Crazy about the new M-ATV

[mr.oshkosh]

Taken during my recent to Oshkosh.

 

[mlap1088]

I drove/drove in these trucks for about a year in afghanistan when they first started sending them overseas. We were an infantry unit and actually used our trucks for what they were built for . The MATV is definately the soldiers choice and is better in combat than any other truck that we had at our disposal. We had the Maxxpro, Rg-31, RG-33, the up armored fmtv, and the m1151's(up armored hmmwv's). The armor protection on these vehicles is unbeatable due to a new (still classified) form of armor and a V-hull.

The tires are 395 85r 20's and are michelin XZL's on oshkosh made wheels with an armored CTIS system(which is why you cant see the tubes under the center cap).

Yes, these trucks do NOT have mufflers. They do however have 3 teardrop shaped indendations on the muffler that provide the backpressure needed for the C7(according to the FSR). The sound of these trucks is amazing but we would have prefered a more quiet exhaust for tactical reasons...blackout at night is worthless if they can hear you from a mile away.

My unit also had the problems with them doorhandles not opening. However we quickly realized that it was a simple matter of the latch coming out of adjustment and was easily fixable. you could also tell when they were getting ready to not work anymore becuase it would become very hard to open the doors so we never had a problem with the doors sticking since we kept a close eye on it.

The ECM issue is simply an operator error issue (no offense). theres a battery disconnect switch as well as a igntion switch(turns the truck on). You MUST wait a minimum of 15 seconds to turn off the battery disconnect after powering down the vehicle or else it send a trouble code to the computer.

the radiator cracking issue? We never had any issues with that, but then again we always did PMCS on our trucks . These trucks are more than capable of handling any offroading situation that you can throw at them. I've personally seen one with all 4 tires off the ground! These trucks can go places that hmmwv's and other mraps could only dream of while providing much more protection than an RG-31 or hmmwv. I wish i could have one of these trucks parked in my driveway but i dont think the govt. will ever sell them off due to the armor.

It seems much bigger than the hmmwv but it is really the exact same width(surprising but serious) just much taller to provide added ground clearance. I know ALOT about these trucks, have some great experiences with them, and definately prefered them over anything else while i was in afg. If you have any other questions just ask!

 

[emr]

mlap1088... U are very precise and the info is not an opinion but mission strait, thanks , So many times on a site like this its hard to tell the difference, thanks for the straight talk and thanks for what u have done and do,... Randy

 

[maynard83]

I second what emr posted...a lot of people on this forum talk out of their "you know what's" and comment about something they know nothing about.

 

[SGT LongT]

I just checked my photo library from Afghanistan (got back in Feb 2011) and I thought I took a picture of a M1151 parked next to M-ATV's with a RG-33 next to the M-ATV. I remember how it showed perfectly how big the trucks have gotten, but I must not have had my camera I agree with the performance from mlap1088. All four wheels off the ground and keeps the smiles wide