Buying a Deuce

[Bomber166]

Hello, I've been browsing your forum for a few days now and its full of all kinds of information.

I'm looking into buying a deuce and I've been looking around the internet in different places. I've found a few on collectorcartrader.com and a few on ebay.com as well as a few for sale on various forums.

This place seems to have quite a few that are in decent condition:
http://www.easternsurplus.net/deuce.html

The only thing i'm worried about is the price, are the ones listed on that site a decent price? I've gone through a lot of threads here and it seems people have gotten nice trucks for a few thousand less on ebay and such.

I also found:
http://www.clarktruck.com/
They however are way to expensive. It might be nice to have a perfectly refurbished truck but then I would have nothing to do.

I also came across a few other sites that had some:
http://militarytrucks.com/Trucks/trucks.html
http://stores.partseek.com/adelmans/ItemPublic/details.cfm?ItemID=176&Category=13

I seem them on ebay every once in a while so i'm waiting to see how much they go for. I can never seem to find any good ones that go over the reserve.

Anyone have any other suggestions as to where I should look. Keep in mind i'm in Florida so i dont want to have to truck one over from out west, so lets try and keep it to the Eastern side of the US


Most of the deuces i've been seeing have a fairly low ammount of miles on them since their last rebuild. How long do these engines generally last as far as milage/hours before they need to be rebuilt.

 

[Desert Rat]

Welcome Bomber!

I'm in Houston and have several coming in from the midwest in good condition. If you're interested PM me and we can talk. I'm about a Deuce day's drive away from FL.

 

[JRBAMATEX]

About 3 hours and 41 minutes south of you in North Miami Beach there is an outfit called Sarafan Equipment. I havn't priced a whole truck there but they are good on parts prices. Check em out. SHould be waaayyy less than Clark or Memphis Equipment. There are still a few listed on the Government Liquidation web site. That can be kind of a pain but if you are kind of handy with the wrenches and have a good eye for spotting a decent vehicle on a web page picture it can work out good.

http://www.sarafan.com

This site in GA is where I got mine from. Mine does have a cab top. but hey this ones got a winch. The guy told me that all the trucks at this location DO RUN. Call the site manager and he can help you.

http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id=756131&convertTo=USD

Good Luck!!!!

 

[wallew]

Bomber166,
I was in your exact position about six months ago. I FINALLY settled on a deuce. I have been looking for a retired MV for several years. Unimog, Pinzgauer, Volvo C303/C306, finally US MV's.

While I really wanted a five ton, after mucho research, I found that about the only major difference between the deuce and the five ton is the cost of replacement parts.

While the deuce's parts are not cheap, you can pretty much double or triple it for a five ton.

I just 'got lucky' from a posting on this site's 'vehicles for sale'. Jeff Sabo sold me one of his for less than $4000. You just have to know what it is you are looking for and what you will settle for. The truck didn't have the front winch that I wanted, but other than that, it had everything else.

You HAVE to be patient and THE TRUCK you are looking for will become available when and where you least expect it.

GOOD LUCK and welcome to our sight. And Desert Rat is NOT that far from you, so you could get one from him and be pretty sure that it will be a great truck.

 

[Bomber166]

Yea, I have seen govliquidation.com before, thats where I first saw the deuces and became interested. i've just alwasy been afraid that i'll end up with total crap. Especially looking at a lot of them that say they arnt running and such. I figure its better to spend a little bit of money and get one that I know is running.

I'm currently bidding on one on ebay, but with my luck i'll lose, so I went ahead and pm'ed Desert Rat, hopefully he has something.


Oh yea, the ebay one says it has Hercules engine. From what I can tell by doing a little searching its the non-turbo'ed engine. Is it any good, can a turbo be added, I love that turbo diesel sound.

 

[rice]

You also might look at http://gsaauctions.gov and click on trucks or check states you'd be willing to go to. Their description always says 'needs repair, parts may be missing' but I've gotten some great trucks at cheap prices. Jessie Bostick in south Ga also has some deuces for sale. Go to a search page and do a search for Jessie Bostick. He deals in military items.

 

[baja_power]

WOAH.. did you see the two Porsches GSA has up for auction

 

[red devils dude]

I got my truck from eastern surplus dave is a real nice guy and I've gotten parts from Sarafan there great peple.

 

[rdixiemiller]

There have been a few deuces pop up on E-bay in Fla. that went fairly reasonably. Don't get in a rush, the right truck at the right price is out there. I got mine for 3K$ and drove it home from Montgomery.
You will find engines made by Hercules, Continental, and White. All are interchangeable. The non turbo ones can have the turbo kit installed, it is a straight bolt-on. There are 2 turbos, the "C" (whistler) and "D". I took a C off mine and replaced it with a D (quieter).
Look on the side of the engine for the ID tag. You will most likely find an LDT-465-1C or D. You will occasionally find the plain LD-465 (non turbo). The difference betweenn the turbo and normally aspirated is the amount of smoke. The non turbo trucks smoke like locomotives.. Rarely, you will find an LDS 427. They are less desireable, problems with the motor. You will find some of the old gassers, they are mostly 50's era trucks.

 

[ida34]

Did you see the Shelby Mustang on GSA? ,I would take it over the Porsches or even over a wrecker Deuce. I know that is fighting words but come on, a Shelby Mustang.

 

[baja_power]

come on a '05 carrera GT?!?!!? youve got to be kidding me while i too enjoy old muscle cars. theres a point where you just have to go with that good ole german engineering

 

[Desert Rat]

Yeah, a MAN multifuel!

 

[baja_power]

 

[Rocco]

C Turbo and D turbo?
How do you know if it is a C or D turbo?
I thought it was the engine that was a C or D.
Does it say it on the turbo?

 

[red devils dude]

no the engine model IE LDT-465-1C or LDT-465-1D