MaverickH1
Member
- 345
- 6
- 18
- Location
- Roanoke, VA
If you take any vehicle on the market, and give it to 300 separate 18-21 year old men and tell them to drive through a war zone and someone else will maintain it and pay for the damages… you’re likely to end up with some horror stories. When you neglect machines but keep them in service, more horror stories. When the vehicles require training and finesse to smoothly and gently get over obstacles where most people want to use momentum and throttle out… you’ll end up with some horror stories. When you have a vehicle rated for 10,300 lbs and loads it to nearly that capacity and does all of the things listed above, you'll have horror stories.
There are things about the HMMWV that are different than other cars. And as another poster alluded to, this sometimes makes them more complicated. But there are Hummer H1s out there with verrrry high miles. The highest documented at 782,000: http://www.humvee.net/hmh.html
The Hummer H1s are already well into the world of collector status. They also have a rabid following of guys who work to keep them on the road. Personally, I have been on the Hummer Network forums as much as on here. Most of the mechanical problems they face will get you prepared, but the electronics are much different. I highly recommend reading and lurking over there.
While my low beam/high beam switch might be less reliable than a Jeep Wrangler’s… mine is JUST a low beam / high beam switch instead of a combination turn signal/hi/low/windshield wiper/fastfooddelivery/Bluetooth switch. It takes two screws to get to and the wiring is clearly labeled and wiring diagrams and technical manuals are free. So even if it lasts 60% of the time of a Wrangler one… it takes 2.3 minutes to disassemble and diagnose if I go to the fridge to get a beer in the middle of it.
The same can be true of the main computer. The same for the windshield washer pump. Etc, etc.
And there’s no telling who may have screwed what up. If it has 2,500 miles on it, are those real miles? Does the engine have 2500 hours on it? Did it have water in it? Did they disconnect the batteries when unplugging electrical things? Etc. Etc.
And one of the biggest advantages to me? It was made almost exactly the same way for 30 years. Compare that to almost any consumer vehicle that might get redesigned every 6 years, thus resetting the knowledge base and reliability reputation of the vehicle. At the moment, parts are very easy to come by for everything I needed except for obscure body configuration parts. And if you can’t find the parts, it’s often possible to have them made pretty easily. The biggest advantage to me is that knowledge base I alluded to earlier. I challenge you to have a problem that stumps the experts on these vehicles.
There are things about the HMMWV that are different than other cars. And as another poster alluded to, this sometimes makes them more complicated. But there are Hummer H1s out there with verrrry high miles. The highest documented at 782,000: http://www.humvee.net/hmh.html
The Hummer H1s are already well into the world of collector status. They also have a rabid following of guys who work to keep them on the road. Personally, I have been on the Hummer Network forums as much as on here. Most of the mechanical problems they face will get you prepared, but the electronics are much different. I highly recommend reading and lurking over there.
While my low beam/high beam switch might be less reliable than a Jeep Wrangler’s… mine is JUST a low beam / high beam switch instead of a combination turn signal/hi/low/windshield wiper/fastfooddelivery/Bluetooth switch. It takes two screws to get to and the wiring is clearly labeled and wiring diagrams and technical manuals are free. So even if it lasts 60% of the time of a Wrangler one… it takes 2.3 minutes to disassemble and diagnose if I go to the fridge to get a beer in the middle of it.
The same can be true of the main computer. The same for the windshield washer pump. Etc, etc.
And there’s no telling who may have screwed what up. If it has 2,500 miles on it, are those real miles? Does the engine have 2500 hours on it? Did it have water in it? Did they disconnect the batteries when unplugging electrical things? Etc. Etc.
And one of the biggest advantages to me? It was made almost exactly the same way for 30 years. Compare that to almost any consumer vehicle that might get redesigned every 6 years, thus resetting the knowledge base and reliability reputation of the vehicle. At the moment, parts are very easy to come by for everything I needed except for obscure body configuration parts. And if you can’t find the parts, it’s often possible to have them made pretty easily. The biggest advantage to me is that knowledge base I alluded to earlier. I challenge you to have a problem that stumps the experts on these vehicles.
