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Albany Ga. to Las Cruces N.M. in a M109

oilburner

New member
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Location
Las Cruces NM
Log Book 1974 Am General M109 Shop Van bumper # F-93 Albany Georgia to Las Cruces New Mexico 1580 miles.

10-Feb.2011 Bid on and won truck $1375.00 Albany GA
11-Feb.2011 applied for ECU (first ECU)
11-Feb.2011 ECU revisions requested by GL
14- Feb.2011 ECU application sent to Battle Creek23-Feb.2011 Contacted SANDCORBRA164 in Albany to make a recon check on truck.25-Feb.2011 SANDCOBRA164 reports that the truck is not to bad needs batteries.
1-March 2011 ECU Approved
4-March 2011 bought insurance and New Mexico temporary transport Plate
5-March 20011 06:00hrs Drove away from Las Cruces New Mexico set out to Albany with chase truck, tools, spare filters and a whole bed full of junk.
06:30 got to buddies house to pick him up. Got stuck drinking coffee and debating if we were going to shoot the Saturday morning pistol match or get going.
08:00 got on road to Albany,
08:45 got high centered at Barnett’s world’s largest Harley Davidson in El Paso Texas looking at Harleys and Harley chicks.
10:30 got out of Barnett’s .interstate 10 to Interstate 20 to Dallas
17:00 found that there’s about 300 topless bars in Dallas Texas according to the GPS. Somehow did not stop
20.30 stopped for the night near Waskom Texas. Motel 6
6-March.2011 07:00 Waffle House then on Interstate 20 to Alabama highway 80
20:00 stopped at The Executive motel Montgomery Alabama
21:00 drug dealer banging on motel door. Yelled out door for him to “beat it” he did. Found my .380 auto was looking small.
7-March 2011 02:00 same gang banger looking drug dealers back knocking on motel door. Really wish I had my .45 1911. My buddy yells out “GET THE F… OUT OF HERE!! Druggie runs off. Horns tooting and drug deals all around all night.
08:30 getting out of Montgomery.
11:30 roll in to Albany Georgia. Find truck. Meet SANDCOBRA164 at Guard armory. Look over truck, dropped in two civilian group 31 batteries, start truck and moved it to the shop area to air up all tires.
12:00 took truck over to Albany Car Quest parking lot. Checked all oils and hit all zerts with grease gun. Found that if you could not see the zerts it was not lubed for a long time. Added 2 quarts of gear oil to front rear diff. low due to loose drain plug.
13:10 set out back to Las Cruces by Georgia Highway 62 to interstate 10
13:20 found Speedo wrong and fuel gauge iffy and jumping around. Truck feels tight brakes good steering good.
20:00? Stayed the night somewhere near Mobile Alabama
8-March 8:00 greased truck added ½ gallon motor oil. Got on Interstate 10 west Tachometer quit but fuel gauge started working.
11:30 got to New Orleans and found it was FAT TUESDAY. Could not find a motel room. Parked the M109 in an abandoned TOYS R US store parking lot .got on a city bus and rode down to Bourbon Street and Marti Gras
24:00 slept in back of M109 in parking lot
9-March 2011 07:00 woke up in back of truck in Toys R US parking lot. Staggered over to Village Inn to eat. It started raining very hard. While inside a car drove into the wall of the Village Inn (Marti Gras left over!)
08:30 drove over to Pep Boys to buy a valve stem center core for M109 and air up tire. Got on I-10 west.
12:00 still raining very hard 3 inches in some places .wipers working ok defog/heater working.
17:00 Houston interstate 10 rush hour. (I now understand; proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance) Rush hour in a M109 that has not moved in 3 or 4 years is a HOOT!!!.
10-March 20:30 rolled it to Las Cruces New Mexico .1581 miles
To sum it up. The M109 used ½ gallon oil a lot of fuel the tach quit the fuel gauge fixed it’s self. It blew some oil splatter out of the crankcase vent pipe onto the inner fender but it was pinned at max RPM most of the trip. The only road repair was to replace a tire core, not a tube just the little center core. All the lights work. It has a new to the truck 1993 dated engine the transmission, T Case, wiper motors, brake master and booster are all new to the truck and look unused.
Why did I buy a truck so far from home?
Truck cost 1375.00
Miles one way 1582
Big pile of Marti Gras beads priceless!
And I did not even tell you all about the Goats!
:beer:
 

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sandcobra164

Well-known member
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Location
Leesburg, GA
Jeff know's that he's got my respect. In pic 4, I'm in it crouched on the ground holding onto the truck. Is he crazy? Perhaps but he's now done a long recovery and I hope I showed him 1 or 2 things about the old truck. I'm looking forward to trying to make it out there to do some rock crawling. He's got an awesome Jeep built just for that purpose. Also, Jeff, I told the guys down at the shop that your truck made it and SSG Layfield dang near cried. He told me he had put alot of hours in on those trucks and it hurt to see them go to auction. I tried to teach him how to buy one but where he lives, they have those wonderful HOA's that prohibit such things as 6X6's. Congrats' on the truck and I'm happy that it made it the distance. Now we need some pics on that camper conversion that should be in progress soon.

Joseph
 

oilburner

New member
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Location
Las Cruces NM
Gentelmen, I negelect to say how much help Joseph (sandcobra164) was to me. He took a day off work for a recon mission and then a morning off to help us pick up day at Albany. If he offers you help take it. He is a "Top Shelf" guy.

Jeff
 

norbilla

New member
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Location
Sonora, CA
Jeff,
I purchased an M109 from the same auction in Albany. I will be leaving California the first week of April to get my truck and drive it back home to California. Glad to hear you made it with very few problems along the way. I hope I am so lucky. I will keep everyone updated during the trek or shortly there after. Nice to hear that the great guys on the Albany base took such good care of the equipment.
Damon
 
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