Welcome!

My HMMWV is the only vehicle I own. That said, it's also not a daily driver. I've got a take home work van for that. As I told pumbaajk on the previous page, I've put about 4,500 miles on my truck in the last year and 3 months no problem. I try to drive it once a week, at a minimum. I think last winter there were a couple times it went 2 weeks in between drives.

Since you've ridden in one, you've at least got an idea of what to expect so that's good! If you're okay with it being loud, slow, and leaky you're already past the biggest hangups a lot of people have with them.

I do think the HMMWV is a good bang for the buck vehicle especially, as you said, compared to the cost of new diesel trucks and Wranglers all the while being more capable out of the box than both. The HMMWV can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want to make it. Even with as much money as I've dumped into mine (at this point a little bit more than what I paid for the truck itself) I'm still at close to half the price of either a new diesel truck or JKU. Truth be told, if I was happy to leave my truck stock I could have spent my $10k on purchase, hosed it out, done fluids/belts/hoses, and driven it as is (at least until the tires needed replaced which would have been soon). I'm not one for leaving things stock though...

You should be able to spend $6k-$10k on an A0 or A1 truck and another $2k-$3k on getting things up to spec (including new top and doors if needed) and have a perfectly usable vehicle. If you bump your truck budget up a little higher to the $10k-$15k range, then you can probably snag yourself one of the A2 trucks like the M1123s or M1097s that have been sold and get the benefit of a 4 speed and 12k running gear.

I do love my truck and she's been great but, if I had known the A2 trucks were going to be coming to market at the prices they're at now, I actually might have waited and nabbed one of those instead because of some of the extras they come with (ignoring current registration issues here in Ohio of course).

And yeah, being in Texas, registration won't be an issue for you.

Ryan_Ruck,

    Thank you for the reply.... your response was kind of what I was hoping to hear, that these trucks can be reasonably reliable (with proper maintenance). Scouring threads on Steel Soldiers and G503 I have found the same question I asked with varying answers... some people say they drive them all the time... some say they break down every 5 feet.

I haven't seen too many A2s pop up yet... and none in my area. As much as I'd like to have the 4-speed already installed... I may keep looking at the older ones and just plan the swap.

The late 80's and early 90's trucks are exempt from emissions at the state level here... no need to try an argue that they are already federally exempt.... and the pre '97 trucks don't require airbags either. As far as safety goes, I don't think the HMMWV is any less safe than an 80's era truck... and few people would bat an eye about riding around in one of them.

My only real concern is being able to hold a reasonable road speed.... I don't expect (or need) to fly down the highway 90mph... but I would like to be able to comfortably cruise at 65mph. From my reading it would seem a 6.5 and a 4L80e would allow me to do that.

I've also been reading up on people's efforts to quiet them down inside and seal them up against rain... both seem doable as long as one goes in with reasonable expectations... that they will never be as quiet a regular car and that all convertibles leak at least a little bit.

For the money, they seem like the perfect truck to take camping, take to the river, pull off the doors and hit the beach, etc.

I will guarantee that 99% of the time you see this the person saying it is either:

a) A current or former Joe who drove them in the service so the truck was maintained by 18 year olds and driven by 18 year olds.
b) Never actually owned one. Just knows a friend of their 3rd cousin's uncle who drove one in the military and said they were junk.


Don't be afraid of a little distance. Shipping can be pretty reasonable. One member here who lives in TX, @EagleArmsHBAR, got one from KY at Ft. Campbell like I did and had it shipped to him. It was a shipper, I believe, @Lawman734 recommended and the costs weren't bad at all.


As I understand from several Texas members that have shared here, you can go one of 3 routes with registration.

1) Standard registration (needs a safety inspection)
2) Historical registration (if applicable to year of manufacture)
3) Former military vehicle registration


The 4L80E definitely would. The 3 speed TH400 will do 60-65 with little problem but it's going to be running around 3,000 RPM. I've had my truck up to 69, once.

