Considering a m1009 as a daily driver, advice?

[jgleasonraptor350]

Had my 1009 for about six months now and I love it. Getting about 15-20 mpg and I have 95k on the motor. The 6.2 is far from a 5.9 but for driving around and occasionally hauling my raptor on a trailer it does great. Simple to work on, parts are easy to find out here. If you can pick one up for cheap go for it! My 1009 outperforms all my friends newer trucks offroad too. Long as you dont beat it it'll last for a while

 

[rsh4364]

I have put 20k miles on mine in year and half,daily driver,do starter relay mod, headlight harness mod,manual glowplugs,change oil every 3k,keep eyes on crank dampner,moter accessories mounts and you will be fine..

 

[RickyBobby]

Could someone break down the need for the headlight and relay mod and how to really do them? I'm no idiot but I'll admit when it comes to vehicles electronics are my weak point >.<

 

[swiss]

Could someone break down the need for the headlight and relay mod and how to really do them? I'm no idiot but I'll admit when it comes to vehicles electronics are my weak point >.<

The headlight relay system is a pretty important mod, if you feel the fuse on the M1009 when the lights are running you can burn your hand. Worse case you fry the fuse box around the light fuse. The mod is cheap if you buy from LMC under $40 dollars. Not the best quality but it works. How to do is a no brainer, you will see once you get the assembly.

 

[Warthog]

Read the stickies in the Cucv forum. The headlight and starter relay upgrades are explained.

 

[RickyBobby]

The headlight relay system is a pretty important mod, if you feel the fuse on the M1009 when the lights are running you can burn your hand. Worse case you fry the fuse box around the light fuse. The mod is cheap if you buy from LMC under $40 dollars. Not the best quality but it works. How to do is a no brainer, you will see once you get the assembly.

Alright thanks for that!
And what of the relay mod?

 

[Warthog]

The Cucv electrical system is one of the most simple ones you can work on.
Clean the connections and it works great.

 

[swiss]

The Cucv electrical system is one of the most simple ones you can work on.

Only after reading Warthog's many posts and studying his diagrams does the CUCV electrical system become simple. At this point after much reading and some encouragement from Warthog do I feel the electrical system is managable. One day I hope to be like WH

 

[swiss]

PS: Just drove my M1009 to 73M819's with my 101 trailer to unload my stuff from the M1101 trailer into the M101 trailer after dragging to many trailers to the GA Rally. Bottom line I LOVE MY M1009. Ran great, I was daydreaming about other modifications and upgrades and thinking how MUCH I LOVE MY M1009.

PS: Did I say how MUCH I LOVE MY M1009

 

[RickyBobby]

PS: Just drove my M1009 to 73M819's with my 101 trailer to unload my stuff from the M1101 trailer into the M101 trailer after dragging to many trailers to the GA Rally. Bottom line I LOVE MY M1009. Ran great, I was daydreaming about other modifications and upgrades and thinking how MUCH I LOVE MY M1009.

PS: Did I say how MUCH I LOVE MY M1009

Something tells me you love your m1009. Can't quite put my finger in why though. Mmmm

 

[JSF01]

I bought my M1009, back in 2009, and have been using it as my daily driver ever since. It occasionally breaks down but as long as you are mechanically inclined it's generally pretty simple to fix. I have put about 45,000 miles on my truck so far. If you can keep it at 45-55 gas mileage is excellent considering what it is, My truck will hit 22 MPG if I can keep it between those speeds without stopping for most of a tank. I was getting 18 MPG towing a 72 Mini from Montana to Virginia. It's an awesome truck, that's a lot of fun to own/drive.

 

[RickyBobby]

Nice. I'm just trying to find something that will make me unique that will last. Next year I'm going to school to b a GM mechanic and school is 33 miles away so something that gets decent hwy for a truck is a nice option too lol.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Here's the funny part of CUCV electrics. The achille's heel of the CUCV family is the M1010 ambulance with the 200A charging system. m38inmaine and ChevyC60 came up with a system that is so brutally simple, I'm considering adapting it to my M1008. Here's the bottom line. Nowhere on the web will you find more expertise on CUCV electrics than on Steel Soldiers. There is no way I would alter an electical system with this kind of expertise available at the stroke of the keyboard.

 

[rsh4364]

I drive mine 80 miles per day ,at 63-67mph get about 20 mpg with a 33 inch tall tire,k&n filter,3 inch muffs. and tails.

 

[swiss]

Have you bought one yet? Time is wasting

 

[ThunderCracker]

Tic toc tic toc

 

[RickyBobby]

It's in the process. I'd have the money if **** would stop hitting the fan with my current truck. It's aggravating -_-

 

[acesneights1]

A layman's point of view. YMMV.

The 6.2L Detroit does have a bad reputation. You have to understand why the motor was designed and built to understand it.

The late seventies and early eighties was a bad time in the car business. EPA was involved, manufacturing standards where low. The need for fuel effency was high.

GM wanted and needed a diesel engine that would fit in the space of the 305 and would have roughly the same HP. Detroit Diesel came up with the 6.2L. It was not and is not a powerhouse. It sips the diesel fuel. It does what it was designed to do.

Now the general public figured a diesel engine should be a workhorse. They rode them hard, sometimes very hard. Many engines broke. Most did not.

The 6.2L can be massaged to output huge HP and torque. However the cost is high and there are better options now. (Cummins 6bt).

There are 6.2L engines with hundreds of thousands on miles on them. And there are dead ones with very low miles.

If you want an around town daily driver fuel sipper, the M1009 with the 6.2L is a great choice. Just keep it serviced and the rpms below 2800 rpm and you should be golden.

Actually gm gave light duty diesels a bad name withthose first gen handgrenade also know as the 5.7. It was used in cars and some 2wd pickups iirc. They blew up left and right and pretty much soured the public to gm diesel.gm then went to the Detroit division for a true diesel design. The original 6.2 is a decent engine but like you said no cummins.
But the biggest problem with the 6.2 was its a dog. Gm followed Banks lead and introduced the 6.5 turbo which was pretty much the same engine but only produced for 2 yrs before switchong to the troublesome DS4 electronicIP
. This once again gave GM a bad rap in the diesel dept which wasnt redeemded until the Duramax.
6.2 is fine as long as you dont expect too much from it and maintan it.
It has long beenn my dream to build an m1009 with an nv4500

 

[acesneights1]

I recently attended the Mil truck rally in NH and my buddy who is a Marine drove the m1008 behind m motorhome and we did 55mph the whole way. The M1008 got 25mpg. I actually took the filler neck of the tank to look in with a flashlight because I was in disbelief. If someone told me that id call BS . My budy just laughed and said"dude , you drive like an *******"
I have never been able to replicate. Best I got was 20 drivin like a grandma.

 

[RickyBobby]

I recently attended the Mil truck rally in NH and my buddy who is a Marine drove the m1008 behind m motorhome and we did 55mph the whole way. The M1008 got 25mpg. I actually took the filler neck of the tank to look in with a flashlight because I was in disbelief. If someone told me that id call BS . My budy just laughed and said"dude , you drive like an *******"
I have never been able to replicate. Best I got was 20 drivin like a grandma.

now that's impressive