Today was a big day!

Went and picked up my friend Steve's M923A2 from near Wright Patt AFB. Steve wasn't able to go with me to pick it up due to needing to hang around and oversee some things going on with construction of his new range/gun shop. One of his employees went with me instead.

We took my truck up and we met up with an AF Security Forces buddy of mine who showed us the correct way to get to the storage yard as opposed to what GPS said.

On the drive up, my truck hit the big 40!



My Security Forces buddy was first into the yard and talking with the Gov Planet rep, who couldn't help himself to comment to how illegal it was for me to be driving my HMMWV to which my buddy told him it wasn't according to the State of Ohio. He acquiesced and said that when they started selling them, he knew people would find a way to register them if they were determined enough.

During our conversation he did mention one interesting thing... I asked if they still had a lot of trucks to sell and he mentioned as far as he knew they did in terms of current inventory and from what he heard, there was supposed to be another big turn in at the end of this year. Is it true? Could be... I'd put the conversation in the neighborhood of gun shop scuttlebutt but probably a little bit more reliable since he is employed with the company selling them.

Anyway, he took us right over to Steve's truck. Here it is parked next to a HEMTT that was sold:



There was another HEMTT nearby:



And an interesting open cab MTV:





Parked next to the MTV was a pretty clean helmet top HMMWV with X-doors:





I didn't have time to really snap some detailed pics of all the trucks there since weather was moving in and, since I am apparently the unofficial motor pool mechanic, had to swap in some new batteries to get his truck started.

I did take a couple other pics of the yard including a panoramic:







Just as I was wrapping up the battery install, rain started moving in which sucked because I did not bring my top or doors since I figured we'd be back south before it was supposed to move in later in the day.

Got the batteries in and the truck started right up despite needing a new version of its PCB (it had a wire jumper setup installed that is supposed to allow bypassing it). Let it idle to warm up for a little and then took off. By this point it was raining steadily.

I've driven a number of box trucks over the years including a manual transmission 26' U-Haul and let me tell you, having never driven a truck of the size of a M923 and learning how it drives on the fly and in the rain was down right terrifying! Most especially the whole stopping part! I don't know how the 5 tons' brakes usually are since this is the only example I've driven but it seemed they went from "slightly slowing" to STOPPING!

The turning radius is quite large to say the least. The ride was so unbelievably bouncy I actually started feeling queasy which has never happened to me in any vehicle or boat even. So once we got far enough south to clear the rain, we pulled into a gas station just off the expressway to hit the head and grab some drinks which helped. Gave me a chance to get a group pic:



For anyone unfamiliar with the 5 tons, that really gives a perspective on size! In the 5 ton, you actually sit eye level with the tops of semi truck driver's cabs!

So we got underway again and since we weren't driving in the rain, I was able to unclench from the seat cushion enough to get a couple pics.



The rain behind us and my baby bringing up the rear!



Rest of the drive went pretty uneventfully once I got a bit used to how the truck handled. Kept it pretty much at 55 the whole time on the highway. Of course, when you're that big it's not like there's many people that are going to make you go faster (not that the truck had much more in it anyway).

Closing thoughts... Compared to the M923 the HMMWV rides like a luxury sports car. . For anyone that was wondering, the Ibis Tek light bar control box is not waterproof let alone weatherproof (a couple of the switches' LED indicator lights on it decided to come on after getting wet).

Lastly, after about an hour and a half of wheel time in a 5 ton I am even more dumbfounded how HMMWVs can be deemed only safe for off road use while these big, lumbering 21,000lb trucks that are equipped with air brakes, which usually require a CDL to operate, are sold with perfectly clean SF97s/titles. But I suppose that's government for you...

Great post!  Maybe we can make this a 2.5 and 5 ton post too since mine went away.  So there was a cable jump bypass? Can you describe what this is and post pics as we did not buy the jumper for my fire dept 5 ton or the cable because we only have 1 truck.  Would be nice to jump it with either an external or 12 v jump system

If someone has some technical questions, I don't see why we can't. There's definitely crossover with military vehicles.

I might have worded that part of the post badly... The engine control module/PCB on the truck is bad.

The Gov Planet rep had made up a jumper that plugged into the PCB plug to allow the truck to start without the PCB connected.





He said this works fine on most trucks with a PCB that goes bad. Some trucks' gauges won't work without the PCB plugged in but this truck's gauges all worked fine.

Unfortunately, you're stuck either using the slave cable and jumping from another military truck or, jumping with regular cables from another 24v vehicle. I've heard some construction equipment uses 24v electrical systems but I don't know which might.

You guys might want to pick up something like this. I've heard there are military units so you might see if you can't get one of those surplus.

There's also apparently one of those compact vehicle jump starters made in 24v. Just tuck it right in your small compartment next to the battery compartment and pull it out when you need it. At $150 for their heavy duty version, might not be a bad idea for anyone with a mil vehicle to keep one on board! I just put it on my list of "to get" items.