It does it more easily if you turn up the injection pump a bit.


Yep, again, you can put as much or as little money into it doing this.

I've done things like adding weatherstripping around my door openings, Velcro to the rear cargo bed sides, installing the cargo divider with floor bracket and weather seal just to name a few things. I still want to add some material to the tops of the fenders to better seal the rear curtain and block water intrusion.

ETA: Just an FYI, the floor brackets that install with the cargo partition have apparently turned into unobtanium since I bought mine. When I got mine they were $27. Now, you'll be lucky to find them for $100. HummerPartsGuy is out with no idea on restock but I do know of one place that has them in stock for around $100. So if anyone is looking for one, PM me. I don't want to post it publicly and have them get cleaned out.

It remains to be seen how well the weatherstripping and Velcro will work since this Winter will be my first with them installed. I'm pretty sure the weatherstripping will work well given how tough the doors are to fully close now. Not sure how well the Velcro will hold up sticking to the body or top even though it is the outdoor rated Extreme stuff.

The easiest way to tackle waterproofing is to get your truck and just address it as needed. I've seen the rare person say their soft top and doors seal perfectly as is.

For soundproofing, you can go as in depth as Lizard Skin like myself and Jake have or, as simple as installing some horse stall mats from Tractor Supply, which I have also done.


The versatility is one of the things I like best about it.

It combines the toughness and utility of a pickup with the fun of a Wrangler. You could even go camping in the truck itself if you've got the full bed cargo cover. A twin size air mattress can fit in the drivetrain tunnel area between the seats, into the bed area, so you could sleep 2 if you don't mind being cozy. Full size air mattress is too wide by a small bit.

Me and you are in the same boat.

I used these folks: Ken Adams |National Account Manager
Lipsey Logistics Worldwide  | 5600 Brainerd Rd Suite B-18 | Chattanooga, TN 37411 |Phone: 423-708-7155 | Mobile: 423-255-4699 | EFax 678-680-5329 | e-mail:[email protected]

They subcontracted it out and I don't have the actual delivery guy's name.  If I remember correctly, it was about $1,400 to have it delivered.

I agree

I went back a couple of pages and read what you had in mind for a HMMWV (I've skimmed the whole thread several times).


I also saw that member jake_cutter mentioned Hurricane Harvey.... I'd say he is likely pretty close to me. We had 3.5 of water surrounding our house and no way to get out... we were fortunate that we had no flooding and were not in immediate danger... but I hated feeling helpless. My parents were less than half a mile away and I couldn't get to them for 3 days... they were fine too but as they are getting older I don't want to be in this position again. With a DWF kit installed... I could have gotten to them no problem.

I've had that exact same thought in mind thinking about our property in La Grange.

Its about a 2.5 hour drive away... but to able to load it up with gear.... drive the truck on the highway @ 65mph to get there, do a little cross-country driving through cow pastures to get to actual property, camp in the truck, do a little hunting and drive home would probably be the hardest I'd ever push the truck... other than driving around town and a maybe a 20 mile commute when the weather is too lousy to drive my Challenger.

Just an FYI but I think most of the A2 trucks being sold, being USMC trucks, have DWF kits installed even if they are missing the snorkel or exhaust stack.

I've seen a couple of the 998s pop up with them. @GreenSWOave snagged one recently though it too was missing the snorkel and stack. Pics back on page 40 and 41...

What are HMMWVs selling for now?  I think the auction on mine was $8,900 a few years ago.  Can a decent one be picked up for under $5,000 yet?

Not under $5k unless you live in the Virgin Islands!

Prices had dropped off for a bit and I saw some 2 door runners go for opening bids of $5k but they've rebounded slightly. What we paid seems to be going rate upper end for pretty nice 4 man 998s and 1038s, and bottom end for 1123s and 1097s that need work.

Not yet... they do seem to be going cheaper than in the past though.

I've seen a few nice ones go between 7-9k.

Not everybody seems to be doing any homework or research though before bidding at GovPlanet.

