2200 mile recovery Wisconsin to Oregon.

Suprman said:

Bad idea driving with those front tires.

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Both fronts will be changed out before we hit the road.

porkysplace said:

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.

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safety vests- check
fire extinguisher- check
triangles- check
always been a fan of sea foam so I'll be sure to grab a few cans.

Even though you can go faster, I'd keep the speed to 55 for fuel savings.
Buy soft seat cushions or pillows for your butt.
Comms for chase vehicle.
3M radio ear muffs, or ear muffs and mp3 player ear buds. Even though the 8.3 engine is quieter, the road and wind noise will be tiring.
Do a search for "recovery tool checklist" to make sure you don't forget anything like a gladhand air hose.
Make sure to stop every couple of hours to stretch your legs and rest your face from all the smiling.
Safe trip!

Good idea to have a new air dryer filter kit. Its an easy swap it unscrews and a small tube comes up out. I remember a thread way back a guy was on a road trip and his filters were clogged he ended up stuck. And duct tape. Good to fix everything. Big bag of hose clamps. These trucks are always breaking hose clamps here and there. If you are going to be moving slow on highways you can get a multivolt amber strobe and tap into the running light circuit mag mount or zip tie it onto the back of the truck.

The duct tape also makes a good cup holder for you drink. Take plenty of water to have on hand just in case you get stalled out and are trying to repair in the middle of no where.

Sorry for not updating here yet.
We got to the truck just fine thanks to Ken, went over the truck really well and changed a tire.
Hit the road and she ran wonderfully all day yesterday. We took way longer on the truck than planned so got a late start yesterday and today has been plagued by fuel filter issues so we are a state behind schedule as of tonight.
Just tonight we decided last minute to call it a night and pulled off for the truck stop and just as we started off the off ramp she started sputtering really bad. Made it to the top of the overpass and died so luckily we coasted all the way in to the truck stop. Changed yet another fuel filter and she fired right back up so hopefully that was our only issue.
Hopefully tomorrow we can get the tank cleaned out as it has been dubbed the "sandbox" it's so full of junk.
hoping to make up for lost time tomorrow if the truck keeps running like she did for the last 300 miles of today.
We are in Chamberlain South Dakota tonight in a nasty thunderstorm. Raining like mad and the thunder is shaking the truck so will be a fun nights sleep.
Our goal is Billings Montana for tomorrow if not further. Been running 54 MPH and averaging 7.6 MPG so far so I am impressed with that!
Anyone in SD or MT?
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

M934A2 said:

... Changed yet another fuel filter and she fired right back up so hopefully that was our only issue.
Hopefully tomorrow we can get the tank cleaned out as it has been dubbed the "sandbox" it's so full of junk.
hoping to make up for lost time tomorrow if the truck keeps running like she did for the last 300 miles of today. ...

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Wishing you the best as you progress towards your 'home-base'!

We are broke down in Chamberlain SD. Anyone close by here or able to provide some tech help over the phone (503-880-4390)
Truck died last night pulling in to the truck stop, been having fuel filter issues so we changed that late last night and she fired back up.
This morning we go to start it and she fired after cranking a few seconds ran rough for 30 seconds then died.
Pulled fuel filter and replaced with another new one.
Primed it back up and no start, cracked open line going from block filter to injector pump and have lots of pressure there. Opened a line coming out the top and no fuel when cranking or when priming.

Any ideas?

What ever happened with this? Did you make it back? What was the fuel issue caused by?

Sorry to leave this thread hanging. I had always meant to write a summary of my trip but have been too busy working on and driving the truck I guess.

We did make it back without any other problems. The fuel issue ended up being a rotted fuel line that was sucking air. Once we installed the new fuel line she ran like a champ the rest of the way home.
In total the trip was 2206 miles and it took us 4 days to complete. I think we averaged 7.4 MPG on the trip home and the last 2 days were a lot of hills and 60-65mph trying to get home.

I must say that the MV community here and on Facebook was amazing. I must of got 10 phone calls from people to help walk me through getting the truck running and had a ton of people who offered up their driveways and help lined up the whole way home.
The biggest help was Ken Spencer (www.mvpartsstore.com) he was amazing and I don't think I would own my truck today if it wasn't for his help with buying it, getting me from the airport to the truck, and advice the whole way home. He is a class act and an asset to the MV community!

That is a long way! God bless you.