Got the old Y-pipe off today after picking up some new Grade 8 hardware to install it. Was definitely a great day for a drive! Couldn't have asked for nicer weather.

I am using 3/8"x2-1/2 Grade 8 bolts with Grade 8 washers, lock washers, and nuts. Putting anti-seize on all the bolts so they're hopefully easier to take out in the future.

Removal of the old pipe was a bit of an adventure. The TM always seems to make things look a lot easier than they are. Had to use an angle grinder in some spots and a Dremel in others to cut the rusty bolts off. A hammer, chisel, and a set of goggles also came in handy.

The passenger side was by far the hardest part. If the designers had only decided to make the manifold another 2-3" longer towards the rear or just angled downwards like the driver's side, it would be a breeze. But no...

The driver's side flange was in a lot worse shape than I thought. Material was very thin clear through the bend where it would have just continued to deteriorate.

Also, you'd think a preformed part like the new crossover pipe would slide right in but, no. I can get one of the legs attached but not the other two. I'm going to have to use some ratchet straps to reform the pipe so everything lines up correctly.

Just ran out of daylight and had to call it quits.

How is everyone running their auxiliary electrical accessories such as lightbars, radios, etc? I have been looking at going with a Blue Sea fuse panel to make wiring clean and simple like the two links below:

Blue Sea Install 1

Blue Sea Install # 2

I picked up something like that Blue Sea fuse panel but haven't started adding much in the way of electrical accessories aside from the Ibis Tek bar and winch which are both pretty self contained.

The plan is to have an overhead console fabbed up to which my auxiliary switches and radios will also mount. Going to have the fuse panel mounted on top of it with a single heavy wire going to my 12v. I'm thinking the way I'll do it for any LED aux lighting I add, including the backup lights I've already got mounted, is have 12v activate the relays feeding 24v power to them.



Today was a busy day for me!

Wrapped up the crossover pipe install. It was a bit frustrating, like trying to fit an oval peg in a round hole but, I did get everything to line up with the help of the previously mentioned ratchet straps.



First I ended up using a couple dabs of high temp silicone on the manifold seals to keep them in place on the manifolds themselves while I installed the crossover pipe. The crossover to muffler gasket had no problem staying in place on the crossover pipe with out the silicone.

I had to start with loosely attaching the driver's side of the crossover. From there I had to pull the muffler connection down and back and was then able to loosely bolt that up to the crossover. From there I tightened both of those connections up. Then I had to pull the whole setup towards the passenger side so it would line up with the passenger side manifold.

Took the truck out for an hour long drive after I wrapped my work for the day. So much quieter! I think there is a slight gap on the passenger side manifold connection since I can hear a small pft, pft, pft noise under acceleration. I'm going to let the exhaust go though a couple heat and cool cycles then go back and retighten the whole thing.

I also noticed the driver's side of the drivetrain tunnel seemed cooler against my leg. Probably helps to not have hot exhaust blowing right on it!

While I was in the general vicinity, I went ahead and decided to replace my shifter boot. Since I had to take the shifter quadrant out again, I installed some aluminum rivnuts to eliminate the pain in the ass that is getting to the nuts underneath. 5/16 rivnuts worked with the factory bolts. Just like it should have come from the factory...



Also painted the quadrant since the anodizing was heavily worn. I've got a new t-case indicator plate I got from Equipment Parts Sales when I got the Y-pipe from them. Looks like a brand new shift quadrant!

Once that was out of the way I got the new tach installed.



The pyrometer on the right isn't hooked up yet. I need to have a boss for the themocouple welded into the new Y-pipe and then figure out how I'm going to get 12v switched power to it.

The directions TNriverjet included with the tach were easy to understand and worked perfect!

I ended up using an Auto Meter 5204 pod to mount it to the dash.

The width is fine but the cup is a little shallow, even with trimming the mounting screws and terminal block plastic. It's not a perfect fit but it's just fine for me.







Wired it up using some 14/4. Split the red and black off under the dash for power. Yellow and blue went to the pulse sender on the back of the engine. To keep the wiring simplified and confined to just the 14/4 I ended up just wiring the tach's backlight to the power feed to the gauge instead of the dash lights. I drive with the lights on all the time anyway.

I also replaced the incandescent bulb the gauge comes with with a green LED to match the dash lights.




I've got plans Saturday and Sunday but hopefully I'll be able to tackle the new heater on Monday.

Well apparently KY government had a special hearing about HMMWV and HMMWV Variants based on their being NON-DOT Compliant, and according to the people (all the way up to Frankfort, a Sheriff in two counties, and guy selling Humvees in Bardstown), they are pushing to keep them off the roads.

They said specifically in a letter I was allowed to read, the M998, and others were names BY SPECIFICS as being completely banned on KY roadways, and would be CONFISCATED if found.

