[MV] re:Sage advice
DDoyle9570@aol.com
Sat, 24 Apr 1999 23:59:41 EDT
I have bought two deuce and a halfs out of Ft. Campbell, Ky, and my dad
bought a five ton. Dad pushed off the 5 ton (dead batteries) and drove it
about 200 miles home with no problem.
The first deuce I bought (67 Reo), I bought sight unseen, used fair
condition, and paid a little over 2200 for it. I had it hauled home because
I couldn't get time off to try to drive it home. When it got here, there was
a leaking and disconnected fuel line that was fixed in five minutes. This
truck won 1st in the Motor Pool class at the Memphis MVPA convention with
very little other work.
My second deuce (long wheel base M36A2), I also bought sight unseen, and
encouraged by the previous experiences, took a few basic tools the 225 miles
to fix it and drive home with my new $1400+ toy. The old girl was used, poor
condition according to the DRMO. Paint was ROUGH, one fender was ripped,
the cab canvas ripped and laying in the bed, and the support for it torn in
two. After checking the water and oil, and for hydrostatic lock (this is
important), I hopped in the cab, switch on, bumped the starter and the LDT
roared to life, blowing the couple of gallons of water that had rained down
the exhaust stack out. Unfortunately, when I put the truck in gear, it
wouldn't move, the clutch was shot, so it to was hauled home.
The point of this? I've been lucky....seriously, stay away from trucks using
the term RESIDUE in the description. If you can inspect the vehicle before
you buy you should. Look in the glove box for the repair log (Sometimes it
or a "deficiancies report" are there. Ask the people at the DRMO, "was this
driven in?", sometimes they know. Look for obvious signs of it being towed
in (front lifting shackles gone), check the oil and water before you buy.
Look at the tires 10-11 tires can be expensive, and having them mounted isn't
cheap either. Try to buy a truck that is equipped the way you want it. It is
expensive and a lot of work to put a winch on a truck without one (I did that
on my compressor truck), dented (collapsed) hard top cab tops are expensive
to repair, and buying a hard top seperately is even more expensive,
installing a heater kit is an all day job.
Check the brakes before you buy if possible. Even without air pressure, the
M35 series trucks should have a good firm pedal. Check for burst
block/tranny/transfer, and see if the transmission will shift smoothly.
If you read earlier posts, you will find a lot of discussion about the
various engine types used.
As for the second part of your question, I have trucks built by Reo, Kaiser,
Studebaker, Curtiss-Wright and AM General and none seem any better or worse
than the others, although the hood on my AM General "feels" lighter than on
the others.
Your first purchase should be an operators manual, buy one and read it before
looking at the vehicles. It tells you a lot about what to look for, and is
an excellent investment.
By the way, I have found the DRMO vehicles much better than the GSA.
I don't know about sage, but my two cents worth,
David Doyle
M35A2
M36A2
M44 w/LeRoi Compressor
M44A1 with Class 530B fire bed
M44A2 with Class 530C fire bed
1/2 M123A1C
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