My 1st drive!

[godevil]

Well,
I finally got the title in my name and the insurance and tags taken care of SO..
I had the 715 delivered to our farm witch is 45 minutes or so from the house a couple of weeks ago and decided I needed it at the house to tinker and start a game-plan. I knocked off work around 3 on Tuesday and fired up the '73 Bronco at home to make a "swap" for a while.
PERHAPS a 30 mile drive through a large metropalitan area with many bridges at rush hour was a poor choice. Hindsight IS 20/20.
I gave the Kaiser the usual vehicle once over;fluids,air,etc,and we were off.
The speed and ride were both a suprise to me. I was caught completey unaware,and have been around enough MV's to know better. My worrys before the trip had been the steering and brakes. I never considered the powerband and suspension being an issue. The steering and breaks were above par by the way!
In traffic she draws attention.
Small children were gleefully waving and their irate parents were waving with one finger. Apparantly speed was never a requirement in the whole Vietnam conflict. I jokeingly considered that some of our MIA's may just still be trying to drive their M715's back to base,NO disrespect taken I hope.
The suspension was suprisingly soft with normal road conditions small bumps were not the bone jarring experence that everone had mentioned. At the bottom of my 1st bridge I encountered a "dip" large enough to get into the spring pak a little more and was sure that I would be thrown clear of the truck. With both hands firmly gripping the wheel,knuckles a fine shade of white,my butt levitated 6-8 inches over the seat for 40 yards or so. We landed ,with a sound much like a bag of tools being kicked down a fire escape, into 5 lanes of traffic with no breakdown lane.
The Kaiser decided that it wasn't getting "enough" attention at this point so it spit the muffler off at the down pipe. The only hanger on the whole system was on the back of the bed so we now have 15 feet of pipe with a muffler on the end sparking and clanking in the next lane as we roared along. The rear tire quickly fixed the lane problem and snatched the pipe so we had a "tail" of clanging sparks behind us. We crested the last bridge with my foot on the floor creating enough noise to make even me wince.
We made it alive.
The wife wants to know "exactly what is that thing" in our yard.
I couldn't be happier!
Donnie

[Barrman]

First drives are always fun. You will find that air pressure is the only thing that makes these trucks ride smooth. Were you maybe somewhere below 25 psi on the fronts?

[wrecker]

CONGRATS DUDE!! Just got mine re-insured and tagged a month ago. Made two trips before the T-case bearing went. Now it's sitting in my carport with no tranny or T-case waiting for me to finish getting it back together. Meanwhile, we had massive hail all over on Wednesday. Broken windows in cars and houses all over the city, but my house and more importantly, my wife's car were spared. Hey, SHE'S the one who wanted the garage converted to living space. LOL.

[okie715]

I'm jealious. Can't wait for my first drive.

My wife thinks my 715 is "cute".

[randyscycle]

Man that sounds familiar!

Those first drives in an unfamiliar vehicle can be a real hoot. Mine wasn't quite as eventful, but it was on a cold, very dark, and very foggy evening about 2 months ago. The wiring harness kit I installed had a 10 Amp fuse in the headlight circuit. ( I didn't bother to check it first) I didn't find that out until about a mile from the shop when I hit the high beams. Did I mention that my wife was riding shotgun? She gasped louder than me, then we navigated home with a Mag-Lite because I had no fuses. We live out on a very rural road, so it was very dark.

She still rides along anytime I go out.......

[airborne]

She would have been more fun on the 'old' Cooper river bridge. Next time I'm home, I hope to get a chance to hook up, and see the truck.