Yet another M35A3 Recovery Thread

[AceHigh]

Met Tim at Eastover, SC at 8AM this morning. Not without its little issues, but the good news is it is outside in the drive right now. Wife likes it better than the A2 models! Go figure.

Time frame was very good!

Submission of EUC Pending 07/01/2010 EUC sent to Battle Creek 07/02/2010 Customer Notified 07/12/2010
Also the lot at Eastover is JAMMED with all sorts of GL trucks. I do mean jammed. No room to move around in there. The gate was very easy to get through, the military personnel were friendly and helpful.

Anyway, the plan was to drive it out after a safety inspection. It was behind a truck with dead batteries and mine also had dead batteries. Tim from GL seemed peeved I was going to drive it out and suddenly became, well, difficult. There was a E7 working with Tim and he was very good. Tim not so much.

First Tim and the sgt chatted for some time while we just stood and waited. They were planning the rest of their week. Not too considerate but what are you going to do. Oh well.

Finally Tim jumped the truck in front of mine and moved it. Then he jumped mine and drove it through the gate. On very flat tires of course. As he went through the gate the truck let out a VERY LOUD BANG!

The alternator just could not handle the totally dead batteries. Sux as I had 2 fresh batteries for this purpose. Thanks Tim.

 

[AceHigh]

The tan truck was used to jump and it looks great! I have no idea if it is up for sale or not.

Anyway, Tim jumped out of the truck and said "Well, your alternator is gone" I stated I needed just a little time to air up the tires and do a safety check. "No! Absolutely no work will be allowed. You have to get it off property." Thanks again, Tim.

So I jumped in and started for the gate. Half way there the engine just died. I got it half way out of the road. We began swapping out batteries, which if I had been allowed to do 10 minutes earlier I would not need a new alternator right now. Tim came up on his motor cycle and told me to get a tow company out here ASAP. I explained we were swapping batteries and would be gone before a tow company could be arranged. Again he stated no work was allowed! I just ignored him from that point on. A few mil folks came by and offered assistance but we had it done in just a few minutes. While I hooked up the batteries Cary checked the oil, thank goodness. It was full to the top. Fired her up and left the post, parked outside to air up the very flat tires.

From that point on the engine was left running as the alternator destruction took out the gauges! I had air pressure and speedometer, nothing else. IT was hot in the SC sun as we did all tires, almost an hour. 3 tires did not register on the tire gauge.

 

[neilhendrix]

Sounds like Tim has issues, Saftey check, HMMM TOLD you to get it off post,HMMM I would have had a little talk with TIM And hope the MPs showed up .. I believe they would be on the side of SAFETY.

 

[AceHigh]

Safety check completed, lights working (not much else electrical was) and away we went. The fluids were fine except for the tranny was 6 qts low. Noticed at least one of the tires was square, gave me a real fun ride at speed.

Out to interstate 77 and northbound! That is when I noticed the foam in the insulated roof was getting all over me but mostly in my eyes. Finally stopped at a rest stop and pulled the whole liner down. After that the trip was much smoother.

I have a photo or two of the nassy foam pieces. Man, they were brutal. At one point my eyes were both full of particles so I knew I had to do something.

Anyway, the truck could go 50 MPH up hills easily, even Fancy Gap! It could not or would not go over 50. Tried to keep it below that as a safety margin. Pleasant trip otherwise.

300 miles later we are back here and showered. The truck is great and I already know where my next few paychecks will go. I have to find out if there is a fusable link to the instrument panel. I am a little afraid to just replace the alt. until I trouble shoot the problems. Brakes are a little too stiff, and one hub began a slight leak. Wife wants it painted tan. As long as she is interested that is good!

I think I will stay away from Eastover till Tim moves on. This was kind of sad since my last GL contact, Daniel at Richmond, was great! Can't win them all.

Anyway, no animals were harmed in the recovery.

 

[AceHigh]

Yeah, tim is not my best friend. Oh, a footnote. On arrival at home got the hood up and the engine oil was on the full mark, just where it was this morning. Overall I was a happy camper.

Oh, when I went thru Charlotte NC I came to the place where my M38A1 broke down some 30 years ago. It broke down because some idiot put just a little too much lube on the distributor cam and it kind of coated the cap inside. Too bad I was the idiot! I thought "What if I break down at the same place?" Held my breath and sailed on by.

 

[BigWill1276]

Great, I'm waiting for my EUC to clear so I can fly out from Las Vegas to grab my M35A3 from Eastover S.C. I hope Tim is having a better day when I get there. I feel that customer service is necessary but often lacking these days. Guess Tim didn't realize that because of your purchase, he has a job. He would probably be one of the ones that bitches about not making enough money even though he has a job while 1000's are out of work.

 

[AceHigh]

Tim tried to stop me from driving by insisting I could not move the truck without insurance. I pulled out my binder. Probably he is easier to work with if you agree to have it towed in the first place, but I look at it a little differently. Title has passed when I sign for it and he releases it. It is now mine just like the car I arrived in.

I understand you can not change oil on post, or break out your tool box, but geeze. Give a senior citizen a break! (Yeah, I passed 60 a couple years ago)

 

[lonegunman]

I got mine at Ft. Gillem, they were great. Some people are just rotten, be sure and call someone and complain that he destroyed the alternator thru his own abuse of YOUR truck. The GL folks might take note and do something or at least calm him down for the next guy. Airing up the tires before moving a truck is not maintanence or repair, it is common sense. Again, call GL and point out he is abusing a truck you bought.