There is already one that was confiscated a couple months ago.  Its already happening.

Any specifics in the date the hearing was held? Was this hearing recorded?

What are they going to do to Ohio registered HMMWVs on KY roadways? I've driven mine across the river several times as recently as a week or two ago. And I've driven by any number of police officers while over there.

This is a whole big load of BS. Hardly any military surplus vehicle meet DOT/FMVSS standards and they don't have to! They are exempt from them.


And the NHTSA confirmed that:

In other news, I had my first on road failure today.

Was headed up to a friend's that is about an hour a half from my home and taking the back roads. He and his family wanted to see the truck in person and I figured it would be a good endurance test. Well, about 35-40 minutes in, I started getting a strong smell of coolant.

Pulled over at a gas station and saw coolant on the driver's side of the truck. Popped the hood and found one of my coolant lines had developed a small split and was spitting out coolant.

I figured based on the amount of coolant it was losing and distance from home I should be able to make it back. Thank God that that big, horsepower sucking fan moves so much air!

According to the gauge () the temp got up to 230-235 by the time I got home. As soon as I pulled in I put the shop fan on it and pulled out the garden hose to spray it down. Maybe a little overreaction but I figured better safe than sorry.

I really need to go through and replace all of the coolant lines. Some of them are swelled up quite a bit but, what can you expect from a 20+ year old vehicle? Anyone know off hand where in the TMs I can find info on what sizes and how much hose I might need, if it even lists it at all?

Hopefully you arent calling me a liar.  I personally visited with the BMV, in 2 locations.  

The prospective buyer went on 4 different trips, met with the Sheriff (for inspection reasons) and the county clerk, and persons in Frankfort.

The letter I was shown was actually a form letter emailed to all BMVs (each county) in KY, and was also posted on the wall of Fayette Co, where I actually went myself.

Everything was Just Fine and Dandy, until they entered the VIN, and it showed up (6 digits) and it said M998 AM GENERAL HMMWV.

If you think Im lying, make the phone call and ask.

Me, and another guy I met a few weeks ago now have very expensive farm toys.

I can also say, once this problem started in KY, I spoke with titling offices (2) in Ohio, and both cautioned me that there was potential problems coming for titled HMMWVs in Ohio, as well as other parts of the US.

She said in her opinion "We dont know what they will do, but it is being talked about, since so many people are trying to title these"

All i know is I paid a lot of money for mine, because it was titled and ready to go.

I lost a lot of money in this deal.  

No definitely not calling you a liar! Sorry for the misunderstanding!

I can certainly believe a government bureaucracy causing undue hardship on people.

What I'm throwing the BS flag on is the whole DOT/FMVSS aspect of these.

I know I mentioned it a couple times in this thread already but there are already tons of military vehicles on the road whether they're CUCVs, 5 tons, Deuces, or any other number of vehicles and none of them are an issue.

Like I just related in helping my friend bring his 5 ton home, that in my opinion, is a far more dangerous vehicle, especially in the hands of a poor driver, than these HMMWVs and yet there was zero issue with Steve getting a license plate and driving it right off the Gov Planet lot. Not to say I think it shouldn't be allowed to be owned or operated privately, but it is what it is, a 21,000lb truck (nearly 4x the mass of our HMMWVs!) with air brakes that doesn't require a CDL.

Yet somehow these HMMWVs are magically rolling death traps according to people that know better than we pleebs.

And yet there are thousands of civilian "H1s" out there.  None of the pre 1999 year models have ABS, none of any year model have air bags, etc.  basically identical to HMMWVs when you think about it.

I can see where states could have their own administrative hearings on how they classify certain vehicles and it not be a public hearing simply because it's administrative and creating/clarifying procedure. Kentucky is doing what other states such as New Jersey, Arizona, etc have already done. It sounds like the military vehicle owners of KY need to lobby their state representatives about enacting change. That's what happened here in GA and now registering former military vehicles isn't a problem. There is a law on the books that specifically waives DOT requirements for the purpose of getting a registration and title on former military vehicles. I have several other issues with the post though.

How did they run the 6-digit VIN and get all of the information for the vehicle? As a former military vehicle, where the reporting requirements aren't the same as if it were a Ford F150, etc - if they ran the number, it should have said "no record found", unless it was tagged and titled elsewhere first. These things are serial numbered, no different than a trailer or a computer. Unless that serial number was reported stolen, it won't show up in a motor vehicle database. It's just a random 6-digit number that could be for anything. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the vehicle wasn't registered prior, correct?

