Advice on a Military 1984 M1009

[twiget]

I have been in the market for another vehicle for the last few months, and tonight I found a candidate. It is a 1984 M1009 Military K5. It is a 6.2L diesel, with only 92k on the odometer.

Hopefully I will be able to see the truck tomorrow, but before I go I'd like to some advice on what to look for. I've owned 2 K5's previous to this (a '74 and an '85), so I'm not a complete noob, but any advice is appreciated.

 

[dremu]

The usual stuff, i.e. rust, wear and tear, smell the tranny fluid, look for white smoke in the exhaust (can you find it in diesel exhaust? ), look at the oil and coolant.

The CUCV's have weird half-12V half-24V electricals, which some folks don't understand or don't like so they hack them up. Ideally this truck will have two batteries and two alternators, all working, and all unmolested. If it's been converted to 12V, ask how and get details, 'cuz you will likely end up having to do something with it at some point.

92K on the clock is all nice and dandy, but note that a lot of those trucks were left running, especially in cold climates, so you don't know how many hours are on the engine. (Which can be fine -- mine had had a cold-weather kit installed, so it had seen all kinds of use, but ran perfectly well.)

Also note the CUCV's don't have AC, don't have carpet, and have the TH400 tranny (i.e. three-speed instead of the civvy 4-speed with OD.) They're also 3.08:1 geared, so stock, they get okay fuel economy, at least if you keep them below, say, 70MPH. The TH400 is basically bulletproof, but because it doesn't have the overdrive, the motor has to wind higher at highway speeds.

The rest depends on if you care about the CUCV aspects, like the shackles on the bumpers, the blackout lights, etc etc ... or if you just want a normal truck, those things don't matter so much.

-- A

 

[twiget]

Good to know. What about finding repair parts for the truck? Considering it is a military truck, will I be able to use parts from the civilian version?

I haven't seen the truck yet, but based on the pictures, it looks pretty good. But then again, it is a 24 year old Chevy truck. Things will break.

 

[dremu]

Good to know. What about finding repair parts for the truck? Considering it is a military truck, will I be able to use parts from the civilian version?

I haven't seen the truck yet, but based on the pictures, it looks pretty good. But then again, it is a 24 year old Chevy truck. Things will break.

With the exception of the weird electrics, everything on it is straight, normal GM. (And they all use 1984 parts, even the '85+ models ... drove the counter guys nuts when I replaced the wiper motor =))

The only different parts are gonna be the starter, the battery trays, and some minor stuff like the glow plug wiring. Oh, and the alternators -- the case isn't grounded, since on the second one the case is 12V and the output is 24V

For the starter and alternators, I'd have a local shop redo 'em if you have one. If not, and for all others parts, there are lots of guys parting CUCV's, including a coupla members here, and you can find stuff on Ebay all the time. No worries about parts.

-- A