M1010 for my daughter the field biologist

[Recovry4x4]

Cigarette lighter wasn't original. It actually does have a courtesy light, under dash above hump.Another cool thing to look for is the 175A Anderson connector in front of the drivers side litter/seat. You really need to look for it or you will miss it. Mine haboth sides of the plug.

 

[Another Ahab]

I was shopping for some Naval Jelly the other day, and the guy at the store (West Marine) told me it's unavailable now. He said something about the EPA, and how it was not approved for further sale, He had some alternate environmentally-friendly product.

Where did you get your stash!?

I got it at Lowe's

Well, I'LL be dipped....

in Naval Jelly!

 

[M1008BOV]

Just read this entire thread, great project! I didn't see where you ever swapped out the trans, so it still has the turbo 400? I would definitely consider an external trans-cooler if you haven't already, especially if she's going to be in the mountains and on trails. Don't forget if she's living at altitude the injector pump will need to be adjusted accordingly.

 

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Thanks!

I haven't started the high altitude adaptations yet. It still has the stock drive train, though a built 700R4 and a Banks Sidewinder are on the wish list. I figure we'll adjust the injector pump for altitude when we install the Banks. I hadn't thought about a trans cooler. I'll look into that...

Just read this entire thread, great project! I didn't see where you ever swapped out the trans, so it still has the turbo 400? I would definitely consider an external trans-cooler if you haven't already, especially if she's going to be in the mountains and on trails. Don't forget if she's living at altitude the injector pump will need to be adjusted accordingly.

 

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Attendant seat bearings restored

I never did find replacements for these, so I cleaned up the originals.

A soak in Naval Jelly to remove the rust, hose off to remove the jelly, WD40 to remove the water, Brake Cleaner to remove the WD40, Rustoleum Rust Reformer and then Bumper paint, lubed with no-ox-id. The rust is gone, and they're about as protected from future rust as I can make them.

I made a thin string of twisted paper towel and stuffed that into the slot over the bearings to protect them from being painted. That kept the bearings and races clear of paint. The no-ox-id should keep them lubricated and free of rust.



They won't win any awards, but they're no longer rusting...

 

[M1008BOV]

Instead of the 700-R4 (not nearly as strong as the Th-400), have you looked into a Gear Vendor's Overdrive?

The turbo would definitely make a difference in the thin air, but after reading some of the rpms you've turned that motor over and now adding a turbo to it, I really have to say be careful. It simply won't handle it, even shorts spurts are hard on it. If it was under a heavy load (ie offroad or maybe towing) it would be a little different, but not just driving down the road.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Er, I wouldn't sell the 700R4 short quite yet. At less than half the cost of a GV, they are appealing. There are dozens of CUCVs with them and no reported failures. 3.06 first gear is a blessing as well. Hotrodders are running over 500 hp through them as well. All the early glitches have been engineered out of them, shouldn't be an issues.

 

[M1008BOV]

Er, I wouldn't sell the 700R4 short quite yet. At less than half the cost of a GV, they are appealing. There are dozens of CUCVs with them and no reported failures. 3.06 first gear is a blessing as well. Hotrodders are running over 500 hp through them as well. All the early glitches have been engineered out of them, shouldn't be an issues.

Agreed, and the 700r4 is the way I would go for my situation knowing that I'm not beating it to death. Considering the cost of a well built unit and installation, is it really that much cheaper than going with a GVOD? IIRC the GVOD was in the $3k range and you'd probably have a bit over $2k into a 700 conversion. Like I said, just my $0.02 and if I were doing what jpg is, probably my choice.

 

[M1008BOV]

A 1010 alternative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgN5az6UWu0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7sUN_NFZnk

This one is crazy....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khsfF7FXIBg

These run about $45k

 

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M1010 gearing

I have a well-used spreadsheet looking at all the options for making an M1010 capable of comfortable highway cruising. Bigger tires, re-gearing the differentials, Gear Vendor overdrive, 700R4, etc. A roof fairing is also an essential component.

Re-gearing the differentials is expensive, and it hurts off-road performance. I looked at it closely, and decided to leave the axles alone.

From what I can tell, the 700R4 and 33" tires is the best solution. (33" being the tallest tire we can run without trimming fenders &/or lifting.) The 700R4 gives a lower first gear than the TH400, which helps compensate for the slightly taller tires on the low end. The 6.2L torque peaks at about 1800-2200 RPM, so I figure that's where I want to cruise for fuel efficiency. The table below shows RPM vs speed with this configuration. I don't plan to drive an M1010 at 99MPH. That is the max speed rating of my tires, so I was curious to see the corresponding RPM.

1800	55.9
2000	62.1
2100	65.2
2255	70.0
2415	75.0
3200	99.4

Gear Vendor with the stock TH400 and 33" tires gives this:

1800	49.7
2100	58.0
2350	64.9
2720	75.1
3600	99.4

The 700R4 OD is .70, where the GV top is .78, which is why the 700R4 gives lower RPMs.

The 700R4 keeps my RPMs lower for a given speed, it's $1000 cheaper, and I don't add a vulnerable gear box behind the transfer case. The Gear Vendor would give me 6 gears compared to the 700R4's 4, which might be an advantage for some. The GV unit only works in 2WD, which is probably OK. For me, bottom line, adding another gearbox adds complexity, is more expensive, and doesn't reduce my RPMs as much. So I'm leaning toward the 700R4 and no GV.

One part of the vision is a roof rack over the cab, with a fairing mounted to that to streamline the front of the ambulance box. It would be easily removed for parades etc where you want the stock configuration. For road use, it would make a big difference in wind resistance and MPG.

