M1028a3?

[2deuce]

I have a M1028 dually but no data plate other than the original one. It was an Air Force truck, they must not have cared enough about the plate. I have seen pictures of many of these trucks and the rear fender reflectors and lights can look quite different. How how many years did they do these conversions? I have heard that a few came from the factory with the conversion and the opposite, that none did. Mine has the 208, but I have a 205 with the PTO from a 31, Is there an expert or Guru on CUCV's? I would also like to know if all AF trucks were a3's.

 

[GM72K10]

ALL CUCV duallys are conversions. M1028a2s were converted from M1031s and have an NP205. M1028a3s were converted from M1028s and have NP208s. Both have Dana 70 rear ends. I've had my M1028a2 ten years now.

 

[2deuce]

I have always heard they were all conversions, but then ran across where a few 1986 made weren't conversions. It would be interesting to know when the conversions started. Like the date on that crate would be interesting. I'm interested to know when the decision was made that a dually was needed and the 1st conversions were made. The dually fenders I've seen have different lights on them. The one I have has tiny lights on it and some others have civilian style lights. I have a 1985 M1028. It has been parked behind a friends barn for 6 to 8 years. It starts easily but dies right away and won't rev up. I have worked my way forward to the injection pump return check valve because it acts like a fuel issue. It is either the pump or pulling air, probably the pump,

 

[M813rc]

As stated above, all military CUCV duallys were conversions.
M1028A2s were also converted from M1028A1s. The only real difference between an A2 and an A3 is the transfer case.

That said, there are dually Chevys out there that were military, but are not CUCVs, they are just similar Chevy 4x4 trucks. The Air Force, in particular, bought a lot of off-the-shelf trucks.

The CUCV lights should have all been the same in military service, but some may have been switched out by individual units for some reason, or been changed by their civilian owners post-military. All M10xx CUCVs were built to 1984 standard and use 1984 parts, regardless of what year they were built.

The military learned their lesson with the M880-series - those were built to whatever standard Dodge was using on civilian trucks during each year of production, so they ended up with several headlight, grill, turn signal, etc. etc. differences between trucks, which caused a great deal of spares and support issues.

Cheers

 

[2deuce]

My truck is an a3. It did start out as a M1028. I'm the 1st civilian owner, but a University AG station had it after it's military service. They spent $zero on the truck so it is exactly like the AF left it. I'm reasonably sure it has the original marker lights on the fenders, but I was curious how long these conversions were done. There must have been a time frame, and the kits that were contracted from GM could have changed things like marker lights, and the rear fenders themselves because the lights have different cut-outs in the fenders where they attach. I was comparing trucks on the net and this difference stood out.

I know that the military bought trucks straight from Chevrolet, I have 2 from the 50's, (one is IH). The were special ordered, have the dash plates. Back in that day you could order a truck any way you wanted it.

 

[2deuce]

I brought the truck home, so I took a couple of pictures of the of the rear fender marker lights to show what I was talking about. I have seen others like these lights and I have seen others on Ebay and You tube that have the civilian style with the indentations in the fender that hold the lights. This tells me that, somebody put civilian fenders on their CUCV or they had kits that were not made exactly alike and probably made for different contracts at different times. That is why I posed the question of when these conversions began, and how long they were done. I hope somebody knows this,and can fill in some of the gaps on CUCV history. This is my 1st CUCV dually. Was there any cover to fill in the gap between the bed and the dually fender. It looks like it would fill up with dirt without one?

Thanks

 

[cucvrus]

Those are NOT GM fenders on the rear. They remind me of Arrowcraft conversion or Centurion conversion fenders. That belt molding is not on the stock dually is it?

 

[2deuce]

I don't know. I bought it from GSA. When you say stock GM dually, all of these were conversions from a kit as I understand it. I'm about as certain as I can be this is how the Air Force used it. I don't know what was in those kits. Typically these agency's out here spend nothing on the upkeep, they don't change oil or filters, and when they quit, or blow up, they get another freebie. If they fill it full of gas, or the GP card quits, they spend nothing on it, often they cannibalize to keep one running, but I highly doubt fenders were bought by anyone but the Air Force, since this was an Air Force truck.

 

[2deuce]

That is why I started this post. I have seen at least 2 styles of rear fenders on CUCV's and thought it might have to do with who supplied the Kits and when. Some people may also be repairing their trucks with aftermarket or GM civilian fenders. Took a picture of the inside.

 

[M813rc]

That's interesting. That is definitely not how the fenders on my truck are done, nor any of the others I have seen. My fenders are permanently mounted tight to the bed and have the seam filled, no rubber gasket.

