Thinking about a CUCV

[mvfd70]

I don't normally spend much time in this part of the board, but I'm thinking of purchasing a CUCV pick-up for a daily driver. Does anyone have any experience, good or bad, with these? They look pretty stout but I'm kind of unfamiliar with the diesel engines from back then. How are they on pulling power and drivability? I'm guessing that these were non turbo charged engines. How difficult would it be to put turbo on one? Or is that even doable? Where is the best source to purchase one of these? I've seen some on a government liquidation web site and was wondering if that would be the best place or not. Are they usually in pretty decent shape from these type of sites? Sorry for all the questions. I just don't want to jump into buying something and then get stuck with a 6000# paper weight.

[Walts_restoration]

they come stock with a 6.2 diesel, i believe the 6.5 turbo diesel is a completely different animal power and reliability wise, but will bolt right in more or less.

[msgross]

These guys are really into them
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/

I use to drive some in the guard... 4.56 gears, rear lockers, dana60 front and only runs about 65 mph without really whining it out...

very tough trucks, 1.25 Ton I think, and usually have low miles. Old chevy diesel with cheap gov parts (glow plugs, control boxes etc..) and a 24volt electrical system...

I'd like to have one too but don't plan on it anytime soon...

Th400 and NP208 I think...

[mvfd70]

Yeah I'm looking over that web site right now. This sounds like the perfect truck for me. Decent mileage, super payload capacity, probably pretty cheap to buy, no frills, 4x4. I only drive my truck now about 10,000 miles or less a year so I don't see the need in anything "fancy" for me.

[msgross]

SHould be able to find one for $2500-$3500 I bet...

[mvfd70]

seems like a decent price for a low mileage diesel.

[jimmy norman]

if you can get it for a good price you should buy it. you can always sell it and you;re guaranteed to get your money back. Those rears bring good money. My axles came out of that same kind of truck.

[mvfd70]

not a bad idea there

[Ds86C10]

ahhh whats a CUCV?

[GM72K10]

CUCV Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle. Places to look to buy are state auctions, GSA auctions, GL. Buying one sight unseen is a crap shoot though, best to inspect first. The ones from GL tend to have bent drive shafts if coming from Pa. (got 3 0f them that way) M1008s and M1028s have TH400 NP208s. M1031s and M1028a1s have TH400/NP205 plus there are M1028a2, a3 combos which are dually conversions. Then there are the M1009 blazers . . . I have a M1028a1, bought with 6700 original miles, and after getting all the bugs out from sitting and damaged parts, wound up with a great truck! Here's my M1031/M1028a1 before I put the box from a M1008A1 on it.

[Dooley]

I like mine!

[84 400]

They are good on fuel but I have heard some complain about the top speed. A 4l80e is a good swap that is some what common. IT will give you an overdrive gear and get those RPM's down low on the highway and increase the top speed.

Turbos.....
Banks made a kit for the 6.2. I am sure one could be found for decent money.

here is a promo for the banks 6.2 turbo kit

YouTube - Turbo system for Suburbans

[Prerunner1982]

I would love to have one as well... SteelSoliders ia a great site with LOADS of info.. like the technical manuals available for download/print.

[68K20 x Drill]

I have and have installed the banks kit. it is a bolt on, takes all day if you're good, and brings the power up to at least the level of a normal car.

[mvfd70]

Does the turbo help with highway speeds any?

[84 400]

Well the CUCV is held back by the factory 4:56 gear range.... Good for offload but not so hot for top speed and the combination of the Th400 not being an overdrive kills top speed as well. I would think the banks kit might give you more power but the motor would still be howling ...

[68K20 x Drill]

With 3.73's and 32" tires,the turbo comes on good around 70, and it will wrap the speedo past straight down before I hit governor speed~100. With only 3 gears, engine noise is bothersome over 70, so I had to put in a better CD player. My fuel setting is quite conservative (never black smoke), and I can maintain 60+ MPH from California to Reno if I'm not towing. With a 3500LB tent trailer, I had to hit 2nd in a few spots, but still got 16 MPG. With 4:56's , you may not need the lower gears ever.

