M1078/M1079 for overland camper?

Thanks you kenet3621. That is super helpful. My wife and I are spending some time today looking at layouts, so your timing is perfect.

Thanks,
Michael

kenet3621 said:

Michael,
I measured between the rails on my M1079 (van unit) and it is 29 and 3/8 inches. Photo attached...
View attachment 616039

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Our new M1078 showed up yesterday morning. We've only driven it around the hanger at our local airport, but it's in good functional shape. Just a few little squawks so far: Passenger side front tire loses air, cab rubs on coolant tank a little, air drier is loose on it's mount, bolt is broken off in the door for the driver side mirror.... Just a bunch of little things. Not bad so far.

We have been researching and planning a lot for our camper build. My wife is pretty pumped about the whole thing (she been calling it "fuchsia fox"). She likes to drive it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9NhmKjRN08

First big activity is removing the bed. If anyone wants a good deal on a M1078 bed, let me know. I don't need it, and it's going to be in my way shortly.

Michael

Congratulations! Auction or civilian purchase?
Bdgr

Subscribed to the thread. Looks like you have a great truck to start with. I will be following your build as I have been thinking about doing this but possibly on the M-1082 trailer or on the truck. Lots of room to mount a generator behind the fuel tank or battery box. Learned a lot through the build of my M146 RV trailer.

I know before building the next one, I would visit an RV dealer and look at pickup truck mounted camper units as they squeeze so much into a small space and it is still comfortable and even offers slide outs. Would like to see Eric's as well

Congratulations!

Very nice truck! Subscribed. Let us know if it was private acquisition or GP auction.

It was a private acquisition. We looked at auction vehicles for a while, but this one was in nice shape, so we just went for it. We're pretty happy with it.

My wife and I got the bed disconnected from the frame today. An abrasive cut-off disk made easy work of the huck bolts. They were under a little bit of pre-load, so cutting a slot right above the hex made them pop right off. It only took about a hour to free the bed. We are still trying to find someone that wants the bed. It's going to be in our way soon, so we'll probably post it on craigslist or something.

The front passenger side tire was low again when we got to the hanger today. We sprayed soapy water on it and found that the air is leaking from where the stem comes through the wheel rim. I was hoping it was just a CTIS fitting leaking, but it looks like it's the stem....

Michael

I have a 1998 m1078 that I'm currently storing in Merced CA until I can find time to work on it. I'm also currently chasing a short somewhere which is a real PITA. Let me know if you'd like to see it sometime. She runs like a charm!

LostInTheWorld said:

... We are still trying to find someone that wants the bed. It's going to be in our way soon, so we'll probably post it on craigslist or something...

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Hi Michael, Perhaps this is a useless reply, but I need sideboards, posts, & tailgate for my M1078...too bad your 2000+ miles away.

Wheel stem has a nut and seal. The only pain in the butt part is you have to take apart the rim. Sometimes the nut is just a little loose. You can back it off a bit, rtv and let sit till tacky, then bolt down to spec. Let sit for 24 hours before air though. You will need a new rim o ring. Rtv around that too.

We’ve made some good progress the last few days. With the help of a friend and a forklift, we pulled the bed off. It went pretty well. Right now the bed is sitting outside next to the hanger, so hopefully no one at the airport fusses at us about it being there while we find someone that wants it.

It's nice to have access to everything under the bed now.

Suprman said:

Wheel stem has a nut and seal. The only pain in the butt part is you have to take apart the rim. Sometimes the nut is just a little loose. You can back it off a bit, rtv and let sit till tacky, then bolt down to spec. Let sit for 24 hours before air though. You will need a new rim o ring. Rtv around that too.

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Thanks Suprman. Very helpful info.

My wife and I jacked up the front axle and put it on jack stands today to pull some weight off the leaking tire. I haven't pulled the wheel off yet, but I got a better look at the offending valve stem. I haven't pulled one of these apart before, but it basically looks like a section of rubber hose (almost looks like fuel hose) running from the nut/seal assembly on the ID of the rim out to the right angle fitting on the outboard face of the wheel. It looks like it's that section of hose that is leaking. The metallic fitting that goes into the rim actually seems to be sealing fine.

Is that hose just pressed on there with a barb or something? I looked in the TM for an exploded view of the assembly, but didn't find what I was hoping for.

Michael

Michael,

Best of luck and skill on the project. I have a 1079 about 90percent through to camper van.

I have some rambling comments about my experience from the past year of muddling through my project.

Again an M-1079, so some of the big stuff is already done. I like the box, since it is aluminum with about 4 inches of foam on all sides. Also the "dog houses" on the from are able to support considerable weight so my fresh water, water heater and pump are mounted up there.

Mine came direct from DLA in Barstow and had been at Ft Irwin. It had about 6800 miles when I got it and only real issue was batteries. All about 4 inches low on water so topped them off and didn't shut the truck off until I was in the storage lot in SD 4.5 hrs later.

Many little things like you are going through. Learn the Power Distribution Panel and wiring scheme. Weird things like the inst panel light fuse tripped will prevent the truck from starting. Only weird if you are not trying to soldier proof it so alarms will sound if there's no oil pressure, air pressure etc.

Download all 7 or so TM .PDFs - links are on the SS site. They are essential. Also if you aren't familiar with the technical scheme - there is the operator manual, the direct maintenance manuals and the in depth maintenance manuals.

I went through a registration agent for dealing with DMV stuff and got it reg'd as a motor home.

