LMTV/Brazos/Titan XD4400… is it right for me?

[IrishGoodbye]

Hello, new member here based in So Cal.

I’ve spent some time searching around various posts (to educate myself and so as not to ask a question for the 300th time…). I guess I probably run the risk anyway.

In short, I’m looking at an LMTV that was built as a civilian version by BAE systems and was marketed as an XD 4400 Titan truck by worldwide machinery in Houston Texas. To make a long story short, it was built in 2012 the story that I was given was that it basically sat on the lot for years unused, and when the builder finally got it, it had about 800 miles on it in 2020. The truck is a 4 x 4 with longer frame rails and now has a RV camper box on it, which is about 20 feet long. All in all, it is a super sweet rig.

My main questions, and I don’t want to fully repeat @exon111 ’s previous post from the 2017 timeframe… But I guess I have a similar question, maybe just asked a little differently… are with regard to reliability and ability to get parts.

My main questions are threefold:

1. How difficult will it be to get parts for this truck? I understand that there are surplus places to buy parts, I understand that people probably use donor trucks to strip mine for parts, etc. But, let’s say I am in Wyoming and lose a hub bearing, if I have the truck towed to a big rig shop… Are they going to be able to fix the truck? Or is it going to be sitting there for days while they try to find some incredibly hard to find part that ultimately has to be sourced out of some junkyard or from some Military surplus website?

2. The truck has a Cummins commercial variant 6.7 with after treatment system and DEF, and an Allison transmission. Neither of these things will be difficult to get parts for no matter where I am in North America, but I’m curious… what will be the most hard to fine parts? I read a post somewhere here where a gentleman said he paid nearly $5000 for a new windshield and that was not easy to get. What are those things that I’m going to have the biggest challenge with?

3. Being that the truck was “new” in 2020, havin been built in 2012 and then turned into an RV in 2020 with 800 miles on it… I guess we can consider that it is a fairly new truck. That being said, the truck is currently being repaired due to a drivetrain bearing seizing and the seller has had a very difficult time getting the rear differential repaired, which essentially grenaded due to the bearing. The truck only has about 9000 miles on it now. I don’t really have a great explanation as to why all the oil puked out of the rear dif (non CTIS truck), it just seems to have puked out of some vent and the driver, being unaware, ran it until the bearing gave out. Are things like this likely to continue and plague me as a new owner? Or, once these trucks are totally sorted, are they like any other commercial truck where they will just run and run extremely reliably for 500,000 miles?

for context… other alternatives would be Earthroamer (or similar, GXV, etc.) pickup truck based off-road capable campers.

If you’re still with me, I appreciate you reading this, and my questions are probably dense and run-on questions that may be difficult to answer. But, for those of you with the time or interest, I would surely appreciate any guidance you might have.

 

[coachgeo]

except for AWD tail end of the transmission..... it is a standard heavy Allison Trans. Standard keypad with different programming for AWD. Axles.... not bad. In fact your in game at good time. see thread on Echo Hubs in here. CTIS...... PITA but their are options

pretty much everything else is commercial truck stuff from 2012.

5k windshield...... who ever paid that is stupid enough to sight unseen, fork over a million bucks for oil rich swamp land with Golden Gate bridge over it; located in Iceland.

Rear dif....... not sure why they have issues....... contact Bryce Wisalek (only works off facebook) and just swap another one in there after cleaning the whole axle housing appropriately. Or Canadian Rockwell .. or several other vendors. Put a locker in there why your at it (only auto soft locker available though)

or make it kick ass and buy new front/rear Axle tech 4000's from Bryce.. w/air lockers ... more R&P ratios available etc.

 

[Third From Texas]

gentleman said he paid nearly $5000 for a new windshield and that was not easy to get

I bet I know who sold it to him for that price, too. (bet there's a point of the compass in the company's name)

It's a $250 common piece of glass from OnmiGlass

LOL

 

[Mullaney]

Hello, new member here based in So Cal.

I’ve spent some time searching around various posts (to educate myself and so as not to ask a question for the 300th time…). I guess I probably run the risk anyway.

In short, I’m looking at an LMTV that was built as a civilian version by BAE systems and was marketed as an XD 4400 Titan truck by worldwide machinery in Houston Texas. To make a long story short, it was built in 2012 the story that I was given was that it basically sat on the lot for years unused, and when the builder finally got it, it had about 800 miles on it in 2020. The truck is a 4 x 4 with longer frame rails and now has a RV camper box on it, which is about 20 feet long. All in all, it is a super sweet rig.

