Is this vehicle dependable? I need advise

[SteelNinja]

M1078?
my work truck blew up , I got another truck and someone slammed and totaled it. So Im grabbing another work truck like NOW.. I saw this and was curious- same price a use pick up

 

[Mullaney]

M1078?
my work truck blew up , I got another truck and someone slammed and totaled it. So Im grabbing another work truck like NOW.. I saw this and was curious- same price a use pick up

.
Well... If it cranks up and drives you could be good. AND at least if somebody runs into it, a M1078 should survive a little better than a pickup truck. You didn't say much about it. Guessing that somebody has been driving it around? You may need to replace every bit of rubber on the truck. Tires could be a thousand bucks each - or more. Then the rubber on the motor needs to be replaced. And the cab bushings need to be replaced as well.

It is a heck of a deal if you can buy it for the price of a pickup.
Depending on the pickup of course...

Do your homework before you plop down your money!

 

[WillWagner]

I think these are air brakes. You might need a CDL to drive it, 26,001 LBS GVW. The bed is a bit up there, hefting tools in and out will get old, fast as well as climbing up and down.

As stated above, rubber is expensive for them. I don't have much experience with L/FMTV but on the older stuff, top speed was 56 ish, tapped out rpm wise. Do some homework and see if that is true with this family also. If you drive distance, that might be something to consider.

 

[NDT]

It’s only dependable after massive amounts of predictive maintenance and upgrades. If you don’t need the all terrain capabilities, these are a horrible choice for a work truck.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Which generation M1078? There's A0 trucks from 1993 to 1998, A1 trucks from 99 to 2004, and A1R trucks from 2004 to about 2011. Most of us prefer either the A0 or the A1R........ What's the history and condition? If it's "the same price" as a used pickup..... I mean how used is the pickup? Depends on what you are comparing it to.

Just like any other vehicle - there's good one's and poor one's.

Initial cost may seem attractive compared to a pickup but I assure you the ongoing costs will compete with some expensive sports car habits.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

I think these are air brakes. You might need a CDL to drive it, 26,001 LBS GVW. The bed is a bit up there, hefting tools in and out will get old, fast as well as climbing up and down.

As stated above, rubber is expensive for them. I don't have much experience with L/FMTV but on the older stuff, top speed was 56 ish, tapped out rpm wise. Do some homework and see if that is true with this family also. If you drive distance, that might be something to consider.

GVW is 25,980.

Top speed is about 62 mph stock. But there are multiple options for "fixing" that. My truck has seen 90 mph.

 

[Third From Texas]

You'll spend some time and cash getting one up to snuff, but at the end of the day it's a CAT engine with an Alison transmission.

Operating expenses scale, so not knowing what trucks you normally run it's hard to compare. It's closer to maintaining a semi. Bigger tools, bigger volumes, bigger tires to replace.

Great trucks, but you have to get it to a certain stage to be "dependable". Replacing all the rubber, going thru all the electrical grounds, fluids, filters, batteries, balancing the drive shafts, replacing tires, a few minor mods...all things that add up. And you'll likely want to do the ECO Hub mod to reduce the wear and tear (cut the engine and drive train speeds in half), improve mileage, and increase you top speed as a result.

But it's easy to toss another $10K on top of the price to get a truck up to speed (and that's with you doing the labor).

 

[serpico760]

You can get the tires for a few hundred bucks in decent condition and not very old but you'll still have to replace them every few years since they only have a few years left on them. The big question is what kind of work do you do and what do you need the bed for? If it's heavy stuff you're putting in and out of the bed then some kind of low flatbed or standard pickup would be a much better option. If you want it to be a more convenient work truck you'll have to spend money on some underbody truck boxes which can get expensive. Replacing all the rubber gets expensive fast. twice the weight of two typical work trucks and that's how much fuel it sucks. Tracking down electrical Gremlins in the robot spaghetti under the dash sucks a lot of time. If your working involves difficult terrain it certainly well-suited except for the fact of not coming with lockers. I've conquered Jeep trails in my M1083 that the local Jeep club advised me not to go down. The look of surprise on their face as they came out the other side was priceless!

 

[serpico760]

M1078?
my work truck blew up , I got another truck and someone slammed and totaled it. So Im grabbing another work truck like NOW.. I saw this and was curious- same price a use pick up

Also since yellow and some other big freight companies went out of business there's lots and lots of box trucks and cargo vans at the auction houses

 

[FarmingSmallKubota]

Something simple but a little AC in Tennesse would be a big thing as hot as it gets there. your looking at 3000 just to upfit to AC in most cases

 

[MatthewWBailey]

You might need a CDL to drive it, 26,001 LBS GVW

I registered min as a "high GVW 26000" truck so no CDL required. At 17,700 Tare, I still have 8300 of cargo capacity.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Something simple but a little AC in Tennesse would be a big thing as hot as it gets there. your looking at 3000 just to upfit to AC in most cases

Higher if you want it to look and perform as factory - even higher if you want someone to install it for you. Probably $6k to $8k in today's market.

 

[serpico760]

I registered min as a "high GVW 26000" truck so no CDL required. At 17,700 Tare, I still have 8300 of cargo capacity.

So you can just register the truck at a lower gross vehicle weight than it actually has? An M1078 only has a gross vehicle weight of about 23,000 anyways from what I remember.

 

[MatthewWBailey]

So you can just register the truck at a lower gross vehicle weight than it actually has? An M1078 only has a gross vehicle weight of about 23,000 anyways from what I remember.

Yes you can register for whatever function you're engaging in, obviously can't go below the tare. My GVW plate says 23,090 as the gross total Weight the military claimed. You're paying the weight fees, bridge fees, all that, for whatever you're claiming. A M1083 is going to show 28k+ but could be registered at the Class 6 limit of 26k. I went over all this with the DMV people when I did mine. That's CO. Not sure if other states thou.

Most importantly thou, the CDL requirement doesn't apply to non-commercial use. So if you're not engaging in commercial activity, no CDL needed for class7,8. Private use doesn't require it. I'm driving around with business logos on there so I'm kinda in the commercial use category but only at class 6 so no big deal.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

My 2008 M1079 has a GVW of 25,980

 

[aw113sgte]

Yes you can register for whatever function you're engaging in, obviously can't go below the tare. My GVW plate says 23,090 as the gross total Weight the military claimed. You're paying the weight fees, bridge fees, all that, for whatever you're claiming. A M1083 is going to show 28k+ but could be registered at the Class 6 limit of 26k. I went over all this with the DMV people when I did mine. That's CO. Not sure if other states thou.

Most importantly thou, the CDL requirement doesn't apply to non-commercial use. So if you're not engaging in commercial activity, no CDL needed for class7,8. Private use doesn't require it. I'm driving around with business logos on there so I'm kinda in the commercial use category but only at class 6 so no big deal.

CDL is required in many states over 26k, WI for example. Although mine is registered as an RV so don't need one.

 

[serpico760]

My 2008 M1079 has a GVW of 25,980

It's that the listed gvw it came as, or as modified now if you modified it?

 

[aw113sgte]

It's that the listed gvw it came as, or as modified now if you modified it?

I think it might be a case of "my tank has a gvwr of 25,999 so I'm legal!"

(Which I support)

 

[GeneralDisorder]

It's that the listed gvw it came as, or as modified now if you modified it?

That's as listed on the passenger door data plate.

 

[Reworked LMTV]

GVW is 25,980.

Top speed is about 62 mph stock. But there are multiple options for "fixing" that. My truck has seen 90 mph.

Saw 90 huh? Wondered what those lights were in the sky... Now I know. Thought it was a drone