Deuce for every day driver?

Hi new to the forum and this is my first thread.

Would one of these make a good daily driver if you didn't have to drive far to work?

I'm wanting one because I really dig Mil trucks and I'm a truck driver my self.
My only concerns would be mpg. Being a truck as trucks in general I know they can use a lot of fuel. Please advise.


I also want one of these for a disaster truck in case our economy collapses and I can drive the family plus all my gear to my safe place I have in my plans for such a event.

Due to only having one car for my entire family and a small car at that. I need to know if this truck would be a good idea. I don't want to get something that I can't depend on if I need to. I need to be able to fix it also .

Simpely answered "no"

A 40 year old 6x6 13,400 lb truck is not a great daily driver. MPG is around 10 and regular maintenance is required. Mine is purely for hobby.

anything else that would work?

I have a family of 4 and lots of gear to put in whatever I buy. I want something really beefy that doesn't cost a ton of money to buy. I'm 30 with limited funds so $5000 for a beefy military truck sounded good.

I'm very much a survivalist buff and looking for my war wagon to caravan the family in. I wish price wasn't a issue I'd buy a up armored humv

If whear you work is like you said close and their is lots of parking and you can aford a vehical that like it was already posted gets 10mpg then yes it would be a great daily driver. Expecaly if you put the mods into puting a vegie oil tank and just hit up all the local resronts for fule. Or as some have posted you can run well filter motor oil mixed with disel threw them. Reliable yes very but as it was said be prepared to turn a rench every now and agin. I know a guy back in Hamer Idaho has a hole fleet of Military 2 1/2 ton and 5 ton trucks. He changes the oil puts gas in them and they just keep going. His newest truck is a 1960 I think all of them have turbos on them but not 100% sure.

The down side to trying to use a duec for a daily driver is its hard to park. I am going to have to use mine as my daily driver win I get back frome Iraq untill I can go and get my car up in IL. But I do have my wifes van that I will try to steel any chance I can get so I dont have to Idal up and down. Thats the down side to the duce is you have to ideal up for 5 minits then down for 5 minits every time you move it more than a few feet.

The up side; not much can beat a duce in a acadent guys have been hit by cars and the car was totaled the duece barily scrached. You can get a set of used tires for 350 bucks some times. You can burn any kind of fule you want in a pinch. It will go more places than most other vehicals stock expechaly if you get one with a winch. If you have a good driving record liablity insurance is realtivly cheep. You have 12 feet by 8 feet of bed space so you can hall lots of stuff or lots of people or bolth. I know a SGM who told me that he had 26 toops with size larg alice packs and bodie armor on a duce. so like I said you can hall tons. If your looking for an excape vehical I dont think any thing could be a better choice just because you can drive around the car jams.

you can get a farly good duce for what you say your willing to spend I woud look on hear and ebay and find one close to you. Thear are lots of threads hear that can help you find out how to inusre it. Just take into acont your looking at about 500 dollars to put a civilyan hich on one if you need that.

NO, I tried it for about a year. not a good idea.

Russell's Military Vehicles: Inventory This is the guy I got my truck thew He can get you a realy good truck for between 4-5000 he checks his stuff out so you dont have to wory about it falling apart on your way home. I know he is going to be out of the way for you but he is I think the best vale in the country for a duece.

I would have to agree with Heavysteven,- these trucks could be expensive and undependable-
you'll need a good source for parts, and a good selection of tools- big truck size, have mechanical
ability or pay somebody else to work on your truck, and once you take it for a few long trips, and
feel more confident and work out all the bugs- that would put you and your family in harms way
stuck out there some where.
It's better to plan ahead, network with other people in your area, with the same interest and such,
It's a plan- and you have to start some where.
That's how I started, contacted others with similar concerns, interests and such, starting with MV owners
and the group has grown- self supporting and resources - it always better to be prepard.

I think the deuce would make an ideal survival vehicle. And if you do get one, drive it a lot to work the bugs out, as previously suggested. I would not want to have to drive the duece for every little errand as a primary vehicle though. You could get an m105 to pull behind for additional gear. To sum it up, would be a fun hobby, disaster or work truck. Not so handy for everyday commuting - in my opinion.

The deuce is not a daily driver. Based on what you posted I would look at a M1009

tough to meet multiple wants when on a budget

I agree with the folks above. I used to drive mine to work, 11 miles one way, about once a month. I get tired of all the shifting in city traffic. Now I just take mine out to displays and parades, and up the street to the carwash about every two weeks.
How about a M1009 (cucv blazer) with a M101 trailer?
That might answer your list of what ya want.
It is tough to meet requirements we want on a limited budget. I have limited funds so I gotta watch how much I run the truck, kinda playing the odds of hoping that limited usage will yield limited repairs and parts needed long term.
Another way to look at your dilemna is.....just like in racing where if ya want more speed it costs more money.... a stronger/larger off road vehicle costs more money and also has less practical use in daily traffic commute than say a 15 yr old Corolla painted 3 color woodland camo.

I drive my bobbed Deuce as a daily driver in San Diego traffic. Yes it's a pain to shift so much and I have to watch for all the idiots. But my other trucks are 5 speeds too, the fuel milage sucks but I run used motor oil, Hydraulic fluid, JP-8, Gas, and Deisel all mixed together in varying ratios. My commute is about 30 min each way with no traffic. I also changed my seats to a bench from a Ford Aerostar and I am running a muffler. Is it the best way to get to work, no but it is my truck and I will take any excuse to drive it.