My main questions, and I don’t want to fully repeat @exon111 ’s previous post from the 2017 timeframe… But I guess I have a similar question, maybe just asked a little differently… are with regard to reliability and ability to get parts.

My main questions are threefold:

1. How difficult will it be to get parts for this truck? I understand that there are surplus places to buy parts, I understand that people probably use donor trucks to strip mine for parts, etc. But, let’s say I am in Wyoming and lose a hub bearing, if I have the truck towed to a big rig shop… Are they going to be able to fix the truck? Or is it going to be sitting there for days while they try to find some incredibly hard to find part that ultimately has to be sourced out of some junkyard or from some Military surplus website?

2. The truck has a Cummins commercial variant 6.7 with after treatment system and DEF, and an Allison transmission. Neither of these things will be difficult to get parts for no matter where I am in North America, but I’m curious… what will be the most hard to fine parts? I read a post somewhere here where a gentleman said he paid nearly $5000 for a new windshield and that was not easy to get. What are those things that I’m going to have the biggest challenge with?

3. Being that the truck was “new” in 2020, havin been built in 2012 and then turned into an RV in 2020 with 800 miles on it… I guess we can consider that it is a fairly new truck. That being said, the truck is currently being repaired due to a drivetrain bearing seizing and the seller has had a very difficult time getting the rear differential repaired, which essentially grenaded due to the bearing. The truck only has about 9000 miles on it now. I don’t really have a great explanation as to why all the oil puked out of the rear dif (non CTIS truck), it just seems to have puked out of some vent and the driver, being unaware, ran it until the bearing gave out. Are things like this likely to continue and plague me as a new owner? Or, once these trucks are totally sorted, are they like any other commercial truck where they will just run and run extremely reliably for 500,000 miles?

for context… other alternatives would be Earthroamer (or similar, GXV, etc.) pickup truck based off-road capable campers.

If you’re still with me, I appreciate you reading this, and my questions are probably dense and run-on questions that may be difficult to answer. But, for those of you with the time or interest, I would surely appreciate any guidance you might have.

.
Welcome to the Outfit!

In answer to Question 1, there is a parts spreadsheet for a lot of LMTV parts you can find at your local parts house. Hosted and Updated regularly by @simp5782 - Download a copy and check back regularly for updates.

#2 Cummins says it definitely isn't a normal US Military truck, so look around a little more possibly before making the jump

Both @Third From Texas and @coachgeo have very worthwhile insights into these trucks and how to find parts...

 

[GeneralDisorder]

You can't look at it as a "new" truck. It's not. It's 11 years old. The rubber bits, the electrical connections and insulation, etc. How are the tires? 7 years is the standard for replacement.

My truck is a 2008 A1R LMTV (built by BAE same as the Titan) that had 2,750 miles on it when I acquired it in 2021 (now has about 13,000 - I daily drive it). I assure you it is ANYTHING but new. I've had numerous electrical system issues related both to maintenance, age, and one severe issue that took 9 months to find (and I was 52D motor-pool in the US Army with more skills, knowledge, experience and access to resources than most) and was ultimately a manufacturing defect. Air compressor blew up, tires were rotten, and many other little things have had to be addressed in the years I've been daily driving my truck. Are you aware that Stewart and Stevenson had NO experience building over-the-road trucks prior to the FMTV? They manufactured mining equipment. BAE (British Aerospace / marconi Electronic systems) bought their tactical vehicle systems division and then promptly cork-screwed the whole thing into the earth, lost contracts, got sued for defrauding the DOD, etc etc and are now GONE.

I could see that truck being a SERIOUS headache - more so that a military FMTV. It's rare, no longer manufactured, the manufacturer is no longer in the business of building trucks, and it's only similar to the FMTV in terms of appearance and possibly shares some final drive and brake system components, mechanical bits and pieces like the steering, cab, glass, etc. The engine and therefore its electrical system will be completely different, the truck will be wired for civilian style lighting.... does it even have a dual voltage 12/24 charging system like the FMTV? The truck will be completely different in almost all the complicated and important ways to understand for service and repair - making it a real beast for anyone to work on. There's no "XD Titan" experts out there in the world - whereas there effectively are a LOT of FMTV experts both here on this forum and throughout the military with several hundred thousand having been built and maintained for 30 years. With this XD Titan you will be effectively completely on your own and you will have to become the expert on that platform. The little googling I've done suggests they made a whopping 50 of these trucks and the pictures of the dash, etc confirm that this will be NOTHING like an FMTV in terms of electrical.