Since this thread is at the top of most internet searches I don't want to go into specifics and cause prices to spike.... but I've seen trucks with desirable upgrades go for the same money as otherwise identical but non-upgraded trucks.

all this talk about m1123s is making me anxious.  i could have spent the same i bet and not had to do this 4 speed conversion.  (disclaimer:  ive only begun to accrue parts and i expect to attempt this maybe this time next year if im being realistic)


id do yourself a favor and get a 4 speed ready truck from the get-go.  stuck at 55 and high revs is the only complaint i have about my '94 m988a1.  i love the noise and the spartanness of the thing.  i never had any interest in civilian H1s for that reason.


i have had my truck for maybe 2 or 3 months now, ive probably put 400 miles on it just driving to town a few times on the weekends picking up work supplies or building stuff.  like Ryan, i am a boxvan driver during work hours but i have my wife's car and our duramax at my disposal afterwards and i dont think ive driven either since i got the A1.  


people on this thread represent owners of many different models and arrangements of the vee, from special forces to slantback guntruck to 4 man personnel and 2 man cargo carrier.  i bought my truck knowing id use it as a sort of shoptruck so i was happy with the 2 door configuration.  so far i can say it rocks at hauling stuff!  i dont have a partition between front and back seatwells so i can jam a bit of 10' conduit in mine and still fit inside the tailgate.  ive even had about 16 bales of hay back there and i could have probably done 20 if i had stacked it better.  

i will caution you though, the 2 man has got to be the worst as far as keeping rain out since the passenger seat holes will allow anything that hits the bed to rolls right into the floorboards.  and everything else will go under the cargo partition and end up on the tunnel beside the front seats.

Yeah, I hear you... Like I said, they just weren't an option when I got mine and they had said the initial batch was only going to be 4,000 some trucks with no hints it was going to be anything all that new. I think I got mine after only about 6 months of sales to the public and considered myself pretty lucky to have gotten an A1 for what I did.

On the other hand had I waited I'd possibly not have been able to get it registered here.

It definitely would have been nice to get an A2 truck with a driveline that wouldn't have needed anything more than a turbo, for what I paid for my A1, but I kind of like the experience of doing the work and, I'll know the mechanical history of my truck better.

BTW, if anyone is looking for an airlift bumper, let me know and I'll send you the name of an SS member that told me he picked up 3 lots of them from the recent GL sales in Columbus, OH. He's in KY. No idea on price or anything, he just told me he had them if anyone was interested.

i can vouch for those bumpers, im pretty sure said member sold me mine!

What part of town are you in?

So far Ryan has hit all of the high points. These vehicles can be made reliable and are a blast to drive. Being in Texas makes it extremely easy to register and drive on road. I went with one that was 25 years old as it was even easier at the time. Come March, that won't mater as the inspections get even more lax. As previously posted by EagleArmsHBAR, Ken Adams of Lipsey Logistics was very fair in his transportation costs even though he subs it out. The hardest thing for me was picking a configuration to go with. In the end I found a slantback kit for an awesome price. If prices keep coming down, I will pick up another one and do a GMV setup or just a basic 4 man soft top. I have enough parts it wouldn't take much.

I'm in League City... halfway between Houston and Galveston.

I have my heart set on a 4-man soft top.... I guess I'm a bit lucky as it is one of the cheaper variants. I've also started watching 2-seaters as well since I've read they are relatively easy to convert.

pieces of my vic-3 are still trickling in.  everything is bought and paid for except the damn cx-13470 cable!  i might breakdown and order a 16' one but im going to wait a little while longer.



i swapped radio trays so i could get the intercom bracket and this little bent piece of steel for my dagr cellphone mount and sell my existing tray.  i stole my wifes phone while she is sleeping for the photo so as not to upset her millenial constitution.  if i dont end up mounting the entire sincgars setup i will end up putting this phone holder on my side of the tray.  its a handy little thing, it fits my samsung s7 like a glove and still barely holds onto her iphone-whatever.  

i noticed there are some tachometers up for grabs on g503...windshield and doghouse types.  someone go get one before i do.  i dont really have a need for one and id rather keep the money for other 4speed parts

Thanks for the heads up on the Tachs. I am going to try and get the windshield mounted one. The dog house mounted one looks like you can't use the radio tray.

