Ex military truck gears

[Hiluxxulih]

Originally Posted by KShortell

Great looking truck!

As an aside, my dad was project manager for the CUCVs back in the 1980s at the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Command (TACOM). They had some early teething problems, but worked out the kinks early on. They're solid trucks. After all, they're Chevys!

What were the teething problems ?

[75gmck25]

My unit received our first CUCVs in about 1984 and from what I recall there were some early problems with the glow plugs or injectors on the diesel engine.

We were in the field using the trucks and had to keep swapping them out so that each one could be taken to the dealer for the GM fix. The fix apparently was not complicated, because it only took one day in the shop. However, most of the drivers thought it was fine to get out of the field and get paid for relaxing at the GM dealer waiting for the truck to be ready.

We then took them on an exercise to Korea in March 1985 and they were very reliable. It was great to have a heater in every vehicle, since the old jeeps (that the Blazer CUCV replaced) usually did not have a heater and we had to completely remove the tops in the field. I did notice a big difference in gearing from the pickup version (4.56 gears) to the Blazer version (not sure of gears), which made highway travel a lot quieter in the Blazer.

Bruce