M816 Road Trip AR-TN-MS-AL-GA

[1958 M274]

I think I'm about ready to drive our M816 wrecker home to Georgia! I'm looking at sometime next week, the 12th through the 16th of December, 2011.

The trip is approximately 635 miles. I plan to make the drive in one day, and I anticipate it taking 16 to 18 hours if everything goes as planned.

I will be driving from Western Arkansas to the Atlanta, Georgia area.

My route will take me from Hot Springs, AR to Little Rock on I-30. From Little Rock I drive to Memphis on I-40, HWY-78 from Memphis to Birmingham, and I-20 from Birmingham to Atlanta.

I have several resources for help in AR West of Little Rock, and plenty of people I can call in Georgia. If anyone is along my route and would be willing to send a phone number and be available for assistance, it would be greatly appreciated. I especially need contacts in the area between Memphis and Birmingham.

I have about 150 miles on this truck so far, and plan to put a couple hundred more miles on it before I leave.

I've tried to be very thorough in my repairs and preventative maintenance. I also have about 1500 pounds of tools and spare parts gathered up to take with me. Hopefully I won't need any of it!

I'll be sure to post a write up afterwords!
Thanks!
Joe

 

[Welder Sam]

goodness joe. what a trip. theres at least a couple of us along the big roads thru here. we'll be happy to lend ya whatever u may need. i have an 816 on the way and should be here before u head out. already have a towbar and a truck to ease u in with. hold on, yes i know the 816 is 36000+ and a deuce is only rated for 10k on road... well, sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do to help. anyway, back on topic. im 35mi east of little rock. just east of Carlisle. im easy to find. ur welcome to use anything i have. including the yard as long term storage. pm if u want my #. email and pm's go to my phone too so there shouldnt be any prob gettin a hold of me.

i wish u luck

 

[doghead]

I'm a bit North of your route but, You have my number. Call me if you need phone/website support. Hopefully your trip will go well.

 

[123mack]

I'm in Birmingham during the day. PM me for contact info.

 

[patracy]

I'm just north of I-20 near the GA/AL line.

 

[ARYankee]

I got your back in the Hot Springs/Little Rock area. If you want my contact info PM me.

 

[1958 M274]

Thanks to those that offered to be available to help if needed. I made it home without any issues. I drove from Western Arkansas to North Georgia, about 635 miles, in approximately 14 hours including stops for food and fuel. More details, pictures, and maybe even a video or two will follow in the next few days.
Joe

 

[doghead]

Glad to here it went well!

 

[clinto]

If you need somewhere to park it....................................................

Dawn says she will provide you with an endless supply of chocolate chip cookies.

 

[Hooty481]

Glad to hear the journey went well... Hope your ride was a little smoother than my 600 mile trip in my 818 over the summer.

 

[1958 M274]

It's taken me long enough to get around to posting a followup, but here it is! The day started off a little foggy, but it turned out to be perfect weather for the drive home. I left western Arkansas at 4:10AM central time, and arrived home just North of Atlanta, GA at 7:15PM eastern time. The trip included two stops for meals and two stops for fuel. The speedometer showed 607 miles traveled, though driving the same route in my pickup is about 635 miles. I ran wide open the entire way indicating about 53MPH and 2,150 RPM.

As you can see from the two attached pictures of my tools and parts for the trip, I was pretty well prepared. Thankfully the truck ran great and I had no issues.

Here's a video I made of crossing the Mississippi River on the old I-55 bridge into Memphis: M816 5 Ton Wrecker Crossing Mississippi - YouTube

Somehow I even managed to pass a few trucks on the way home! Here's proof that it really did happen. What you can't see in the video is the truck driver looking at me like I was nuts when I drove by with the camera going... M816 Passing a Truck! - YouTube

Thanks again to everyone that made themselves available in the event that I had trouble.

 

[AMGeneral]

Nice work Joe,I think you may have my record beat for longest distance in a 816.