Newbie wanting an M1009

[Jpalm]

Alright guys, I am a complete newbie and I'm interested in picking up an M1009. I was hoping you all could help me decide the best route to take. I have found one on CL a few hours from home. It has 8000 miles and appears to be in decent shape and well taken care of. I have also registered for the govliquidation.com site and have seen a ton of them on there. Questions:

1) Am I better off getting one that is in service on the roads vs. one that is still registered to the federal government sitting in a warehouse?

2) In all of the listings on the surplus auction site, they have a blanket statement that the vehicle does not run. Is that because there's something mechanically wrong with them, or do they just say that because they've all sat dormant for so long with no fuel and they don't really know?

3) The one that I've found on CL is going for $6500. Is that a good price if it's in good shape?

4) The starting bids for the surplus lot is $150. Obviously, this will increase toward the deadline, but how much do they normally go for in these auctions on average?

Sorry about coming out and hammering you guys with questions on my first post, but I know these things go quick and I don't want to miss out on an opportunity.

Thanks!

 

[Blazerbaileyxx]

It's okay for the questions I had alot too I'm 16 I just got my m1009 full restorations junkyard picking small stuff got mine for 3200$ it was a complete rust bucket I have welding experience got a sheet of metal bent it to floor boards and rino coated the whole bed and floor added a stereo runs great the guy was an old forester and let it sit for 2 years just make sure you under coat it keep it clean good luck keep me posted o and check ur balencer for rot and watch for Chinese blog plugs marked a.c deco mine swelled up to the size of bbs and i had to snap them off and dig em out of the injector it sucked took me 3 days

 

[Blazerbaileyxx]

Gov liquidation is all screwy most don't run from sitting make sure it was not forklifted in it bends the drive and exhaust they mostly go for 4-5 so it differs with the truck paint jobs nothing make sure u get their on time with ur appointment they refuse u accses until ur time good luck again

 

[Barney-the-Duece]

Welcome aboard Jpalm. I'm sure you will find this site extremely helpfull as it is full of tons of great members with a wide array of knowledge on the various vehicles and equipment. Most often, any answers to questions you may have can be found using the search button.

There are benefits both ways as far as purchasing a truck. Obviously a couple benefits to purchasing a truck from a private party near you is that you can inspect and test drive the truck before making a purchase. Also, typically going the private route, the truck should already have a title.

I purchased an M1009 from GL at Ft Riley in January. I ended up paying $2850 for mine. It ended up having barely any rust (only very slight surface rust in a couple spots in the wheel wells), new tires, good seats and interior. It only needed a new starter relay to get it going. I kept my eyes on the auctions, bit on a few and lost, before finding the one I ended up with.

Either way your dealing with a 20+ year old truck wich will need varying degrees of maintenace. I have seen them go anywhere between $2000 to $4000, with $4000 being on the nicer end. In my opinion $6500 seems pretty high. I'm sure others can weigh in with more info as well.

Good luck in your seach for a truck!

 

[Jeremiah_Johnson]

Do not rush into buying the 1st one , do some research, This is one of the best sites available to you , check out other guys experience with bidding and picking up autos from GL sites . a lot of headaches . if you are not familiar with working on these vehicles it will cost a lot to find a good mechanic. A good buyer is a we informed buyer. no all mechanics are diesel mechanics.

 

[ryan77]

If you buy of gl plan on spending cash to get it road worthy, My last one i bought im working on now, Paid $1500 so far ive replaced both batterys, glow plug card, rear tailgate, all fluids, hoses, pulled dents from door, working on roof dents, dog head relay, i still have to paint, replace interior, all the weatherstripping, It adds up fast i will have $4,000 grand when all done but it has 4,400 miles on it and will be mint. Ive done about 6 blazers and 4 trucks so i know what to look for.

 

[K9Vic]

Sure you can get a M1009 for like $1500-$2000 from a government auction, but as stated by 'ryan77' you will spend money to make it road worthy. Many times allot more then what you paid for it if you want it to be a good reliable daily driver.

My first & current M1009 I got was sitting in a field for like 6 years, I spent about $2000 just getting it road worthy. I had to replace; tires, all brakes, both rear wheel cylinders, shocks, belts, fuel filter, glow plugs, batteries, drag link, steering dampener and other normal maintenance repairs. Not to mention about $300 in special tools to maintain my many CUCV, but that is really optional as most tools you can rent from auto parts stores.

I have no problems hopping in my M1009 and driving 100+ miles and have done it a dozen times. My longest trips have been two times of 400+ miles in one day and recently did another 200 miles round trip in a day. So making a 25+ year old vehicle be able to do that can take allot of money, so be ready to spend more to make it right.


So if you can find a good CUCV that has all needed repairs that is turn key if you want to reference that as no issues. A price of $6500 can be fair, but on the higher end and for that price I would expect it to be low miles and all original with no repaint on the body (Government or owner). Be able to drive it 1000 miles or more home with no issues when I got there. If one has to fix anything, $6500 is way too much money.

 

[Psywarrior]

I am in the same boat. I haven't driven a CUCV since they were NEW!!! That is, in fact, how I ended up finding this site. I was looking up specs to find out about the electrical system (question answered by browsing here) if the fuse panel was 12 or 24 volt. I was also interested in aftermarket AC systems since this will be kept in Vegas with 120 temps being the norm. I did find a seller in Apple Valley, CA on another board that gets them through the USMC Logistics base in Barstow, CA and he has road ready units for about 3K. Still doing more research and plan on buying come tax refund time.