As far as being "confiscated" - under what basis? I can see them impounding it to get it off the road because it doesn't satisfy state requirements for a road-worthy vehicle (no different than getting caught on your 4-wheeler), but "confiscated" implies that they keep it - in other words, sieze it. What is the lawful basis for the seizure of your property? As with all things, officer discretion is a factor too and I can't think of too many laws on the books (maybe with the exception of family/domestic violence stuff) where the law specifically prescribes the action to be taken by the officer - especially in regards to administrative traffic law. In the case of the letter - it's not even law. If anything, it's a clarification of existing law and how a humvee doesn't meet the requirements of existing law, in which case again, the humvee is no different than any other vehicle that doesn't meet the criteria of the law in question. Another issue is I've never seen a state agency in charge of the tagging and titling of vehicles have the authority to tell all law enforcement agencies in a state what action they "shall" (meaning no discretion) take regarding certain actions, other than other state agencies like Highway Patrol or State Public Safety. It'll usually be suggested what they "should" (meaning, discretionary) take.

That brings up the issue of reciprocity with other state laws. KY is part of the compact between states that report infractions back to the home state of the driver which also covers reciprocity for traffic laws. Example - NY at one time had pickup truck owners get "commercial" tags. These tags limited you to certain roadways (especially in southern NY). Now, if a GA pickup owner were to go to NY - you couldn't be cited for having improper tags but you could be cited for driving on improper roads since there are signs posted at the entrance to certain road systems (Palisades Pkwy, etc). If Ohio or Georgia or any other state deems that it is satisfactory to drive a Humvee on state roads, to include interstates and you drive it in Kentucky - the law enforcement officers there are going to sieze your vehicle? I'm not sure all of this is adding up.

hkx3, please understand that I'm not calling you a liar - because I 100 percent believe that what you posted was what you believe to be the truth. I very much believe that Kentucky may choose not to register/tag/title these and that is the risk that's taken when you buy one of these,  I call into question the other parts though. I know that you said that you've personally seen a letter, which if it's a specific letter from the state tag office regarding an influx of a popular type of vehicle, you'd think would be posted publicly so they didn't have to deal with the mess in the aftermath - but are you sure your buyer isn't just getting cold feet and trying to back out? Understand that there have been unverified rumors regarding confiscation/impounding these since they started selling them - I've looked into most all of them and haven't been able to pin down any specifics or even anyone with 1 degree of separation from the affected party at this time though - so I really believe it to all be rumor until verified otherwise. In many cases we need to consider the source of the word we get. What does the sheriff really know about the process and procedure the state uses for registering vehicles? All his guys do are check the VIN to make sure it's not stolen. The lady at the desk at the tag office? She may have heard rumors too, but I sincerely doubt she is part of the administrative process to determine how and what gets registered. It's no different than hearing rumors from the Iron Planet guys on a lot somewhere - they have no idea what they're main office does other than what they hear through a grapevine as well - which may or may not be true.

That's my biggest fear with this purchase. Living in NY there are all kinds of asinine rules and regulations. I've got about 9k invested so far and I haven't even gotten it here yet. When it comes time to try and register it I'm planning on filling my pockets with rabbit feet and wearing my lucky t-shirt. I have no idea what will happen.

My brother (still in NY) wants to get one, his biggest concern is the registration as well - so he's got me watching your status to see how it works out.

I'm coming up on 8 weeks. Maybe someday soon I'll actually get it.

I'm personally great friends with the buyer.  Instead of selling it to him (I moved to KY)  I tried to get it retagged here myself. Guess what.  I was told if I operated it on a KY hwy,  And an officer savvy of the law saw me,  I would be ticketed,  and have the vehicle impounded.  

Being a risk I won't take,  I sold it for parts.
It's gone.  I lost 10 grand.
Take the doubt of my story and put it on a shelf.  I lived it.  I am living it.

I. Lost 10 grand on the deal.   Go ahead and gamble your money.  You probably have a lot more of it that  I do.

I have been told in no uncertain terms,  get involved in an accident in the Humvee,  tagged titled insured,  didn't matter... Hang onto your ass.  A lawyer will rip it apart.

Well, it looks like my coolant loss and overtemp seemingly caused a secondary problem...

This morning I went out and did the retightening on the crossover pipe I had planned to. Snugged everything down and went to start up the truck to see if there was any difference.

Turned the ignition over to "run", didn't get a wait light or voltage drop, and the truck was hard to start.



Disconnected battery and reseated the TSU and EESS connections. Nothing.

Thought it over and decided either somehow the TSU got damaged from the overtemp condition or, when hosing the engine off, water must have somehow gotten in the EESS.

Drove the truck for a bit. Got it home. Swapped in my old green label PCB. Wait light fired right up so no problem with the glow plugs themselves.

Swapped the EESS back in and let it cool off completely. Just went out a little bit ago and still no wait light.

Did some reading to see if there is any testing you can perform on the TSU, I found that with the Smart Start box you can disconnect it and the glow plugs should fire regardless unless there is a problem with the EESS itself. Disconnected the TSU and got the wait light just like normal. That's actually a good idea in the design so you can effect a "field fix" if the TSU goes tits up!