Thanks for all the reply's. I'll have to stew on it for a bit. Being a professional truck driver I have no issues with shifting in a city for long periods of time. Once you know how to float gears in a truck a clutch becomes useless ...

My concern would not be driving but rather having the time, energy, and resources to do so.

It is a good truck for a disaster, rainy day, flood, or zombies or if the world falls apart but its hard to justify for a daily driver. I drive mine to work some. However, the 5 minute warm up, 5 minute cool down is a pain and if your running late to work you will be later. They are really fun but if you drive it every day, everywhere you will get tired of it. Enjoy the hobby, drive it often but if you drive it every day you will grow tired.

Stories from the dry pavement.

Another sobering fact about these here deuce things is that the rear 8 tires drive together as a unit, as opposed to the tractor of your semi that you run only the back axle on, and only engage the other back axle in snow, etc. Makes for faster tire wear on pavement.

I've found that some people will take a considerable amount of punishment and love every minute of it. The older I get, the less punishment I care to take. I find I like driving the deuce alot more if I drive it because I want to and not because I have to. There's no way I'd use a deuce as a daily driver unless I had no other option. I'd think the maintenance cost would be fairly high also on a deuce you drive every day.

A bobber would be better for a DD than a stock truck would.

I believe if I wanted a MV as a DD I'd get a CUCV.

M1009 w/trailer

mcmullag said:

I agree with the folks above. I used to drive mine to work, 11 miles one way, about once a month. I get tired of all the shifting in city traffic. Now I just take mine out to displays and parades, and up the street to the carwash about every two weeks.
How about a M1009 (cucv blazer) with a M101 trailer?
That might answer your list of what ya want.
It is tough to meet requirements we want on a limited budget. I have limited funds so I gotta watch how much I run the truck, kinda playing the odds of hoping that limited usage will yield limited repairs and parts needed long term.
Another way to look at your dilemna is.....just like in racing where if ya want more speed it costs more money.... a stronger/larger off road vehicle costs more money and also has less practical use in daily traffic commute than say a 15 yr old Corolla painted 3 color woodland camo.

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I find what I like is having my F150 and deuce on DD duty together. The F150 is for short runs or to work since I don't feel like warming the truck up everyday. Plus when one is down you can drive the other. The deuce makes its way out after work/nights and on the weekends.

Keep in mind parking and turning. My brother lives in Boston and I would never find a spot to park in front of his apartment if I drove the deuce there. I can't make some of the turns around here occasionally without needing to back up. Luckily they are usually backroads so there isn't much traffic.

As for parts, you;d most likely have to wait for parts to get shipped out since auto part stores don't have all the stuff you'd need. That would make the truck down for over a week sometimes just because of shipping. With an M1009, most parts you can just get at an auto parts store. If you can, I'd get the M1009 as a DD and a deuce as a fun/emergency/work truck. You should be able to get both for $5000 and still be road worthy.

I been daily driving my deuce for over a year and a half now. So far I have loved almost every minute of it. My drive to work is normally a mile, but every day I turn it into a 3 mile drive just to make sure the truck gets up to temp and what not. Some times parking can be a pain in the ass, but it really depends where you plan on parking it. Mine will fit perfectly inside a parking space at the local supermarket, no problems. Having the air-o-matic really helps when your in a tight space, thats for sure. As for the fuel, Ive been burning a combonation of stale race gas, used motor oil, and hydrolic oil with no ill effects. I haven't stopped at a gas station in the deuce since march. Ive put over 4000 miles on the truck since march. I do plan on replacing the seats with some nice airrides eventually, but I keep spending my money on other things.


Im summory, the deuce can be a daily driver, just be prepaired to take an extra few minutes on your trips and plan ahead.


Also, as for tires, I tend to burn up a set of rear tires in about 6-8k miles, and I've been replacing my fronts every 3-4k miles. I I ve been getting my replacement tires, between 85-95%, for about 50 bucks each on the rim. I plan on putting a good set of radials on her in the future, and if being daily driven, I'd definatly recomend it.

Josh said:

I been daily driving my deuce for over a year and a half now. So far I have loved almost every minute of it. My drive to work is normally a mile, but every day I turn it into a 3 mile drive just to make sure the truck gets up to temp and what not. Some times parking can be a pain in the ass, but it really depends where you plan on parking it. Mine will fit perfectly inside a parking space at the local supermarket, no problems. Having the air-o-matic really helps when your in a tight space, thats for sure. As for the fuel, Ive been burning a combonation of stale race gas, used motor oil, and hydrolic oil with no ill effects. I haven't stopped at a gas station in the deuce since march. Ive put over 4000 miles on the truck since march. I do plan on replacing the seats with some nice airrides eventually, but I keep spending my money on other things.


Im summory, the deuce can be a daily driver, just be prepaired to take an extra few minutes on your trips and plan ahead.


Also, as for tires, I tend to burn up a set of rear tires in about 6-8k miles, and I've been replacing my fronts every 3-4k miles. I I ve been getting my replacement tires, between 85-95%, for about 50 bucks each on the rim. I plan on putting a good set of radials on her in the future, and if being daily driven, I'd definatly recomend it.

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My car goes through tires faster then that, and about $200 a tire... My guess is I go through a set of 4 tires between 3-5k... Good alignment, killer tires, just terrible roads....

P.S... I think 98% of Wisconsinites say "Hold my beer and watch this" before hitting the ditch... LOL, the state abbreviation should be AA.