HEMTT, well kind of

[Mullaney]

If HEMTTs were rare war artifacts (like, say the lend-lease Studebaker trucks), and you had hacked one up you might get some grief from somebody here.

As it is, I think you took (part of) something common that's mostly impractical for civilian use and made something cool and interesting out of it. Excellent fab and finish work, and I hope you enjoy using it as much as you enjoyed the project of building it.

It looks, incidentally, like it belongs in movies. Be sure the studios know it exists, as they've paid good money for use of things like it over the years.

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Before recently, I wouldn't have thought big green trucks would be all that interesting that the movie people steelypip . However, I have seen several calls posted here for trucks. All of them have been on the other side of the country - but there are definitely opportunities!

We have had several small movie productions in the giant warehouse beside our printshop. It seems that it all depends on WHO you talk to on the production. We have printed a lot of prop materials for the things that have been shot in our little corner of the world. The last film we supported was a military (made for television) movie. They folks I work with were thrilled when they saw some of the toys that I have here but nothing ever came of it during this latest version. One of the propmasters dragged one of the directors over late one afternoon - and we might be in the next shoot... I personally can't wait to see one of my babies in a "movin picture" .

 

[silverstate55]

It looks like a HEMTT cab that has come through the DRMO/Auction pipeline was engineered to fit onto a pickup chassis...I think it’s great! Excellent way to preserve the HEMTT cab and have a unique vehicle. Surprised nobody mentioned the various other repurposing projects on this site (most notably Patracy’s SEMTT & Soni’s FEMTT).

I’d rather see a unique cab like that be repurposed in such a way, than to just see the cab sitting/rusting away, or worse, scrapped....

Nice work, and I’m sure others here would love to see some technical details such as how you engineered the steering, how to fit the cooling & intake systems for the engine around the cab, and so on....

 

[Waterhouse]

Boy I've been having trouble replying on here. The other day I spent 20 minutes trying to get my words to appear in the box and then it all disappeared when I i pushed post.

In any case, the only part on the truck from a real HEMTt is the Oshkosh badge on the front.

 

[Mullaney]

Boy I've been having trouble replying on here. The other day I spent 20 minutes trying to get my words to appear in the box and then it all disappeared when I i pushed post.

In any case, the only part on the truck from a real HEMTt is the Oshkosh badge on the front.

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Well it is a good thing that I went back to the beginning of the this thread... I was ready to "give you guff" and call you out. I would have said something about the HEMTT cab being the smarter way to build that truck (Bla Bla bla blaaa).

Having scratch built that cab makes what you created even more amazing.

 

[Waterhouse]

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Well it is a good thing that I went back to the beginning of the this thread... I was ready to "give you guff" and call you out. I would have said something about the HEMTT cab being the smarter way to build that truck (Bla Bla bla blaaa).

Having scratch built that cab makes what you created even more amazing.

When I get it on the road, I plan to drive up to the army base and see if they will let me take a pic next to a HEMTT. I imagine it won't look so much like it when next to it. Although the truck is the same width, my cab is 2 feet narrower and the roof is about 1 foot lower. My windshield is raked back more.

I can't wait to pull in a gas station and have someone come up and ask where I got it. My reply "I picked it up surplus for $2500"

 

[marchplumber]

I'll spot ya 3,500.00 for it, "no questions asked" LMBO!! maybe if you figure out the site stuff, a video?????

 

[Waterhouse]

I thought you guys might like to see a couple pics with the canvas cover. I made this and it didn’t really come out very good. I learned a lot and if and when I re-do it, it will be much better. I still like the look better than no cover.

I finally got the interior finished.

The seats are from a Corvette.I know the green looks different in the pics, but in real life the dash matches the seats and exterior.

 

[marchplumber]

How about a video?? On and off road?? Learning is a process! I think ya did good, well.....amazing actually!! CONGRATS and please more pics!!! Thanks for sharing

 

[Godspeed131]

I know how hard a person can be on critiquing themselves when doing stuff like this as I’m that type of person, but from person on the outside looking at it, the truck and the cover look amazing.

 

[M813rc]

I was watching your build of the truck for quite a while, then lost the link when my computer decided I didn't need my bookmark list anymore, never could find your thread again. Nice to see it finished to this point!

I wouldn't have any problem if you showed up at one of our club events in that.
My own unsolicited personal opinion, I really like it with the tarp up on the back.

Cheers

 

[Waterhouse]

Thanks guys, I don’t have much for video. Here is a short clip during building/testing.

Here is another video of float testing. I’m not sure if I mentioned that this can be amphibious. I don’t have the floats bolted on in the other pics. I need to do a lot of work on them. I just want to get it on the road right now and I will tackle the floats later.

 

[marchplumber]

Approach and egress angles are NICE!!


"I didn't want a big long one................" LMBO

Who dug your amphibious testing track? NICE WORK and thanks for sharing!!

 

[Waterhouse]

Approach and egress angles are NICE!!


"I didn't want a big long one................" LMBO

Who dug your amphibious testing track? NICE WORK and thanks for sharing!!

Going down the hill, it really feels like I’m going to crash into the ground.
I dug it with the tractor in the backround. It is about 6’ deep. The hill is the dirt from the pond. (It’s my shooting backstop)

 

[marchplumber]

Going down the hill, it really feels like I’m going to crash into the ground.
I dug it with the tractor in the backround. It is about 6’ deep. The hill is the dirt from the pond. (It’s my shooting backstop)

Thanks again for the videos......pretty amazing vehicle....

LOVE multi-purpose landscaping.....lol

 

[dmetalmiki]

I don't know if I'll get kicked off the site for this blasphemy, but I've been working on this for ten years and I just got through painting it. I still have a lot of work on the interior. This is how it will look on the outside. The only change coming is a canvas roof on the back.

View attachment 844350

A couple details, it rides on airbags, the tires are 46" MVTs, it has a kicking AC system and a round sunroof. (Aka ring mount)

View attachment 844351

View attachment 844352

It's powered by Cummins. The rest of the driveline is Ford. The body is all aluminum. I tried the Behr paint, but had trouble, so I used Rapco. It runs and drives now, but I don't have it legal on the road yet. (Got to finish the inside)

So what do you guys think? Would I get shot if I show up at a MV get together?

YES you would!..BUT..Only so 'they' cud' steel it off ya!
That 'thing' is quite nice actually.

 

[marchplumber]

Maybe you should send a copy of the plans to the US Army!!! They seem to have a VERY hard time with functional vehicle acquisition!