So, it looks like somehow the TSU was damaged. Went ahead and ordered a pair of used ones since I didn't feel like forking out $70 for a new one since I just bought that one new. I guess I'll leave the TSU disconnected for now but I'm really relieved it wasn't an issue with the EESS.

I also found there is a complete cooling system hose replacement kit (NSN 4720-01-414-5380) that includes everything but the hoses to the heater core. That is just some 5/8" hose you can get anywhere. You should only need a foot of it. Ordered the kit so I can get all of the old hoses out of there.

If everything I had "been told" in my life came true:
1: I'd be a millionaire
2: I'd be married to a supermodel
3: I wouldn't be caught cheating on that math test in 9th grade
4: I'd be dead if I did that
5  and multitudes of other things......

I like to deal with facts. Unknowns are unknowns.

Ryan, back to the AC stuff. Look at the pics in this link. Looks like a smaller compact unit that can sit on the radio tray and doesn't take up a lot of space and one in the rear on the passenger fender. Now just to find out how they did it and what model it is. By spring/summer I will need AC here as its too hot to ride around without it especially with a slantback.

It says "front and rear military air conditioning". I've never seen those units, but am interested to know what they are.

Yeah, I'm curious as well... Maybe an MRAP unit of some sort? The fact it's a 2 piece unit would seem to indicate it might have been for a larger vehicle originally.

Have you sent any sort of inquiry to them about it Jake?



With my truck, got my new heater installed today!

The install wasn't too bad. Not much worse than when I installed the factory one.

This thing puts out an outrageous amount of heat! The problem now will be directing it all where I need it to go.

I did not end up having to remove the air diverter but I'm going to have to see if I need to use it to get heat over to the driver's side floor. Was going to run duct straight from the heater to the defrosters but when I was trying to remove the driver's side flex duct it came apart. I used the old passenger side floor duct to hook up the passenger side defroster.

Here's the wiring setup. I tapped the positive that was going to the original fan switch. I simply left the original fan switch inside of the dash, mostly to keep the wires plugged up.




The positive/input side of the switch:




To the fan. Blue = Low, Yellow = Medium, Red = High:




Since it's 14/4 I took the black and hooked it to the gauge ground:




Wiring on the blower controller. The negative on the gauge ground goes to a spade connector on the blower motor:




I was originally going to try to reuse the original holes that the coolant lines came through. I enlarged them so I could run the hoses in but quickly found out there just was not enough room for the hoses to clear the bends needed. Ended up having to drill 2 new holes for the new coolant lines. I reused one of the original holes to run the power through and I'm going to pick up a grommet for that. For the other I'm going to find a rubber plug.




Had to drill the mounting brackets on the blower. They did not come pre-drilled. I determined the hole spacing based on making sure the holes in the body would clear everything without issue.




Drilled the new mounting holes in the body and installed new aluminum rivnuts. You can see the original rivnuts I installed for the factory heater and how it compares to the location of the new ones. I'll probably get some bolts to cover up/plug the old rivnuts:




Heater mounted and plumbed. Plumbing was straight forward. Just had to make sure the new 5/8" hose was long enough to reach from the copper lines to the engine coolant lines:








The only thing I'm going to have to modify is that side outlet. I'm going to have to trim that back so I can install a small piece of flex duct and aim it downwards:




My unsuccessful attempt to hook up the original flex duct. The 2" duct fits fine on the 1.75" outlets on the heater:




Like I said, I'm not sure how or if I can run the 1.75" outlet to the (I think) 3" input on the diverter... I'll probably get some bulk 2" flex duct and figure out some way to route some to the back.

I think this is definitely a better alternative to screwing around with installing a much more expensive diesel heater. Don't think there's going to be any problem keeping the truck warm this winter.

Sent him an email this morning waiting for a response. I figure this isn't a military ac unit but hoping for details as it looks very streamlined and does not take up a lot of space like the red dot. I saw a post on G503 that someone hinted that a commercial kit might be coming out soon.

On a different note, I don't know how I missed this post on Steel Soldiers that Military Systems Group is now selling to the public. This is great for the GMV/SF accessories. Waiting to see the prices.

If anyone needs to replace their rotted out coolant hoses, you can find a complete kit on eBay (NSN 4720-01-414-5380). The seller will accept an offer of $50. Feel free to try for better though.

My set got here today and I got all my old hoses changed out, installed a coolant flush kit, got all the old Dexcool flushed, and replaced with standard coolant.

I should amend the "complete kit" part. It does not come with any 5/8" heater hose that you'll need for the heater lines and bypass hose (between the pump and crossover). You should only need 1-1.5' of 5/8". Strangely though, the kit does come with the 5/8" 90 degree elbow for the heater line.