As for the highway cables have you reached out to 876humv (Greg) to see if he has any? That's where I got mine from.

i havent yet, but no harm in doing so.  

please take the windshield mounted one, yes!  i was tempted this morning but didnt feel like spending the money what with all else i want.  

besides being in the way of radio stuff, the doghouse tach would complicate removal of the cover, and i believe it needs hooked up to more sensors than the newer windshield unit does.  at least thats what my cursory research this morning brought up.  

looks like he has some used 4 speed shifters too, at half of what i just bought one for.  ouch.

@Ryan_Ruck those are some great prices on shifters if you are looking for one. Anyone who is thinking of doing the 4 speed switch should get one as Southern Metals was a large supplier of these before they stopped and now prices have gone up.


Also, Aguas, what length highway cables are you looking for?

just the one from mcs to ffcs.  2 foot would be ideal, but ill take a 4, 6, etc.  ive been watching popular auction site for over a month and the only one available is a 16 footer from beltfed.

greg mentions a reverse switch for the shifters in his ad.  my shifter doesnt get here till tuesday so im not really sure what that is or if it doesnt include one.  i figured it was just missing all the linkages.  any clues?

It should just be the reverse signal switch so you can add back up lights that come on automatically when in reverse like a normal vehicle.

And Greg just messaged me that the tachs sold just before I got to them. Too bad as that was better than piecing one together.

I picked up a DAGR mount a bit ago myself since my tray came with the angled mount. Haven't decided where I'm going to mount it exactly... I got mine mostly for mounting my HF radio when I've got it in the truck. Should clip right on to it.


Thanks for the heads up! You're right, that is a really good price so, even though I probably shouldn't spend the money, I went ahead and messaged him for one with the reverse switch. Like you said SM has dried up so folks like Greg and Austin are going to be the only reputable sources and it's doubtful anyone else would price them as fairly.

hmmpf.  looks like there is a 4l80e with 242 linkages and tcm on g503 now.  i dont need the 242 but the tcm is going to be one for a turbo truck, where im gonna stick with the 6.5na i already have.  

SM running out of trucks is going to make some things difficult!  id prefer the military tcm but those should be about $250 used right?

I think the TCM should work regardless of turbo or non from what I understand as the only input is throttle position sensor, RPM sensor, kickdown switch, and torque converter lockup via the brake pedal switch.

I'm talking with a guy on SS that is semi-local to me that has done/is doing a 4L80 install on his truck. Turns out I left out a few parts on my list.

I'm going to be working to put together a definitive list of parts with part numbers/NSNs needed to do the military conversion so people down the road will have an easier time making heads and tails of stuff. A parts list is one thing I've never seen with some of the 4L80E upgrade writeups out there.

Thought I'd share a helpful post on SS for anyone considering going the 700R4 transmission route.

i believe CWC was interested in the 700r4 route.  ill send that his way.

That would be awesome . If can snag a HMMWV in the future (probably won't be for 6-12 months) I definitely see a 4L80e swap as major "to do" item. I would want to do full military conversion to retain all the water sealed electronics. Does anybody know if there is DWF trans dipstick for the 4L80e?


Taking the advice of some previous posts... I'm watching some of the newer trucks now as well. However it appears that most of the A2s that are being auctioned off at this time are "basket cases" with all kinds of issues. If they go cheap they still may be good deals....

I still worry about tagging a newer truck for road use though... the lack of airbags in the '98 and newer trucks could be an issue in the future.

I know there is as I've seen it on the A2 trucks but no idea if it is a different part or if the one from the TH400 works. I need to look into it myself since I just bought the TH400 tube/dipstick...