My understanding is that all the kits were provided by GM, and were all the same, including cutouts for the stock lights.

That does not, however, rule out a unit-level conversion using what parts were available at the time. There are no absolutes when it comes to these things.
Since your truck does not have the data plate that came with the kit, I deeply suspect it was not done with a stock GM kit. And especially because it was Air Force. They are well known for buying what they need for a particular use, and have the deep pockets to do so.

Cheers

 

[2deuce]

When you say permanently mounted, you can't unbolt them?
There is one on You Tube that looks the same as mine, the owner painted it tan. He doesn't mention the data plate and I could not see it, but he does have the same fenders. I'm going to watch it again to possibly see if it is AF.

 

[2deuce]

I'm cleaning up the truck, and will be taking the bed off to replace the front panel. We are going to put a shelter on it soon and I'll take some pictures when that happens.
I took a picture of the rear bumper today, because I haven't seen an eyelet like that on a CUCV before, and was wondering if anyone else has. It is just to the left of the pintle hook, next to the black trailer connection. The truck has a receiver hitch, not a weld on piece of square tubing like I have seen so often, but an actual hitch is bolted on the frame. I'm thinking the eyelet might be a clip point for a break away electric brake cable. The eyelet was installed while in Air force service, and I think the receiver hitch and electric plug were likely installed then also. They are old, not recent additions and the hitch has flat black paint on it, which is something not likely to be done by the university I got the truck from. The hitch was carefully installed, not with a torch and welder. Anyway I thought it was interesting so I took a picture. Thanks for your thoughts on this.

 

[2deuce]

I put the bed back on, and put a shelter in it. Pictures are in the "shelter carrier hardware" thread. I was wondering why the dually conversion was done with a Dana 70 and not a 14bolt? Is there some advantage to the 70?

 

[M1078MAN]

Here you go, coming out of service circa 2009. Location overseas.. My understanding, was the dually conversion was for particulair shelter that weighed a shit ton and tow capacity for power platform
..

 

[2deuce]

Is the truck in the pictures a dually conversion? All the M1028 were conversions with the square bodies, and I have always heard they were just a more stable platform. While the shelters aren't light to begin with, when they were filled with radios they gained weight and it raised the center of gravity up quite a bit. The dually truck I put the shelter in never had antenna brackets on the bed so the shelter must have supported them.

 

[M1078MAN]

Is the truck in the pictures a dually conversion? All the M1028 were conversions with the square bodies, and I have always heard they were just a more stable platform. While the shelters aren't light to begin with, when they were filled with radios they gained weight and it raised the center of gravity up quite a bit. The dually truck I put the shelter in never had antenna brackets on the bed so the shelter must have supported them.

I believe it was a conversion, seem to remember two kits coming in, one went to this unit, and another went up north to another unit. let me look around, maybe got a VIN number for it

1GCHK34F0YF516350 DAAE07-99-0-S00

 

[48cj2a]

My USAF unit did the conversion on at least 4 single rear wheel M1028s that were shelter carriers on either 84 or 85 model year trucks in the Mid 80s.

I remember the fenders looking aftermarket and the beds were never cut so they looked funny in the wheel wells when you could still see the bed sides under the dooley fenders.

We had converted from TRC-97s Tropo Scatter Microwave to heavier TRC-170V3 Tropo Scatter Microwave Communications Systems housed in S-250 Shelters, and they pulled a modified M-116 Trailer that housed the Mickey Mouse Antennas. This gave greater payload capacity and off road stability.

None of our Fleet of CUCV trucks had the 205 transfer case.

 

[2deuce]

That's very interesting. That's how my truck was built. Do you remember if the rear bed corners that are also part of the tie down anchor points were used? My truck didn't have them attached. The holes on top of the bed rails for the brace were never drilled. The anchor points looked like possibly a front channel was cut in pieces to make them. I put the correct ones on in the picture.

 

[48cj2a]

Sorry for the late reply - yes the front and rear shelter tie downs were present the rears looked just like your picture. I dont think any of ours had tailgates so we used to stack 2 x 8s in the tiedown channels. so we could stow the little shelter ladder between the shelter and the boards.

 

[48cj2a]

Thinking back to when we did the conversions, I could have probably got a pair of the removed axles with under 5K miles on them before they DRMO's them. If only we could go back in time.

I remember complaining to the Vehicle Maintenance Supervisor that the idots who did the conversion put two new tires on the dully wheels and installed on the rear axle with the used pair instead of putting all four used one on the rear and the new ones on the front. It was pretty obvious on all 4 trucks.

Pretty Rookie move for new young mechanics.