I installed my flush kit port on the rubber line between the crossover and the hard line that goes to the 90 degree elbow just ahead of the heater valve.

If you do install a flush kit, don't rely on that alone if you want a very thorough flush. Make sure you flush the radiator separately. Clear water was coming out of my reservoir which you'd think means everything is cleaned out. Since the system had Dexcool in it before and I was looking to put in standard coolant, I wanted to be extra thorough (for anyone that hasn't dealt with Dexcool, it is not compatible with standard coolant and can cause all sorts of issues when they're mixed, plus it's $4 more a gallon than standard) so I disconnected the upper and lower radiator hoses. As soon as I disconnected the lower, a bunch of old Dexcool came out. Flushed it out clear as well.

delete

its likely the seat cushion came out while being transported too.

in the army, we often drove hmmvs without the doors on, when moving at a clip across rough terrain ( or being loaded and carried on a trailer) the vibration will pop the spring clips and seats fly out.  more often than not we would mod the seats with snap clips like what you'd find on trunks and cases ( the ones that twist and tighten)  in motor pools and DRMO areas its not uncommon, especially around infantry battalions to find shit loads of cases with missing clips:D

being retired army i got a lot of time with mil vics. ( as a Civilian owning a m931 bobbed 5 ton, I got a lot of exp with this truck)
the main difference in Government local offices on a 5 ton or 2.5 tons ( m900 series or the old m35 series) versus hmmvs comes down to acceptance.  the larger trucks have a history in being something common on the road already. HMMVs don't. so a lot of states have had issue with de-milled HMMV. ( I actually had a DMV officer on state level try and tell me " de-miled just means it don't have guns, its still got all that ARMOR on it ( we where looking at soft tops …)
Lobbying, forming Mil Vic associatons, making a positive impact on the local populace ( parades, car shows, etc) thats the way to get rid of the stigma.


with a HMMV id recommend getting a TIG welder and getting good at welding aluminum. you'll find making brackets for radios/displays/ etc a lot of fun. ( one of the coolest things I ever got to help with was a pal of mine took a blue force tracker that had been de-milled, removed the faceplate and remounted another touch screen in it then wired up some of the push buttons to it, and installed a display for a top mounted thermal camera with a zoom that was amazing, we hunted pigs in that thing and could find them ten times as fast with that set up.)

the money you'd save in welding up your own stuff more than offsets buying the welder and getting decent at it. plus you'll end up having everyone you know want things. ( make friends with a local shop that has a water jet cutter, getting pieces precut and welding them up makes a sharp looking bracket ) then get a bender:D in Ohio you can find a lot of scrap yards that have a lot of aluminum so fishing for materials is very cheap.

I don't seem to have any reason to continue arguing with you.  

I sold it as a offroad/parts vehicle because I work 60+ hours a week, and have no time to market the Humvee, show it, and mess with hauling it back and forth to a potential buyer.

I'm real shook up that I rustled your jimmies about your toy.

Just got a free CUCV m1009 from my friend.. Closest I can ever get to a hmmwv
Now I have to put it back together.

No need to continue arguing as it wasn't arguing - it was legitimate questions to what you posted. If you feel the need to take your ball and go home though, go right ahead - my son is 8 years old and he knows that's no way to finish a debate or argument though.

Another question - I get that you work hard, but how hard is it to take a few pics and hit CL, EBay and the other forums? Why would you have had to drag it around to potential buyers? They could have done that themselves. If $10k is at stake most people would be willing to make a little effort. Again - more legitimate questions to your very vague comments.

Yay!  I got my antenna painted.  Now if only I had something to mount it on.
At 10 weeks for my EUC.  I can't handle all this waiting.

Looks good!

You happen to know what the frequency range is on that antenna? Just wondering if one would have civilian use with something like a CB.

I know just enough about communications to make me dangerous but I've got a friend that is an expert. If I could give him the specs on it, he could tell me if it would work or be made to work.



Earlier I worked on my new heater install some more. I got to thinking how I could get air around the truck and remembered how the A/C ducting was set up on that local police department's truck with extended runs of flex duct. So I found something that looked like it would work on Amazon, 25' of 2" flex duct.

UPS dropped it off yesterday and this is some really heavy duty stuff! Tough rubber material with steel wire inserts that is much better than the flimsy factory plastic duct.

I originally ordered it to just run heat from the new heater to the rear seats but I've got enough left over to redo all of the duct in the truck. This stuff will definitely last longer than the original stuff.

I got the rear duct temporarily mocked up just to get started. I've got some P-clamps that should be coming in Monday. I'm going to have the duct run above the roof rail so it won't interfere with installing the soft top. Right now it's just zip tied to the rail and C-pillar.

Even on low this new heater really puts some air to the back seats. I don't think I could be more pleased with this upgraded heater unit though the real test will be in the middle of Winter!

A couple pics of how the new setup will look.

