Those in the drive-it-out club

Many of us have driven our trucks right out of the GL yards. Most of us service the trucks before doing so and visually inspect them to ensure their safe operation. However, what happened yesterday has led me to think driving the trucks out of the yard, before conducting a serious safety inspection, is a very bad idea. I bought an M35A2 some months ago. It was driven out after it was serviced and a safety inspection was conducted. I had the appropriate transit tag and insurance on the vehicle. Anyway, I've owned this truck for several months and have put quite a few miles on it. A friend borrowed it two days ago to tow bar another deuce home from Letterkenny. The truck made the trip without much trouble, but he did comment that the brake pedal felt funny at times...at least he thought so but was unsure. After getting the truck back, I crawled underneath to check everything over. I noticed some "wetness" on the inside of both of the right rear tires. A little further inspection revealed that the brake line was rusting away and a pin hole had appeared. I told him to push the brake pedal and the silicon brake fluid squirted out of the pin hole. I don't always consider replacing brake lines unless they need it. I know for a fact that I'll be looking over every brake line on every truck I own to ensure they are in serviceable order. Had he lost all of the brake fluid, he would have been a 26,000 pound (two 13,000 pound M35A2s together) bomb rolling down the highway. The moral of this story is that we really need to be careful when driving these trucks, but particularly before we really know the truck and have gone over it. I fear that too many of us simply buy these trucks, change the oil and fuel filters (maybe not even that) and then drive them like they are new trucks. Many of us have no big truck driving experience. For most, the deuce is the largest truck they have ever driven. I know these two things were true of me when I first got into the hobby nine years ago. Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know about an experience that I just had in the hopes that it may save someone some trouble.

100% concur!!! I am guilty of taking such risk!

All went well over the original 800 mile trip home. My brake line split much later. Months later! But, it did so in a VERY unusual fashion! The flaring on one line completely cracked off like a halo inside of a brass "T" located just inside the frame, in the area of the spare tire. It fatigued, and broke off. It would have been impossible to see before hand. I just thought the fitting was loose. Brake fluid was coming out fast! I had two, "pedal-to-the-floor" pumps to get it stopped in a lot, and that's where I sat. (Until gimpyrobb drove all the way up from Cincy to help me out!)

Needless to say, the above information is, on-the-mark!

I've had the misfortune of losing a steel brake line on the M275A2 while towing Devilman96s deuce to his shop. Once I got everthing stopped and the canvas seat cover out of me backside, I found a rusty line. Long since been replaced and every steel line of the wrecker has been replaced. I keep lots of steel line here at the house now. Great point to bring up Bruce!

and,
a good reason to make sure the hand brake is working well..........
it would at least help in an emergency.......

Lets see, 8 trucks, 24 axles......I'll see you guys when I get done inspecting brake lines......
Thanks Bruce.

Only drivin one truck out of the GL yard (M81and after checking it and making sure she was ready I drove it home, wasnt far but I didnt have a problem, Jay

I am spending a few extra dollars on my truck that I plan to drive home. I am having it inspected and serviced by a commercial fleet management company before I drive her home from Indianapolis. I will still take a look at everything myself but I want a trained professional to look as well. I have a long trip to Florida and a few extra bucks for peace of mind is a small investment. I will make sure that they inspect the break lines and probably will look at replacing them all once I get it home. I am looking forward to a long and boring ride home.

Am I correct to expect that they won't rust from the inside with the silicone BF, but rust from the outside, so a good visual inspection that shows no rust is whats needed?

Thanks,
Greg

Greg, your synopsis is mostly correct. If a truck were to sit for a long time with a water bubble in a low spot, I suppose it cound rust there but I'd be inclined to say doubtful. Walter, I've done many long trips with the deuce and I'd hardly call it boring. I rather enjoy long distance deuce rides but perhaps I'm odd!

a good reason to make sure the hand brake is working well..........
it would at least help in an emergency.......

Click to expand...

If you think thats going to do anything, you may be mistaken.

I's be down shifting like a mad man before I worried about that stupid brake thats probably covered in grease. If your service brakes are in bad shape, you think the parking brake is any better??????????????????

Some of these trucks are pushing fifty years old and silicone brake fluid wasn't around when they were new. If rust got started before the MWO to change them over came along then it's there.
I'm with Kenny and Bruce; yeah, somethings can break and then get taken care of but brakes, drive-train and electrical HAVE to be in good working order before the wheels start to turn on the trip home.
Nothing spoils the fun of a new MV purchase like having to get it extracted from a ditch, or trying to push it out of traffic and over to the shoulder of the road.

This makes me wonder about how many people HAVE had problems and bad things happened that

A) didnt want to post it

B) arent on SS, and we dont know about...

For this trip boring will equate to no "Oh God, oh God we're going to die!" kind of moments. Have a plan to make a quick stop in Loretto, KY on the trip to visit a barrel of bourbon with my name on it. I am taking some of my vacation and getting out of the house for this trip. My wife keeps telling me to take some time for myself and this is a good start.

Mark: Good point. We hear a lot about the success stories, although the trips that do not go as smoothly may provide more of an opportunity for others to learn.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=20527

This is a post that I just read and fully enjoyed. I'd encourage everyone to invest the time to read the attached PDF. Bruce, thanks for starting this thread!

Andy

Very good point Bruce.. Brakes are the first thing I check when picking up a truck.. This is why a duel resevouir master cylinder is a nice add on or a brake line tank behind the seat so you can see if your loosing fluid. The brakes are one of the major downfalls of these old trucks. Another thing to watch is even if you have a delivered truck.. Many truckers are famouse for taking out the lines with there chains. I have had this happen on two trucks.

Someone else posted this awhile back, saying that every time they get in their deuce they give the brake pedal a full, double footed leg press. If there is a weak spot, best to break it in the driveway.

This is NOT a substitute for inspection, but it is a good ADDITION to a pre-trip walkaround, any time the vehicle leaves the driveway.

Driving it off the lot.

My brother and I drove a 5 ton off March airbase, serviced it at a buddies place then drove it 1500 miles. It was fun. We thought we could do anything. We drove an 86 deuece out of IB San Diego, serviced it then drove it 550 when the govenor failed and it ran away from me when I tried to merge off I5 and what I think was the 235 at Stockton. I cut across three lanes to get to the shoulder during friday rush traffic. If the brakes had failed I am sure it would not have been pretty.

I will never drive a heavy mil vehicle again without a very thorough inspection.

Green_gator said:

Have a plan to make a quick stop in Loretto, KY on the trip to visit a barrel of bourbon with my name on it. .

Click to expand...

Tell us more about the bourbon barrel.....

And you know that the first person to drive a vehicle off a base and kill someone with it due to mechanical failure and/or no experience with a large truck, would put an end to that for the rest of us. Think of all the attention that would generate. Policies would change.
Another thing to be extremely careful about is towing a trailer or another vehicle. If improperly hooked up and it came free while going down the road, well, it would be devastating.