tmvance:
If you live in an area of any size you might be able to find a truck garage that has one or more ex-military mechanics on staff. (I'm assuming you are talking about buying a large MV). I found a garage that used to work on MVs that were surplussed to the Forest Service. If I have to take one of my trucks in for work, I try to have all of the relevant TM manual sections printed out for the mechanic or the manuals on CD. I also print out the contact information for the major parts suppliers such as Boyce Equipment, Memphis Equipment, Eastern Surplus, and Erik's military surplus. For the work that you cannot do yourself, be prepared to pay dearly. Around here, the shops charge about $100/hr. You also have to factor in that you are not one of their regular customers on whom they depend for a lot of business. You truck might need to wait days or weeks until your turn comes up. In a couple years of ownership, I'm spent as much on repair work as I did on the purchase of the vehicles. There is a thread worth reading about the true cost of ownership. The cost of getting work done can be a real inspiration for reading the manuals to do as much as you can on your own. Jatonka's website has links to many of the repair manuals.
