Whats the scoop on dumps in Mississippi and more trucks LA

[citizensoldier]

About 25 817 dumps on GL in Mississippi and a bunch more trucks in Louisiana. Are they all junk from hurricanes? Anyone know the story about them?

 

[clinto]

RE: Whats the scoop on dumps in Mississippi and more trucks

I think somebody went down their and inspected a bunch of them-I think the general consensus was that most of the stuff was scrap.

 

[citizensoldier]

RE: Whats the scoop on dumps in Mississippi and more trucks

Ughhh. That sucks.. Are you refering to both spots? Water damage on all? I am sad very sad...

 

[wreckerman893]

I addressed this on a diffferent thread a few days ago.
My unit has a Brigade down there and I visit there occassionally.
There is a rebuild shop on Camp Shelby that was remanufacturing the 800 series trucks.
They have gone to the 900 series now due to all the trashed ones coming out of Iraq and other locations.
The 800 series vehicles that are up for sale are what were in storage awaiting rebuild.
There is a buttload of wreckers that may be up soon also.
I was going to go down and shoot some better pics but I am being transferred (just found out) in Jan. and have to have knee surgery in the next few weeks.
There may be few good ones in the bunch. If they are the vehicles I saw when I was down there a few months ago they are not flood vehicels.
I would not put it past GL to slip a few flood trucks into the mix.
Just my two copper Lincolns worth.

 

[williamh]

how bad could one of these trucks get in a flood ??? most of the truck is water tight ...

 

[CUCVFAN]

They're not that water tight. Fording 30" of fresh water with a well maintained truck is one thing, but submerging under 10+ feet for a few weeks is entirely different. Axles, transmissions, etc have vents that are not sealed. If any of them were near the coast, add some salt water into the mix and that's even uglier....

GL has been listing flood trucks as having "some water damage to interior and exterior" (I guess that's as honest as they could decide to be about those trucks?), so hopefully these are not flood victims as Wreckerman893 suggested.

 

[Manstein]

I have worked on a lot of flood vehicles. I recently had privy to a contract with the post office to refurbish flood mail trucks from La. They wanted to drain all the fluids, replace the ECM (computer) and pressure wash the entire vehicle inside and out due to contamination from the flood waters. I turned it down because I couldn't afford to transport them here to Atlanta and then back to La.
However, the powertrain is not really the problem. Where you run into problems is with the wiring and any electrical connectors. They always develop corrosion which leads to beating your skull in because it just keeps bouncing back with stuff not working. That's why the insurance companies declare flood vehicles a total loss. With a car you can never be sure if the airbags or other components are going to work when they need too.
Having said that, if you can steal one cheap and don't mind cleaning connectors... it might be a buy.

 

[emmado22]

I'd consider ANYTHING electrial as trashed, and just remove it.. Harnesses, lights, starter, genny, EVERYHING... Chasing down electrial problems from corrosion will make you want to kill yourself..

 

[reblawyer]

My personal thought is that the ones from LA are probably a complete loss. The ones from the MS Gulf Coast could probably be saved. I am willing to bet that a good tank drain and flushing and changing all fluids and filters would probably do the trick on them. They weren't really under water long, tidal surge in for a few hours and then back out to sea. the bearings should probably all be re-packed and of course the lights probably all need to be changed. I'll try to run out to shelby for some pics if I can get the time.

 

[CUCVFAN]

But, the gulf coast surge was salt water. It'll corrode (especially electrical stuff) twice as fast as fresh water.Besides, it's not like they made an effort to dry everything out like you or I would after the water receded.

I guess it comes down to how much they go for and if they were actually flooded. I'm too far away to care, because I could not get one shipped cheap enough that I could justify it, but if I were bidding, inspection would be a MUST.

 

[reblawyer]

Good Point Cucv, I agree inspection would be a must unless you are willing to take it as parts only (and even then no guarantees).

 

[mcinfantry]

im planning on driving to polk next week

 

[williamh]

the cost of replacing the wire harness , re packing the bearings and a good cleaning ... new gen ... mostally small electric parts .. the worst would be cleaning the motor/ turbo ... could be a real deal ... for a small amount of labor ...but shipping would kill any desire to get one if it wasnt shipped near by to sell.

 

[rdixiemiller]

Remember what salt water does to bearings and gears! The flood trucks were underwater for over a month. You will find that all roller bearings will be pitted heavily where they were in contact with the races, and the races will be damaged too. Ring gears and pinions do the same thing when submerged in salty water. The entire electrical system will be shot as well. The salt water will wick back up through the wiring via capillary action, so the wiring harness will start to disintegrate soon.
Any flooded vehicle will need to be trailered home, no way to flat tow it.
Don't get me wrong, if you can get them really cheap, and can do your own hauling, you can get some good parts. Bodies will be ok with a good scrubbing and painting.

 

[CUCVFAN]

I agree, there would be some salvageable stuff if they go cheap enough. But, here's a thought for those who think these trucks are totally sealed:
How many military trucks have you ever seen with oil leaks of some type? Guess what? If it can let oil out, it can let water in!! Especially when you add a LOT of water pressure from 10+ feet of water pushing back in. I'd bet that after a month enough water got into the engines to rust a bunch of interior components...

 

[Hookin1]

If you look really close at some of the pics you can see a waterline on the side of the truck and it looks like one of them had water up over the bottom of the bed.Then when i looked at the battery door i could see more lines from the water going down....in my opinion tires and sheetmetal(if you sanblast it or have it dipped)would be good