kastein
Member
- 495
- 25
- 18
- Location
- Southbridge MA
A bit of backstory...
I've been looking for a deuce and a half for years, on and off. Bid on a few GSA auctions in summer 06 while still in college, realized I was insane (first step is admitting you have a problem!) and let someone else win because I had no way to recover anything. Bid a few times last summer, was quickly outbid. Bid once or twice this summer and was likewise outbid... was just preparing to go whole hog and bid anything up to my budget (instead of pulling out early) when I decided on a whim to check CL first.
Found a bunch of deuces, none of them were in my price range or they were too far away, or they were in my price range but I never got a response back, etc. I was looking for one in my state because I didn't know how to drive stick yet. Ended up seeing a 5 ton listed on CL in Brownsville PA as "make an offer or trade me some cool toy, M715 (good body but need not run), CJs, Harleys, woodworking equipment, etc" and made an offer that I figured was a bit low, but said I was quite open to negotations. 15 minutes later I got an email back saying my offer was fine, and was I still interested?
yes of course!
I hadn't realized Brownsville was so far away. I'm used to driving to Rausch Creek and random locations in NJ once in a while, and had forgotten how large a state PA really is. Oh well, not going back on my word and I want that truck, looks like I'm driving there!
Here begins the adventure...
Cliff notes:
Broke down halfway, a belt let loose and shredded the tach cable, then shredded the other belts, overheated, got it running again and drove it home.
Full story:
Started driving down around 8-9pm Friday night in the MJ, with a friend (Chris) riding shotgun so we could get both vehicles back. Nine to ten hour drive... add in an hour of random 15 minute naps so I could keep it on the road. We arrived around 7AM.
Suffice to say the previous owner is an AWESOME guy and I wish there were more people around like him. I showed up to find a pair of manual transmissions with d20s behind them sitting in his yard, a 97+ Jeep XJ on 30s, an entire stack of axles, a Jeep J10 with no drivetrain and no bed, a CJ on 2.5 ton Rockwells and 38s, a couple spare engines, a stack of tires none under about a 36, and about 50 spare driveshafts for anything from a deuce and a half down to FSJs and XJs stacked in an open front shed.
Screwed around in town for a few hours getting food, looking at the truck, etc. Owner was nowhere to be found and didn't answer his phone. Around noon, he showed up with ANOTHER J10, beat to ****, glasspacks, with a set of 48 inch supersingle boggers on deuce rims in the back. Apparently he was expecting one more email from me and thought I bailed on the purchase, and just happened to be around.
So we spent a while going over the truck. Temp gauge didn't work, I figured there wouldn't be a problem so I said screw it, who cares. We took it out for a test drive... good lord that thing hauls. It doesn't go very fast, but the butt dyno sure says it does!
Problems we found and fixed - one tire had absolutely no air in it. The steering box bolts all had about a turn to a turn and a half of slack in them. The 1/2" rivets holding the steering box bracket to the frame had stretched, so the bracket had about 1/16" of play in it. We ground/pounded the rivets out and put in 1/2" grade 8s instead, steering was MUCH improved. Let's just say that death wobble at 40mph in a 20 thousand pound vehicle that rides like it doesn't have any springs (because it's empty) is interesting... :scared:
So around 4PM we finished going over it and headed for a notary (after calling around for 45 minutes to find one that was open on Saturdays past 4 AND had temp plates) to get the bill of sale squared away. The result was that I have till the end of August to actually register the thing... it's got PA temp plates on it!
We get ahold of Jack (the guy I bought my Jeep MJ off of) who was on his way back from an airplane festival in Wisconsin. Met up in Pittsburgh and got some food with a couple friends from the area. Did some practice driving stick in the Macy's parking lot at a mall. Then he headed off and Chris and I started the drive to Rausch Creek. As soon as we were on the highway we switched vehicles so I could get a bit more stick time...
