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What to look out for when buying an LMTV

nqmad

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I am hoping that people can either point me to a thread, or give me some general pointers here. I am wanting to buy an LMTV, and am looking for some general pointers to watch out for when doing a walk round on a possible truck purchase. The last truck I looked at did a big lurch either forward or backwards when you released the parking brake and put it into gear. Is this normal? Should I put it into gear first and then release the parking brake? Sorry, complete newbie here. All feedback gratefully received :)
 

GeneralDisorder

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What year/generation are you looking at? A0, A1, A1R, etc?

Generally speaking, automatic transmission engagement should be positive and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. You want them to lock in to gear and not slip - slippage = wear. So a "lurch" isn't unexpected on the earlier (A0) versions. Later models (A1R, etc) are much more refined in their engagement and shifting.

Older models often experience improvement in engagement and shifting "harshness" by switching to Allison transynd or other ATF instead of the 15w40 they were equipped with.
 

RRaulston

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Sahuarita, Arizona
I am hoping that people can either point me to a thread, or give me some general pointers here. I am wanting to buy an LMTV, and am looking for some general pointers to watch out for when doing a walk round on a possible truck purchase. The last truck I looked at did a big lurch either forward or backwards when you released the parking brake and put it into gear. Is this normal? Should I put it into gear first and then release the parking brake? Sorry, complete newbie here. All feedback gratefully received :)
Well, I purchased mine (MTV 6x6 A0) a few months back. It was titled and I was able to test drive it, feel the trans shift, climb all over it, hit the brakes and on and on. My truck was in great shape. Only the CTIS, air/hydro pump and cab suspension bags were not working. Pump and CTIS were fixed for less than $150. Cab? still saving up to fix it. All 6 of my tires are 2018 DC and 90%. I wanted a 4x4 but couldn't find a local one. I chose to spend the 4k shipping quote on a getting a nicer truck. So here we are. Log into GovPlanet and hit the tab button for items sold and you can see what all the trucks have sold for. When you add shipping, you might find a local "driver" for close to the same money. Personally, I wouldn't buy an auction truck, but that's just me. Lots of people have gotten great deals at auction. When I was posting and looking to buy, someone told me "Welcome to the money pit. Better have 10k on tap for stuff". I thought that was BS... Unfortunately, he may be right... And the number one reason not to buy one of these? If you are not a really good mechanic, forget it.... You will go broke paying people to fix it, if you can even find people willing to touch it....
 

GeneralDisorder

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someone told me "Welcome to the money pit. Better have 10k on tap for stuff". I thought that was BS... Unfortunately, he may be right... And the number one reason not to buy one of these? If you are not a really good mechanic, forget it.... You will go broke paying people to fix it, if you can even find people willing to touch it....
Oh yeah - plan to have money to fix stuff. My truck is a 2008 with 2750 miles on it (when acquired - almost 11k now) and still had 2008 tires - I got about 8k miles out of the tires before one blew out. A friend of mine has a 2003 that came with 2003 rubber and his blew out sooner than mine. Just tires can be $5k+ if you want brand new ones, new wheel hardware, o-rings, valve stems, etc. And they weigh 400 pounds each.... on yeah and good luck finding anyone to touch those. You'll be installing them yourself most likely. Not hard just time consuming - if you have a 4x4 and you are doing 5 tires with the spare - that's 100 rusty wheel-half distorted thread lock nuts that have to be dealt with. I think I spent at least 2 hours just getting those off. It will give your impact a work out!

And yes - you need to be your own mechanic. That's why so many in this forum are ex-military and either worked directly in the Motorpool or worked around similar military equipment. I can't imagine what it would cost to have a shop work on one of these for you - assuming you can find anyone to touch it at all you are probably looking at $175+ per hour and you'll likely be paying for someone to do some amount of learning curve unless you are very lucky. And ALL of these trucks come with problems - doesn't matter where you buy it unless maybe you get one from Acela but expect to pay up front for the privilege. My 2008 with 2750 miles on it came with body damage, tires ready to blow out, and a really fun electrical gremlin that took me 8 months to figure out and ended up being a flaw in a wiring harness connector from the factory! FUN! When you find stuff like that - and then you find a pneumatic riv-nut gun left inside the wall of the cab by the guy that was assembling your truck at S&S...... you realize this is a different world from mass produced consumer products.
 

Third From Texas

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Pretty much covered above.

Look out for your wallet...

Be sure to get some shipping quotes if it's not local. Shipping heavy equipment is expensive. Period.

Expect to replace *every* piece of rubber on t he truck. Tires, cab bushings, swaybar bushings, tie rod boots. It's easy to toss 5-8 grand at rubber. And the tires on the truck will need replacement, it's a given. The date codes on the tires tell the tale and these trucks are often stored for years in harsh climates. Rubber has a shelf life, and NOS or not most of the surplus rubber sold for these trucks is ready to fall apart (even if it's new in the original package). Shop accordingly.

