M109A3 Recovery - Las Vegas to Phoenix

[Fatalid]

So last week i was searching through craigslist, looking at all deuce-related items (dangerous, I know...), and stumbled across a guy selling his m109A3 in Las Vegas. He had it listed for a pretty low price already, but he was in Vegas... thats a 5.5 hour drive from where I live, in a modern vehicle that can do 75mph+ on the interstate.

So I started texting the listing to family and friends, telling them “you should go get this!” But no takers.

Well, about mid-week, I notice that the guy dropped his price even more... so I call him up. His listing had barely any information in it, and only 3 crappy photos from the outside. And on the phone, he’s not much more help. But I decide to purchase it, essentially sight-unseen, because if it turns out to be just a parts vehicle, it’s still worth it.

I send him a deposit via PayPal, and make plans to go over the weekend.

I call my dad up, and he’s totally on-board. He will drive with me to Vegas, we will see if we can get the thing running and drive it home, with the backup plan of towing it back.

This is where I have to add a disclaimer - THIS IS NOT A HOW-TO... DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME.

Our recovery vehicle — and don’t flame me too bad — is an F550 with a welder body (loaded with welders, tools, and other equipment), pintle hitch, and a USMC medium towbar. (OK... Let the flaming begin)

So we load up all our tools, batteries, towbar, chains, etc... and we drive to Las Vegas.





We stay the night at a hotel, and then early the next morning, go over to the storage lot where the truck is.







She’s in pretty rough shape mechanically... so we make a judgment call, and decide that towing is our best option.

So we spend the next several hours relocating the front shackle mounts to the underside of the bumper so the towbar is at a better towing angle.

Before:


After:


We make sure our trailer lights are working, and off we go! Very slowly!



We take every turn very wide and deliberate, we leave PLENTY of room ahead of us for slowing and stopping, and i set the max speed at 55mph.

(Continue flaming)



And all in all, it was an uneventful trip!
The deuce tracked very nicely behind us. There was a couple times on some downhills that i had to reduce the speed to around 45mph, because she was trying to push us around.





...and 8 hours later, we pulled up to my house...



Then yesterday we pulled it to our property (out in the desert), and parked it.



She’s home!

 

[Ajax MD]

Neat truck. What do you think it'll take to get it running again?

You guys really pay through the nose for gasoline out there.

 

[NDT]

Your 550 is probably 11,000 and the 109 is 16,000 ish, that is right at the edge of safety. So no flaming from me. Truck looks really good!

 

[Fatalid]

Neat truck. What do you think it'll take to get it running again?

You guys really pay through the nose for gasoline out there.

The gas prices were at truck stops between vegas and phoenix... so yes, they were pricey.


I will be starting another thread soon with all of my plans for the 109... but heads-up, I’ll probably piss off all of the purists

 

[M35A2-AZ]

Nice!!! Not sure on the towing, but you made it home safe.

 

[cattlerepairman]

Good recovery. what was the thirst like on the 6.7 diesel, pulling the Deuce?

 

[Fatalid]

Good recovery. what was the thirst like on the 6.7 diesel, pulling the Deuce?

I don’t want to talk about that...

I think average was about 8mpg. Some of the hills were at 2, though.

 

[FloridaAKM]

Well, you are home & the truck is there with you. No damage & no bad reports, murphy must have been on vacation or busy somewhere else. That is a big load for the tow truck to move & stop; now you can get to work on her for what ever you have in store. Good luck & keep the pictures coming as you progress.

 

[silverstate55]

Nice score, glad you made it home safe! What are your plans for it?

 

[Ajax MD]

The gas prices were at truck stops between vegas and phoenix... so yes, they were pricey.


I will be starting another thread soon with all of my plans for the 109... but heads-up, I’ll probably piss off all of the purists

Bobbing these trucks seems to be all the rage.