There are some that look like they'll need mechanical work but, something to keep in mind is that if it just looks ugly with no top, doors, C-pillar, etc., that all of that comes in a soft top kit from Breton Industries you can get for $2k.

With the ability in TX to title as a former military vehicle, I don't think I'd worry about airbags.

Although the former military vehicle registration in Texas is great for an off-road vehicle that you want to drive on the road occasionally... it is not an all-encompassing way to register HMMWVs in Texas (as much as I wish it was )

This quote is straight from the TexDot form:

Former Military Vehicle is defined as "a vehicle, including a trailer, regardless of the vehicle's size, weight, or year of
manufacture that was manufactured for use in any country's military forces and is restored and maintained to accurately
represent its military design and markings. The vehicle may be used only for parades, club activities, exhibitions, and
other functions of public interest and will not be used for regular transportation."

The restrictions on "Antique Vehicles" are similar.


As far as soft parts.... I don't even worry about those anymore. I don't pay any attention to tops, seats, doors, tires, etc. I just assume they are all bad. The A2s listed right now are all non-runners with missing engine parts. My gut tells me they either have bad engines or bad something else that caused them to be parked and cannibalized. If they don't go above 4-5K they might be great deals if you could score a good 6.5 NA for a decent price... but its rolling the dice.

Here's an M1123 that's a runner, even in Texas! Says it's got a knock on startup but that could just be valves that need adjusted or could be as simple as low on oil. I think $10k start is a little on the high side though, IMHO.

Yeah I saw that one... it has all the goodies on it too. It won't stay at 10k... still needs a new top and doors too. I'd expect the worst on the knock though... could be bearings.

Regular registration is just as easy as Former Military or Antiques in Texas, I just went with Antiques plates when I first got mine as I was not able to drive to the inspection station. Once you have an inspection using the antique plate and are good to go with the vehicle, just go back and get regular plates.

As far as the non-runners, I keep looking for a cheap non-runner and plan on having the old engine in mine fixed after I swap it out with the 6.5 Ryan picked out for me. That will leave me with a spare re-built engine in the end so I can justify another one easier. Just need to find a reliable mechanic to do the swap and rebuild the old one. Its been hard with the flooded cars as they are all busy again, plus diesel scares a lot away.

Also the one listed for 10K has a lot of nice parts such as the 6.5, deep water fording kit, and high back seats, plus part of a red dot ac setup.

Two A2s sold on GovPlanet today...

   Both higher than I would have expected. The cheaper one (still nearly 7k) had an obvious crack in the block and lots of swollen, flaky rust spots on the undercarriage (salt water?).


Are they really worth it? Yes you can figure 3k easy if you want to swap in a 4L80e/Np242 into an older truck.... but is it really worth the cost to get a 12k axles/hubs and a serpentine belt?

The A2s I've seen so far have highback seats.... but they are in terrible shape. So you really only have the bases... still have to spend the money on good seats.

A couple of them have DWF kits.... but there is no guarantee they are complete or functional.

The M1097A2 with the extended tailgate that sold looked like a decent candidate. Did go a little bit higher than I think I'd have been comfortable at (if I were a buyer I think I'd be slightly comfortable in the $11k range). The IP on that one would clearly need rebuilt or replaced. That it's missing the oil dipstick and cap means there's probably some water in the crankcase, at minimum. So, figure an engine teardown and possible rebuild. Not optimal but not terrible.

The other one is definitely a basket case that would need a fair bit of work but, at the price it sold, that does leave you a lot of extra budget to put into it. I'm betting that flaky rust on it is some of the Marine Corps undercoating coming off, at least that's what it looks like to me.

Both do appear to have solid frames and bodies though which is definitely a big factor.

It's really going to come down to personal preference on drivability and the money or sweat equity one is willing to put into their vehicle to get that level of personal preference.

