New M1009 Owner - My Daughter!

[Pawnshop]

The pintle hook goes on the plate in the center, which is attached to the frame and not the bumper. The rear license plate location is a tricky matter that is completely up to personal preference, drill and mount wherever you want. If your state requires a license plate light that complicates things a bit but is really no big deal. There are dozens of ways to fab a mount, I am still trying to decide where mine will go.

 

[BobM]

If you are going to put a Drawtite type hitch under the bumper, then just put the plate in the normal spot in the center of the rear bumper. That's what I did on the 08.

 

[jimm1009]

CUCV license mounting

I went to a salvage yard and purchased a license plate adapter off a Mercedes.
Any European made car has an adapter to go from thier two hole Euro-sized plates to the four hole US plates.
I teaked the mounting ears that bolt to the car to compensate for the angle on the bumper and bolted it on in a near-vertical position. I added a single light to the top and powered it through the trailer tail light wiring using a splice.
That way I could retain the original pintle hook installation.
I did this before I knew about the "not needing a plate" in this state so I took it off after 1 month and redid the registration to "no plate".
These are a seldom-asked-for item in salvage yards and can be purchased pretty cheap.
Also another alternative is a generic boat trailer license plate adapter available from almost any auto parts house... I would not use plastic though.
Mine was mounted in between the pintle and the left rear tiedown ring and placed low enough to clear the tailgate when down.
Just an idea or two. Make sure you really do need a plate.
A lot of the states that do have this rule do not necessarily know about the rule at the local level. Might be worth asking about higher up the chain or doing internet research to double check.
If you don't have the original pintle you may consider the item in the attached picture called "civy pintle". "Option two" is a standard 3500 lb. hitch with an adapter for the civy pintle to mount to and a standard 2 inch ball. This allows you to use a luntte ring or convential ball configured trailer and you can adjust the right height somewhat for different trailers. I ended up with the third option. Reisntalling the OEM pintle and using the 3500 lb rated hitch on rare occasions. See 3rd pic.
Jim
PS: The red light in the left side is a Hella rear fog light. Comes in handy here in Louisiana.

 

[jimm1009]

her CUCV

PS: Sadly she won't be able to keep the antenna up. It will snag EVERYTHING she drives under but she can tie it to the right rear tiedown ring just like Uncle Sam does and it will still look really Koooool,, in her language.
I have a 14 year old grand daughter so I'm learning new words all the time.
See my post above in this thread. This is the genuine tie down method for the Army.
Jim

 

[Grantshire]

I went to a salvage yard and purchased a license plate adapter off a Mercedes.
Any European made car has an adapter to go from thier two hole Euro-sized plates to the four hole US plates.
I teaked the mounting ears that bolt to the car to compensate for the angle on the bumper and bolted it on in a near-vertical position. I added a single light to the top and powered it through the trailer tail light wiring using a splice.
That way I could retain the original pintle hook installation.
I did this before I knew about the "not needing a plate" in this state so I took it off after 1 month and redid the registration to "no plate".
These are a seldom-asked-for item in salvage yards and can be purchased pretty cheap.
Also another alternative is a generic boat trailer license plate adapter available from almost any auto parts house... I would not use plastic though.
Mine was mounted in between the pintle and the left rear tiedown ring and placed low enough to clear the tailgate when down.
Just an idea or two. Make sure you really do need a plate.
A lot of the states that do have this rule do not necessarily know about the rule at the local level. Might be worth asking about higher up the chain or doing internet research to double check.
If you don't have the original pintle you may consider the item in the attached picture called "civy pintle". "Option two" is a standard 3500 lb. hitch with an adapter for the civy pintle to mount to and a standard 2 inch ball. This allows you to use a luntte ring or convential ball configured trailer and you can adjust the right height somewhat for different trailers. I ended up with the third option. Reisntalling the OEM pintle and using the 3500 lb rated hitch on rare occasions. See 3rd pic.
Jim
PS: The red light in the left side is a Hella rear fog light. Comes in handy here in Louisiana.

Thanks for the information and pictures. The simplest trailer hitch would be the civipintle but its lack of adjustment would be a problem. With the Oh-9 size, big tires, and a possible rear lift I think the ball would be too high for the horse trailer. I will need to find a hitch like you show in the pictures. I assume the hitch is specific to the Blazer frame but are there specific years to look for (i.e., did the frame change or are there issues with a Oh-9 versus civi?) and do any of the truck hitches work?

I plan on hitting the local pick & pull yard later this week to look for a licence mount (and perhaps a hitch).

