Remember when I started the countdown somewhere around 140-150 days? Today is D+2; that is 2 days after 0-Day - the day I left Afghanistan. In a few hours I start processing out of this holding area hidden in the Kuwaitti desert and then take a bus up to KWI for a United flight home this evening. Yes, the heart beats a little faster realizing the next sunrise I see will be over the skies of the Mid-Atalntic states. There's been bad sandstorms since I've been here so the internet has been down. Also, it's been about as exciting as hanging arond a gas station for three days. I mannaged to read all my saved reading material for the flight - I am now caught up on my latest Roundel issue.

My immedaite plan is to empty the plane of white wine, gin, and vodka and then catch a few z's accross the Pond.

This will be my last post - until I post again from stateside. To all of you who have been cheering me on and wishing me well, I thank you from the botton of my heart. I also thank you on behalf of Mrs. WingNut who, IMO, has endured much more hardship than I during this deployment.

Good bye Afghanistan. The only thing I'm missing is a rear view mirror but then, there are now passenger windows in a C-17. All my bags finally arrived from Jalalabad last night and command finally signed off on some last mnute admin B.S.

Mrs. Wingnut said the truck battery was dead so she went and got me a new one. Yes, WingNut was the bad truck owner. He failed to winterize his truck or prep it for long term storage. But sometime's you get "hot-fill" orders in the Marines and you have to bug out of town with very little time to prep.

So to get the WingNut ride back on the road this is what I have on the to-do list:

Oil
Clean & re-oil air filter
Clean MAF

The truck has close to 90K on it. Is there anything else I should do?

Well, I'm enjoying the last two days of 120 degree heat here in Jalalbad. I'll update as I progress back to the States. Looking forward to making my first post from home. That is, if Ms. WingNut gives me the time.

It takes a while to get back. My Freedom Bird doesn't take off till a week from now so Ms. WingNut thought it appropriate to start my to-do list. The first item being to start my Christmas shopping at the Haji shops. Went in and picked up two small bags of gems so far. Peridot, rubies, tourmaline, star saphires, orange saphires...

Knew I'd forget something but there is lots of time to think here in Jalalabad.

#4) Apply sound deadening undercoat to the rear bed
BTW- Thanks for all the input on 3M and AMSOIL so far
#5) Build a cold air intake box
I have the Airaid system and read much about how CAI boxes and ducting improves the performance. Have most of this in my BMW forums and Grass Roots Motorsports articles. Would like to know if anyone has built a CAI box and where they ran the intake duct to.

Now all I have to do is wait until June. hmmmmmmm.......

Intro: Well, GMC put a Z85 decal on the truck when I bought it off the lot in 2004. Not sure what the Z85 package was all about other than it had chrome running bars, composite discs and 20 inch rims on all four corners. I needed a truck to pull my track cars to and from weekend driving events. Also comes in handy when moving bicycles, kayaks, power tools, building materials, and wood projects around.

Purpose: Why this blog exists is to experiment with an on-line open maintenance log for this Zee-eighty-Fiver. Record everything I've done to it, plan out things I've yet to do, and capture lessons learned along the way.

Scope: Mainly I will limit entries related to the truck but may occasionally slip into commenting about the family or my current track car; a 94 BMW 325is being converted to a Spec 3-Series racer.

What's been done to this truck already:
Right off the lot went to the XM satellite store.
First thing I wanted to do to this truck in 2004 was to upgrade fuel mileage and performance so I dragged the truck into the Camp Lejeune auto shop and dropped Gibson exhaust and headers and an Airaid high-flow intake. Then drove it home and installed Hypertech management software. Now get 23-24 mpg hwy.
In January 2005, was driving in the snow in Michigan and was not pleased with those summer tires with the 20" chromy rims. Stopped at a large retail salvage outlet (pc for junkyard) and picked up a matched set of four 16" steel, GM, flat-black, spare rims. Stopped in Toledo at a Goodyear shop and had four cheap all-season tires put on. This was an upgrade to me.
Coated the bed with Duraback bedliner in 2005. Cost about $100 to do it and found the product satisfactory. The material wears/tears/chips away over time and seems to dissipate over time in areas of direct sunlight. Since then I've added an additional layer of Duplicolor bedliner.
2006: From Laminex.com I put yellow tinting on my fog lights. The product has bubbled (a little) since then but over-all very happy with it not fading and I believe it does improve visibility over white light during rain, snow, and fog. Only cost about $35! From Hellwig, a heavy duty swaybar was put on the rear suspension.
2007: Installed a Hellwig air lift assist kit for towing. No more sagging arse when towing the BMW to VIR, Summit Point, CMP, etc.
March 2010: Time to replace and upgrade brakes. New rotors were put on all four corners (can't remember if I got slotted or not) and put in Hawk HD brake pads. Love Hawks! Put them on my BMW and on the wife's Saturn Redline. Great compound with very little noise. Noticed a huge improvement over brake fade when trailering the BMW. Replaced worn all-seasons with BF Goodrich All Terrain T/As. Love these tires for two reasons: #1 Helluva lot better in snow. #2 Tire wobble at 65mph keeps the wife from speeding!
April 2010: Was in the middle of installing an electric brake controller when I had to stop work to deploy.
If there is anything I have missed I'll catch up in the next entry.

Things yet to be done:
#1 Finish electric brake control install (still no signal at rear pin).
#2 Upgrade engine driven fan with electric driven fan.
#3 Research and install Eaton locking diff. Am looking for an Eaton G84 unit but also like the electric locker as well.