If you're going to be doing a fair bit of traveling and/or highway driving you're definitely going to find yourself wanting a 4 speed, I can tell you that from experience. So your options are get a solid, well running M998/M998A1 for $6k-$10k (The A0s at $12k+ are stupid regardless of how nice they are) and do a 4L80E swap for somewhere around $2k-$4k depending on how you pull it off, get an A2 that runs well for $15k-$20k, get a decent but possibly not running A2 for $11k-15k with an indeterminate amount needed to get it running and/or driveable. As you can see there, at just that there is starting to be a fair bit of overlap in the prices, more if you don't do the work yourself.

The biggest thing the A2 does have going for it over the A1 and A0 trucks is indeed the 12k drivetrain and 4L80E but also the fact that all of them will have the dual voltage alternator out of necessity for the transmission 12v. They also come with other benefits the A1s have over the A0s such as better parking brakes on the rear brakes, the highback driver's seat mount, and some improved diff mounts that allow easier service (which I have first hand experience with! ).

I think if I were in a position to be buying a truck I'd be focusing on A1s and A2s nearly exclusively with a definite eye towards the A2s. I'd possibly consider an A0 truck if it was a driver that came with a well running GEP 6.5, dual volt alternator, and 242 t-case and if it went for under $8k with buyer's fees. Then you could add the highback seat mount, rear brakes with parking brakes, and 10k halfshafts for less than $1k and have nearly an A1 truck. Again, it's all going to come down to what you're going to be doing with your truck. If it's going to be a truck that never leaves the farm, a bone stock A0 truck will probably work just fine.

That 4 speed is definitely a big deal if it's going to be more than a farm truck or in town cruiser though. So, to give you an idea of where I'm at with costs on my upgrade, I've got my TCM ($250), my shifter ($350), my Trans status indicator light ($20), relay for switched 12v power for the trans system ($50), 4L80E to 242 t-case adapter ($35), and water pump mounting plate with speed sensor ($50, Only because I've got the 6.2 which doesn't have that.). So right now I'm in it for about $750. I still need the actual transmission, rear drive shaft, mid drive shaft, A2 brake switch, throttle position sensor, kickdown switch assembly, 15A circuit breaker, transmission crossmember, a protective kick plate that fits behind the battery box, plus other odds and ends like gaskets.

I also still have to build the wire harness but since I'll be building mine with 2 others we can split the costs of the wire and fittings.

I haven't kept track of all the costs of all the upgrades and improvements I've done but, I should be somewhere in the neighborhood of $27k total with my truck.

Crossposting this from GD: Nat Geo's 8 Hour Mini Series "The Long Road Home"

Looks like it's going to be a good miniseries and it looks like HMMWVs feature prominently.

the small odds and ends are what really bug me about the swap.  there are alot of parts i dont know if one can find or has to pretty much get with a pulled 4l80e or risk spending a ton of time and money to locate separately.  (linkages and the like).

am i correct in that the ambulances were typically the receivers of the reverse lights?  thats what i saw with some searching.  i cant remember what our uparmoreds circa 2009-2011 had.

Ryan, how are you going about building your wiring harness?  are there TMs for length and type of connectors and the like?  i can imagine there are some specialized tools/crimpers and what not that one would have to have.  i had planned to buy one up till now because of that.

I'm putting together that parts list now and it doesn't look like there is a ton in the way of small parts. I need to run the list by the SS member I've been in touch with to make sure I'm not forgetting anything but so far, the only one on the list I haven't seen readily available as surplus is the A2 style brake switch and 15A circuit breaker.

And the A2 brake switch is unreasonably expensive...

Attached File


Only available from parts vendors and the cheapest I've seen it was $124. Since it appears to only be 2 brake switches side by side, I'm considering picking up a second switch and interconnecting the arms on both, possibly a plate for both to mount on. Reason you need it is for the 24v on the brake light side and 12v on the transmission torque converter lockup on the other.

So far as I know that is the case.

The details are still up in the air on that. I'm going to get them from the SS member that has done it and then try and do a write up when I do mine. Here's some of the posts he's done on building his.