It started to rain around when I got on i81N. Did I forget to mention that I don't have a roof on it yet? That was interesting, driving along I81 in a truck I'm not used to yet, with no roof, in a pouring rainstorm, in the dark. Halfway there, I lost the guy in the MJ (who had been tailing me to make sure we'd have parts, tools, another vehicle etc in case of a breakdown, since the M54 was an unknown truck at the time.) So I doubled back and tried to find what the **** happened, I figured he fell asleep at the wheel and I'd be picking up the pieces. Turns out he somehow lost me at a tollbooth and thought I got behind, so he pulled over to wait for me and then fell asleep for a couple hours by accident (we were both running on about an hour of sleep since Friday morning, and it was approximately midnight Saturday/Sunday by this point, so I'm not really surprised.) When he woke up he figured I was WAY ahead, and my phone was dead AND broken, so he hauled ass to Rausch and hoped for the best.
I finally got to Rausch at approximately 5AM. It was STILL raining, so I got in the passenger seat of the MJ for a couple hours of sleep... woke up around 8AM (still raining.) I figured what the ****, we're AT Rausch, I might as well find out how this thing does, so I got a sticker for it and headed for the new property. Sorry, no Rock Creek pics, I figured I should take it easy since I had another 10 hours of driving to do and still wasn't sure it was going to make it. We hooked up with a couple guys with huge tubed-out Broncos who were heading for the new property. They were doing reds/blacks and the trails were way too narrow, so we split up. You know the washed out, ditch filled area at the downhill end of N4? The M54 went straight through that... I barely had to steer. Just pointed it and hit the pedal and it went.
(sorry to those who have never been to Rausch, (a) you're missing out and (b) I can't think of a better way to explain things)
Halfway back up N4, it suddenly stopped. Wouldn't even crank. I feared the worst... but after a few seconds of head scratching I realized that a manual transmission, non-computerized military turbo diesel would only behave that way if it didn't have a battery. Sure enough the negative battery terminal had popped off... pushed it back on and it started right back up, so we headed for X1 and X4.
You don't realize it driving a smaller ORV but those trails are darn narrow AND darn short. We were eating trees every single time we went under them, they kept hitting the hood - and those trails are cut so that fullsize pickup and hummer owners can use them, I thought they were huge last time I was there! Got about half a mile down X4 and nearly busted the mirrors off, so I had to reverse back out of it...
Trail carnage: 1 hood latch completely destroyed (tensioning spring blew up, so the latch just flops around now); battery disconnected (reconnected and kept driving); cantaloupe-sized chunk of granite wedged between rear dually tires (had to beat it with my 4lb hand sledge till it broke and fell out.)
Figured at that point I was pushing my luck, so after a quick checkup we hit the road again. Made it as far as that really long hill / pass in NY on i84 and suddenly realized I had no air pressure (thus, no brakes - they're compressed air over hydraulics instead of vacuum over hydraulics), no tach, no alternator...
not good at all!
Not only that, when I tried to stop, I discovered the parking/e-brake was worn out too! It worked when I left Rausch, WTF! It took quite a distance to stop fully.
Pulled over at about mile marker 23. The truck IMMEDIATELY overheated to the point that it blew the oil fill cap half off. Having been used to 4.0L engines that don't like overheating, I feared the worst... Turns out the air compressor belt got eaten pretty hardcore, whipped around the engine compartment and shredded the tach cable, then had the decency to jam itself into the fan/alt/water pump belts and shred them as well. The entire engine was WELL above boiling point, it was raining still and the manifolds and valve cover were sizzling.
We didn't have any belts to measure and buy new ones, nor any idea of how to put them on, nor much of anything... and this is why smartphones are awesome. My phone was dead (battery) but Chris' phone was still working. So we googled a bit (still on the side of the road) and found the NAPA part numbers and the specs (36 degree V-belts, 47.38" and 51.36" long, .47" wide at the top iirc) and headed to the nearest town to hit up Advance Auto Parts. They didn't have any of the 47.38" ones but we managed to get some of the next size down and made them fit by adjusting the alternator all the way in, squeezing the belts over the pulleys, and then adjusting it back out a little. Had to "bump" the air compressor belt on because I didn't have the proper tools to remove the front half of the pulley yet (if that is how you replace that belt, I'm not sure if it is or not.)
It started up... and not only that, it ran great still! Apparently they make military head gaskets out of unobtainium.
Drove it the rest of the way home and passed the **** out at about 1AM (having had 4 hours of sleep since early Friday morning.) Woke up at 9AM, showered and drove it to work...
No pics yet, as I don't presently own a digital camera, but I'll see if I can either get a camera or get someone to take some.