So far, this has been a great site for all sorts of information. Some of which I haven't even thought about asking. I plan on spending a lot more time here and adding pics in the near future of my new purchase. Thanks to all of you.

Psy

 

[Warthog]

It's okay for the questions I had alot too I'm 16 I just got my m1009 full restorations junkyard picking small stuff got mine for 3200$ it was a complete rust bucket I have welding experience got a sheet of metal bent it to floor boards and rino coated the whole bed and floor added a stereo runs great the guy was an old forester and let it sit for 2 years just make sure you under coat it keep it clean good luck keep me posted o and check ur balencer for rot and watch for Chinese blog plugs marked a.c deco mine swelled up to the size of bbs and i had to snap them off and dig em out of the injector it sucked took me 3 days

Welcome to the site but please re-read the forum rules. Just an FYI.

• Do not post in all CAPS or in giant run-on sentences without punctuation. Do not post as if texting and do avoid the use of texting abbreviations. We are not the grammar police but we want everyone to easily read your post in at least 8th grade English. It is extra work to post proper sentences from a smartphone but the result will be greatly appreciated. Please do your best to use capitalization, proper spelling and punctuation. It makes it easier for everyone to read!

 

[Vet89]

Blazerbaileyxx - let's see some photos of your work.

Your writing is not as bad as some I have seen around the net. Warthog said this for the benefits of old farts like me (and him).

When the text all runs together, we lose our place reading it with the magnifying glass and have to start over - then we have to pee - and then start reading all over again. Getting old sucks! It sounds like your welding RoXxoRs though!

Post some photos amigo!

 

[Jpalm]

Update

Thank you all for your responses. I have gotten some more details on the vehicle since I posted. I don't know much about these items, so I'll throw them out there for you guys to interpret. I have not gotten to see it yet (plan on driving down this Wednesday), but the owner has filled me in on a few details.

Quick recap from original post: 1985 M1009 with 8,000 miles, $6500

He purchased three from auction, fixed them up, sold two, and kept this one for a year and a half as a daily driver because he said it was the best of the three. He said it only has a little rust on the bottom of the rear tailgate from rain water leaking into what was a worn out window molding. It has Dana 60 locking axles and transfer case (don't know much about them, but hear they're good), new 31" tires, and he's installed an am/fm radio and cb. He says it runs like a champ, with the only known issue being an occasional starter slip. He says that he's willing to negotiate on price, but we haven't gotten into the nuts and bolts of that.

One last thing, he doesn't know if it's a "J" code engine. I assume that it's in the VIN, which he's going to send to me for me to check. Is that a huge deal if it's not?

 

[Warthog]

Just because the VIN has the "J" code, doesn't mean the engine hasn't been changed out.

I bought a 1987 diesel suburban with the "J" VIN from a online auction that the owner said the engine was a 6.5L Humvee replacement. When I picked it up, it was a civvy "C" code engine with all the emission stuff. And it was worn out. I didn't care as I had a replacement engine and the price was really right.

Your truck is worth what you are willing to pay for it. $6500 isn't a bad price but it is higher that I would pay for one.

Check the axles to make sure thay are Dana 60's. These came on the M1008 trucks.

The stock M1009 axles are GM 10 bolts and are not as tough as the 60s

 

[tmike]

One more story...

I purchased my M1009 with 11,600 miles for $1600+/- from GL. Here is a list of some of the repairs that I've made so far:

1. fuel filter block - replaced vacuum sensor o-ring (leaking fuel/losing prime)
2. fuel filter replacement
3. oil change/filter
4. new batteries
5. starter replacement - temporarily robbed from my m1008 (It had a bad "hold in" coil in the solenoid)
6. doghead relay mod
7. Glow plug relay replacement
8. Rotten fuel line -- replaced some, but not all rubber fuel line (pain in the ...)
9. added "Sea-Foam" to fuel
10. Gauge cluster bulb terminal cleaning with screwdriver and emery cloth, and bulb replacement - including voltage meter bulb
11. traced and cleaned horn circuit connectors (works good now)
12. traced and cleaned headlight circuit (lights would not come on at all)
13. Replaced brake light fuse
14. Replaced leaking heater core and fire wall insulation behind air box
15. replaced tailgate cables
16. installed a new pintle hitch (it was missing when I bought it)
17. Blackout lights still do not work
18. need to flush radiator
19. need to re-pack front hubs
20. needs new window tracking/seals (all windows)
21. needs new dash (I'm replacing it with a hand made aluminum dash w/gauge mounts)
22. And it needs much more that I have not mentioned

Keep in mind: I was lucky -- I had zero major malfunctions, just pesky time consuming minor repairs.

Note: Many of these repairs took hours to complete due to the time consuming nature of troubleshooting. ie: I spent a few hours troubleshooting the alternator due to a dirty GEN2 bulb terminal in the gauge cluster. Of course now that I'm a (lightly) seasoned CUCV owner, my next one (number three) will be much easier.

Note2: Odometer readings don't mean a hill of beans. My truck stated 11,600 miles, but its body, frame, and paint condition said so much more. However, the engine runs great - it is possible that the engine was replaced 11,600 miles before I bought it.



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And as for your "DANA 60" you had better check that one out - Also, the "starter slip" sounds like a bad hold-in coil like plagued me or it could be a bad starter relay - see "Doghead starter relay mod". Hopefully its that and not a bad flex plate. -- Remove guard and check teeth and true-ness of flexplate.

My opinion:
$6500 is too much unless it is in mechanical and electrical mint condition - with no rust.