The various harnesses are indeed in the 9-2320-387-24P manual and they do show the various connectors but, since the custom harness focuses only on the transmission, there's going to be a lot of extra connectors shown on some and not the right ones on others. For example, this will be combining some connections from the engine harness and some from the body harness into one standalone harness. The Tm does not give lengths either.

Since I deal with wiring pretty often for my job, I don't think I'm going to have too much trouble. I can crimp, solder, and strip well enough. I normally use the crimper section on wirestrippers for all my crimping but, I can probably get a different crimper if I need to. I can't imagine one would be all that expensive. Packard connectors install with a pretty standard crimp on post and cannon plugs are soldered which is no big deal.

The factory A2 body harness by itself is $1,100-$1,500. Then you also need the engine harness, which I can't recall how much it is. I want to say it's like $300... I guarantee this home built transmission specific harness would be far cheaper. Time consuming and a bit tedious, possibly but, definitely cheaper. I'll probably try and do this some time over the Winter since it could be done inside.

Be a bit leery of USMC vehicles with DWF kits.  Many spend time in salt water and a salt air environment and the frames can be rotting from the inside out.

finally got around to troubleshooting the window washer system; ended up being a bad pump as is often the case.  

Gear Report suggested a $12 chinese 24v pump that i stuck in there, but the connections arent waterproof and the angle of the hose connection is kinda stupid.  even if its chinese junk, i figure the OEM pump is junk too and $50 or more.  i will see how it holds up in the long run.  now if anyone has suggestions regarding improved wipers....id love to hear them.  mine required some torquing by hand to get to even rest flat against the whole windshield.  

Saturday i had to run some errands but also needed to wire up someones radon fan, so i combined my errands and work into a 70 mile round trip in the humvee.  with the doors off, you get more interaction with other drivers.  people love these things but they ALL have something to say about the gas mileage.  honestly i bet it gets 12mpg like any other full size truck from that era.

Finally surrendered to Mother Nature and used the nice day yesterday to get the tops and doors on since it looks like the weather is now definitely cooling off.

With the weatherstripping added around the door openings, everything is certainly very snug, even with my door catches all the way out. There is still a very tiny opening on the rear doors at the top on the B-pillar. Need to see how I can fill that. I also need to see if I can either space the inner door handles further in or trim the inner latch on it to make the doors easier to close.

Also made some new wooden slats for the cargo roof out of some 1x2s. Should help keep water from pooling a little more effectively than the old 1" wide pieces I used before since that's always been an issue on that top.

When I did the weatherstripping on the door openings, I had ordered a 5th roll of the material and applied it just behind the Velcro strip on the cab top. It did a pretty good job sticking to the top on its own but I noticed at the ends where it curves down at the C-pillar, it was having trouble. Decided to apply a bead of silicone between the strip and the top to fill the gaps at the corners and along the whole length as insurance. I'm hoping that any water coming forward off the cargo top, instead of going under the upper Velcro strip and coming into the cab, will now run into the weatherstrip and down the sides. Only way I can see preventing that save for a one piece top.

Got the Velcro applied to the cargo cover top sides. Seemed to adhere pretty well to the top material and seals everything up back there nicely! Ran out of daylight and didn't get the tailgate done. Going to try and get that mid week when we get a slight warm up. I do need to make some changes to the antenna mounts at some point to better accommodate the cargo cover. The offset mount necessitated removal of the tab the top's cam buckle cinches to on the back's rear corner and doesn't leave any room to get a lot of the Velcro down in there. On the driver's side, the antenna riser clears the tab but doesn't leave any room for the cam buckle. Will need to trim the riser.

With the rear curtain and cargo partition, I need to get holes drilled in the brackets and partition so I can fit my hitch pins in there which should let me anchor it more securely downwards and seal the partition to the floor better and, also let me secure the rear curtain more tightly since I relocated the footman loops to the partition itself. Going to apply some Velcro to the top back of the partition and curtain so that things will seal up far more tightly if I'm running without the cargo cover top. Then I'll  just need to get some aluminum angle pieces and build a bit of a lip around the seat belt anchors to keep any water from on top of the fenders out as well.


