Picking up a M1008, I have a few questions.

[Tex68w]

It' a clean truck, 36K original miles, came out of Fort Polk. It needs new door lock tumblers, not sure what the standard protocol is there? I would like to run 35's, possibly 37's, any suggestions on the best lifts? What about 17" wheel options? Has anyone added air conditioning and if so are there standard kits or write-ups? I'm not sure I would but it's something worth considering here in south Texas.

I am looking to use it to haul my dirt bikes around in the region, hit the beach from time to time, and possibly drag out to the ranch when needed. I've owned a lot of modern diesels but I have no first hand knowledge of the 6.2L, I am hoping that I am not jumping into a nightmare here lol. Any suggestions on things to look for in regards to the engine, radiator, t-case, or transmission?

I am looking forward to this simple build and I hope that it is more reliable than some horror stories I've heard about.

 

[pmramsey]

CUCV Air Conditioning
https://nostalgicac.com/c-k-series-military-m1008-m1009-truck-blazer-a-c-system.html

 

[Tex68w]

What's the biggest tire you can fit on these stock with the stock wheels?

 

[pmramsey]

This is one of my farm trucks with NO LIFT. The tires are Mickey Thomspon 285/75R/16 Baja Claws. The 235/85R/16 tires that come with these trucks have rims that are 6.5 inches wide. These tires require 10.5 inch rims.

 

[chevymike]

I am running 255/85-16 (33") and clear no problem with stock wheels (I have since changed wheels as I had a bent one). That is about the max. This is on my M1010 which has less wheel well clearance in the back as a M1008.

 

[Tex68w]

This is one of my farm trucks with NO LIFT. The tires are Mickey Thomspon 285/85R/16 Baja Claws. The 235/85R/16 tires that come with these trucks have rims that are 6.5 inches wide. These tires require 10.5 inch rims.

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Are you certain about those being 285/85? I am not finding that ratio.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

It' a clean truck, 36K original miles, came out of Fort Polk.

You spelled that wrong. Having taken Basic and AIT there, I can tell you it's spelled Ft. Puke. It's in Lousy-anna.

It needs new door lock tumblers, not sure what the standard protocol is there?

Standard Chevy locks. The good news is, every CUCV that came off the assembly line has the same key.

I replaced my door and ignition locks with keyed-alike units from here. OR you can get them on Amazon, probably, but they won't be keyed alike.

More info here.

I am looking forward to this simple build and I hope that it is more reliable than some horror stories I've heard about.

Expect rotted rubber. Vacuum lines will be leaky and cause shifting problems. Seals will be iffy. LMCTruck carries a lot of stuff you'll need.

Brakes? Check the fluid. Military used synthetic. Some people top up with regular DOT3, and make a mess of things. The only cure for that is a complete flush of the whole system. There is info floating around here on the correct procedure.

Speaking of info, download the TMs from here. Free. Necessary. Useful, too. Written for 18 year old kids who don't know how much they don't know, so there are excellent step-by-step troubleshooting guides.

Alternators are easy to rebuild, when (not if) you need to. There's a member here, Tow4, who sells kits.

Some convert to 12v. Don't go there. At least, not until you've had the truck a while and have some experience with it, and have had time to weigh the pros and cons.


Electrical may be flaky. Rusty ground points cause lots of weirdness. Clean 'em up. Use lots of contact cleaners and dielectric grease. Don't use OxGuard or NoAlox or any of those so-called, "conductive" greases. They are not conductive, and they are not made for 12v systems. They are made for aluminum clamp-type connectors for power wiring. Think house wiring. Not automotive.


By the way, whatever year you think your's is, re-think it. It's a 1984 Chevy K30, whatever year it was made. The Army didn't want parts changing on them every year, so every CUCV is built to 1984 specs. Don't go looking for parts for an 86. It might not work.

Lastly, welcome aboard, and read the Wiki!

 

[DeadParrot]

One thing to note is the top speed of about 55mph with the 6.2, 4.56 gears and stock tires. Due to rpm limits on the 6.2.