[bighoss0331]

if you want a big burly work truck that will do any thing.get you one.if you want a fast highway truck that has to get some RPMs,never mind.when i was in the military we would take those old chevys and m35s and give them a good ol fashion tennessee dog whoopen.i have a m1008 that i have turboed.its a stout old sob

[gofastbobby]

Buying from GovernmentLiquidations can be tough. There seems to be a lot of red tape that can become quite...annoying. My brother had to wait for the ok to purchase his truck from them, which took over 90 days. He had already paid them and was without a truck until the right paper was signed by the right guy somewhere in Washington.

After he picked up the truck the story was, "yeah title will be in the mail shortly." four months later he went to the Michigan SOS office (read DMV) and obtained the title through the lost title process.

I have heard of others having a flawless process buying from them that went very well. Just know what could happen if you choose to go that route.

We chose to flat tow it home instead of attempting to drive it, which ended up being a good idea. We were warned that a lot of the trucks have bent driveshafts when you take posession of them, we got lucky.

Great truck though. Awesome wood hauler. I haven't towed with it, but stacked past the roof and side racks with firewood it still moved well enough.
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[DetroitDan]

they are fantastic work trucks, make great plow trucks too. As has been mentioned, they don't like the highway much. They are usually sold with low miles (the first time anyway), 30-40k miles. Very well maintained mechanically, and the 6.2s are really good on fuel. Bear in mind, most of those miles are hard miles, driven by 18 year olds far from home with more testosterone than brains and no financial interest in the vehicle. I may be responsible for some of the bent driveshafts mentioned above, we used to like to see how high off the ground we could get them (m1009s fly better than m1008s). What can I say, Dukes of Hazzard generation.

[bighoss0331]

buy it.worst comes to worst if you dont like the setup you could change it,or part her out

[Dave Kay]

Originally Posted by gofastbobby

Buying from GovernmentLiquidations can be tough. There seems to be a lot of red tape that can become quite...annoying. My brother had to wait for the ok to purchase his truck from them, which took over 90 days. He had already paid them and was without a truck until the right paper was signed by the right guy somewhere in Washington.

After he picked up the truck the story was, "yeah title will be in the mail shortly." four months later he went to the Michigan SOS office (read DMV) and obtained the title through the lost title process.

I have heard of others having a flawless process buying from them that went very well. Just know what could happen if you choose to go that route.

We chose to flat tow it home instead of attempting to drive it, which ended up being a good idea. We were warned that a lot of the trucks have bent driveshafts when you take posession of them, we got lucky.

Great truck though. Awesome wood hauler. I haven't towed with it, but stacked past the roof and side racks with firewood it still moved well enough.
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I'd like to respond to gofastbobby; you are partly correct in that it takes a while to finally get your truck from GL but that is because YOUR FIRST TIME purchase must clear a type of background check called EUC. That can take up to 90 days and sometimes longer. After that your future purchases will clear real fast; like 10 days! Annoying redtape is in the eye of the beholder; there is no more paperwork involved than buying a new truck from a dealer--- in fact I believe it is probably less!

Title problems are usually the fault of the state you live in. Example; in Arizona a guy buys truck, clears EUC, and Gov Liquidation issues title. In good ol' Kalifornia there's one more piece of paper to get before you go to DMV office and GL takes their sweet time sending it. But once that is in hand you are throttle-up for title and registration packet, e., g., weight certificate and brake/lamps inspection, then VIN verification and you're done.

What all the states have in common is basically you are applying for the CUCV's title for the first time. In other words, the federal govt has no title to sign over--- they don't have to. So in effect you are titling the vehicle for the first time or in your brother's case, applying for a lost title--- same thing.

Buying CUCV's is not that much a hassle, I've bought three from GL and once you go through the process you'll see it's really simple.

Also, IMHO, if guys are looking to buy CUCV for daily drivers you'd better be ready to do some mechanical work and cover all your bases. These trucks are pushing 30 years old and even with low mileage there are plenty of things that CAN AND WILL deteriorate and fail--- some REAL expensive to name a few; injector pump - $500 rebuld, harmonic balancer key shears - broken crankshaft, 24V starter breaks mounting bolts - ruins flexplate, under-dash starter soleniod sticks - fries electrical wires... this is just to name a few like I said.

SO for guys thinking serious about a CUCV I say go for it, but be aware that it takes a fair amount of work before it can be made dependable--- like a daily driver.