 

[Grantshire]

PS: Sadly she won't be able to keep the antenna up. It will snag EVERYTHING she drives under but she can tie it to the right rear tiedown ring just like Uncle Sam does and it will still look really Koooool,, in her language.
I have a 14 year old grand daughter so I'm learning new words all the time.
See my post above in this thread. This is the genuine tie down method for the Army.
Jim

The military tiedown is there and why she has been arguing I could leave the antenna on it. She has also taunted her brother with "mine's bigger than yours", comparing the Oh-9 antenna to the CB antenna on her older brother's Suburban.

 

[BobM]

The military tiedown is there and why she has been arguing I could leave the antenna on it. She has also taunted her brother with "mine's bigger than yours", comparing the Oh-9 antenna to the CB antenna on her older brother's Suburban.

Ah, yes, sibling rivalries!

 

[powerhouseduece]

Thanks, PM on the way!

pm sent back at'cha hope it helps.

 

[jimm1009]

The parts are the same from '83 to 87 in CUCV M1009 series except for a couple of suttle small things.
Look for a trailer hitch for a 84 or 85 Blazer or Jimmy.
It should bolt right on except that the skid plate for the tank will have to come off or be modified.
I removed mine in hopes of reinstalling it someday again. The cross bar comes off to below the bumper but you can add bolts from the dummy license plate holder to the hitch.
The adapter will go up or down as needed for the hitch height adjustment.
Jim

 

[Grantshire]

Look out, she's on the road!

Waded through DMV earlier this week and got the Oh-9 registered and licensed. Took Jim's advice and went to the junk yard for a tag mount, got one off a Volvo and mounted the tag on the tailgate:

This is a temporary location but it works well and almost covers where the tailgate has rust through.

The Oh-9 passed VA inspection as she sits and is now legal to drive. My daughter is very pleased about this as she goes to horse camp next week and wants to drive it back and forth each day. I don't have a hitch on it yet so I will have to pull the horse trailer with my Suburban. The horse stays there overnight all week so I will only have tow duty Monday morning and Saturday evening.

Played around with tires yesterday and put my 35x12.50x15 BFG KO AT's on the rear. They are mounted on 10" M/T Classic II rims and fit nicely. However, the fronts will be a different story.

The companion front tires are on 8" M/T Classic II's, which will make it a little easier, but I still figure I need 2-3" of lift. I have some business travel coming up and she will be at horse camp so in the short term it will have 35's in back and 31's in front. She has no need to use 4WD s this should not be problem.

Only other thing I really need to figure out this week is why the fuel gauge is not working. Wiring appears to be OK but I have not put a gauge on them yet. Any suggestions on what to look for?

 

[jimm1009]

Your M1009 fuel problems

There are several potential causes for this malfunction.
Chevy used a circuit board that was made from flexible plastic with copper sheet in it for the wires.
The contacts for the gages are polished pins that simply push through the plastic that has a "weeny" little recepticles attached to it in the plastic mounts.
I't is a little goofy and sometimes will give you problems.
I took mine out, cleaned them up and all the pins, and threated thm wih a dielectric grease and reassembled.
I also cleaned the light contacts and replaced the bulbs wihile I was in there and everything has worked well for the last 8 or 9 years to date although I do have one burned out bulb again.
It could also be a bad ground on the tank or a bad connection at the sending unit or obviously a band sending unit or bad gage.
The sending unit and gage are available through LMC truck and the circuit board too but it is $$$ for a new one.
I would clean everything realy well and that may be all that it needs.
You will have to drop the tank to get to the power side of the sending unit if you have to gao that far. I'd save that for when you have your frame mounted hitch to install. You can kill two birds that way.
Until then just fill it up and track the mileage and fill up each 300 miles or so and she will be safe that way.
Keep us posted.
Jim, again

 

[kurtkds]

I've got a 4"lift on my Non MV Blazer and run 35 x12.5's on it. Works well with no clearance issues as long as I keep all 4 wheels on the ground.

 

[rhinob]

The rear tires are 31x10.50 and it looks like there is plenty of room for 33's or even 35's:

However, the front is a different story! These are 235's and they barely stay out of the fender when turning:

Looks to me like there is serious sag in the front spring since they have gone negative arch:

I will need to come up with a lift plan that give me enough clearance for the 35" tires with as little a lift as possible (remember, no wheeling). I have read that using rear springs in front will give a 4" lift but I do not know the details on what else besides shocks need to be changed.

My front springs are a similar shape, but when it's full of fuel, the rear sits perfectly level with the front. Are they all sagging? I actually like the height of my M1009. Are there any potential problems on the horizon just leaving it alone? What's normal?

 

[BobM]

To get back to the original thread, how is your daughter doing with her 09? Enquiring minds wanta know. Did she take it to the prom or anything?