Road Trip from Ft. Riley To Denver

I received the EUC for the M109A3 “deuce with a box” Friday and am making plans to drive it home. I’m starting to feel like The Little Red Hen, if you are familiar with that parable. I can’t find anybody to join me or drive the chase car.

This coming week I am going to Ft. Carson to examine some equipment coming up for auction and maybe find a trailer side pintle hitch. My plan is to build a tow bar for my ’69 Bronco so that I can tow it behind the M109.

I’ve gotten lots of great advice from this web site, so I’m pretty well versed on what I should do to get the truck ready for the road; thanks guys.

Plan A:
Step 1: Drive Bronco to Ft. Riley
Step 2: Perform some PM on the M109 including new batteries, filters, etc.
Step 3: Drive M109 to Denver towing Bronco

Plan B:
Have it hauled for around $2400. Hopefully switching from Plan A to Plan B won’t be too traumatic, such as breaking down on I-70 in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas.

Two things:
Does anyone want information on specific items on the auction list at Ft. Carson, either the Aug. 16 or Aug. 28 auction?

Does anyone want to ride along on my road trip?

I'am on the wrong side of Ft Riley to help you. But I hope yours is as nice as mine is.
If I had it to do over I would have drove mine home.

Good Luck!
If your travel came anywhere close to here I'd offer to help. This site has been a great help to me. I also would like to thank you for your service. I never served, but appreciate all of you that have.
littlebob

I am TDY at Fort Carson right now. Let me know if I can be of any help. Jeff

That is great news!

I think your plan is solid, if it is a full size bronco I think you will have no problems towing it and if the M109 has a problem put the Bronco in Low Range and tow the M109 to the nearest rest area or exit and fix the M 109. My bet is having used my duece to pull my M127 semi trailer with a dolly convertor that you will most likely be towing the bronco all the way home. The thing to remember is these trucks are NOT speed demons.

You will love what it can do in low range off road so don't break it trying to make highway speeds I used my flashers a lot on the interstate while pulling that additional 16,000 pounds. Keep an eye on the gauges and if the voltmeter drops into the red do not shut it off unless you can get a pull start or a battery charge/jump. I know my youngest daughter would ride with me if I asked her to is yours not willing to spend the time and experience with Dad? I hope everything goes well for you and perhaps you can ask the Soldier who is at Fort Riley to go PMCS your truck and give you a better idea what you are facing. That would be a great help and it is what I did for M38inMaine when he bought a truck at Mechanicsburg. Being a Soldier in uniform still has its bennys

God bless and let us know when you start we will be praying for you.

My ’69 Bronco is one of the original small ones. It has a solid 289 cui engine and I have a 2 speed transfer in it. BUT that could be a problem because I am in the process of a rebuild/retrofit. The front axle in non-functional and the front drive shaft is in the garage.

I can put it into 4 LOW, but it will still be pulling on only the back end and if there's any serious resistance, I could twist an axle. Pulling the deuce might happen, but only if there is someone to steer it and conditions are not too bad.

I know all about being the slowest thing on the road; the reason the Bronco’s front axle is disconnected is because it still has the old 4.11 gears. The back axle has been converted to 3.50 which is still slow because the 289 is a long stroke, low RPM engine. I expect to keep it under 50 MPH the whole trip. I’m a little worried that I might not notice trouble with the Bronco. I expect the Bronco to be up close enough that it will not be visible in my mirrors.

At night I will turn on the Bronco’s park lights, but the flashers on it don’t work. I can fast idle the engine if its battery gets low. An IN TOW sign and a red flag will suffice for legal requirements in Colorado, Kansas too, I hope.

In my immediate family everyone, son and daughters, would all love to join me but they all have jobs that won't permit and the site is only open during the week. All my kids work on vehicles with me. When we got a Jeep in a basket for my oldest daughter I told her “Aimee, you’re the mechanic, I’m the helper.” That Jeep got passed all the way down to daughter #3 with the same terms. My son has a ’61 Willys that we are doing a full retrofit on with a Ford power train. We all pull wrenches together.

I really appreciate the information and encouragement you and others have given me. The SS family is a good one to be in. Based upon what several people have told me, including the guy who bought the truck next to mine, I have a good chance of making it without incident. I’ll tell you all about it when the dust settles.

