OK, started off a little early this morning to go pick up an electric motor/gearbox combo I had purchased from another factory local to me. Warmed the truck up as usual before heading out but considering the -15 degrees it was this morning I should have let it warm up a bit longer. The windows were starting to defrost so no worries, kicked her in to gear and headed out.
Left the truck running while at the pick up point for the motor/gear box. Loaded it in the back of the truck. Maybe 400lbs. give or take. Not to serious of a load by any means.
Headed out of town for the 15 mile trip to the shop. About 4 miles to go and it starts to poppin' pretty good. Sounds like a miss and then it gets worse so I get the cell phone and make a call. I got a feeling its not gona make it the rest of the way. Something seriously wrong. It's damn cold out and I don't want to be sitting on the side of the road. Stab the clutch throw it in neutral and it shuts down. Roll to the side of the road and notice oil smoke behind me as I pull off. Last check of the gauges before it quit had 30 lbs. Oil pressure and the temp gauge was reading but kinda low. Now I'm 1 mile from the shop.
The cell phone call had me a tow in a matter of seconds. Small amount of oil smoke coming from under the hood. Nothing to raise an eye brow. Oil dripping under the truck and some antifreeze too. Figuring the motor let go in some serious failure. So, we tow it the 1 mile to the shop and let it roll in behind the shop where you see it in the pics. Basically done smoking at this point. Very much nothing to really make a person worry. I jumped in the tow rig and we sat there for a bit chatting about a couple of things regarding the weather and what not.
Head into the shop, one of my guys shows up to work and says, "YOUR TRUCK IS ON FIRE!" to which I reply, "yeah I think I blew the motor up. It's just a little smoke. It'll be OK." He then says, "NO, IT'S ON FIRE! LIKE FLAMES!!"
By then it was too late. All I could do is call the Fire department. My fire extinguishers were no match for the inferno that was underway.