I owned a DeLorean for 10 years. There were really only a handful of these automobiles ever made (roughly 8,600). As rare as they were, it didn't stop people from hacking them up into all sorts of ill-conceived configurations. Because of this, I chose to keep mine as close to the stock configuration as possible, so that people could see what they were like when they rolled off the assembly line. The cars were weak, asthmatic things that defied their sporty, futuristic look. There was a reason for that, it's part of the story of the car. The story is interesting.

I don't care what people do with their military trucks and I'm not looking down my nose at anyone, but as I see more and more of these trucks stretched into crew cabs, or chopped and bobbed, the more I'm convinced to again, be a caretaker and keep my truck original, so that people can see what they were like originally. In this case, I feel it's even more important because we're telling the story of our soldiers. The DeLorean while rare and occupying an interesting place in automotive history, was just the story of a rich guy's toy.

 

[18operator]

Sounds like you got a good deal. How bad is it mechanically?

 

[rustystud]

Bobbing these trucks seems to be all the rage.

I owned a DeLorean for 10 years. There were really only a handful of these automobiles ever made (roughly 8,600). As rare as they were, it didn't stop people from hacking them up into all sorts of ill-conceived configurations. Because of this, I chose to keep mine as close to the stock configuration as possible, so that people could see what they were like when they rolled off the assembly line. The cars were weak, asthmatic things that defied their sporty, futuristic look. There was a reason for that, it's part of the story of the car. The story is interesting.

I don't care what people do with their military trucks and I'm not looking down my nose at anyone, but as I see more and more of these trucks stretched into crew cabs, or chopped and bobbed, the more I'm convinced to again, be a caretaker and keep my truck original, so that people can see what they were like originally. In this case, I feel it's even more important because we're telling the story of our soldiers. The DeLorean while rare and occupying an interesting place in automotive history, was just the story of a rich guy's toy.

That is a noble sentiment, but when I was driving these in the Marines we would modify the crap out of them until we got caught. You guys don't believe those bumper "Clips" where actually "officially" allowed do you ? It was just one of many modifications that just caught on. In fact our company "Wrecker" was modified all over the place. I still remember welding on brackets to hold supplies that where "not" sanctioned. Just my . Oh by the way. Do you know the saying "my two cents" goes back to the 1600 century ? My son told me that just today. He's a history buff.

 

[Ajax MD]

That is a noble sentiment, but when I was driving these in the Marines we would modify the crap out of them until we got caught. You guys don't believe those bumper "Clips" where actually "officially" allowed do you ? It was just one of many modifications that just caught on. In fact our company "Wrecker" was modified all over the place. I still remember welding on brackets to hold supplies that where "not" sanctioned. Just my . Oh by the way. Do you know the saying "my two cents" goes back to the 1600 century ? My son told me that just today. He's a history buff.

Mods made during service are part of the military story. Especially mods made to aid effectiveness in combat and survivability. After all, the Vietnam gun trucks are "mods" and they are displayed at museums and such, to tell the story.

If what you say is true, I think my truck must have led a mostly sheltered and boring life. It's very plain and totally unmodified. I appreciate your story!

You know what MARINE stands for, right? My A$$ Rides In Navy Equipment.
Just kidding. I've always had great respect for the Marines.

 

[rustystud]

Mods made during service are part of the military story. Especially mods made to aid effectiveness in combat and survivability. After all, the Vietnam gun trucks are "mods" and they are displayed at museums and such, to tell the story.

If what you say is true, I think my truck must have led a mostly sheltered and boring life. It's very plain and totally unmodified. I appreciate your story!

You know what MARINE stands for, right? My A$$ Rides In Navy Equipment.
Just kidding. I've always had great respect for the Marines.

Don't worry. I've had that rubbed into me for years while I was in the service. Like "Marines are nothing but Navy soldiers" and so on. Of course we got to mess with the Navy guys when we were onboard ship. Especially when an alarm was called and we got to run over some "squids" who got in the way !

 

[4XDesign]

Truck looks great! I really love my M109 it's the best running and stopping M35 truck I've ever had. After I saved it and got it cleaned up. Enjoy the project.