I will see if any one I know is at Fort Riley and perhaps they can help you get eyes on the truck. The thing about visibilty is an issue when towing my dolly convertor I could never see it until I backed out of line. You could put a couple of bike flags or tape an eight foot 2x4 on the bronco that would show you the behavior of the towed vehicle so you could see if it was getting erratic. I can tell you this will be an exciting and remberable trip but if you are as old as I am take lots of pictures to help remember since I seem to have a case of the CRS way too often these days.

Sorry, I can't join ya, but mine is still not running and no more info. --- Good luck.

I am sort of worried. I think my thing could be running in a day, but the guy just has not looked at it... I wish I was closer.. What day next week are you going?

KaiserM109, I have been following your threads like a soap opera. I am very interested in your story, did you get that beast home? I myself just bought a1968 M35A2 that is sitting out in Oklahoma. I am trying to figure out how to get it home to Redding California. The guy swears that it runs good and that the engine has only 289 hours on it. After calling multiple transport companies, they want a rediculous amount of money to transport it, about $4000 to $6000, crazy! I figured that if I drive it back myself it should run me about $1000 in fuel,hotel, and food. Anyone have any advice for making a 1900 mile trip from tulsa Ok, to Redding Ca.?

I just pulled up in front of the house an hour ago after 16 hr. on the road, 12 hours of actual wheel time. I drove my ’69 Bronco out (480 mi.) and towed it back. We built a 5’ tow bar with a pintle. After mod’s, it worked great.

Briefly here’s how it went. I got to GL at 9:00 AM hoping to get it checked out before they close at 2:00 PM. The truck started with its own batteries; really floored me! Then the pintle eye of the Bronco tow bar wouldn’t go over the hook. I ran to Wallmart just off post and bought a cheap angle grinder and the folks at GL ran an extension cord for me. I ground down the hook on the back of the truck. By the time I was done it was 115 degrees (no kidding!) and they wanted to shut down early because they had no more appointments. I hooked up the Bronco behind it and drove it around post a little before going out on the highway.

I went to Manhattan, KS, missed a turn to the highway and decided to turn around in a shopping mall parking lot (this is a 45 acre rig!). I pulled into the left turn with traffic coming, the brake pedal went to the floor and the truck didn’t even slow down. I grabbed gears, yanked the wimpy parking brake and jumped the curb on the median strip. A guy in a new, blue Chevy pickup about bugged his eyes out! I don’t think he wanted to swap paint with me.

I limped it into the parking lot. After eating a 3:00 PM lunch and 2 quarts of Dr. Pepper, I went back out in the heat to see what the problem was. There is a brake line that goes into the top of the brake reservoir that was loose. I have no idea what it is. I disconnected it, opened up the reservoir and added about 2 oz. of fluid, not much. I screwed it back together, put the cap back on one of the back air lines to the trailer, messed with it a bit and the brakes started working; real brakes at the top of the pedal.

I finished the fluids inspection, and loaded up to go. It wouldn’t start, dead electrically, even the fuel gauge. I was going to jump one of the batteries in that I had brought, but I found a bad connection between the batteries that had even melted some of the lead. I tightened it down and 2 other loose joints and I was off.

The rest of the trip went quite well. Even the windshield wipers worked when a rain squall came up suddenly. I didn’t heed warning about ear protection and I wish I had. My ears are still ringing. The transmission has a piercing whine when you get close to red line. The seat is a killer, not so much on my butt, but on my back. The truck gets into a rhythmic bounce of about 4 cycles per second and pounds your stomach and kidneys.

When I pulled off of I-70 this morning, the clutch seemed to be slipping. When I got home I noticed that it is dumping serious amounts of either engine oil out of the rear main seal or transmission grease out of the front transmission seal into the clutch housing. I haven’t checked fluid levels again to see which one has gone down.

I am very pleased with my purchase, even with the noted problems. It is a ’66, has 23,000 miles and anything that deteriorates with age as opposed to usage, such as rubber window seals, and oil seals will be degraded to some extent. One tire on the inside duel on the left, middle axle has no valve stem; it drove okay since the rig is not loaded. The horn and the air pressure warning buzzer don't work, it has minor, easy to fix sheet metal damage and a slightly bent bumper. My only concern at the moment is the oil leak and how badly the clutch might be damaged. Were it a Jeep, I would automatically replace the disc. (Actually, it is a Jeep).

I got some good pictures, but that will come later. Right now it’s nap time.