Electrical issues are common. You'd be wise to clean every contact between batteries, starter, power distribution. It's duel voltage alt (a couple grand to replace, btw). These trucks are know for their electrical gremlins. You can ditch the four batteries for duals (it's advised even, due to the low output alt). *some of these change with the A1R trucks (produced after 2006), but those models are rare

That annual $29 oil change jumps to about $1200 after all the fluids and filters are replaced (if you do it yourself, triple that if you just drop it off at the CAT dealership).

If you wrench your own pickup truck, you have tools. You can forget those. You need BIG tools now.

Do you live where you need air-conditioning in the cab? An OEM a/c will set you back about 4 grand just for the kit. Installing it is no simple task.

If you live where there is an HOA, you'll want to price storage for the truck. While some neighbors love them, most don't want to look at them.

Insurance can be an issue for some folks. It varies by state and even which part of a city you live in whether you can even find a policy.

Even getting the truck titled is impossible in many states. You can often get it titled as a "former military vehicle", but that's supposed to be limited use (parades, car shows, events, etc). Some states allow for commercial registration, which can sometimes require a CDL. Some states simply tell you NO. Check your local laws (not just what the guy selling the truck says and don't assume you can always replicate what he did).

Fuel cost is a consideration. You'll get 4-7 mpg with these trucks (with a 56 gal tank). What 's diesel selling for at the station down the street today? Because it will go up tomorrow. Diesel keeps crawling up and never came down like gas did (I'm paying double what I paid three years ago). And even once Brandon is gone, it will take years to rebuild the supply (and that's assuming this country makes a FULL 180 in 2024).

That's the reality and for a lot of people these are not issues. But know this going in...

They are awesome trucks, but not cheap to own or operate.
 
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Ronmar

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A lurch is not unusual, especially on an A0 that may have been idling a little high… do you not drive automatics? Pretty standard to have your foot on the brake when you select D or R. What to look for? Hmmm… well the things I look for are the result of decades of learning. Since knowledge gives you this power, i suggest you start some indepth study on the vehicles you are interested in and how their systems work. The different trucks use different engines and do things a little differently in some cases.

in general:
look for out of place extra wiring and air hoses(Hack job mods and repairs). These things do tend to shift a little harsher than what you are probably used to. Does it drive smooth, hows the vibration? Is the steering smooth from stop to stop, does it pull when braking, does the park brake hold it when you engage and come up a bit off idle?

Engine:
Easy start, Smooth idle, smooth rev, no unusual sounds and low vapor from the crankcase vent when warm. Does the dryer purge, how long this takes from empty tanks can give you an idea how well the compressor is working. How often it happens can give you an idea of how bad the air system leaks.

Are you familiar with airbrakes?

Running gear:
Any oil leakage on axles or around drums.
any side-side/up-down movement in driveshaft pinions or driveshafts ujoints or sliders themselves.
transmission leaks.
brake shoe wear(is it even?).
what are the condition and date codes of the tires?
unless they have receipts, expect you will have to balance the driveshafts.

does all the lighting and electrical work? What are the charge voltages like(take a volt meter, know how to measure this at batts or alt, 14.1/28.2 is typical). These things use a very expensive dual volt alt or require significant mod to fit a more readily available single volt alt. Changing to a 24v alt is 75% cheaper but still expect to pay at least $500…

Does CTIS work?

Some things can be indications of serious issues, and some can be minor maintenance issues that you can play on to your advantage when you make a counter offer. Again it is all about what YOU know.

IMO, unless you are capable of doing your own work, to say the level of replacing your own cylinder head gasket and brakes, or have REALLY deep pockets to pay for maintenance, you should probably not be considering buying one of these. They are not difficult to work on, but they are big, requiring big lifts and tools to perform the work, particularly for trans and axles…

Good Luck!
 

TomTime

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Your depressed?! I just spent 3 hours rebuilding my treadle valve. 30 minutes to rebuild it and the rest was just to R&R the assembly! And, the worst part was asking the wife to hold a wrench while I zipped the nuts.... You would have thought the world was ending... 😧
...your preaching to the choir...your preaching to the choir...🤪
 

chucky

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What are yall crying about ??????? My heads been used as a landing zone for falling objects ! i may never be able to blow up a balloon again / lost all my piano lessons and maybe my ABC's / got told the 68k ive paid my insurance co. was in vein and you know what keeps me goin?????? Thru the trama and crazy pain of it all im so excited today cause my seal kit for my cab latch came in the mail yday and all ive done is watch lm/fmtv truck repar all weekend between naps on utube so you get to thinking thing are too rough for ya think about WILL-E COYOTE on the Roadrunner cartoon he never gave up !
 

ExtremeTruckMT

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I've only had mine for 6 months, but it has been a good experience. I bought mine from a friend, so I knew its history and maintenance. He had it for 3 years and bought it from a high end truck enthusiast that restored it from auction and got everything working well. I'm an engineer, not a mechanic.

The most important thing I've learned in 6 months is:

Everything takes 3-4 times longer to fix than you think. Everything I fix or change ends up requiring parts or tools that need to be ordered.

The good news is that the truck is so big that its easy to work on.

Don't let the negatives get you down! Go for it
 

spankybear

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WA
My truck had rust... You really could not see it in the govplanet pictures. I took it as a challenge and cut out and replaced the rusty metal...

Oh and everything is HEAVY and out of reach...
 
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