On a different note, it looks like the whole transmission upgrade could be happening sooner rather than later. I got a pretty good price on a complete HMMWV 4L80E with less than 2,000 miles on it from a member on SS who messaged me that I couldn't pass up, as well as 86humv messaging me to offer me almost all of the rest of the small parts I needed. His price on the A2 brake switch was half what the retailers were asking and it's NIB! Excluding the wire harness, I'll just need the rear driveshaft, mid driveshaft, crossmember, kickdown switch, and throttle position sensor. Wasn't really planning on getting all of these parts now but they kind of fell into my lap so this might be something I try and tackle over the Winter. We'll see how things shake out...






I've seen it mentioned you can swap on some Wrangler wiper arms which lets you use all manner of civi wiper blades. Could swap on H1 arms too I suppose. Other than that, the regular NAPA blades on the military arms are the only ones I know of available for these.

I haven't driven my truck much in the rain so I'm still fine tuning mine myself.

You aren't kidding about that!

That or telling me all I need now is a .50

Received several small parts in this past week. First is the shifter plate with a spot to place a lock through to prevent someone from shifting into neutral and starting the vehicle. If you look at the pictures, I broke the pin holding the transfer case shifter in place while unscrewing the knob. Small set back but I get to replace all of the small parts at the same time so no real loss. Sent one to Ryan to try out and do a write up for the guy that made these on SS.

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The other part I received was a Eltam LED Dome light from an MRAP. Looks nice, but need to find the correct Amphenol connector and cable. The male end on the light is an Amphenol 97b-3102a-10sl-3p-9 so if anyone knows which cable I need please let me know.

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hmm.  does Greg have everything x2?  lol.  

there was a trans coupled to np242 with a tcm from a turbo truck (still gotta check and see if there is a difference for my 6.5na) on the g503 down in florida.  its been siting awhile so i guess the price is a bit high; and i dont need a transfer case but that one would have the adapter and maybe some other small pieces still attached.  

maybe someone here would want just the np242?  dont know, its just a thought for now.  the whole thing is liable to already be spoken for.

ive been thinking im going to have alot of perfectly fine 3 speed parts to get rid of next year.  i would have been better off buying a basketcase truck instead of an A1 in great shape.  oh well, thats the way it goes.

It is already spoken for.

He's selling me just the trans so he'll still have the TCM and t-case.

hah!  yeah i figured it had been listed for too long.  the good stuff doesnt last long!

Had a chance to rotate my tires today and spotted some rather interesting corrosion that wasn't there the last time I had my wheels off (or I definitely don't remember seeing it).



A closer look:



The geared hub cover is literally coming apart at the fasteners! It's clearly some sort of galvanic corrosion but I've only seen aluminum corrosion that bad when stainless fasteners are used on it but those are clearly Grade 8 bolts.

This was on my rear passenger's side geared hub. Only one like that that I could see.

Next time you are down there, might not be a bad idea to check yours. Definitely unusual.



After I wrapped up, I snapped a pic of mine all covered up for the cold months.

winter months?  boooooo.  drove mine home from gtown the other evening in the dark, all windows buttoned up and the "heater" on.  

it may have been 50 degrees, and i was juuuust a little cold in there.  i found myself thinking, damn i shoulda bought the cold weather top and doors.  plus side is, i have half the cab to heat that others do.  bad side, my truck doesnt have kickpanels between the front and back seats for some reason and doesnt look like it ever did.

There's a guy on the HML (ice aka icentropy) that makes replacement covers for the geared hubs, and these covers come with a sight glass (can't remember if that is a standard or optional feature).

And I think you can even pick a color for them.

ModMafia is a seller of (some of) his components. Not sure if HummerPartsGuy is a reseller of ice's parts.

So is that your next immediate project? Looks bad as if the metal is laminated and coming apart, is it worse in person?