In terms of performance - the 6.7 Cummins can probably be turned up to match the top HP of the 7.2 CAT C7 - which is 370 HP and 931 Ft/lbs. But you still have to deal with the DEF and emissions crap that the FMTV's don't have - more complexity and another fluid to watch.

How long will you be able to register the 2012 in CA? 2010 and older diesel rigs over 14k lbs are already unable to be registered - how long before they target a 2012?

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/truckstop/pdfs/sb1_faqeng.pdf

The price of the rig is low compared to other comparably appointed rigs. The problem is the platform they chose to build it on. You would honestly be better off with a Steyr or a Unimog - they built way more of those. I can see the XD Titan in some ways being easier than foreign trucks but in some ways possibly a LOT harder since it's an extreme example of low production volume "dead platform" manufacturing. 50 trucks being built in total...... that makes it REALLY rare. When was the last time you saw a Ferrari F50? They built 349 of those......

The biggest challenge to that truck will be up to your limitations. If you can work on it yourself and you want to become THE expert on XD Titan's then you'll be fine. If you must rely on someone in the middle of Wyoming to find a wiring schematic for the truck so they can get the lights working again then you might be there for days or weeks assuming they can eventually find one and can read it - but understand that you WILL be paying for TRAINING for every mechanic that touches it to get up to speed on that truck because they will have never touched one, and will not be willing to pay for learning to work on it since they will almost surely never touch another one.

 

[Third From Texas]

While people often tend to go ga-ga over the Brazos/Titan having a Cummings, you have to ask yourself if it's *really* worth the premium (Titans typically sell for 2x to 10x the cost of the same truck in the military livery). Factor in an RV build on top of that and you're likely paying a small fortune (or ten small fortunes if the seller has certain "points of the compass" in their company name).

The CAT is also a 500,000 mile engine. And yeah, once you get it all refreshed and keep it maintained it could very well out live you.

If I'm not mistaken, the Meritor running gear is the same on both the Brazos and the A1R trucks. THAT does throw a rock in the cog when it comes to just "throwing another rear end in there" opposed to rebuilding it (that rear end is rare as-f). Repairing it is pretty straight forward though. The lack of CTIS also works in your favor here.

And if you are opening up the rear end, that would indeed be the time to slap a Detroit-style locker in there (those are available, typically from Bryce if I recall).

My only concern with what you describe is that the previous owner let the rear end go until it grenaded. To me that says that they were either abusive, neglectful, or lazy. It's not typically something that just happened one day for no reason with no warning.

But parts for the Cummins, Allison, and the Meritor drive line are all readily available. Specific parts for the Brazos are akin to the military variants (again, more specifically the A1R). Just avoid purchases from any company with points of the cumpass in their name unless you just love pissing away money. Knowing where to purchase things is the difference between a $5000 windshield and the SAME EXACAT $250 WINDSHIELD from a civilian vendor. *fyi: surplus is a racket, they buy for a dollar, toss a sticker on the mud flap, then often sell for a thousand...because it's green and has an NSN sticker...and there's a sucker born every minute who falls into that trap (hint: military = lowest bidder and most of the time NOT "superior" in any way). ALWAYS ask in MULTIPLE forums, groups, and boards where to find stuff (a lot of people will point you directly to the $5000 windshields their pals are selling....knowing full well they can be purchased all day long for $250). I'm not saying the community is bad...not at all. But the surplus market is EXRTEMELY profit driven...and there's no shortage of folks shilling for their buddies to make fistfuls of cash off others..

As stated by others, there aren't many Brazos trucks around (like the later military A1R trucks). That makes them more rare. That makes them WAY more expensive. Worth the premium? I would say it depends how they were maintained and used. I've seen like-new cherry trucks sell crazy cheap....and seen rusted out POS's for sale at insanely stupid prices. I've seen surplus vendors really put some serious effort into their trucks for sale. And I've seen some slap a coat of paint on them, throw a sticker on the mud flap, spray some shiny on the dry-rotted Michelins, and claim they've been fully refresh (with buyers sitting on the side of the road looking at $15K repair bills).

IMO, if you are looking at the likes of Brazos, Earthroamer, GlobalX, etc....you can afford to have the truck properly surveyed. And for that kinda coin I would advise it.

