Disenchanted with m1009, Rather have an M880!

Hello all. I have an m1009 blazer bought from the army. This thing is a money pit, even doing a lot of the work myself! I was Air Force in the late 70's early 80's. We had all Dodge vehicles and they were great. I think they were m88o's series. I very much liked the Ram Charger. Are there any of these vehicles out there for sale.
I know these are all old vehicles and they are going to need some work. BUT GIVE ME A BREAK! This Blazer is my first diesel, and every thing is expensive to replace!
At least with a good old Dodge with a 318 engine you can get parts at autozone or NAPA cheaply.

These are surplus vehicles used in a literally infinite variety of environments and duties. From the National Guard in California to Regular Army in New York. Some units were better at maintenance than others. It's the luck of the draw. All things being equal, I'd take my M1009 over an M880--mostlly because GM vehicles were more reliable than Chrysler vehicles of the same era. But so much depends on the individual vehicle and its life history... I have two M1009s. One is a rust bucket with an engine that runs like a sewing machine. The other was a US Forest Service vehicle after its Army service at Fort Hood. Different as night and day...

I agree with you Sgt Hulka. Depends on units motor pool and daily use. I am just referring to the cost of parts and how simple maintenance on a Dodge truck is. And I'm not sure the GM vehicles are more dependable. I spoke to a retired AF mechanic from around here a couple weeks ago. He said these Blazers were crap when they were new!

I have had a grudge against chevy ever since I bought a new one ton truck in the 80s which always was broken and the dealer did not care .
I recently got a 85 m1009 and love it so far and find the parts cheap compared to my regular ford diesel trucks I have in my work fleet .
also the more I drive and do to this thing the problems go away on there own sort of like the car on the movie christine .
So i suggest you give it another chance as the seem to work better if you like it .
If not you should be able to trade it for a 880 since so many people seem to love the m1009

While I like my M1009 GM and Chrysler both went out of business for a reason.......

M880 is dirt cheap and kindergarten simple.

Sorry i can't help getting into this...
Chevy has not made anything good since 1972 unless it came in OD green, but really, taking the advice for an air force mech. is like asking Mr. Brady about the new 686 Smith and Wesson. If it didn't have A/C and power seats and windows its JUNK. I work with a bunch of Ex Chair force guys and i cant get over there stories about the housing they had and the inconveniences they had to endure like the soft serve ice-cream machine that was broke that one day in boot camp.
I am in the same boat in some ways, the m1008 i have is a Heep o' rusty shi=, but the m1009 i have is all good. It does need paint, but i use it as a patrol vech so it is sort of cool when rednecks get pulled of buy it and after the citation ask all about it.

Soft serve ice cream in air force boot camp thats news to me. I got barely edible slop.

Recovry4x4 said:

M880 is dirt cheap and kindergarten simple.

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SSHHH!!!

Don't tell everyone!

Yeesh ...An M880 is ? yeesh....

I love my M890 plus you can put one of these on it!

cool truck MWMULES

I do like the look of the dodge, was there a military version of the ram charger?

Rustmaster said:

Sorry i can't help getting into this...
Chevy has not made anything good since 1972 unless it came in OD green, but really, taking the advice for an air force mech. is like asking Mr. Brady about the new 686 Smith and Wesson. If it didn't have A/C and power seats and windows its JUNK. I work with a bunch of Ex Chair force guys and i cant get over there stories about the housing they had and the inconveniences they had to endure like the soft serve ice-cream machine that was broke that one day in boot camp.
I am in the same boat in some ways, the m1008 i have is a Heep o' rusty shi=, but the m1009 i have is all good. It does need paint, but i use it as a patrol vech so it is sort of cool when rednecks get pulled of buy it and after the citation ask all about it.

Click to expand...

My son was in the Airforce ,he got a ribbon for bootcamp. and it was not the NDR.

you know it really pisses me off when other people talk **** about different branches of the military, i have respect for all branches we all had a different job to do and should respect everyone... Just my thoughts...

ppl realy think the GM cucv's are that difficult and expensive? shoot around here you can get a whole engine for $300-500, i wouldnt call that expensive. try buying a cummins for any where near that. i think there pretty easy to work on, you just have to be patient and take the time to understand them. (i.e. the electronics & how diesel injection works)

The only parts that I have found expensive on my 1009 is the injection pump and starter. The rest of the parts are standard GM K5 stuff which is pretty cheap too. The glow plugs are more expensive than spark plugs, but they are designed to last much longer than spark plugs too. Also, most diesel parts are more expensive than gas parts simply because of the heavier duty design.

What parts are you referring to as being expensive?

Later,
Joe

the m880 and the cucv`s are both great vehicles.
with the cucv`s u save a little money more because of the better mpg ---> it can be offset with the more expensive diesel technology.
so what`s the big deal abbout the difference?
=

The big deal is two fold. One a Dodge truck from the 70's and 80's is a simple, reliable and straight forward truck. Not the most powerful or stylish. Just a simple vehicle to repair and when you put the key in, it starts. Two I guess the more important thing is the condition of the CUCV. I bought mine at auction and the Army must have let it set up for decades because though it looks good and I drove it home the day I bought it, every thing is dry rotted on it. I let some guys at the National Guard Armory motor pool take a look at it and they all said " yep, you can tell this is army, ours would never be in this condition".
Moral of the story is buy your CUCV from the guard or reserve if you can and buy what you can get parts for at a reasonble price from your local parts place.