Insurance was a bit more challenging so went with commercial (painfully expensive) for one year and then once it was fully in the DMV system with VIN and all, got the RV insurance for $168/yr through Progressive.

I have camped in it a few times along the way in the past year since I acquired it. Most recently up near Julian, CA. Temps were in low 40s and the insulated box makes it tolerable with good bags.

I have a full size (6 cu ft) norcold fridge freezer salvaged cir 2007, atwood 3 burner stove/oven, dometic toilet and a bar sink.

I used pex for all of the water and soft copper with flares for the LP.

I used the CBRN sensor mount which was on top of the air cleaner to mount my 20# lp bottle.

The most recent trip required going across the hills East of San Diego twice and round trip of 236 miles yielded about 7.5 MPG. I don't push the speed much above 52. The stock tires are only rated at 55. I managed to get a set of 4 surplus NOS out of Sierra Army Depot (through GL) mounted on MRAP rims, which aren't compatible as I found out the hard way....Just got all four swapped a couple of weeks ago and feel much better after having two blow due to sever age-rot. All in all about $1600 with shipping for times and labor from heavy truck tire shop...Incidentally the Michelin dealer cannot sell them to non-DLA entities and they're $1850 ea for the rubber. Good news is that there are many sets out there on the disposal auction sites since the MRAPs aren't running into as many IEDs lately and shelf life is passing.

Leveling is a bit of a challenge, but my solution is a set of harbor freight hi-lift farm jacks on the rear mud flap bracket to take out the spring.

The air ride cab is wonderful. We ran down a wash board road/wash at 35 and really had no unpleasantness. I have not had any problems with CTIS which I have only really used about 3 times. I think the biggest issue is all of the rubber pieces being kept clean and solvent free. I have a small leak in a rim and CTIS fills it up to service pres in about 5 mins...so that is SOP until I get the o ring replaced.

If you need fuel tank brackets for mounting anything on the frame, let me know. I have 8 or 10 of them left over from a lot I bought to get a pair for gray water tank.

I salvaged the waste tanks off of an '86 Pace Arrow MH, learned how not to weld polypro and then developed a technique for welding polypro to move the fittings around. All in all probably save myself $500 or more with that. Machining skills are helpful. Also a rotozip is an amazing tool IF kept under control.

PM to about anything, any time. I am still learning, but you are in the right place for the LMTV support group. Lots of good gouge here.

Paul

Is the bed made of aluminum? or some kind of alloy?

Solely for sparking ideas for Thread starter LostITW and future readers..... Not sure how yet... but on mine the bed will become a removable set up. Rear of chassis will become a modular space. So far three modules are in mind. (1) typical bed (2)Camper box (something like Bill Caid's) (3) Tool Box/shop. Allows for use as mobile workshop between work, home, helping out friends etc. May just have this slide onto # 1 and lock in place. this modular setup is a good three years down the road. House to be paid off first.

And just to throw it out there: LostITW.. If your truely going to go into this as an expedition rig consider strongly what your maintenance plans are for stringent adherence to rear driveline spec's. Can be done with trip planning for stops at certain locations at measured intervals and or upgrade the Tranny/Tcase, rear axle driveline arrangement. If anyone want's to debate this do it in PM, off the board, by phone or smoke signals, DON'T trash this fellows thread.

Another Ahab said:

Is the bed made of aluminum? or some kind of alloy?

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The bed structure is steel. The drop sides are aluminum. Some of the seat structure is fiberglass.

Michael

coachgeo said:

Solely for sparking ideas for Thread starter LostITW and future readers..... Not sure how yet... but on mine the bed will become a removable set up. Rear of chassis will become a modular space. So far three modules are in mind. (1) typical bed (2)Camper box (something like Bill Caid's) (3) Tool Box/shop. Allows for use as mobile workshop between work, home, helping out friends etc. May just have this slide onto # 1 and lock in place. this modular setup is a good three years down the road. House to be paid off first.

And just to throw it out there: LostITW.. If your truely going to go into this as an expedition rig consider strongly what your maintenance plans are for stringent adherence to rear driveline spec's. Can be done with trip planning for stops at certain locations at measured intervals and or upgrade the Tranny/Tcase, rear axle driveline arrangement. If anyone want's to debate this do it in PM, off the board, by phone or smoke signals, DON'T trash this fellows thread.

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coachgeo,
I sent you a PM regarding driveline maintenance. I'd rather keep that offline.

Michael

Thanks for all the info pkl2fly. I will probably be contacting you about a number of topics.

Thanks
Michael

Can I drive it through Canada to get to Alaska without border “export” problems?

If its properly registered in your name and insured, you shouldn't have any issue with getting into Canada, either direction. As a privately owned MV, that you plan to bring back into the US, its shouldn't be any different than any other vehicles of the thousands that make the trek every year. Leaving the US shouldn't be any different but worth a check. One word of caution, if you plan to bring firearms, be sure to check into the required paperwork long before going and leave the handguns at home. More than a few vacations into Canada have been spoiled because they 'forgot' about their handguns after being asked. They do check and it could make you inadmissible to Canada if any are located. Our laws are different than in the US on firearms. Most people I know will just ship them to Alaska rather than deal with the paperwork for the long guns.

You can find more than you want to know about all this at the CBSA website. Have a great trip whenever you go. http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

Here's the firearms import link... http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/iefw-iefa-eng.html

Any chance you guys are going to weigh the truck without the bed? Curious to see how much one weighs.