I've been looking for a deuce and a half for years, on and off. Bid on a few GSA auctions in summer 06 while still in college, realized I was insane (first step is admitting you have a problem!) and let someone else win because I had no way to recover anything. Bid a few times last summer, was quickly outbid. Bid once or twice this summer and was likewise outbid... was just preparing to go whole hog and bid anything up to my budget (instead of pulling out early) when I decided on a whim to check CL first.
Found a bunch of deuces, none of them were in my price range or they were too far away, or they were in my price range but I never got a response back, etc. I was looking for one in my state because I didn't know how to drive stick yet. Ended up seeing a 5 ton listed on CL in Brownsville PA as "make an offer or trade me some cool toy, M715 (good body but need not run), CJs, Harleys, woodworking equipment, etc" and made an offer that I figured was a bit low, but said I was quite open to negotations. 15 minutes later I got an email back saying my offer was fine, and was I still interested?
yes of course!I hadn't realized Brownsville was so far away. I'm used to driving to Rausch Creek and random locations in NJ once in a while, and had forgotten how large a state PA really is. Oh well, not going back on my word and I want that truck, looks like I'm driving there!
Here begins the adventure...
Cliff notes:
Broke down halfway, a belt let loose and shredded the tach cable, then shredded the other belts, overheated, got it running again and drove it home.
Full story:
Started driving down around 8-9pm Friday night in the MJ, with a friend (Chris) riding shotgun so we could get both vehicles back. Nine to ten hour drive... add in an hour of random 15 minute naps so I could keep it on the road. We arrived around 7AM.
Suffice to say the previous owner is an AWESOME guy and I wish there were more people around like him. I showed up to find a pair of manual transmissions with d20s behind them sitting in his yard, a 97+ Jeep XJ on 30s, an entire stack of axles, a Jeep J10 with no drivetrain and no bed, a CJ on 2.5 ton Rockwells and 38s, a couple spare engines, a stack of tires none under about a 36, and about 50 spare driveshafts for anything from a deuce and a half down to FSJs and XJs stacked in an open front shed.
Screwed around in town for a few hours getting food, looking at the truck, etc. Owner was nowhere to be found and didn't answer his phone. Around noon, he showed up with ANOTHER J10, beat to ****, glasspacks, with a set of 48 inch supersingle boggers on deuce rims in the back. Apparently he was expecting one more email from me and thought I bailed on the purchase, and just happened to be around.
So we spent a while going over the truck. Temp gauge didn't work, I figured there wouldn't be a problem so I said screw it, who cares. We took it out for a test drive... good lord that thing hauls. It doesn't go very fast, but the butt dyno sure says it does!
Problems we found and fixed - one tire had absolutely no air in it. The steering box bolts all had about a turn to a turn and a half of slack in them. The 1/2" rivets holding the steering box bracket to the frame had stretched, so the bracket had about 1/16" of play in it. We ground/pounded the rivets out and put in 1/2" grade 8s instead, steering was MUCH improved. Let's just say that death wobble at 40mph in a 20 thousand pound vehicle that rides like it doesn't have any springs (because it's empty) is interesting... :scared:
So around 4PM we finished going over it and headed for a notary (after calling around for 45 minutes to find one that was open on Saturdays past 4 AND had temp plates) to get the bill of sale squared away. The result was that I have till the end of August to actually register the thing... it's got PA temp plates on it!
We get ahold of Jack (the guy I bought my Jeep MJ off of) who was on his way back from an airplane festival in Wisconsin. Met up in Pittsburgh and got some food with a couple friends from the area. Did some practice driving stick in the Macy's parking lot at a mall. Then he headed off and Chris and I started the drive to Rausch Creek. As soon as we were on the highway we switched vehicles so I could get a bit more stick time...
It started to rain around when I got on i81N. Did I forget to mention that I don't have a roof on it yet? That was interesting, driving along I81 in a truck I'm not used to yet, with no roof, in a pouring rainstorm, in the dark. Halfway there, I lost the guy in the MJ (who had been tailing me to make sure we'd have parts, tools, another vehicle etc in case of a breakdown, since the M54 was an unknown truck at the time.) So I doubled back and tried to find what the **** happened, I figured he fell asleep at the wheel and I'd be picking up the pieces. Turns out he somehow lost me at a tollbooth and thought I got behind, so he pulled over to wait for me and then fell asleep for a couple hours by accident (we were both running on about an hour of sleep since Friday morning, and it was approximately midnight Saturday/Sunday by this point, so I'm not really surprised.) When he woke up he figured I was WAY ahead, and my phone was dead AND broken, so he hauled ass to Rausch and hoped for the best.
