Cruiserguy in Iraq needs help with a rig stateside (1 Viewer)

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some help on this one.

One of the guys here Patrick Belle-Oudry (AKcruzer) has been deployed to Iraq for just a few weeks now. He's a good friend of mine and his wife called today with a problem with his Cruiser. Some of you know Pat and more of you know the rig. It's the bronze colored FJ60 that I built for Bruce Miller a few years ago.
Anyway Pat's in Iraq, I'm in Alaska, and the rig is in Huntsville Alabama (Redstone Arsenal) so other than advice and suggestions there is not a lot I can do to help her with it.

Pat's wife has had some problems with her regular rig and was hoping to use his '60 as a backup. It has developed a pretty bad "clunking sound" that seems to be coming from the middle of the rig. The parking brake lever won't stay down either (This rig has an Wardens Billet T/C (early style non-split) so it has the ebrake on the back of the T/C.

I hoping that I can find someone close to Huntsville who could swing by and take a look at/listen to the rig. Maybe drop the driveshaft and pull the innards out of the parking brake so that she can at least drive the rig.


I'm gonna beg on this one if I have to. Help out a fellow IH8mudder. Help out a soldier serving his country. Help out his family who doesn't have a lot of local area contacts. Do me a personal favor. Whatever spin it takes.


If there's anyone here who can help let me know and I'll put you in contact with Pat's wife and we'll see what we can do for her.

Ill be cross posting this to the FJ40/55 and the FJ60 forum on Mud and on the LCML as well.


THANKS!!!


Mark...

Mark, Not too sure if you have yet but try posting it in the SC ( upstate cruisers ) site on here they might have someone close to there that could help. I would but i am in NC and gas would kill me to get there, but if i am the closest that can help out i can try to do something. Always got to help a brother in arms.

Let me know.

I just posted this in a board for "Rocket City Rock Crawlers" which seems to be a non-brand specific club in the Huntsville area. One of the other guys here told me about them. We'll see what comes from that.

Still hoping that I can find a Cruiser guy who is close by. I figure I can talk just about anyone through checking out the rig/dealing with a minor problem. It would just be easier if the knew Cruisers little bit already.


Mark...

Hey Darin, I just noticed your sig line(s)

You may know Pat. He's EOD too. Stationed up here (Alaska), then in White Sands and was an instructor at the School until being deployed.


Mark...

Mark,

I know a few EOD guys, but my sig line comes from Murphy's Law of Combat. If he was ever at Bragg then there is a good chance i know him. I know a few that are still stationed here.

i posted on the Upstate Cruisers (SC) board, we get a couple Alabama guys over there on occation.

I know Pat, met him at Cottonland's Southern Cruiser Crawl recently. I'm in Auburn AL which is about 4 hours from Huntsville nor do I know anything about his rig since it's so highly modified.
But what I can do is paypal someone some gas money if they are close enough to head over there... whatever I can do, I just don't know anyone up there that would know cruisers.
I'll also brainstorm tonight about a plan or something.

Thanks VTCruiser for letting me know...

Hey Mark, send me his wifes info on a PM & maybe this weekend I can go help.


Let me know, wheeled with him at our event last year-GREAT GUY!


Think this is the least I or anyone could do to help a soldier.

I have this cross posted in a couple of forums here and a couple of other places. I was given a link to a local (to Huntsville) 4x4 club and posted in their board. Turns out that a couple of the guys know Pat, but his wife did not know about them. Within a few minutes of posting there I got a phone call. They had several guys mobilized and over at Pat's this afternoon. As I had feared it turned out that the parking brake had sheared the mounting bolts and was spinning with the driveshaft. They moved the rig to another guys house for repairs.

So... It looks like everything is under control. They'll call me if they hit anything that they are not familiar with (I don't know if any of them are Cruiser Guys or not)., and I'll get parts to them if they can't find any quickly.

I want to thank all of the folks here and on the LCML who offered assistance. And of course the guys from Rocket City Rock Crawlers who jumped all over this and got to work QUICK!


THANKS EVERYONE!


Mark...

Excellent news!
that is a baaad rig!
Could this have caused any damage?

Thanks guys, before my wife told me about the truck. Mark had already explained the situation with my truck to the entire Land Cruiser community and the local club that I hang with. To all that volunteered to help a HUGE THANKS GOES OUT TO YOU!

Eric nope that was not the cause I think she tried to drive it with parking brake on and a SM465 tranny in LOW/granny gear is not very forgiving to drive line parts.

Pat, I hope you don't mind that I made a big deal out of this. Since I hadn't seen you online since you got there I didn't know if you had access or not. Since Tabatha was needed the rig as a daily, I figured we'd pull out all stops if need be to get someone on it.

Iif you have contact with the guys who are working on it, make sure they know to continue to hit me for any parts or whatever that they need.


Mark...