Drove the M35a2 140 miles to the M342. All well except for all the air leaks negating the heater install. Got to the M342, swapped tires, ok. Time to start. Dead batteries, I've got the slave cable, hook it up and nothing. Hmm, Well just push start it. Get back to the M35 and all power is gone
Finish up anyway, get it all hooked up, try to connect brakes, don't have the right fitting. Oh well.
Decide to try swapping batteries so I can at least have heat in the M35. Get a big spark when I connect the negative. Take it off quick, and check in the cab, the gauges are back! Put the neg back on, and all is ok.
Ready to leave Start to pull away and tires to the opposite way! Straighten out and figure that you can't have the truck running (air pressure) and have the tires track when you have power steering. Shut it off and drain the tanks. Make it to the end of his drive way go to pull out and tires go the wrong way again. Straighten, and get the **** out of there. Make it 130 miles to my home in Michigan. I learned the difference between flat and a "slight" incline. the M35 could maintaing 42-45 on all but a downhill, and I have the fuel turned up.
Now the next leg, should be an easy 30 miles to camp. Make it about half way going about 40 and the truck starts going left hard! Right across the other lane of traffic (thank god no one was coming) as I pull over on the Opposite shoulder I can see the drivers tire pointing right. I can see smoke, and then, the thing you REALLY don't want to see....................a tire rolling by my passenger window!
Did I mention I forgot to take out my cell phone before washing my clothes the previous night?
Got it jacked up, with the help of some friends who happened to drive by. He had given me some wood blocks so I could manage to get it up. Assess the studs, all are stripped off, and one is snapped off. Luckily I got 2 started while I was there, had to steal them off the M35. My friend happened to know the guy who owned the land right where I had pulled off, and he let me pull the truck in his field and leave it, so I could go get more lug nuts. Got all 5 on and tightened, not sure how, but the 1" impact helped alot. Another lucky happening, my cousin was at my camp and I talked him into steering the M342 while I towed.
Got off and going, everthing was going well, but it would want to pull off , ended up doing about 25 the last 15 miles, and made it back some how.
I dont' think I'm ever going to flat tow again.
More on the electrical issue when slaving, found out someone had hooked up the power and ground on the slave receptacle both to ground.
Not sure what happened with the tries, if the front blew out, or the lugs loosened and made that happen ( did notice that someone had swapped the studs at some time, so the left hand thread ones were on the right.
It's home, and I'm so upset with this journey I would just love it if someone would come take the M342 off of my hands, I think it hates me! $6,000 takes it home, bring a trailer!
NO I DON'T HAVE PICS (kept forgetting, then forgot the camera)
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A Veteran - Whether Active Duty, Retired, National Guard or Reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life". That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand that."
What! Hmmmm... Could it be made drivable? Your well within my circle of " your not that far" ... I would bring the wrecker.. Must have some pictures of this ..
A couple questions and I am not being a smart butt.. Did you unhook the drive shafts? Did you blow the front tires up real hard on the M342? Could you have had a brake draging on the M342? Hubs hot?
Opportunity may be knocking but 6 large is much to steep for this public servant. Wished I could. Reckon I'll wait until one rears it's head a bit more in alignment with my financial forecast.
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3 Trucks
4 Trailers
This Steel Soldier Honors the Living Memory of David Frankenhauser, 1954-2009.
May you Sail in the Grace of Our Lord, Chaplain!
“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16.
What! Hmmmm... Could it be made drivable? Your well within my circle of " your not that far" ... I would bring the wrecker.. Must have some pictures of this ..
I drove it down my camp road, everything seemed to work ok. I would go through all of the brakes, diffs, wheel bearings before I drove it. Also, the gauges and lights are not working. THe gauges worked before I took out the batteries, so I don't know if the Gen is charging or not, or if it needs to reset, or whatever mine did on my truck.
A couple questions and I am not being a smart butt.. Did you unhook the drive shafts? Did you blow the front tires up real hard on the M342? Could you have had a brake draging on the M342? Hubs hot?
I did not unhook the shafts, put transfer and trans in neutral. Tires were checked. After getting it back up to finish the tow, it was going fine, then felt like it wanted to go left bad. We pulled over and everything seemed ok. Got started again and could feel it pull again, pulled over and we could see black marks for one of the left rear duals. I pulled it forward while my cousin watched and nothing was dragging. I watched the rest of the trip and did not see any skid marks, but did feel it pull slightly at times.
The dump works good though! In all honesty I would like to keep it, but with winter and tax season coming along I'm not going to have much time to work on it till next spring. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but there is more work to do than I had originally planned on. Plus I still need to change the trans in the 5-ton this year. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the work I need to do. I am going to try and get some of the stuff taken care of next week, as I will be up there for 8 days for hunting season.
Flat tow from ****, m342a2 is home LONG
Start to pull away and tires to the opposite way! Straighten out and figure that you can't have the truck running (air pressure) and have the tires track when you have power steering. Shut it off and drain the tanks. Make it to the end of his drive way go to pull out and tires go the wrong way again. Straighten, and get the **** out of there. Make it 130 miles to my home in Michigan. I learned the difference between flat and a "slight" incline. the M35 could maintaing 42-45 on all but a downhill, and I have the fuel turned up.