Not many Brazos RVs out there. I've seen a few. Odds are someone here might have some knowledge about that truck/build. Got any pics?

 

[Third From Texas]

Both @Third From Texas and @coachgeo have very worthwhile insights into these trucks and how to find parts...

Thanks, but I'd say Ronmar and General Disorder are the go-to for most of the specifics.

I just share my mistakes and opinions. There are FAR more knowledgeable folks on here than myself....

 

[NDT]

I can confirm the story that the 20 or so SD Brazos trucks sat at Worldwide Machinery for years and years after the BAE liquidation. I would see them on Houston’s East Freeway and wonder how the economics of holding a depreciating asset that long was working out for them.

 

[IrishGoodbye]

Well… I got what I asked for! Several opinions and tons of info to chew on. Silent here for a bit while I consider the various opinions shared so far. By all means, hope to have even more perspectives as well.

Very genuinely appreciate all of you who have take time to share with me. As you have all eluded - it’s a huge purchase!

Is for sale on popular websites, built by Adrenalin Industries in Utah for those who have asked. For example - it’s on expedition meister for $275K. Has been for sale for at least 6 months. Sold originally on a no reserve auction on BAT for $252K to current owner in Colorado after being a demo truck for Adrenalin at some expos and such for a few months and a few thousand miles.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Personally - the oddity and rarity of it, coupled with the DEF/EGR/emissions BS, lack of CTIS, and the ridiculous price of the thing (I was thinking $100k for some reason, not quarter of a mil) makes it a total non-starter for me - and I could buy it if I wanted it...... You can get a nice A1R to start with and build your own the way you want it for that kind of price. And the Earthroamers and all the rest of the overpriced civilian-chassis based garbage are just accoutrements for the guys that can't manual labor and skilled trade with the real men - "bought" not "built" in other words. And that's exactly why I want a military vehicle that LOOKS like a military vehicle for overlanding. I want to be left alone as much as possible - especially by the people that buy toys and then get themselves into situations they can't manage, in places they have no business being, in vehicles they can't fix..... they inevitably break and are stranded blocking my way. Then I'm forced to try to help some hapless fool that should be flying a keyboard (or worse a clipboard) somewhere well away from hand and power tools.

 

[coachgeo]

You can't look at it as a "new" truck. It's not. It's 11 years old. The rubber bits, the electrical connections and insulation, etc. How are the tires? 7 years is the standard for replacement.

My truck is a 2008 A1R LMTV (built by BAE same as the Titan) that had 2,750 miles on it when I acquired it in 2021 (now has about 13,000 - I daily drive it). I assure you it is ANYTHING but new. I've had numerous electrical system issues related both to maintenance, age, and one severe issue that took 9 months to find (and I was 52D motor-pool in the US Army with more skills, knowledge, experience and access to resources than most) and was ultimately a manufacturing defect. Air compressor blew up, tires were rotten, and many other little things have had to be addressed in the years I've been daily driving my truck. Are you aware that Stewart and Stevenson had NO experience building over-the-road trucks prior to the FMTV? They manufactured mining equipment. BAE (British Aerospace / marconi Electronic systems) bought their tactical vehicle systems division and then promptly cork-screwed the whole thing into the earth, lost contracts, got sued for defrauding the DOD, etc etc and are now GONE.

I could see that truck being a SERIOUS headache - more so that a military FMTV. It's rare, no longer manufactured, the manufacturer is no longer in the business of building trucks, and it's only similar to the FMTV in terms of appearance and possibly shares some final drive and brake system components, mechanical bits and pieces like the steering, cab, glass, etc. The engine and therefore its electrical system will be completely different, the truck will be wired for civilian style lighting.... does it even have a dual voltage 12/24 charging system like the FMTV? The truck will be completely different in almost all the complicated and important ways to understand for service and repair - making it a real beast for anyone to work on. There's no "XD Titan" experts out there in the world - whereas there effectively are a LOT of FMTV experts both here on this forum and throughout the military with several hundred thousand having been built and maintained for 30 years. With this XD Titan you will be effectively completely on your own and you will have to become the expert on that platform. The little googling I've done suggests they made a whopping 50 of these trucks and the pictures of the dash, etc confirm that this will be NOTHING like an FMTV in terms of electrical.

