Seems like this is a good a place as any to start my intro and build log.
Skip to the bottom for a tl;dr
I've long considered the k5 to be the best candidate for a mud truck and I've always wanted one. Recently, however, I began shopping for a replacement daily for work. I drive an average 50k miles a year for work; I'm sort of a traveling mechanic for foodservice equipment. For the last two years, I've been in a buick I hate. It gets decent mileage but it doesn't have nearly the room I need for me (at 6'5") or the equipment I work on, should I need to repair something at our shop.
Suffice it to say I did a lot of research and for a full size truck that will have the miles piled on, an m1009 had the lowest cost of ownership. Mostly because when it gets retired from the job, it'll double as a mud truck.
When I was looking at blazers as strictly mud trucks, I was looking at '08 axles, hummer 37's, a 465, and a 205-203 doubler. Now that I've got one (and spent a few hours at 90 got me 13mpg) I'm realizing that the 3.08's are kind of important for my mileage, and I should reconsider my transmission choice as well (gearing/tire suggestions welcome!)
So, on to my first mv purchase: set on a military blazer for diesel mileage I spoke with some people that are friends with my parents who know about these sort of things, and I learned that they don't come up for auction anymore. I even heard there was a publication that claimed the us military was cucv free (I'd like to see that if anyone knows about it or knows otherwise). So I scoured Craigslist for weeks. I was on search tempest and everything else, and they all came up around 3-4000 except for the occasional $6500 ad claiming they were impossible to find anymore. The few I found for around $2000 didn't have pictures or there was some major problem that would limit it's driveability. I was looking for a daily that didn't need much work right off the bat so I knew I needed to up my budget. Luckily, I filed my taxes early
Maybe that was an overshare but whatever, it's all typed now...
I finally found one on the Seattle Craigslist which specifically stated
"Drives good. A lil slop in stearing but i dont mind it.*
Runs tits. could drive this things around the country like nothing.*"
Perfect, that's exactly what I'm about to do
After some back and forth, the owner graciously held the blazer (for 2 weeks!) for my impending flight. I offered full asking price, sight unseen, given it looked in real life as it did in the pictures. I don't think I was ever as excited as I was the morning we (I took my gf with) left for the flight. We had to leave the house by 330am, but I was up by 2. We boarded the plane with no baggage, just money and underwear in our pockets to save worry and ticket hike. Thankfully, I have a cousin that lives in the area and he picked us up from the airport. It looked good, better than any k5 I'd seen at home. The batteries didn't work right because the terminals were shot and the negative post on the front battery was loose, and I talked down the price a little for that. The drivers window was out, steering sloppy, no rear window crank, and the gp board didn't work, but that was disclosed in the ad. There is also a starter button installed, and the key is the round door key but it works and hopefully that's the extent of electrical work. The heater fan works, but there is very little heat. I suspect the controls or the vent thing. It doesnt shift into 3rd until 45 either, i suspect a vacuum line because it works great otherwise. There wasn't a title or an sf97, but there was the original invoice from gl, and a Washington bill of sale... All in all, it was better than my gf's lifted grand Cherokee and I was happy to leave with it. Before I got back to my cousins for the night, I bought a spare battery, some coolant, and fixed the terminals in the parking lot of oriellys with courtesy tools.
I decided to spent the night before the 1700 mile journey home with an unfamiliar truck.
I still couldn't sleep, so I got up at about 7 and went to start my new '09 and make sure the coolant was full and in the heater core. I decided I'd call it "Rod" (ask me about that later). After I jumper'd the gp relay I discovered I lost the key already. After five minutes in the house I found the key on the passenger seat. Put it in, crank it over and... nothing. I figured I must've fried the glow plugs so I Googled it. Plug the exhaust? Yeah, not with duals. So I walk to the nearest gas station and get a can of ether. Not the way I wanted to start my relationship with Rod. But it started, and the journey began. This was Sunday morning, and we had presidents day (Monday) off so this wasn't going to be leisurely. Not that I can sleep in a car anyway...
Somehow the 25 hour mapped route turned into 36 with an easy traffic stop and another that threatened a k9 search because it looked like we were muling drugs, a rubber wheel well thing that came loose in the mountains, only 6 fuel stops, lots of food, and not very many pictures. Oh and I should've greased the u joints before I left but I didn't so now I have to replace those.
It was only when I got home that I found out gl doesn't send out the sf97 anymore. According to the lady I spoke with, they haven't for nearly 2 years. So I gathered all the missing title documentation for mn (statement of facts, application to title a vehicle, and 5 pictures) and just submitted it this morning. I'm driving home now with a license plate on my passenger seat!
Tl;dr I bought an '09 1700 miles away and shared every excruciating detail. Now I need to fix my glow plugs, drivers window, heat, vacuum lines, and u-joints.
