What to do with a MK48 cab?

I have neither the room nor the money for one of those delicious looking MK48 trucks that are floating about lately. Ok, I technically have the room, but they're still a bit big for my front yard. So M939 series trucks are about my size limit for now.

But what sort of trouble might I get myself into if I had just an MK48 cab, complete with gauges and controls? If I had kids, it'd be a no-brainer to buy one for them to play in. They could play with it while I'm at work. When I'm home, daddy gets first dibs on the driver's seat. But I just have dogs, so that excuse is NMC.

By any chance, does it sit nicely on frame rails that are the same width as an M939 series frame?

What sort of monstrosity might one make if he had an excess of unwanted CUCVs?

Put two of them at either end of a frame with steering axles at both ends and an engine one the middle?

Who wants to brainstorm? Serious and/or silly is fine. If you've actually done something useful with one of these beasts, please disclose that.

You can make it an amusement ride. Back up as far as you can, go full. Throttle, hit the brakes and see how far forward you roll.

You can take the whole front section and make an offroad buggy like they did in the movie "fast 5".

In case it's not clear, I'm not talking about a full front power unit (FPU). This is just the cab assembly. Like this one, for example:

Check out Jones Baby HEMTT project. Will give you ideas.

Cool, I'll read through that thread today. Am I going to be sorry that I didn't bid on one of those zillions of M931 tractors yesterday for its frame and powertrain?

It sure would make a cool custom stake bed or Rat rod.
Mounted on a 3/4 ton pick up chassis.

Setting up a saved search at GL for surplus cows now...

harleyhouse said:

It sure would make a cool custom stake bed or Rat rod.
Mounted on a 3/4 ton pick up chassis.

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I have an M1008 that's not dear to me...

I thought about getting one to sit at the end of the driveway for my kids to sit in while waiting for the school bus in the rain or snow.

KsM715 said:

I thought about getting one to sit at the end of the driveway for my kids to sit in while waiting for the school bus in the rain or snow.

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That would be cool... LOL... And as for putting it on a m1008... You could remove the original cab and bed, reinforce the frame and put the mk48 cab over the engine like it would be on an mk, and put a deuce or five ton bed behind it covering the rest of the chassis... But that might be too much weight for the motor to handle... Upgrade the motor...


Edit: yes, I know that the the engine is behind the cab of the mk48... And I believe the radiator is under the cab...

I say go for the baby hemmt idea.

You could make an AWESOME go-kart out of that!

There is an armored one sitting up at Redstone in a crate but it is destined for the torch....."oh the humanity".

If I did a mod like that I'd make it a tilt cab.....the way the gooberment should have done when they set the requirements for the HEMMT and MK48.

The GL pictures show a shaft with some U joints dangling underneath. Would that be a steering shaft, mechanically coupled to the steering wheel?

Does anybody know the dimensions of the pads underneath that appear to be destined to sit on frame rails?

Why am I asking? It's not like I'd ever complete a project like this if I started it.

The GL pictures show a shaft with some U joints dangling underneath. Would that be a steering shaft, mechanically coupled to the steering wheel?

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Yes...it connects to a hydrolic pump that sends fluid to the steering system......no mechanical linkage to the steering box.

This was the truck I was talking about.

gunboy1656 said:

This was the truck I was talking about.

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That thing is cooool.

I dig the Mad-Max look. That would be an awsome ice cream cruiser.


On a side note, I would just about kill to find an old huey to use for a static display/club house for the kids.