Any bumper for a C/K pickup will fit if you decide the military ones don't fill your needs. More likely on the rear then the front. No provision for a bumper ball hitch. If you decide to replace the rear, can likely sell the military bumper here.

Do your research on beefing up the frame/suspension if you run larger tires.

 

[pmramsey]

My typo....285/75R/16

 

[Sharecropper]

CUCV Air Conditioning
https://nostalgicac.com/c-k-series-military-m1008-m1009-truck-blazer-a-c-system.html

You might want to read my posts in my rebuild thread related to air conditioning over in the CUCV Modification Forum. I’ve compared the Nostalgic Air to the Vintage Air kits. There are definitely pros and cons to each kit. The main hurdle to overcome is mounting the compressor and still keeping both stock CUCV alternators. I’m currently adding air conditioning to my P400/700R4 build and worked through and documented all the issues of compressor mounting.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tex68w]

You might want to read my posts in my rebuild thread related to air conditioning over in the CUCV Modification Forum. I’ve compared the Nostalgic Air to the Vintage Air kits. There are definitely pros and cons to each kit. The main hurdle to overcome is mounting the compressor and still keeping both stock CUCV alternators. I’m currently adding air conditioning to my P400/700R4 build and worked through and documented all the issues of compressor mounting.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the heads up in regards to the alternators. I have been slowly reading through your build thread, it is quite impressive. I hope to do a quality restoration but I am not sure that I have the time or patience to take it to the level that yours has been done haha. I live in South Texas so air conditioning would be a nice addition but it isn't something that has to happen right out of the gate. I am thinking that I will go through all of the maintenance and drivetrain needs first then the I'll tackle the body and paint. After that stage is done I plan to move forward with a lift and larger tires and I'll look into the AC at that time.

 

[chevymike]

CUCV Air Conditioning
https://nostalgicac.com/c-k-series-military-m1008-m1009-truck-blazer-a-c-system.html

Have you installed this kit? I like the idea of not messing with the stock heater assembly and basically adding on an A/C system. Would like to get some real user feedback about this system. I had been looking at the Vintage Air system but kind of like this.

 

[Tex68w]

I know these trucks are only rated to tow 3,000lbs, but do any of you tow more than that regularly? I need to be able to tow my dirt bikes on the trailer for time to time and I'll exceed that rating.

 

[cucvrus]

I towed other CUCV's thousands of miles over the past 25 years. Some very far. I never had any issues. I towed a lot of firewood on a trailer with and M1009 and a huge chipper. As long as I drove below 60 I was fine. It was a real grade finder in an M1009. It was all stock and it just kept going till I up and sold it.

 

[DeadParrot]

Pretty sure the limitation is the oddball pintile bumper hitch. The pintile is mounted where the license plate would go on a civilian truck. Not the strongest place for a hitch. These trucks were designed with towing the M101A(1-3) series of trailers(or derivatives like the M116 series) in mind and those maxed out around 3400lbs rated total weight. The basic K30 frame should be good for 10,000+ lbs with the proper bumper/receiver hitch setup. Or maybe more with a goose neck or fifth wheel setup.

IIRC - the basic drop bumper for a C/K is rated for 8000lbs with the proper ball.

 

[Tex68w]

Pretty sure the limitation is the oddball pintile bumper hitch. The pintile is mounted where the license plate would go on a civilian truck. Not the strongest place for a hitch. These trucks were designed with towing the M101A(1-3) series of trailers(or derivatives like the M116 series) in mind and those maxed out around 3400lbs rated total weight. The basic K30 frame should be good for 10,000+ lbs with the proper bumper/receiver hitch setup. Or maybe more with a goose neck or fifth wheel setup.

IIRC - the basic drop bumper for a C/K is rated for 8000lbs with the proper ball.

Is there a recommended hitch mount that fits under the factory bumper so that I can retain the factory look and Pintle/Lunette setup?

