An M939 5-ton military truck sat dead for 15 years before it ever met Wrecker Rick's crew, and the episode's own title says how it got there: an old blind man gave it to him. You don't get a backstory like that every day. What the crew actually confirms on camera is everything that happens after the phone call. You get the tire-by-tire, battery-by-battery work of finding out whether a truck that old can still run. Plus a short, honest look at the shirt Rick happens to plug later in the same video.
- The truck is an M939, a 6x6 military hauler better known as the old 5-ton, rated for 10,000 lbs and running an 8.3 liter Cummins.
- It hadn't run in 15 years and, in Rick's own words on camera, "is not cherry."
- The parts list before the mechanical work even starts: a torn spare tire sidewall, a steering wheel falling apart, a diesel leak, a bad air leak, and dead batteries.
- NAPA swaps the batteries under warranty, no questions asked, for a higher cold-cranking-amp set.
- The crew gets the truck running well enough to head north the same trip.
- Later, in an unrelated giveaway segment, Rick calls out the Mountain Logo Shirt by name. That's the honest, modest reason it's in this post at all.
1. What actually showed up
The episode's title carries the backstory: an old blind man gave Rick this truck. You won't hear the crew narrate that part on camera. So this post treats it as exactly what it is: the reason the truck exists in this video at all. Not a scene you can quote. What the transcript does confirm, in detail, is the truck itself.
It's an M939, a 6x6 military hauler Rick calls "one of the most iconic pieces of military history," better known as the old 5-ton. Rated to carry 10,000 lbs. Runs an 8.3 liter Cummins. It sat in Scottsdale, Arizona, not running for 15 years. Fifteen years, if you can believe that. Rick's own assessment going in is blunt: "This thing is not cherry."
2. The parts problem before the mechanical one
Before the crew even reaches the truck, there's a tire problem. One of the spares they load into the Freedom 550 for the drive down turns out to have a rip in the sidewall. Useless, before it's even mounted. Finding replacements isn't simple either. Good tires for a truck this size, you won't find those sitting on a shelf nearby. Rick admits on camera he may end up buying new Michelins just to have something safe to run.
"This thing hasn't ran in 15 years. So, I'd imagine it's going to need a lot more than just a couple of tires. This thing is not cherry."Wrecker Rick, sizing up the M939, "An Old Blind Man Gave Me This Military Truck… Will It Start?"
3. What was actually wrong with it
Once the crew is hands-on, the list keeps growing. Diesel is leaking. The power steering is gone. The steering wheel itself is falling apart in Rick's own hand as he holds it. There's a bad air leak somewhere in the system. If you've watched one of these "will it start" videos before, you know it usually comes down to one single fix. Not this one. By the time the crew works through the truck's dead batteries, Rick's own read is that the injection pump might be bad too. If that's true, you're looking at a parts run before anything else can happen.
That's the honest shape of reviving a truck that's been sitting for a decade and a half, and you'd see the same story on any truck parked that long. It isn't one dramatic failure. It's a list, and every item on it has to get crossed off, in some order, before the ignition is even a fair test.
4. Getting it running
The batteries turn out to be the first real win. They won't hold a charge, no matter what the crew tries. So instead of replacing them out of pocket, Rick heads to NAPA, where the old batteries get swapped under warranty. No questions asked. Pretty unbelievable, honestly: you're talking about a 15-year-old military truck, and NAPA just honors it. The new set carries 1,400 cold cranking amps against the old batteries' 1,100. That's a real jump in the cranking power actually available to turn the engine over.
From there the crew heads back to the truck to see what the extra cranking amps, the fixed tires, and everything else add up to. By the time the episode moves on, the plan is to get the M939 back on the road and heading north. That only works if the truck's actually running well enough to trust with the drive. Fifteen years off the road. It earns its way back onto one, which makes for a genuinely satisfying watch.
5. What Rick had on
Later in the same video, in a fast merch giveaway segment separate from the truck work entirely, Rick runs through several pieces of the Murphy's Diesel line and calls out "one of the OG Mountain logo shirts" by name.
"Or get yourself one of the OG Mountain logo shirts."Wrecker Rick, merch segment, "An Old Blind Man Gave Me This Military Truck… Will It Start?"
To be plain about it: this isn't Rick narrating what he's got on while his hands are in the engine bay. It's a separate segment, so what follows comes straight from each product's own page, not a scene invented to connect it. The Mountain Logo Shirt's page lists it as a Next Level 3600 tee. 100% cotton, though the Heather Grey color runs a 90/10 cotton to polyester blend instead. 32 singles weight, crew neck, an American flag on the sleeve, and a fit the page itself calls tight. You're looking at $29.99 to $39.99, depending on size. Want the long sleeve instead? Same cotton build, same 32 singles weight, same crew neck, at $34.99. It's just cut to a classic fit instead of the tee's tighter one. Either one pairs with the Mountain Logo Hat from the same collection.
| Mountain Logo Shirt | Mountain Logo Long Sleeve | |
|---|---|---|
| Sleeve | Short | Long |
| Fit | Tight, per the product page | Classic |
| Fabric | 100% cotton | 100% cotton |
| Weight | 32 singles | 32 singles |
| Neck | Crew | Crew |
| Price | $29.99–$39.99 | $34.99 |
Next Level 3600, 100% cotton, 32 singles weight, American flag on the sleeve, crew neck, tight fit. The shirt from the giveaway segment in this same episode.
6. Picking a piece
You don't need all three. They're just what's on the same shelf as the shirt Rick actually named that day.
Next Level 3600, 100% cotton, 32 singles weight, flag on the sleeve, crew neck. The shirt named in this episode's giveaway segment.
Same 100% cotton, 32 singles weight, cut to a classic fit rather than the tee's tighter one.
7-panel, structured cotton front, faux leather patch, adjustable snapback, one size fits most.
FAQ
An M939, a 6x6 military truck better known as the old 5-ton. It's rated to carry 10,000 lbs, runs an 8.3 liter Cummins, and by Rick's own account hadn't run in 15 years before this episode.
More than a couple of tires, in Rick's own words. On camera the list runs to a torn sidewall on one of the spares, a steering wheel described as falling apart in his hand, diesel leaking, a bad air leak, dead batteries, and a suspected bad injection pump.
Yes. The old batteries wouldn't hold a charge, and NAPA swapped them out under warranty, no questions asked, for a set rated at 1,400 cold cranking amps against the old batteries' 1,100.
Well enough that the crew got it back on the road heading north the same trip, which is the honest measure of success for a truck that had been sitting dead for 15 years.
Per its own product page: a Next Level 3600 tee, 100% cotton (the Heather Grey color is a 90/10 cotton-polyester blend), 32 singles weight, an American flag on the sleeve, crew neck, and a tight fit. It runs $29.99 to $39.99 depending on size, and it's the shirt Rick calls out as one of the OG Mountain logo shirts during a separate merch segment in this same episode.
Yes, the Mountain Logo Long Sleeve at $34.99. Its product page lists the same 100% cotton build and 32 singles weight with a crew neck, cut to a classic fit rather than the short sleeve's tighter one.
Not that the episode shows. The truck work and the merch mention are two separate segments in the same video. Rick names the Mountain logo shirts during a giveaway read, not while he's got his hands in the engine bay.