Cucv as a daily driver

Howdy.

How do CUCVs stack up as Daily drivers?

I'm talking about the SRW m1008s and SUV m1009s (Think I got it right).

MPG? Reliability? Creature comforts? Easy to fix? I'm assuming they are identical to late 80's chevy trucks.

A fellow Floridian! I drive mine daily and have only had one serious poblem since I have had my M1008. The starter hung up on me and it was traced to the starter relay/solenoid which is in the dash right where the radio opening is. After I replaced the solenoid and installed a faill-safe switch to kill the power going down to the starter solenoid (the one on the starter) I have had no problems at all with the truck, Very reliable, fairly comfortable and ever so useful for hauling anything! I acquired another one for parts just in case.... Very easy to work on - for me at least.

Where you at, aboonski? I'm out at the Pensacola Naval base.

Just looking for a decent, cheap diesel truck that I can drive the wheels off of. I like simple, and the cucvs seem as simple as simple can be. WHat's the MPG on yours, highway and city?

You may be able to buy a good M1008 CUCV at Eglin through GovLiquidation. I live on the east coast halfway between Jacksonville and Miami and close to Cape Kennedy and also to Disneyworld. The mileage I get with my truck is around 12 to 15 because of the 456 gears - the M1009 gets around 22 to the gallon by comparison. Like anything else, there are lemons with the CUCV line and lots of people have issues with the ones they buy from GL. I bought mine from a guy in New York who went through the truck and put lots of new parts on it before I got it. I drove it home from Carmel New York without any difficulties or problems at all.

an m1008 isnt a fuel mileage vehicle, 4.56's scream around 55-60, and 65 is at the gov. It was never created to daily drive.

The m1009 has 3.08's and was made to drive, thus most of them have 55,000++ miles on them compared to the low mile m1008's,etc

Also depending on your commute, I wouldnt want a 24 volt starting system, that would may require a heavy truck garage to jump start, depending on where your at, etc.

i use mine as a daily driver and find it is quite a pleasent truck to run just as good on fuel aas most vehicles and has the cool factor that makes kids of all ages smile

Re: RE: Cucv as a daily driver

aboonski said:

You may be able to buy a good M1008 CUCV at Eglin through GovLiquidation. I live on the east coast halfway between Jacksonville and Miami and close to Cape Kennedy and also to Disneyworld. The mileage I get with my truck is around 12 to 15 because of the 456 gears - the M1009 gets around 22 to the gallon by comparison. Like anything else, there are lemons with the CUCV line and lots of people have issues with the ones they buy from GL. I bought mine from a guy in New York who went through the truck and put lots of new parts on it before I got it. I drove it home from Carmel New York without any difficulties or problems at all.

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I'd like an m1009 that looks good and drives good (Yeah, just like everyone else). 22mpg sounds decent. I drive slow (50-55 most of the time) to save gas and I tend to be absolutely anal about maintenance on my vehicles. I'm a diesel junkie, don't want to drive a little econobox if I don't have to.

RE: Re: RE: Cucv as a daily driver

It's never an issue of how you get somewhere.

It's, how you look when you do.

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I would love to have a good M1009 but a lot of them have serious rust issues. I see a few on Craig's List from time to time and one in particular over in Tampa that some guy conveted to gas of all things! A really nice M1009 will go upwards from $4K even now with the economy as bad as it is. I have three full size K5 Blazers and most of the parts will interchange with the M1009 so it would be to my advantage to have one.

Re: RE: Re: RE: Cucv as a daily driver

aboonski said:

I would love to have a good M1009 but a lot of them have serious rust issues. I see a few on Craig's List from time to time and one in particular over in Tampa that some guy conveted to gas of all things! A really nice M1009 will go upwards from $4K even now with the economy as bad as it is. I have three full size K5 Blazers and most of the parts will interchange with the M1009 so it would be to my advantage to have one.

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Yep. Rust. Car cancer.

6.2 engines seem to be going pretty cheap now.

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Hah...Pensacola and M1009's...when I was there in '98 a Marine I knew bought one from the DRMO on base. No one bid against him and he got it for somewhere in the $500 range. Absolutely cherry Navy MP truck. 35K miles or so.