In terms of performance - the 6.7 Cummins can probably be turned up to match the top HP of the 7.2 CAT C7 - which is 370 HP and 931 Ft/lbs. But you still have to deal with the DEF and emissions crap that the FMTV's don't have - more complexity and another fluid to watch.

How long will you be able to register the 2012 in CA? 2010 and older diesel rigs over 14k lbs are already unable to be registered - how long before they target a 2012?

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/truckstop/pdfs/sb1_faqeng.pdf

The price of the rig is low compared to other comparably appointed rigs. The problem is the platform they chose to build it on. You would honestly be better off with a Steyr or a Unimog - they built way more of those. I can see the XD Titan in some ways being easier than foreign trucks but in some ways possibly a LOT harder since it's an extreme example of low production volume "dead platform" manufacturing. 50 trucks being built in total...... that makes it REALLY rare. When was the last time you saw a Ferrari F50? They built 349 of those......

The biggest challenge to that truck will be up to your limitations. If you can work on it yourself and you want to become THE expert on XD Titan's then you'll be fine. If you must rely on someone in the middle of Wyoming to find a wiring schematic for the truck so they can get the lights working again then you might be there for days or weeks assuming they can eventually find one and can read it - but understand that you WILL be paying for TRAINING for every mechanic that touches it to get up to speed on that truck because they will have never touched one, and will not be willing to pay for learning to work on it since they will almost surely never touch another one.

isn't these trucks; beside the better engine ..... maybe alternator........ (but doubt it since the trans is same alison at 24v) exactly same as FMTV? Axles..... gee's there is bunch of them out there.. but yeah you will have to wait on the mail. So plan on towing a Jeep or similar to get around while she is down? Now if one is traveling overseas..... yeah that would be an issue getting parts

If these have the highpinion axle....... these will hit the market more and more........ or use one off of a 6x6 and lock the out put to the blue tooth rear axle (did this on mine) few years ago..... works fine.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

isn't these trucks; beside the better engine ..... maybe alternator........ (but doubt it since the trans is same alison at 24v) exactly same as FMTV? Axles.....
If these have the highpinion axle....... these will hit the market more and more........ or use one off of a 6x6 and lock the out put to the blue tooth rear axle (did this on mine) few years ago..... works fine.

The truck in question is a 6x6 and all of the 6x6/MTV always had the high pinion intermediate axle. There's nothing special going on there and the parts are available from any Meritor dealer.

The Titan is not "exactly the same as FMTV" - that's nutty to even consider. The major complexity with these trucks and what gives people the most issues in general is the electrical system and trust me - the Titan is completely different. Hell - just look at the differences in the A0 vs. A1R electrical systems - now toss in civilian lighting, completely different engine, added emissions systems with a whole DEF fluid system, different gauge cluster, deleted systems like the CTIS and all the optional accessory wiring for winches, emergency lights, etc, different charging system I'm guessing..... there will be no end to the differences. To the point that similarities will be the exception and all electrical troubleshooting must begin with a review of the schematic. You can't guess and assume on this stuff.

 

[IrishGoodbye]

The truck in question is not a 6x6 (not that the fact it’s a 4x4 negates what you’re saying…)

But It’s this truck

Custom Adrenalin box on new Cummins/Allison BAE chassis > United States

Stewart and Stevenson | Amazing new build in 2020. High end construction by Adrenalin industries; adrenalinind.com. 8000 miles on 2012 chassis b... | Buy and sell Expedition campers worldwide

expeditionmeister.com

for more photos, here is the *** OLD *** BAT link, over 100 photos here

No Reserve: 2012 Titan XD 4400 4x4 Camper Conversion

Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 2012 Titan XD 4400 4×4 Camper Conversion at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #71,963.

bringatrailer.com

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Huh. Had it in my head it was a 6x6...... regardless the parts are available. The difficulty is probably finding anyone willing to do a rebuild on the third-member. They are rather large, heavy, and somewhat more complicated and unknown to most shops - even one's familiar with R&P setup, pressing bearings, etc. Special tools may be required or have to be fabricated, etc.

Much of these kinds of issues are irrelevant if you have the appropriate experience wrenching and have rebuilt transmissions, gear boxes, third members, etc. You buy the parts from a Meritor dealer, you drop the third member and you replace the ring and pinion and all the bearings, gaskets and seals. In the process you try to determine how/why this happened to keep it from reoccurring.

If that doesn't sound like something you want to potentially deal with then my suggestion would be a brand new truck with a warranty, and an insurance package that includes towing/recovery, etc and forget about surplus military hardware. The allure far exceeds the reality - these trucks break - it happens. If that's not just part of the adventure and the attraction and the challenge for you like it is for many of us - just don't.