Below are the stock RPM vs MPH numbers. The stock truck is clearly geared to cruise efficiently at 45 MPH. Speeds over that start to burn lots more fuel per mile.

2200	45.2
2700	55.5
3000	61.7
3160	65.0
3300	67.8
3600	74.0

To build your own spreadsheet, you need:

• the final gear ratio
• Tire radius in inches (don't worry about the flat spot where the tire hits the road)
• engine RPM

You calculate speed as (RPM*tire_radius)/(168*final_gear_ratio). Here's why:

• tire_circumference is 2*PI*R. R is in inches, so this is in inches.
• engine_RPM/final_gear_ratio gives you tire_rotations_per_minute.
• 60 minutes in an hour, so 60*tire_rotations_per_minute gives you tire_rotations_per_hour.
• tire_rotations_per_hour*tire_circumference gives you inches per hour
• 12 inches in a foot, 5280 feet in a mile, so you divide by 5280*12 to get MPH.

(2*PI*tire_radius * RPM * 60minutes_per_hour) / ( 12inches_per_foot * 5280feet_per_mile * final_gear_ratio)
simplifies to
(tire_radius * RPM)/(168*final_gear_ratio) where radius is in inches
The result is MPH

Fair warning: I was an art major. Check the math yourself before you trust it. It seems to work for me.

 

[M1008BOV]

Or you use this website for calculations

http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

A 1010 alternative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgN5az6UWu0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7sUN_NFZnk

This one is crazy....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khsfF7FXIBg

These run about $45k

They look kinda "cute".

Shouldn't that Mercedes emblem be changed to MATTEL though?

 

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A 1010 alternative

I did look at the sprinters. They're very nice, expensive, and fundamentally designed for highway use. The M1010 is cheaper to purchase and to maintain, and it's mechanically *much* simpler.

Fully built out, in my terms, an M1010 costs about the same as a semester in college. A sprinter would cost the same as a college education, from bachelor's through PhD.

 

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Instead of the 700-R4 (not nearly as strong as the Th-400), have you looked into a Gear Vendor's Overdrive?

The turbo would definitely make a difference in the thin air, but after reading some of the rpms you've turned that motor over and now adding a turbo to it, I really have to say be careful. It simply won't handle it, even shorts spurts are hard on it. If it was under a heavy load (ie offroad or maybe towing) it would be a little different, but not just driving down the road.

I generally keep the RPMs in the low-to-mid 2K range. The very high numbers I mentioned were a 1-time test on a long steep downhill, testing to see if the governor worked. (It didn't.) The whole point of the 700R4 mod is to keep the RPMs low. The turbo is for high altitude performance (so it doesn't suck) and for fuel economy. I have no delusions about making the 6.2 into a performance engine, or the M1010 into a hot rod truck.

I got this truck with 1911 miles on it. I intend to baby it for a long time.

 

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This dampened my enthusiasm for the GV unit.

I had to dig around a bit to find the details on this, but I found them. Plethoraofguns blew an engine on the highway when his speedometer cable failed, causing his gear vendor unit to disengage, overreving his engine and breaking the crankshaft. You can see the pictures of the damage here.

This dampened my enthusiasm for the GV unit.

 

[tim292stro]

Just about any truck or car can be used off-road, I used a Kia rental on Oahu, HI to take 93 out to the tidal pools, didn't even get it dirty (can't quite get all the way around the outer edge of the island by old hwy 93...).


For the sake of reliability I'd warn off of a 2WD only box - too risky... might as well put in an OD transmission and do a doubler for the transfer case if you need lower speeds for serious off-road (you know, the kind that would roll over a M1010...).

Skip to 5:25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3CBwump0U0

 

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Got the Attendant's seat reassembled and installed. No rust and a fresh coat of paint. We'll see if it's an asset or a liability. At least it's not rusting.


Installed the LMC headlight mod. They sent me the version for separate high and low beams. I cut out the extra socket. I needed to mod the ground terminals anyway, to be big enough to fit the headlight ground bolts. It all works. High beams are *much* brighter now. When cleaning the grounds, I found more corrosion than I'd hoped. It's all clean and lubed now.


The lead battery terminal clamp failed. I replaced it with a zinc one. Replaced the terminal lug on the 12V battery cable that runs to the 12V distribution block on the firewall. The old one was corroded and looked inadequate.

 

[Another Ahab]

Got the Attendant's seat reassembled and installed. No rust and a fresh coat of paint.

I thought you were of the thinking to lay that aside (in "inventory"), because it might just get in the way.

Did I read that wrong somehow?

 

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I thought you were of the thinking to lay that aside (in "inventory"), because it might just get in the way.

Did I read that wrong somehow?

cucvrus said he has several in inventory.
Other M1010 owners said they removed theirs.
I said I'd refinish mine and live with it for a while, then decide if it's an asset or a liability.

 

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battery drain

I ran a few errands in the M1010 this morning, including picking up my Fluke 375. Now I have a real meter to use in understanding the wiring.

When I returned, with the engine and all switches off including the Service Light, I measured about half an amp on each of the + wires leaving the back battery, the 12V and the 24V. I measured 0 amps on the other wires connected to each battery. I measured 13.1V across the back battery, and 12.8 across the front battery, and 26V across the 2 in series.

So it seems I have current flowing from the + side of the back battery into the 24V distribution block, back out through the 12V distribution block, and back into the back battery...

I have to work on my honeydo list for a while. When I can get back to the truck, I'll start pulling fuses and see if I can interrupt this current flow. I'll also start digging through the archives to see if this is a known issue.