I finally got to Rausch at approximately 5AM. It was STILL raining, so I got in the passenger seat of the MJ for a couple hours of sleep... woke up around 8AM (still raining.) I figured what the ****, we're AT Rausch, I might as well find out how this thing does, so I got a sticker for it and headed for the new property. Sorry, no Rock Creek pics, I figured I should take it easy since I had another 10 hours of driving to do and still wasn't sure it was going to make it. We hooked up with a couple guys with huge tubed-out Broncos who were heading for the new property. They were doing reds/blacks and the trails were way too narrow, so we split up. You know the washed out, ditch filled area at the downhill end of N4? The M54 went straight through that... I barely had to steer. Just pointed it and hit the pedal and it went.
(sorry to those who have never been to Rausch, (a) you're missing out and (b) I can't think of a better way to explain things)
Halfway back up N4, it suddenly stopped. Wouldn't even crank. I feared the worst... but after a few seconds of head scratching I realized that a manual transmission, non-computerized military turbo diesel would only behave that way if it didn't have a battery. Sure enough the negative battery terminal had popped off... pushed it back on and it started right back up, so we headed for X1 and X4.
You don't realize it driving a smaller ORV but those trails are darn narrow AND darn short. We were eating trees every single time we went under them, they kept hitting the hood - and those trails are cut so that fullsize pickup and hummer owners can use them, I thought they were huge last time I was there! Got about half a mile down X4 and nearly busted the mirrors off, so I had to reverse back out of it...
Trail carnage: 1 hood latch completely destroyed (tensioning spring blew up, so the latch just flops around now); battery disconnected (reconnected and kept driving); cantaloupe-sized chunk of granite wedged between rear dually tires (had to beat it with my 4lb hand sledge till it broke and fell out.)
Figured at that point I was pushing my luck, so after a quick checkup we hit the road again. Made it as far as that really long hill / pass in NY on i84 and suddenly realized I had no air pressure (thus, no brakes - they're compressed air over hydraulics instead of vacuum over hydraulics), no tach, no alternator...
not good at all!Not only that, when I tried to stop, I discovered the parking/e-brake was worn out too! It worked when I left Rausch, WTF!
It took quite a distance to stop fully.Pulled over at about mile marker 23. The truck IMMEDIATELY overheated to the point that it blew the oil fill cap half off. Having been used to 4.0L engines that don't like overheating, I feared the worst... Turns out the air compressor belt got eaten pretty hardcore, whipped around the engine compartment and shredded the tach cable, then had the decency to jam itself into the fan/alt/water pump belts and shred them as well. The entire engine was WELL above boiling point, it was raining still and the manifolds and valve cover were sizzling.
We didn't have any belts to measure and buy new ones, nor any idea of how to put them on, nor much of anything... and this is why smartphones are awesome. My phone was dead (battery) but Chris' phone was still working. So we googled a bit (still on the side of the road) and found the NAPA part numbers and the specs (36 degree V-belts, 47.38" and 51.36" long, .47" wide at the top iirc) and headed to the nearest town to hit up Advance Auto Parts. They didn't have any of the 47.38" ones but we managed to get some of the next size down and made them fit by adjusting the alternator all the way in, squeezing the belts over the pulleys, and then adjusting it back out a little. Had to "bump" the air compressor belt on because I didn't have the proper tools to remove the front half of the pulley yet (if that is how you replace that belt, I'm not sure if it is or not.)
It started up... and not only that, it ran great still! Apparently they make military head gaskets out of unobtainium.
Drove it the rest of the way home and passed the **** out at about 1AM (having had 4 hours of sleep since early Friday morning.) Woke up at 9AM, showered and drove it to work...
No pics yet, as I don't presently own a digital camera, but I'll see if I can either get a camera or get someone to take some.
Last edited:
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so now waiting on parts. Another of the firemen from the same FD is in my jeep club and was at the event I was heading for when I blew the gasket!