 

[eaw46]

Expedition Portal

The global resource for overland and adventure travel.

expeditionportal.com

Lots of good info and real world of experience here.

 

[Keith Knight]

Personally - the oddity and rarity of it, coupled with the DEF/EGR/emissions BS, lack of CTIS, and the ridiculous price of the thing (I was thinking $100k for some reason, not quarter of a mil) makes it a total non-starter for me - and I could buy it if I wanted it...... You can get a nice A1R to start with and build your own the way you want it for that kind of price. And the Earthroamers and all the rest of the overpriced civilian-chassis based garbage are just accoutrements for the guys that can't manual labor and skilled trade with the real men - "bought" not "built" in other words. And that's exactly why I want a military vehicle that LOOKS like a military vehicle for overlanding. I want to be left alone as much as possible - especially by the people that buy toys and then get themselves into situations they can't manage, in places they have no business being, in vehicles they can't fix..... they inevitably break and are stranded blocking my way. Then I'm forced to try to help some hapless fool that should be flying a keyboard (or worse a clipboard) somewhere well away from hand and power tools.

Well said!

 

[IrishGoodbye]

I would really like to thank everyone for their input and thoughts.

I spent a couple months researching this BAE platform online before posting this thread. I read dozens upon dozens of pages of the nearly 1K page FMTV service document I found online (government doc for entire family), as far as it was related areas of keen interest. Lots of forum reading, talking with folks, etc

As you can likely tell, I was having some tangible concerns before coming here (and also due to the prolonged time it was taking to get the truck fixed - which by the way was due to delays and mechanic / specialist availability).

So, I was looking for a solid push in one direction or the other. I got that push I needed, so thank you all sincerely.

In the end I have decided to pursue other options. I don’t have time… that’s the primary thing… I am seeking reliability and looking to spend my precious time enjoying the vehicle with my wife. Having prolonged headaches, parts searches, and a lack of ability to drive/tow to the nearest service center for regular PM or for a fix are on my “I want to avoid list.” Dealing with reliability issues / breakdowns / being stranded somewhere is going to make me resent the thing and neither my wife or I will want to use it, etc.

Great community you have here, perhaps in retirement I’ll buy a cleaned up LMTV just for playing off-road and leave the truck bed intact, etc, because I love the platform. More time then to tinker.

All best!

 

[Third From Texas]

Yeah, it's a strange game. Sometimes the only winning move is not to play.



Good luck

 

[ramdough]

I would really like to thank everyone for their input and thoughts.

I spent a couple months researching this BAE platform online before posting this thread. I read dozens upon dozens of pages of the nearly 1K page FMTV service document I found online (government doc for entire family), as far as it was related areas of keen interest. Lots of forum reading, talking with folks, etc

As you can likely tell, I was having some tangible concerns before coming here (and also due to the prolonged time it was taking to get the truck fixed - which by the way was due to delays and mechanic / specialist availability).

So, I was looking for a solid push in one direction or the other. I got that push I needed, so thank you all sincerely.

In the end I have decided to pursue other options. I don’t have time… that’s the primary thing… I am seeking reliability and looking to spend my precious time enjoying the vehicle with my wife. Having prolonged headaches, parts searches, and a lack of ability to drive/tow to the nearest service center for regular PM or for a fix are on my “I want to avoid list.” Dealing with reliability issues / breakdowns / being stranded somewhere is going to make me resent the thing and neither my wife or I will want to use it, etc.

Great community you have here, perhaps in retirement I’ll buy a cleaned up LMTV just for playing off-road and leave the truck bed intact, etc, because I love the platform. More time then to tinker.

All best!

If time and hassle are your concern, ….. I would just buy a finished 4x4 van conversion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chucky]

Not to rain on visions of newer more modern trucks but i would run not walk away from from any def using truck that is someones experiment and built that many years back and just a handful on top of that HELL NO ! Anything that has to do a REGEN when ever the ecm tells it to will be the main source of your problems in a case like this truck ! Every time i had to go into a shop the last 10 yrs on the road was always to do with ecm/regen stuff ! If you think you have problems that you cant fix located in a city with shops what are you going to do off in the middle of nowhere forest/outback ha and no cell service lol ! Buy something you might have a chance at trouble shooting yourself if your going offgrid in it !