 

[Oilleaker1]

I'm amazed how one GL site to another is regulated by a different set of rules. I think they owe you a new 650.00 alternator. They could also have ruined your tires. Gauges removed, tire demill problems, who is the idiot that dreams this stuff up? Anyone else that goes to this site should have a wrecker just haul you out the gate and down to a side location so you can do your Pre-trip maintenance. I'm glad I got mine at Ellsworth. Sane reasonable and pleasant Ray Heron is there. I'd be glad to help him if he needed something. "Tim" needs a lesson or latrine duty!

 

[TexAndy]

lol, what does he care if you have it towed? Is his BIL the only tow guy in town or something? sucks that he wouldn't give you 10 minutes to swap the batts out...

 

[lonegunman]

Like I said, call GL and ask about filing a formal complaint and/or getting reimbursed for the property he destroyed willfully. The fact they have a vindictive prick working there does not give them the right to destroy your property. You bought it in a specific condition, not destroyed by an idiot.


I had a 2700 mile trouble free recovery in my A3, it was an adventure and I too had eyeballs full of crumbling roof liner,haha. I bought a truck in "running" condition and asked them to either start it or have it running when I arrived, they did so with no problems.

Sounds like somebody needs a new job elsewhere. It only takes a few minutes to get him adjusted and everyone else who has to have him ruin their purchase would be happier if you took the time to complain to whomever runs that mess.

 

[AceHigh]

Thanks guys. All in good time.

I have been out cleaning up the new toy and such. Oh, and making a list of all the stuff I need to buy for it.

Yeah, after Daniel at Richmond was so easy to work with, I guess I was spoiled a little.

 

[lonegunman]

I've recovered from three places and they were all great to work with. I've got help loading, handy tips and directions, even local info on stuff to see as well as all my purchases in the condition advertized.

I'm thinking this guys behavioral problems are far from normal or reasonable. Maybe he is a jealous loser, has issues with folks buying things he planned to steal or his wife hates him. In any case it does not give him the right to destroy something just to be spiteful. Especially, when you have to pay for it out of pocket.


Glad you got your truck. I guess you are lucky he didn't ruin six tires as well or pour water in the fuel tank.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

Hey Doug, glad to see you got your truck, sorry it wasn't so smooth as you had hoped. I wound up having to haul in some jet fuel yesterday morning, or else I would have been there.

I don't know why Tim was acting the way he did- He might have orders from the overseers at Eastover to get people in and out, that's it. I think it is BS if he did distroy your alternator- but it very well might have done the same thing if you had dropped in the new batteries. It could have been it's time to go. Unfortunetly, if you signed for it before he drove it, GL might not give a flying monkey butt.

I have been picking stuff up for myself and countless others for the last 4yrs from Jackson, and Tim has been outstanding everytime. Of course, I generally just show up, and he already has the truck pulled out, I throw on a towbar, air up a low tire or two, put on the tow lights, and hit the road.

Sorry that he didn't seem to work with you well, I've always had real good service from him.

Everyone has a bad day, too bad it might have messed up your truck.

What are your plans for it now?

 

[AceHigh]

Thanks Adam. Sorry I was not able to meet you. I was mystified about the incident. Cary followed me and said he thought the rear tires were close to coming off the rim when I took the hard corner at the gate to get off the post. Went about 300 feet past the gate and aired up.

You would think GL would want the buyer to air up before moving the truck, but at least that didn't become a problem. The rest of the trip was fun so all is good.

I put the truck with the other two M35 multi's. Now the hard part- I must pick one to sell. I think it will be the dropside.

ETA: Just got back in from revealing the bumper #. The truck came from (wait for it!)

Eastover! The 218th Regiment at Eastover: http://218regiment.com/

Again, the military folks we ran into were very polite and friendly.

 

[fuzzytoaster]

Glad you made it ok. What a fun trip!

 

[SCSG-G4]

I think Tim is a bit miffed that they are releasing about 20-25 trucks at a time to him out at Eastover, and he will be dealing with them just about every week till October or November. And will not be able to take his scheduled vacation because of that. plus all the rest of the stuff at Ft. Jackson that is going to the scrapper that he is no longer getting (think MBU's and Silver Bullets and a whole raft of other stuff they are scrapping and not turning over to GL for a more profitable sale). He's a bit bitter at the moment, maybe he'll mellow out when cooler weather arrives.

 

[jbingvtx]

Congratulations AceHigh, Cool truck! And in the neighborhood too.

 

[AceHigh]

UPDATE: I picked up the truck Thursday and have a handle on most of the issues already. I put a new alternator in yesterday and swapped out most of the gauges. I have a punch list of things to do and it is getting shorter daily, so I am very mellow about the recovery.

Adam (Ferro) says Tim is a good guy so I will just chalk it up to "bad day" or whatever. There will be lots of recoveries at Eastover in the next few months, so if there are any real problems they will pop up.

Thanks for the comments guys. So far I love the new Frankentruck.

 

[akonitony]

Man, I hope he doesn't break anything on my A3 when I go to pick it up. It is the one missing a headlight and has the hardtop. As far as I could see, all the tires still held air in the pics, but I will be bringing a set of batteries and if the ones in it are dead, I WILL change them out before trying to jump it off. Tim had better watch his arse - one of the medications I am taking gives me license to kill.