m1088

hello all I am looking at a m1088 are they a good rig ?

m1088 MPG?

What is the mpg on the m1088????? The dealer is telling me 10 mpg @55 mph ??

Don't buy a FMTV unless you have advanced skills in troubleshooting electrical and air brake problems.

They are just like any other older surplus vehicle it will need some tlc I have a lmtv that has had some small issues and I fixed them. But also I would say remember these vehicles are sitting alot in an armory yard and then when they take them out and have them serviced they are being serviced on by alot of times people who don't care what happens to it if t breaks. It's not coming out of there pocket. So if you buy it go through it before just jumping into it and driving it like crazy. Lastly remember these vehicles are approaching if not have the 15+ year mark. There are plenty of members that have these trucks and no real issues and yes occasionally you get some bad apples that is inherite of any vehicle if you want pls feel.free to pm me and I can give u my number

Masspilot said:

They are just like any other older surplus vehicle it will need some to I have one that has had some small issues and I fixed them. But also I would say remember these vehicles are sitting alot in an armory yard and then when they take them out and have them serviced they are being serviced on by alot of times people who don't care what happens to it if t breaks. It's not coming out of there pocket. So if you buy it go through it before just jumping into it and driving it like crazy. Lastly remember these vehicles are approaching if not have the 15+ year mark. There are plenty of members that have these trucks and no real issues and yes occasionally you get some bad apples that is inherite of any vehicle

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And some members have had the drive lines shake their motors apart , oil lines rub and dump all the oil toasting the motor , hydraulic problems lifting the cab and electrical problems to no end. NDT's advice is spot on.

This form is not to go ahead and discredit each other it's to give our opinions I personally own a truck like this and have had very little issues with it. It's just my opinion.

Masspilot said:

This form is not to go ahead and discredit each other it's to give our opinions I personally own a truck like this and have had very little issues with it. It's just my opinion.

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Not trying to discredit your truck , just posting known problems with them so he is a informed buyer . Caterpiller motors and Allison transmission are expensive to repair and maintain. If you can't fix them yourself your going to have some hefty repair bills just to get them diagnosed , not to mention the repair costs.

I don't need any rude comments to anyone all these trucks are expensive to work on with that being said

The OP asked for opinions.

That means you're gonna get both sides of the spectrum.

A lot can be summarized by reading others actual experiences with these trucks(posted here in the forums). This can also be considered facts, since they are real life experiences.

I think it's reasonable for members to reply with both actual experience and opinions.

I guess I've been either blessed or lucky,
I've jumped into all my trucks and drove them and have had minor problems.
With the exception of one and I knew it had a blown tranny.
My 1088 is a great truck very minor issues.
I think out of all I like this one best.

This is my next one coming home.


So my only question of porkysplace is does he own or has he owned one of the trucks in question? Just want to clarify. I do and my opinion changes as I learn more about them. Are there electrical gremlins? Sure but basic troubleshooting skills and following the TM flow charts of the most likely cause provides a much better solution than just throwing hands up and saying they are impossible to work on. I took a non runner, got it running. Found that it had a miss, did the troubleshooting to find I had one bad cylinder and took it to the CAT guy to replace the injector and set the fuel rack. That cost me a grand total of $300.

wheelspinner said:

View attachment 719191 This is my next one coming home.


So my only question of porkysplace is does he own or has he owned one of the trucks in question? Just want to clarify. I do and my opinion changes as I learn more about them. Are there electrical gremlins? Sure but basic troubleshooting skills and following the TM flow charts of the most likely cause provides a much better solution than just throwing hands up and saying they are impossible to work on. I took a non runner, got it running. Found that it had a miss, did the troubleshooting to find I had one bad cylinder and took it to the CAT guy to replace the injector and set the fuel rack. That cost me a grand total of $300.

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Nope don't own one, read enough about the problems on here, not to want one . Been around heavy equipment and heavy trucks for 40+ years and you better have deep pockets with yellow motors. And I would take a Roadranger over a Allison any day.

porkysplace said:

Nope don't own one

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I think that says enough for me.

The trucks are fine (and I'm one that destroyed an engine), the military has 100,000 of them in service, and they have received an award for being the most reliable vehicle the military has ever had. These are the same grumpy arguments made about any new technology (e.g. automatic transmissions, semi-auto pistols, fuel injection, etc.)... as engineering improves the devices are designed to operate with less safety factor, and become more complex to do so that efficiently. This creates a paradigm shift. In general, the devices work much better than before (e.g. more reliable, longer life, better performance, etc.), but require more knowledge/understanding/tools to work on the complexity, and fail less gracefully (e.g. one sensor goes out and the truck refuses to start, a component was designed to be just strong enough for the job and then is easier to break once things go wrong due to failure or lack of maintenance).

