familiarized myself with it (while under supervision ) and he helped me do the work on it. I am extremely mechanically inclined, and have several years experience rebuilding old vehicles, but it was invaluable to have the help there, and the ready knowledge of the truck.

It was a good combination of safety, cost-effetiveness, and learning opportunity for me. After the few days we worked on the truck together, it made the 650 mile trip home flawlessly, and I had peace of mind the whole way.

 

[A/C Cages]

If it doesnt run on its own, just start singing ( Flintstones, meet the Flintstones) And you will need someone to rub your feet when its done and over. lol

 

[Countryboy21]

Thanks Recovry4x4 for the offer i think it will just be easer to have it towed by a company. hope to get a deal maybe? anyone got stuff from Cape Canaveral Kennedy space center?

 

[Warthog]

I haven't yet but I plan on bidding on one of the Space Shuttles when they come out.

 

[eldgenb]

boy you can tell the forum is slow when everybody takes the time to mess with the newb. After you get familiar with them you can make field repairs and drive most of them home. I have recovered well over a dozen trucks and have driven all of them home with either some flushing of the brakes, tire swapping, new batteries etc. Enjoy.

 

[paulfarber]

I still don't get this whole 'they are hard to drive' thing, or basing the difficulty on the weight.

The only thing hard about the M35 is that the gear shift pattern is a bit goofy (4 and 5th are 'backwards' from an automobile shift pattern).

Visibility? Get in a Dodge Caliber and you'll see that you have the same amount of rear/side visibility as an M35 (thats what I drive). The new car A and C pillars are tree trunks compared to cars 5 years ago.

Brakes... they work or they don't 10lbs or 10,000lbs.

Its sparse on creature comforts (heat, power steering) but driving without power steering is not unlike driving WITH it, wheel left, turn left. Wheel right, turn right.

Heck you even get turn signals! My GPW and CCKW have Mk1 Mod0 hand signals (and no one on the road even know what they are.. just some guy with his arm out to the left.

 

[Countryboy21]

ok so like 110 per hr for a low boy and that a round trip charge like 4 hrs drive no stops. or 500$ they lift up the front and tow it 110 miles. so have it on a flat trailer or lift up the front and have it towed?

 

[oddshot]

I still don't get this whole 'they are hard to drive' thing, or basing the difficulty on the weight.

Its not so much that they are

"hard to drive" ...

They aren't ... at least I don't think so.

The problem is when you pick up ANY old vehicle and drive it home for the first time. Even if you look it over REAL good ... you just cannot catch EVERYTHING.

As I mentioned in my "recovery" thread ...I had a tire catch my attention ... and even though I looked ... I couldn't find NOTHING wrong with it ... and I looked HARD ...

400 mile into the trip ... that tire blew out.

The problem ain't driving these things ... the problems start when one of their systems gives out suddenly and unexpectedly.

This could leave you stranded on the side of the road ... or IN the side of somebody's HOUSE ...

When you get these things rolling you got to be respectful about all the MATH you got going against you.

All that stuff about "mass" and "motion" aren't just suggestions.

They are the LAW!

oddshot

 

[oddshot]

We expect to see that deuce in A1 condition ASAP.

If you play well with others (or even if you don't) you are invited to the GA Rally in Oct.

There are several members down there that make it up for the festivities. It is the premier SS event in the Southeast.

Sorry ... this is somewhat off topic ...

Where can I find out more about this "GA rally"?

oddshot

 

[123mack]

In my personal experience, A landoll type trailer has worked out best. Most heavy towing companies have them and I have always been charged by the mile. If you have it towed, and there are problems with any rear axle bearing, it will show. Another issue to consider, is that some trucks at GL have their fluids drained. Towing such a truck would cause serious damage.

 

[Countryboy21]

ok i got a company that will do ti for 520$ total. with a tow truck and drag the back end. any thing special i need to do to make it tow ready. i know to put air in the tires! lol but like add diff fluid what need to be done. i read some manuals and it just say D/C the drive shaft if you like