Far right hose goes to the rear ducting. Second from the right now goes to the right defroster. Third from the right will get plumbed into the air diverter box for driver floor air. And left most will get plumbed into the driver defroster when I can access the duct behind the dash.



Not seen is the nozzle mounted on the side where the coolant lines come in. I trimmed that back with hopes I could put a small 90 degree piece of duct on there aimed towards the floor but this new stuff is too inflexible and I'm not sure I want to reuse the dirty old stuff just yet.


I left enough slack in the run that I can relocate it and trim as needed. The P-clamps should really help clean it up and let me get it nice and tight.




Here are the new rear "vents". Just a 1-1/4" PVC tee and 1-1/4" 90 degree elbow that I painted with some Rapco Green 383. The 1-1/4 ID pieces fit into the flex duct very snugly.

I managed to gather almost everything needed at this point for a GMV build. I've got the bed rails, jack rails, pillars, tire carrier, steps, door gun mounts, swing arms, etc. I have a rear step bumper, but want the bed extension instead, so I'll leave it off for now and I'll need to fab up a set of panels for the heavier front doors - but I'm ready to start putting things together now. Hopefully next weekend I can start making things happen.

What does the swing arm cost?  I'd like to have one, but then I'd have to buy a gun to mount with it.

When I've seen them for sale, anywhere from $750-1500 for the arm with M240 mount for the correct type from MSG. I haven't actually seen any of the pintles for sale that the arm mounts to inside the vehicle though.

Retiredwarhorses makes (or at least made) one that will get the job done though for like $300, but I haven't seen him selling those in a while.

That is going to look sick when it is done!





Will be interesting to see what MSG ends up selling them for direct to the public. Hopefully not at Uncle Sam prices!

Priced right, I'd like to stick one on each passenger seat. I'll eventually have some BumpSAWs (though I'm actually thinking of going with Fostech Echo triggers instead of bump stocks) I'd like to be able to mount up.

I have seen the mounts for the swing arms pop up on ebay from time to time. Check with libbster on G503 as he has made the mounts in the past and also sells them on ebay under the name M998-Nut. There are two different mounts one for the front and one for the rear.

Finished the flex duct install today (except for finishing the rear heat ducting with P-clamps of course). I've now got air flow on the driver's side defroster!

Also went ahead and put a screw into the flap in the air diverter box so it is now permanently set to sending air through the plenum to the front vents and driver's side floor. No need to change it to send air to the defrosters since those are permanently plumbed into the new heater.

Replacing the flex duct to the driver's side defroster wasn't too bad. The TM is really straightforward on instructions on that. The new duct I installed was a little tough to get through the passenger side passage to the heater because it is such heavier material but I managed. Thankfully all of my fasteners, including the 2 tiny screws, came out no problem.

Went to all of the trouble to remove the plenum to replace the flex duct from the plenum to the driver's side floor and had an unpleasant surprise though! Turns out the duct in that spot is 1-1/2". The 2" I had was just too big to make work. Fortunately the flex duct there is still in pretty good shape so I'm going to just leave it for now. Don't feel like hunting down such a short run of 1-1/2" flex duct in the same material as my new 2" duct. Would have liked to replace it though so I didn't have to worry about it down the road.

At least I had a chance to paint the plenum with the Rapco paint while it was out though. Just need to give the paint a chance to cure overnight to reinstall everything.

Once the weather gets cold (hopefully not too soon!) I will definitely give a report on the efficacy of the new heater but I think it is going to work out nicely.

I could go for some cooler weather, not cold, just cooler and less humid. I was clearing more space out of the garage today in preparation of getting the slant back kit in next month and it was just hot out even with a fan. Also ordered a nylon cup brush to finish prepping the interior. Almost have all of the flaking paint issues resolved and then on to priming (alodine and epoxy) and lizard skin followed by monstaliner. The plan is to finish the interior and then once the top arrives prep it and paint 1 coat on the outside. Once assemble, I will go over the entire truck. Just going back and forth between CARC and Rapco.

I had originally planned on going with CARC for the sake of keeping it real, but was too lazy to actually go get it. I bought 3 gallons of Behr Ultra Premium in the Fed. Std. Desert Tan today and plan on doing mine next weekend, both inside and out. While I'll be using an airgun, my buddy did his with a brush and roller and it looks terrific. The reviews after several years of use has shown very little fading - something that concerns me with the Rapco paints. While I've seen where some use it and like it - I've seen where others have unpleasant fading issues.

Definitely looking forward to seeing your end result!

If you want my opinion, if you want the real look and texture of the original paint, definitely go with the CARC. From using the Rapco, although it is a great color match, it is a much smoother texture. Since most of the interior is already Monstaliner, I'm thinking of just finishing the few remaining spots like the dash, windshield frame, and B/C pillars with Rapco since I don't mind the smoother texture inside. Also don't know that it's worth the work of getting a spray gun and hose inside the truck since I've reassembled everything. I definitely want to use the spray gun and bulk CARC on the outside though as the spray gun is much better suited to applying paint to the large surface areas and, I could be wrong but, I think the CARC will hold up better to scrapes and scratches than Rapco would.

