New to site, maybe buying my first CUCV soon..

[ratman]

Has anyone dealt with Teds Trucks n Stuff in Alabama? Ive been talking to him about one of two m1009's he is working on. Here's his line :

We start with good, straight, solid Southern trucks. Among other
things, we put on new glow plugs, belts, filters, batteries, a
professionally rebuilt injector pump, a new speedometer head, a new dash
pad, and even a new rear main seal. I drive these trucks every day until I
have put 700-1000 miles on them. If anything is not "right", I have my
mechanics chase down the problem and fix it. We've been selling these
trucks for over 9 years. We know how they are supposed to run when they run
correctly. We don't certify them "ready to sell" until they meet our
stringent standards.

'83-'87 M1009 Blazer with new 383 Green paint job $6500.
'83-'87 M1008 Pickup with new 383 Green paint job $7500.
Subtract $500 if we don't do the minor body work and new paint job.

I understand that the price is kind of high, he is a dealer after all, but I am new to diesel's so some basic maintenance might be worth it to me.
Aside from that correspondence he told me with m1009's the mileage is not to be believed if it is under 50k but rarely did they get more then 90k.

Anyway what do you think of the pricing and what are some things to look for if/when I drive 5 hours get it.

Thanks in advance, the site is very informative.

 

[BKubu]

I've dealt with Ted and he is a good guy. I've never purchased a truck from him, but everything else he has sold me was just as promised. I would consider buying a truck from him if he had what I wanted. $6500 for a Blazer is a little on the high side, but maybe not if you consider he'll probably stand behind it and also has done quite a bit of work to get the truck where it is. You could also check with TacticalTruck on this list to see if he has any Blazers for sale.

 

[acetomatoco]

I have had nothing but positive dealings with Ted's

 

[nf6x]

I haven't bought any vehicles from Ted, but he helped me with titling of vehicles that came out of Government Liquidation with messed-up paperwork. He seems like a good guy to me.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Do a search as he's gotten good reviews here.

He's high on my list of potential M1009 sources.

 

[Sarge]

That is a lot of moolah for a M1008/M1009; BUT; Ted is one of the good guys. All of my dealings with him have been very positive. If he tells you that the truck is in so-and-so condition, you can take it to the bank. Although they are expensive, he has done a lot of work on them and you will get an excellent truck for the money. A little piece of unsolicited advice; if you plan on doing a lot of freeway speed driving, buy an M1009, not an M1008. The M1008 is not geared well for freeway driving. It is an excellent truck, it's just not good on long fast trips.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Honestly, for a low mileage CUCV or 73-87(91) GM truck that's supposedly been repaired, repainted, and made sure it's "up to snuff" that's a decent price.
I do think the "no paint" option should be more than $500 but hey, that's me...and I'd get it painted anyways.

Look around at "restored" GM trucks of this vintage and see what they are going for. Then take a hard look at them and tell me that most CUCV's aren't already in better shape and with much lower mileage.

Bigger tires make the M1008 an entirely different animal.

 

[ratman]

Thanks guys for the great replies. He's seemed a straight up guy to me from our limited correspondence.

I did originally want the m1008 before I looked a little closer at the gearing I guess Ill have to keep my old gasser for going to the lumber yard

 

[gt1009]

Even the m1009 can only go about 85 maxed out, so neither of them are speed demons. I regularly get blown by on the highway because i cruise at about 77 to keep the truck sounding happy.

 

[CCATLETT1984]

um, well......

I've had my truck to 90mph..... with room between the pedal and the floor

 

[AJMBLAZER]

A stock M1008 on stock 31" tall tires will only go about 50-55mph safely.
Even putting 33" tall tires will help go faster.

With my 36's (actually about 34-35" tall) 55 is no problem and 70 is doable. I just don't like keeping it revving that high. A OD gear would be great but it's not coming apart at those speeds.

CCATLETT's 38's would make higher speeds easier than my 36's but then you basically HAVE to lift.

 

[bugei]

i don't know if you all are familiar with these, but they are a fairly easy (not cheap however) cure to those low gear woes. i am running one on a truck with well over 700 hp and NO PROBLEMS. most of the really fast baja trucks are running them also, so the hp of mv's will not cause them much grief.

http://www.gearvendors.com/

again, they are not cheap, but they do solve alot of gear related problems, with a reasonably easy bolt on. mine sits behind a e4od ford overdrive automatic , the truck has been clocked at just at 150 mph. one ton 4X4 crew cab dually, 4.11 locker gears; not bad for 7000 pounds. the gear vendor lets it get streatch out and pretty good mileage but "get down" when it needs to.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

It's easier to just swap in a 700R4.

For the kinda money those gear vendor units go for I could swap in a NV4500 and all it's components.

 

[Crash_AF]

I ran 75-80 in CUCVs all the time in Germany on the 'bahn running between Mannheim and Ramstein. The sloppy steering was more of a concern than the engine speed IMHO. Of course, that was because of crappy maintenance, not completely the fault of the truck.

Later,
Joe

 

[Recovry4x4]

Joe, what year were you at Ramstein? My wife was there in 98 or 99.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Does Ted have a website? I thought he did but now all I can find is his ebay page.