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Quadruple HET Recovery

Castle Bravo

Hundredaire Socialite
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
Arizona
Some time ago, Soni (M920) informed me of a plan that he had to bring home 4 M1070 HETs from Ft Irwin. Once the EUC cleared, and all the permits and insurance were in place, Soni picked me up in Phoenix and we headed off to Ft Irwin.

This portion of the trip was uneventful. Upon arriving in Barstow, there was much deliberation about where to stay, but we did finally find a motel that worked to everyone's satisfaction. One of the motels we checked out had a tan HET parked out front.

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The plan was to tow 2 of the trucks with the other 2. Prior to the trip, Soni whipped up a neat receiver hitch to hold a pair of the large towbars. The Ford Explorer took it in stride, although its owner seemed dismayed that we were subjecting it to so much apparent abuse.

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The next morning, we went to Ft Irwin and met with the GL rep and began our trip preparation. Two of the trucks fired off and we were able to slave start the others. All the trucks checked out and after we had the towbars, chains, air lines, and lights hooked up, we were off.

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It was apparent pretty quick that the towed trucks were going to need more air pressure in the front tires to track correctly. We put 100 psi in each front tire (and killing something like 90 minutes) we were off again to much better turning results. I think that the towing HET's rear steering and comparatively little caster on the towed HET work against it wanting to track correctly through a turn. The increased tire pressure helped. Sharper turns rather than wide sweeping turns also seemed to help.

One really cool thing about the HET is that they have an electrical connector on the front that, when connected to the towing vehicle, makes their lights behave like a trailer.

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We came across this neat train in Daggett/Yermo. We had to wait for it, but at least it was neat to look at.

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Soni pointed out that at $256,000 each, these 4 trucks represent more than a million dollars of taxpayer money.

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We made it to Kingman, AZ at the end of the first day and stayed the night in a truck stop that I hate. The next morning, we were off and headed towards Flagstaff, AZ.

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When we got to Flagstaff, there was snow on the ground, but not on the road. We headed north from there up through the Four Corners area into New Mexico.

More...
 

Castle Bravo

Hundredaire Socialite
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,964
215
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Location
Arizona
The weather cooperated and we only saw snow in the shadow side of the hills for the most part.

The M1070 tows another M1070 almost effortlessly. It seemed to handle just as nicely as usual. The acceleration, of course, was less than normal, but still respectable for the weight. The HET's low gearing and jake brake made for an easy trip. Plenty of stopping power with 16 large brake drums working.

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This guy tailed me for all 800 miles of the trip.

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Lots of red dirt up here.

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Castle Bravo

Hundredaire Socialite
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,964
215
63
Location
Arizona
21.jpg

Lots of interesting rocks.

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Being an Arizona guy, I'm not used to this white stuff on the ground.

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The HETs looked cold in their new climate.

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Upon completion of the trip, Soni had to take me back to Phoenix from Chama, and it feld weird to be in a regular car again. We remarked that it seemed very strange traveling twice as fast and half as high after a few days of driving the HETs.

----

Lessons learned -

1. HETs are thirsty.
2. HETs are still cool.
3. Soni likes Denny's far too much.
 
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M920

Member
892
25
18
Location
chama/nm
Great post.....and thanks for taking all those cool pics Matt!
Oh....and sorry about the "Kingman truck stop" and all the Denny's.....:whistle:

Soni
 

goodguyzy

Active member
1,337
13
38
Location
medford oregon
Nice, so do you have to pull any drive lines? Forgive me for being lazy on reading the TM. I saw one today that said didn't run go for $8400+ today. I would of snagged it but work is going nuts.
 
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