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Is there a recommended hitch mount that fits under the factory bumper so that I can retain the factory look and Pintle/Lunette setup?

That gets sticky. The existing bumper makes most mounts not fit without some grinding and cutting. BUT, there is a thread around here somewhere where someone found a name-brand mount that would work with no cutting by the use of some spacers and some Grade 8 bolts, and he detailed it pretty well. I may do the same to mine some day, if I can ever find the thread again!

 

[ehuppert]

Hitches can be installed with some mods. The rear D'ring lower support gets cut off but is still secured via the upper support. I've towed a little over 8k, wouldn't think much more than that would be real safe! Besides, the 6.2 is not going to like excessive weight behind it. (SBC in mine)

Have 285-75-16 Duratracs on mine with stock rims. Manufacturer calls for 7.5-9" wide on the rims but never had a problem. Then again, less than 1500 miles a year, mostly used as a work truck (firewood, plowing, etc) Get a little rub in the front with heavy load and a little flex, but fine other than that. I have a decent drop on my drawbar with 33's. 35's or bigger will take quite a bit more drop!!!!

Word to the wise, these were never over the road trucks. We did it, but we didn't really care if they broke, cause the Mnt guys would always fix them! High RPM's at speed. AS for off road and a work vehicle, cant beat them!

 

[Tex68w]

Hitches can be installed with some mods. The rear D'ring lower support gets cut off but is still secured via the upper support. I've towed a little over 8k, wouldn't think much more than that would be real safe! Besides, the 6.2 is not going to like excessive weight behind it. (SBC in mine)

Have 285-75-16 Duratracs on mine with stock rims. Manufacturer calls for 7.5-9" wide on the rims but never had a problem. Then again, less than 1500 miles a year, mostly used as a work truck (firewood, plowing, etc) Get a little rub in the front with heavy load and a little flex, but fine other than that. I have a decent drop on my drawbar with 33's. 35's or bigger will take quite a bit more drop!!!!

Word to the wise, these were never over the road trucks. We did it, but we didn't really care if they broke, cause the Mnt guys would always fix them! High RPM's at speed. AS for off road and a work vehicle, cant beat them!

Understandable. I don't plan on trying to run the thing 65+ down the road all the time. I would like for it to do 55-60 when needed and I'll pick the slower FM and County roads to travel on. Near the house it should be fine to get me to the beach and back. I should be able to pick up a little speed over stock with 37's and the 4.56's. I might put 3-4,000 miles a year on it at best.

 

[Sharecropper]

Have you installed this kit? I like the idea of not messing with the stock heater assembly and basically adding on an A/C system. Would like to get some real user feedback about this system. I had been looking at the Vintage Air system but kind of like this.

You should read posts 301 through 315 in my rebuild thread. There are issues with the compressor mounting brackets furnished with the Nostalgic kit. These issues can be corrected but not easily. Nostalgic does not produce the mounting brackets, but instead purchases them from Component Parts Inc. in Houston, a small mom & pop machine shop which does not have a website and does not accept credit cards. Nostalgic then re-sells the brackets along with their AC kit.

There are differences between the Nostalgic and Vintage AC kits. As previously stated, the Nostalgic kit includes the compressor brackets, however the Vintage kit does not. The Nostalgic kit provides AC only and leaves the 35-year-old heater core in place. In contrast, the Vintage kit completely replaces the entire heater box and core, and blends dry conditioned air to the new defrost plenums. This blending of dry conditioned air will clear a fogged windshield much faster and more efficiently than the OEM heater-only defrost mode. Also, the Nostalgic kit utilizes the OEM cable-operatied control panel, where the Vintage kit completely replaces the factory panel and cables with a new electronic panel.

For my P400/700R4 build, I purchased the compressor brackets directly from CPI in Houston, and purchased the Sanden compressor from Summit racing. When the time comes, I will also purchase the condenser from Summit, and then purchase the behind-the-dash evaporator unit from Vintage.

Hope this helps.