Noobie questions

[IsaiaH345]

Hello all, long story short version, is I'm looking at regular trucks and they are so expensive even used ones. I would like to stop borrowing my dad's f150.
Thinking of buying a 1078 or similar to use as a "replacement dually truck"
My initial questions are:
I know these are slow on the highway, I've read someone modded the transmission to get a little more speed out of it, how hard, cost?
Gooseneck possible?
Can they be adapted to use " normal" trailers?
What about the electrical adapters that are present on personal trucks for brakes/lights?
Performance mods available for this engine?
It seems it's cheaper and easier to buy one of these, put some money into it, and it'll still be able to out tow anything I can find that's still 4x as expensive.
Thought from the experts?

 

[DREDnot]

Have you walked around one while contemplating your mods?
All of this stuff CAN be accomplished but as a cheaper alternative than a gently used dually pickup? Don't be fooled by the seemingly affordable buy in price.
You will end up with the COOLEST tow rig. That's for sure. But I see you spending more in the long run for something with a lot of drawbacks when driving in the greater Dayton area.

The regular trailer plug is cheap and easy, but hooking regular trailers to the back of the truck will require lots of drop down appliances to keep the trailer level. Same with the gooseneck...the bed is at my eye level.



The few diesel guys that Ive talked to about the 3116 engine say its a "throw-away" engine that's good for only 350K miles and then replaced. They say you can swap in a bigger engine from that family easier than getting any more HP out of it.

No real experience with the transmissions...yet...but I do know that everything for them tends to be expensive.

 

[simp5782]

There is a thread in the 5 ton Mods section on adding a drop down hitch for civilian trailers. This would be the same weldable units for this. Also same ideas as the frames are the same width and height. You can even run a gooseneck behind the truck however your turning is limited.

Performance of the 3116 is limited. Turn the fuel up. Crimp the wastegate hose off or add a bigger turbo is about all you will get for free without spending money. Maybe more than you want.

 

[mkcoen]

The axles are your limiting factor for speed. New pumpkins can be swapped in but they're getting harder to find and expensive to swap.

I bought a 2008 F350 off Truck Planet (part of the same group as GovPlanet) 4x4, diesel, but single rear wheels - $6500. Cheaper tow vehicle than a LMTV>

 

[tennmogger]

Observe that many of the cheaply sold auction LMTV's look like good deals at first until you run into a problem with engine, transmission, drive train, electrical system, or other major dollar drain. Maintaining a big truck takes inventory in big tools too.

There's a logical reason that checked-out trucks from a re-seller are 3 times the price, and often the best buys. That re-seller may have bought two trucks or more to put together a good runner, and put many hours into it. Several stories on here tell about starters breaking housings, alternators breaking off, broken water pump housing, engines being bad, or driveline vibrations, etc.

Sure you can get a great truck, just be aware it's easy to throw good money away too.

 

[IsaiaH345]

Seems like I have some research to do, the A1's have a CAT 3126? vs a 3116 on not non-A1s? Ill definitely look at truck planet and see what there, most of the trucks i glanced thru were already in the graveyard, might be some diamond there.

 

[Awesomeness]

LMTVs are awesome trucks, and fun. They seem huge, but when you compare one to the rectangular box that fits around a fullsize pickup (when you account for the pickup's bulged fenders and stuff), the LMTV isn't that much bigger. It just takes up all the space of that box. I can get mine through stuff that people are surprised at. You can almost park in a normal parking lot aisle and spot... you need about 1/3 of an open adjacent spot next to the one you want to pull into in order to make the turn.

My first reaction is that if you're concerned about the price of an F-150, these trucks aren't for you. They are awesome trucks, but they cost the government $100,000+, and when you have broken things you are buying expensive parts for a $100,000 truck. The magic number seems to be $500... every few months I find some new thing I want to fix or replace, and it costs $500 (e.g. $500 for a fan clutch and fan, $500 for an alternator voltage regulator, $500 to have new transmission cooler lines made and replace the fluid, etc.). Even an oil change (7 gallons + filter) is $150+.

On the other hand, if you are wanting to step up away from the "little" trucks, these are a great deal. Here in Colorado I see a zillion Jeeps and Tacomas driving around with $25,000 worth of lift, tires, and upgrades (mostly high-horsepower LED lightbars, haha), just to run 35-37" tires. Except for the side-slope stuff, I can drive over stuff with ease that they're snapping axle shafts on.

Base top speed of the truck is 58MPH. It would be less of a problem in Ohio where highway speeds are only 65MPH (they're 75MPH in Colorado, so you're way slower than traffic on the highway). MRAP 3.07:1 axle gears will get you faster, (72MPH) but the Goodyear tires are only rated to 68MPH. I haven't heard of any transmission alterations to change speed. MRAP gears are going to cost you several thousand dollars these days, and then you have to install them (new sets of wheel seals for the front axle are a few hundred bucks, 7 gallons of gear oil is a couple hundred bucks, etc.).

You can get the LMTV trailers pretty cheap ($1500-2500). They're really nice, but I think the reason they go so cheap is because they have air brakes and a pintle that's 4' off the ground, so unless you have an LMTV to pull it it's a goofy purchase. An LMTV pulling a normal trailer looks a little ridiculous, but it will obviously do it in spades.

 

[mkcoen]

You can almost park in a normal parking lot aisle and spot... you need about 1/3 of an open adjacent spot next to the one you want to pull into in order to make the turn.

Mine in a Whataburger parking spot. I stuck over the sidewalk a bit but everything else fit fine.

 

[Awesomeness]

Mine in a Whataburger parking spot. I stuck over the sidewalk a bit but everything else fit fine.

Yeah, I'm saying in a normal parking lot, the aisle between the spots isn't quite wide enough to make the turn. If the lot is full, except for one spot, you can't really get into that one spot. You need at least 1/3-1/2 of the next adjacent spot ahead of the spot you want to clear the turn. Still pretty good turning radius, though.

 

[SausageGuy]

A M1088 would be the easiest to convert to pull a standard gooseneck trailer with and they seem to go about the cheapest on Govplanet.

 

[coachgeo]

GET ONE..... but then again I mostly say that cause it would be fun to have enough FMTV's to get together in OH on occasion neighbor.