Newbie from AZ

[chadjack]

Hello all,
I joined the forums to get some information on MVs as a gentleman farmers work truck and bug-out truck if need be. I am sure a lot of information is already in the forums and will try to search it before starting new threads, but I wanted to ask this simple question. Is it realistically possible to own a MV and maintain it without being a mechanic? Nearly 18 years currently serving and it seems that that Deuces and 5T were constantly breaking down. Is it the rental car effect where the operators don't really care or is it the quality of the MV and it's parts?

Also, would most diesel shops be able to repair and are parts readily available for both the Deuce and the 5T family?

Thanks again, and I look forward to learning from the group.

 

[RodUSMC1962]

If you can`t do basic repairs and pm`s these vehicles would probably be to costly for you. These trucks are 25 -60 years old, my duece is 60 years old this year, requires regular help each year. If you can afford a hired proffesional everything is possible.

 

[chadjack]

Thanks, I can do the basic stuff no problem. It's finding the parts I am most concerned with. I know that it is not going to be as easy as going to autozone to pick up anything I need, but is the after market good for parts?

 

[RodUSMC1962]

You can find the parts for pretty much everything, it`s just a matter of cost. The suppliers are all mentioned here, just search or ask.

 

[M35A2-AZ]

Welcome to SS.
You need to be able to do a lot of the work your self.
I think a truck in a motor pool will brake down more due to all the drivers.

 

[clinto]

Is it realistically possible to own a MV and maintain it without being a mechanic?

Depends how you define "mechanic":

If you mean "able to earn a reasonable living working on vehicles" then yes, you can own a vehicle without being a professional.

But if you mean "able to fix my own stuff, albeit slowly and with some assistance from the internet/TM's, etc." then no, I'd say that's the baseline for ownership.

I couldn't feed myself as a professional tech, as I am really slow. But I can do pretty much anything. Self taught (Mom was a librarian, so I always had how-to books on the nightstand), lots of learning to do it the right way by first finding all the wrong ways.

You'll need to get there-even if you can find a shop that will work on them (unlikely for a bunch of reasons that would take too much time to type out), the price would be astronomical.

Nearly 18 years currently serving and it seems that that Deuces and 5T were constantly breaking down. Is it the rental car effect where the operators don't really care or is it the quality of the MV and it's parts?

It's probably a combination of the rental car effect and a visual illusion: if your motor pool had 40 trucks, there was always 1-5 trucks broken down in repair. So it looked like a fleet of high maintenance vehicles. I'll bet if you looked at the individual record of each truck, it wouldn't look that bad.

We've had dozens of deuces over the years and the list of problems we've had on each is minimal:

Leaking seals (axle/tranny/transfer/engine/winch)
Head gaskets (x2)
Master cylinders/airpacks/wheel cylinders
Alternator
Clutch/rear main seal
Various gauges/wiring issues
Fuel pumps (in tank)

Also, would most diesel shops be able to repair and are parts readily available for both the Deuce and the 5T family?

Parts are reasily available but most shops aren't going to touch them. Not because they're hard to work on, but for this reason:

Shops make money by not only profiting on parts but on time. They charge you $75 an hour, but their cost (in terms of labor) is maybe $30. Not only do they want to profit on an hour of work, they want to profit in terms of charging you 1.4 hours for a job they can do in an hour. If the labor rate book says they should charge 1.4 for a job and they can do it an hour, they profit additionally.

It's all about speed-keeping techs busy, moving jobs through the shop. Once a job comes to a stop because the tech isn't familiar with it and has to consult the TM/shop manual/internet/another tech/etc., the flow is broken and the job becomes much less profitable.

The parts availability situation is the same-almost anything you need is going to have to be shipped in, so the truck has to be pushed aside allowing the tech to go back to work on something else.


So most shops just avoid this potential situation altogether.