Various dates on an LMTV M-1079

[tennmogger]

Built 1994, delivered 1996, but box (of M-1079) built 1998. How can that make sense? Would a chassis be delivered and a box added later? If the box was added as an upgrade to an existing chassis, the truck chassis would have been a 1078, seems like.

 

[fuzzytoaster]

What is the serial of your truck? It's possible it was part of the initial 3,000 trucks that were made that failed the corrosion test and were sent back for new galvanized cabs. Stewart & Stevenson had logistical issues making the trucks so I wouldn't be surprised if the truck chassis was made in 94' but only complete in 96' only to get refitted in 98'. Educated speculation sure but it's a better guess than "they stamped it wrong" or "it just is".

"By the time the production qualification and operational tests were successfully completed in June 1995, the contractor had produced about 3,000 trucks, all needing varying levels of work to conform to the specifications of those that had passed testing. About 1,474 trucks had to be disassembled to their frames and remanufactured. This additional work delayed the production of new trucks during 9 months while the contractor modified the 3,000 trucks. The contractor had to stop new production for 5 months and produced only 175 new trucks during the other 4 months."

A fantastic read if you're wanting the nitty-gritty of it.
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https://www.gao.gov/assets/230/226891.pdf

 

[NDT]

Yup fuzzy nailed it. The FMTV was Stewart and Stevenson’s first rodeo with road trucks, prior to this they built off highway vehicles only. The factory was right off I-10 and over the years I would see hundreds of partially completed trucks sitting outside in the weeds, waiting for this that or the other.

 

[Ronmar]

Want some more fun/confusion, you can load your engine serial number into the cat website and they will give you production and delivery dates for it also

 

[tennmogger]

Fuzzytoaster, that makes a lot of sense, thanks.

That certainly is an informative read you listed, something every FMTV owner should know about. Imagine the frustration it must have been working at S&S during that period.

Since as early as the '70's, S&S was a great company for what they did. I rode many an oilfield truck at least partially assembled by S&S. There is a reference that S&S bought a truck assembly plant in the Houston area in order to pursue the FMTV contract. Does anyone know what company's facility that was?

This M1079's serial is ..799B, so it must have been a really early one. Is there some way to track what happened to the truck by the S/N? It ended up in Ft Campbell in HQ Company, Military Police BN according to the numbers still visible.