I did do my snorkel in Rapco so it will be interesting to see, long term, how it holds up compared to the CARC outside.

Thankfully I think we've finally broken the worst of the heat and humidity of Summer here.

Personally I've done so much to the truck so far, I don't think I've got it in me to get the outside painted this year. I thought I did but I'm getting worn out even though I am enjoying the work and the end results.

I've got 2 weeks vacation coming up after next week. First week is just time off. Second week is a road trip (not with the truck! ). During that first week I'm going to try and get the top and doors painted with the Behr Marquee latex I got. Will also get the pyrometer hooked up and then turn up the injector pump for some more power but, aside from that, and putting on some new tires and 24 bolt wheels I picked up I'm thinking I'm going to take a break for most of the Winter.

Knowing me though, I'll probably get bored at some point and try doing something like installing my on board air setup. Maybe replace my fuel sender...

If anyone noticed in the rear heat duct pics I posted, I did pick up a second auto shelter from Costco and connected it to the first for a proper redneck 2 car garage complete with LED shop lights. Now I've got a bit more covered space to work in and, with a kerosene heater, I may be able to get a project or 2 done over the Winter.

I checked the tag on the antenna, but it doesn't list anything about the frequency.  I honestly have no idea.  It cost $169 on ebay, and the guy has 2 more listed I think.  The main reason I bought it was to throw an orange flag on it for when I take it up to Silver Lake sand dunes, plus it looks cool.

I've looked into running a CB on those antennas and apparently they're of little use as they're designed to be used with more power than a CB can put out.

I contacted Jwade over at Steelsoldiers and I've been informed I've got another month or so for my EUC to clear. I'm a little disappointed that I won't be able to get much done before the weather turns cold.

Ryan, does that tent of yours have any ability to withstand snow? I don't want to just tarp it for the winter and that would leave some ability to work when it's not too bitter out.

The antenna can be converted into a CBP antenna with a lot of work according to this link

If you are just using it for a flag holder, I recommend getting a reinforcement plate that goes on the back side to prevent the entire thing from tearing off. See this link, these show up on G503 and ebay from time to time as someone is making new ones.

I've seen that link before, unfortunately - the antenna RedZ06 has is the same as the one I have and can't be modified using similar methods........

Damn, that sucks you've still got a month.

As for the shelter, this will be my first Winter with it but I'd say based on the construction it should. The poles are pretty heavy gauge steel that lock together and the cover material seems pretty stout. My biggest concern is the V where I put the two together since it wasn't exactly designed to be assembled like that (it did require a bit of creativity!) but it's been through two pretty solid rain/wind storms and it hasn't leaked and has stood pretty strong. The first one I put up has made it through 2 more wind storms than that. Usually the only thing that happens when the wind gets strong is the rear corners like to blow apart since they're only held with Velcro along the length with a bungee cord at the bottom. I'm going to fix that at some point.

It has the large front door, a shorter rear door, 4 screened windows, and a side door that opens upwards.

I would recommend investing in some heavier duty stakes though. With them, I've seen it sway a bit in the high wind but that's about it. If you've got a concrete pad to put it on, it does include anchor bolts. From what I've read you should be able to get 2-4 years out of the cover depending on how much direct sunlight it gets. You can get replacement covers from Costco and there are companies out there that sell replacements.

Overall I'm really pleased with them! Great bang for the buck.

The shelter is Costco item 781893 and should run about $240.

The LED shop lights also came from Costco and were about $27 each but they did have them on sale at one point this Summer for $21. Don't know the item number on those. They are really bright though! I have 3 in each side of the shelter and they definitely light everything up.

I'll be curious to see how much snow makes its way under the edges since they don't sit flush with the ground. If I can get around to it, I might end up putting up some wood for borders to keep it out.

Don't bother with the Harbor Freight version. I picked that up before I got my second Costco one because Harbor Freight was closer and I figured they were both likely made at the same factory so quality would be similar.  I was just looking for something to put my quad and mower in for the Winter and figured it would be sufficient but, it was garbage. I didn't even finish putting it together before I returned it. The poles were much thinner steel that don't lock together, it is overall smaller (10'x17' instead of 10'x20'), the cover material was thinner, and it was only $40 cheaper. Truth be told, it worked out for the better since I was able to put the two Costco ones together.

Here's a couple pics I took just after putting the second one up and moving some things in, including an interior panoramic:








Interesting... I'll have to read through that link.

I couldn't find the reinforcement plates when I installed my antenna mounts but I did put some big 2" fender washers and some smaller 1" washers on each bolt.