The trick is knowing if the truck is "for you", and what you want to get out of it. Personally, it makes me cringe when I read overly opinionated reactions like Porky's. It means that person really operates in a closed-minded state, and thinks one answer is the black-and-white solution. The truth is that there is always a missing list of assumptions that are missing from what they say. For example, "The trucks are terrible" ... ("if you need a truck that has been around in the civilian market for 50 years and everyone knows all the issues and how to solve them already, and can run fuels other than diesel, and ..."). They leave out all that stuff in paratheses that would tell you WHY they have that opinion (and probably why it's not a very well formed one).

The FMTV is newer, and has a ton differences from older vehicles. I personally like having 2x as much HP as an M35, but I can't run pretty much anything as fuel. I like that my LMTV doesn't leak and has a nice huge cab, but it's taller than a deuce or 5-ton when it comes to running into branches off-road. The motors, axles, and transmissions in these are used in a zillion commercial civilian trucks, and I can just drive down the street to the Caterpillar / Allison / Meritor dealer and pick up parts. There are computerized parts and sensors on these trucks, that can make the truck inoperable until replaced, and I imagine I'll find a handful that have reached their lifetime (though after I've replaced the weak links I expect they will last another couple decades).

Overall, I love my LMTV. (Though I do recommend you have the driveshafts balanced if you buy one, just to be sure.)

Awesomeness could not have said it any better that's what I tried to say early but could not due to having family to attend to. But becareful you might get a nasty pm like I did. JUST SAYING

Masspilot said:

Awesomeness could not have said it any better that's what I tried to say early but could not due to having family to attend to. But becareful you might get a nasty pm like I did. JUST SAYING

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It wasn't a nasty PM feel free to send it to any moderator . As doghead pointed out it is a open forum with different opinions. I'm not new to trucks or equipment , normal legal loads here are 160,000 lbs Allisons suck with a heavy load, cabovers been gone for years in the commercial truck industry. I sent you the pm to keep your wanting to argue out of this thread , but you seem to want to continue.

I love my truck, but it’s a never ending repair. I happen to enjoy working in thing, figuring out how they operate and work. Mine is a 94 so it’s of the older lot, and has had a hard life of young soldiers flogging it. So now I’m taking one project at a time getting it back up to snuff. FMTV Fantastic Moneypit Tactical Vehicle. If your one who likes to get their hands dirty, it’s not a bad choice. Just remember they are not new, they are at the age where service life of parts are ending. Good collection of tools, a multi meter, and an ability to trouble shoot are required. If your getting one to convert to an rv, you had better prepare to repair in the field, and carry common failure parts.

In the realm of Cab overs, North America are the last holdouts with the long noses. Everyone else uses cab overs to have better turning radius’s with shorter wheelbases. At least that is what I have observed while traveling and deployments.

DiverDarrell said:

.........In the realm of Cab overs, North America are the last holdouts with the long noses. Everyone else uses cab overs to have better turning radius’s with shorter wheelbases. ..............

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Very true!

I’m surprised at the over sensitivity of some people to porkeysplace’s comment. I own a M1078 and, as NDT stated, realize it takes a lot of work and patience. You need to be a ninja with a multimeter, or know someone that is, able to read (and understand) the TMs, troubleshoot a plethora of air leaks and clogged lines, and realize there’s a good chance of a catastrophic failure through no fault of your maintenance.

I had the fan clutch explode on mine 200 miles from home resulting in the fan going through the radiator and an $850 tow bill. I had one of the air brake canisters blow out while sitting in line for a parade. I had an air line clog preventing the fan from engaging so the truck started overheating about 100 miles from home. Now unless I’d have taken all of those individual items off, inspected them, cleaned and/or replaced them in advance there was no way to diagnose the problem beforehand. That could be said about any 20+ year old vehicle but the FMTVs have a lot more air powered parts than most military vehicles.

I love my my truck but don’t buy into a bunch of hype about them being “the most reliable” no matter who voted it as such.

I don't think it's over sensitive at all. I'd just like to see buy/sell opinions from those that actually own or work on them. Regurgitated information from reading a few threads of other people is not an opinion. Especially when given in sweeping terms. Less people want them the cheaper I can buy them.

MKCoen I appreciate your input. Sure sucks that all that happened. But it doesn't happen to everyone that's for sure.

Regurgitated information from reading a few threads of other people is not an opinion.

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Nothing wrong coming to conclusions, after educating yourself(considering the source of info).

One guy loves them, one guy hates them. Nobody needs to provide credentials on the internet, we're all experts if it's posted on the internet.

Please do not lower our website with bickering in the forums.