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AJMBLAZER said:

Hah...Pensacola and M1009's...when I was there in '98 a Marine I knew bought one from the DRMO on base. No one bid against him and he got it for somewhere in the $500 range. Absolutely cherry Navy MP truck. 35K miles or so.

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I can't access GL here on campus. It falls in the area of Ebay and "bad" websites. If you see one..let me know! I could wrangle that much pretty quick.

Can these handle the m101/105 trailers?

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Hey guys, I just got my 2nd M1008, from the same NG armory. I have noticed that the Camo paint on both trucks are a matched set! I never thought that the military actually use some kind of Pattern on these vehicles. Like someone said, "I learn something new every day on SS">

My crew and I drive 4:56 geared CUCVs every work day. They are good for local use only, not interstates. But this is true of most MVs and many older trucks. Compared to a k-30 gas job, you will get twice the mileage. Up around 18 mpg if you drive smooth and keep it under 50 MPH.

I changed the gearing in my 1031 from 4.56 to 3.73. Doing that and putting on some 33" tires made it fine for my trips between stations. I'm still only getting between 14 and 15 mpg, but that's with the box loaded with tools and parts.

Smitty

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kcimb said:

I can't access GL here on campus. It falls in the area of Ebay and "bad" websites. If you see one..let me know! I could wrangle that much pretty quick.

Can these handle the m101/105 trailers?

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Yes they will tow a M101 but a M105 is too big to safely tow it. Empty they're over the max tow rating of the 1009's and close to it for the 1008's.


In 1998 there was no GL and you just bid at the DRMO lot. Much nicer system if you knew how it worked.


beau, it's in one of the military manuals, the paint schemes and everything.

We have almost 3000 mi on our M1009 since we got it back in August. We averaging 18 mpg with 75% city 25% highway. I still have some things that need to be done that should improve the MPG. Creature comforts??? IT'S THE MILITARY!!! No AC, no radio, no cruise control, but we have gun racks! We are going to add a radio {and cup holders} in faux ammo box/center console. We have already added a 800 watt 24v-120 AC converter. Air flow to the back seat isn't the best, when it's really hot, it gets really, really hot for the rear seat passengers because there is no air flow to the back. I sould like to find some sliding side windows to help with that. I've just started to run 2 gallons of filtered used hyd oil per tank of diesel and it really likes it. Without the oil added to make the fuel cheaper, it is still cheaper and more fun to drive than our '99 Durango with leather interior/ and CD player.

hello

what type of fail proof switch did u use? my m1009 is acting up with this problem. i ve tested the relay underthe dash next to radio and it's seems to be the problem. any help will be greatly appreciated.

I just bought a M1009 to be my daily driver. I had an '84 K10 with the 6.2 diesel and I absolutely wore it to death. I loved that truck, but it finally got so ragged and worn out (at 339,000 miles on the original engine) , I decided that it wasn't worth fixing back up. It just needed too much and the engine was getting tired, although it still got over 20mpg consistantly. After that, I bought a new Z71 and its a nice truck but it sucks on fuel, and now I run my own business. The Z71 is just not the right truck, as I need something smaller and more fuel efficient to work out of, so the Z71 is going. I have 3 kids so I need more that a reg cab truck, and I also have a need for a 4X4 sometimes, so the M1009 was the best solution I could find. I have always wanted one, and I am big fan of the 6.2 engines, so it just made sense. I have lots of parts that I've collected for 6.2's over the years, and I'm running a HumVee 6.2 with 6.5 turbo stuff in my '67 C-30 dually pickup. My M1009 has less than 50,000 miles and it in great shape. I plan on driving it for LONG time!

I picked this 'un up for the top bid of $411 on GL. I have since put the axles of a '78 K20 underneath it when i put the 8" superlift in. Also resealed the bottom end and rear main, and replace the oil pump and harmonic balancer. I'm also going to build a 700R4 for it to get better highway speed and mileage. I think they originally come with 4:10 ratio axles with the M1009. I have 3.73s in this one now, and will be running the 37" HUMVEE tires on some nice bullethole aluminum rims.