Skip to the bottom for a tl;dr
I've long considered the k5 to be the best candidate for a mud truck and I've always wanted one. Recently, however, I began shopping for a replacement daily for work. I drive an average 50k miles a year for work; I'm sort of a traveling mechanic for foodservice equipment. For the last two years, I've been in a buick I hate. It gets decent mileage but it doesn't have nearly the room I need for me (at 6'5") or the equipment I work on, should I need to repair something at our shop.
Suffice it to say I did a lot of research and for a full size truck that will have the miles piled on, an m1009 had the lowest cost of ownership. Mostly because when it gets retired from the job, it'll double as a mud truck.
When I was looking at blazers as strictly mud trucks, I was looking at '08 axles, hummer 37's, a 465, and a 205-203 doubler. Now that I've got one (and spent a few hours at 90 got me 13mpg) I'm realizing that the 3.08's are kind of important for my mileage, and I should reconsider my transmission choice as well (gearing/tire suggestions welcome!)
So, on to my first mv purchase: set on a military blazer for diesel mileage I spoke with some people that are friends with my parents who know about these sort of things, and I learned that they don't come up for auction anymore. I even heard there was a publication that claimed the us military was cucv free (I'd like to see that if anyone knows about it or knows otherwise). So I scoured Craigslist for weeks. I was on search tempest and everything else, and they all came up around 3-4000 except for the occasional $6500 ad claiming they were impossible to find anymore. The few I found for around $2000 didn't have pictures or there was some major problem that would limit it's driveability. I was looking for a daily that didn't need much work right off the bat so I knew I needed to up my budget. Luckily, I filed my taxes early
Maybe that was an overshare but whatever, it's all typed now...
I finally found one on the Seattle Craigslist which specifically stated
"Drives good. A lil slop in stearing but i dont mind it.*
Runs tits. could drive this things around the country like nothing.*"
Perfect, that's exactly what I'm about to do
After some back and forth, the owner graciously held the blazer (for 2 weeks!) for my impending flight. I offered full asking price, sight unseen, given it looked in real life as it did in the pictures. I don't think I was ever as excited as I was the morning we (I took my gf with) left for the flight. We had to leave the house by 330am, but I was up by 2. We boarded the plane with no baggage, just money and underwear in our pockets to save worry and ticket hike. Thankfully, I have a cousin that lives in the area and he picked us up from the airport. It looked good, better than any k5 I'd seen at home. The batteries didn't work right because the terminals were shot and the negative post on the front battery was loose, and I talked down the price a little for that. The drivers window was out, steering sloppy, no rear window crank, and the gp board didn't work, but that was disclosed in the ad. There is also a starter button installed, and the key is the round door key but it works and hopefully that's the extent of electrical work. The heater fan works, but there is very little heat. I suspect the controls or the vent thing. It doesnt shift into 3rd until 45 either, i suspect a vacuum line because it works great otherwise. There wasn't a title or an sf97, but there was the original invoice from gl, and a Washington bill of sale... All in all, it was better than my gf's lifted grand Cherokee and I was happy to leave with it. Before I got back to my cousins for the night, I bought a spare battery, some coolant, and fixed the terminals in the parking lot of oriellys with courtesy tools.
I decided to spent the night before the 1700 mile journey home with an unfamiliar truck.
I still couldn't sleep, so I got up at about 7 and went to start my new '09 and make sure the coolant was full and in the heater core. I decided I'd call it "Rod" (ask me about that later). After I jumper'd the gp relay I discovered I lost the key already. After five minutes in the house I found the key on the passenger seat. Put it in, crank it over and... nothing. I figured I must've fried the glow plugs so I Googled it. Plug the exhaust? Yeah, not with duals. So I walk to the nearest gas station and get a can of ether. Not the way I wanted to start my relationship with Rod. But it started, and the journey began. This was Sunday morning, and we had presidents day (Monday) off so this wasn't going to be leisurely. Not that I can sleep in a car anyway...
Somehow the 25 hour mapped route turned into 36 with an easy traffic stop and another that threatened a k9 search because it looked like we were muling drugs, a rubber wheel well thing that came loose in the mountains, only 6 fuel stops, lots of food, and not very many pictures. Oh and I should've greased the u joints before I left but I didn't so now I have to replace those.
It was only when I got home that I found out gl doesn't send out the sf97 anymore. According to the lady I spoke with, they haven't for nearly 2 years. So I gathered all the missing title documentation for mn (statement of facts, application to title a vehicle, and 5 pictures) and just submitted it this morning. I'm driving home now with a license plate on my passenger seat!
Tl;dr I bought an '09 1700 miles away and shared every excruciating detail. Now I need to fix my glow plugs, drivers window, heat, vacuum lines, and u-joints.