A. Whit.

Glad to hear you made it safe! Another saved is always good in my book.

wow, sounds like a great trip. Congrats! I look forward to your pictures. Here is a pic of my rig that I have sitting in Tulsa

Wow glad you made it home safe. That really stinks that you had to "modify" the trucks pintle. I can't believe you didn't have hearing protection.

Congrats on the acquisition. What are your plans for the box? RV? Does the wind whip you around on the highway due to the increased profile of the box? Good luck.

Welcome back to CO! Nice job on the drive...my M35A2 arrived about a month ago from MN...I was back and forth on whether to make that drive, but chickened out and put it on a flat bed. Anyway, I am just finishing up the title and registration work for CO, so if you need any help with that, let me know in a PM.

Wow that is great that you got it home, the issues with the truck will not be as bad as it seems especially with your mechanical experience. Getting it home is the biggest first step to owning a MV and I am quite sure despite the issues that came up it was a trip you will not forget and is kinda like a first dance with your girl. you will find so much help here on fixing all of the issues I still marvel at the comradery of our Steel Soldiers.

I am eager to see the picts and watch the progress you make on getting her like you want it.

Thank God you are home and safe.

Oh and welcome to the Site Nomad747 You will really like the site too as you see what it brings to owning a duece.

The line from the top of the master cylinder is the vent. Should run from there to up by the air filter housing. You made it home with her, so not a bad trip. Good luck

Hay, grate to here you made it back in one piece. I am glad you didn't need my wrecker. I hope my drive from Mississippi to Colorado goes as good. (Except for the brake thing..That sounded a bit harry) Some day have to meat in Denver when I get my truck here.

Oh, one last question, what did you say when the brake hit the floor?
$%^$^$%&$&&!!!!!

An update on the clutch, it seems to be fine. I took it for a short drive after it had time to cool off and no slippage. I checked the oil again and it seems to be about 2 qt. over filled. The transmission was in the same place as it was at the start, 1/8 inch below the inspection port. I am going to have a regular mechanic look at it because it could actually be fuel getting into the crankcase. I checked the oil in the GL lot and I think that I would have noticed it being 2 qt. over. Exactly where the oil that was all over the street is coming from is still a mystery, but it is probably related to being over filled.

I put in 12 hr. of actual running time in 16 hr. and the temp was between 100 and 115 most of the way. That engine has a narrow RPM range that it likes to run in, so I was below but close to redline most of the time. That was pushing it hard and heat in a clutch will cause that sort of a problem. The engine temp stayed right in the middle the whole time.

I got my first complaint from the neighbors today! Pictures tomorrow when my wife can download them. They’re on her camera and only her computer has the software.

jasonjc: you said that you needed a can light for your van? Go to http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=13597 and take a look at the pictures of my truck. You will see a can light lying on the floor next to the ladder. It didn’t come from my truck. Now, your truck was parked right next to mine, so … If that looks like the one you need let me know. I am jealous of your truck, though. Mine has Armstrong steering and are my shoulders sore!

madsam: as Bill Cosby said “First you say it, then you do it.”

BEFORE YOU DRIVE THE TRUCK AGAIN - search this site for the info about the MC vent line mod. IIRC, the truck can suck the brake fluid into the air cleaner. Which means - you'll have another brake failure. As you've learned - there is not a back up system. There is no emergency brake - there is a parking brake, which is a far cry from an emergency brake.

One must assume that you checked the brake fluid level before putting the vehicle in motion the first time - and had brakes. The shortly afterwards, you had no brake fluid. You gotta figure out why. Do you currently have proper power brakes on the truck? (At full emergency stop, you should be able to slide all ten tires with minimal effort on your part).

I've had two brake failures in 6x6s - fortunately with no injuries - and I take these things even more seriously now. I've also seen, first hand, the destruction a deuce can do to a full-sized van - and how potentially fatal these things can be.

Regards,
David Doyle

Congrats on completeing your road trip!

Before you change crankcase oil, have it analyzed (do a search on this site for further info).
The master cylinder vent is plumbed to the crankcase vent along with the vents from the fuel tank and brake booster cylinder, the air intake is out of the circuit.

An increase in crankcase oil could mean that your fuel density compensator is leaking (do a search on this site for further info). Mine started leaking without warning and after measuring the rate of leakage it was approx 1 qt/10 hrs of operation.

Oil from the bellhousing could be a rear main seal leak and would effect the performance of the clutch (do a search on this site for further info).

Perhaps you can start a new thread for each of the problems you have listed and really get to the heart of each.