2200 mile recovery Wisconsin to Oregon.

I've always been known for my crazy ideas but according to my wife "this one takes the cake".
I will depart with a good friend of mine (5 ton owner) who is the main reason for this crazy idea on Friday May 6th heading for Wisconsin where we will meet up with Ken Spencer and Dustin Harper on Saturday and I will become a proud MV owner with a 1992 m934a2 and we will start our adventure across I-90 taking our sweet time to get home.

We will be taking I-90 straight across to Spokane, WA and then drop south in to Oregon and continue home on I-84.
We plan to stop at Mt. Rushmore, possibly a quick drive through De smit SD to see where my Grandma was born and raised, and other than that just enjoy whatever we see along the way.

Has anyone else ever taken this route by chance? I have been watching weather and road conditions very close for the last week and it is looking like there won't be too many issue there.
I plan to go over the truck with a fine tooth comb and will hopefully have enough tools & parts to fix anything along the way.
I am an auto mechanic without a lot of diesel experience but am very mechanical. I also have my Class A CDL and a lot of experience with big trucks and tractors so I am hoping I will be able to handle it.

Tool and parts list anyone?

Anyone have any advice for me and my crazy friend who first talked me in to this and then agreed to come along with me?

Is there anyone along the way that I should get some info for just in case?

I hope to update this every day as the trip goes on and lord willing we will be home on Friday with sore backs and a maxed out fuel card. haha

Prayers and advice always appreciated!

Erik,

Taking your sweet time is key.Al

Sounds like a great road trip. I-90 is a very fast highway, keeping up with traffic will be taxing to those Michelins on the steer axle. Make sure you have good spare and all the tools to change a wheel out.

That's a long haul, good luck !

I don't plan on keeping up with traffic, I plan to be the guy that I usually get mad at for holding up traffic.
Both front tires will be replaced with much nicer Michelins before I hit the road and will have 2 new spares and all the tools to change em out.

I personally would suggest having multiple spare tires and make sure to put your very best tires on the front.


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Sounds like a fun trip. Take her slow on the passes like Lookout Pass, MT. Looking forward to your write up!

I would check and grease your u-joints. so a grease gun and a extra tube or 2 of grease . A needle grease adapter. Check the fluid level in all your gear boxes. Make sure your wheels are mounted to the hub properly. New windshield wiper blades (you can get them at a truck supply store). I take both new fuel filter with me just in case.

I forgot. Enjoy your trip and take pictures!

I love that drive , have made it a few times. The Badlands in SD is a fun and beautiful drive through tour. Approaching the Rockies near sundown and being in the west side of them for sunup are amazing. While in Montana, take time at night to stop in the middle of nowhere (lots of those places) away from any lights and lay on your back. The "Big Sky State" earns its name right there. You will never forget it. Good luck on your trip. I'm jealous.

As others stated. Check all fluid levels. I met a guy who bought a m923a2 with almost no miles on a rebuild. He found out on a drive home the transfer case was never filled with oil. Expensive tow bill. Good luck

I'd add fuel filters, fuel treatment, brake air line and brass fittings, a union or two, Rubber fuel line.

What an amazing journey to take. Just take your time and (easy on your truck) Enjoy it to the full. And be lucky. We are hoping for pictures and progress write ups.

Make the MV easy to see from all sides. Distracted drivers are your enemy!

Most military vehicles are designed and painted to be difficult to see and
that is not a good thing while driving... ESPECIALLY on high speed roads.

Take some brightly painted and highly reflective panels that can be easily
attached to your vehicle. Make them ahead of time. Use 'neon-bright' type
colors over white primed surfaces. I have found that inexpensive sheets of
'luan' plywood are easy to work with and mount quickly and easily as needed.

Panels such as these can be quickly attached almost anywhere with screws,
bolts, rope, clamps, or heavy duty ZIP ties. The key is to help make yourself
more easily seen by the increasing numbers of distracted drivers who will be
all around you as you travel.

Emergency LED flashers are also good to have at the ready for night driving!

Good luck and stay safe!

I'm here in western Nebraska and I'm 3 hours south of Mount Rushmore and I have been camping up there and the roads are very windy and in some places there are some real steep downgrades so double check the brakes as I have seen many run away truck ramps in the area.

Thank you all for the tips, I will be following all advice given here just to be sure not to miss anything and use all the knowledge here to avoid potential problems.

I will have spare filter for just about everything along with a spare belt and valve stem cores just in case.
Any recommendations on fuel treatments??

I will have the GoPro on the dash and a camera in hand to help document this journey home and will keep you all updated along the way. we don't plan on doing more than 500 miles per day so that will hopefully allow for
some time to post here how the trip is going.

I plan to take a roll of DOT reflective tape along with me to help brighten things up and will have flares and flashers just in case. We don't plan on doing any/much night driving so I hope that plays to our favor.

thanks for the advice on the windy and steep roads. I've heard from some trucker friends about parts of I-90 being insane when the wins are strong. Hope my big box has enough weight to keep me rubber side down. Haha

again, thank you all and I look forward to updating you all of my adventure. It all starts Friday at 10pm

If you don't have them already it would be a good idea to pick up a couple fluorescent green or orange safety vests with the reflective strips in case of road side breakdowns . And a fire extinguisher and reflective triangles.

Sea Foam for the fuel.

Fuel treatment= Power Service Diesel Kleen. Give it a big gulp to start and at every fill up.

Bad idea driving with those front tires.

I put a bunch of miles on I90 in my 925A1 I held her steady at 58 mph and had no problems what so ever, oh and you are going to get tired of everybody in the entire world passing you, but the 939 series are great trucks and if its in good shape and barring any major mech. problems you are in for a very enjoyable drive!
KK