My best stuck.... hmmm..... Let me see. Was it the time I was stuck on the mountainside
for 19 hours or was it the time when I drove into the river and later had the truck burn
down?
I used to be in the Army and most of the time I drove Chevy 5/4 ton trucks(as well as
many others). One time near Chilliwack, B.C. I turned to go up a road that went through an
area that was being logged. I followed a road up the hill but it turned out to be a skidder
track. I turned around to go back down the hill but I found a small problem. When I ahd
gone up the hill there was a very large puddle, actually more like a small pond, that had
been at the top of the small hill that I drove up. When I had driven through the water
the small pile of dirt that held the water back broke and all the water ran down the hill
and washed out the road behind me. When I went back down the hill I could not stay on
the road. I ended up in very deep mud high centred with the frame rails on hard dirt for
the entire length of the truck. We tried to dig ourselves out for several hours and
eventually gave up and called for recovery. 19 hours later the 5 ton wrecker showed up
and tried to pull us out. He almost got stuck with this 6 wheel drive monster trying to get
us out.
Another time, also in an army truck, I was crossing the Battle River in Wainwright, Alberta. This
was my first time fording a river. I was told to enter slowly and keep the power on
steady until I reached the other side. Of course I didn't listen. I hit the water at about
20km/h. Ooops The truck came to a dead stop. The force of hitting the water lifted
the truck a bit and it came to rest off of the path. The the cab of the truck was full of
water right up to about 2' below the window and the hood was underwater. We winched
the truck back and I cleared all the water out of the engine by removing the spark plugs
and dumping the river out of the air cleaner. A steady stream of water came out the
exhaust too. LOL I eventually got the truck running again and drove back to the base.
The truck ran terribly for the first little while and was leaking tranny fluid the whole way.
After about 40 minutes of driving we noticed that there was smoke coming into the cab.
About 2 or 3 minutes later the guy in the middle seat said that he saw flames through
the shifter boot. I slammed on the brakes and threw it into Park. We all jumped out
before the truck even stopped moving!!! I was right next to the fuel area for the base!
I put the fire out with a 10lb dry chem, a 50lb dry chem and a 50lb CO2 extinguisher. It
was quite the ordeal. The report from the fire department said that the transmission had
sucked in water and when the water boiled it carried transmission fluid up the dipstick
tube where it dropped onto the exhaust manifold and ignited.
Fun stuff, don't ya think?
And I get far enough to have the rear wheels in that sludge, and they start spinning. Well, I wasnt gonna risk a skip shift to second, because something was wrong with the engine, if it got the least bit hot and we shut it off, it wouldnt start till it was cool again. So I got out and locked in, and off I went. I guess mom may have been right, but if I wouldnt been in second and had the hubs locked I woulda made it!
