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Which military truck is the most capable? Good survival vehicle?

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NY Tom

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davidb56 said:
Hahahaha...your (mine too) 5mpg Deuce will run out of gas long before a 15mpg toyota will. Short wheel base, big tires, winch, and good gas milage is all you need for a bugout vehicle. But as I learned decades ago in a far away place....Be there to get there.....because traveling through hostile country in any vehicle is dangerous.
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Believe it or not my deuce gets about 9 mpg on pump diesel. Seems the same light or with a load up to 2.5 ton on the highway. Also have a decent fuel leak so maybe 10 mpg is in my future. Truck is not super strong so maybe the fuel is turned down. I never messed with it.

FJ Cruiser gets 19 mpg MT trans. So good for 360 before you are dry. Ask me how I know - lol. Best mpg at 40 to 50 around town in flat country.
 
Ferroequinologist

Ferroequinologist

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NY Tom said:
I have heard some "Flat Spots" maybe on RR equipment. How far you figure you can get on a tank of water?

That is one beautiful setup right there. Wow.
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True, you can get flat spots on railroad wheels. And they are super hard to change, but very easy to avoid.

Depends on the locomotive, but the N&W 611, the engine I am a fireman on, gets 10 miles for 1 ton of coal and 2,000 gallons of water average. Of course that is with a 3,200 ton train... Tender carried 35 tons of coal, and 20,000 gallons of water, we hauled an additional water car with 25,000 gallons as well. So 200ish miles for the water. Just the locomotive probably 1,000. If you had to bug out a 1,000 miles, things are REALLY bad where you are lol.
 
Mullaney

Mullaney

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Ferroequinologist said:
I've got my ex-military, multifuel, high water, deep snow, never get a flat tire, I know how to fix it, can play with it once (or more) a week bug out vehicle all figured out. Only issue is you are limited as to where you can go, but really, so is any wheeled vehicle to some extent. :ROFLMAO:




























View attachment 830734
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Wow! That train and cars are just soooo nice!

There could be a problem though.
The steering wheel on that particular model made it extremely difficult to make a hard left turn. :)


.
 
frank8003

frank8003

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Perhaps the original questions could be answered by getting one of these
and reading it, lots of good pitcher too.

The Mercedes-Benz GLE is reported to be able to walk out of just about anything, study the technology.
Few new Mercedes vehicles come pre-equipped with 4MATIC Fully Variable. Only the GLE and GLS benefit from this AWD system. 4MATIC Fully Variable allows for up to 100% of the engine’s torque to be sent to a single axle.
 

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98G

98G

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NY Tom said:
In my experience with 9 x 20 duals the flat tire actually shrinks and barely touches the road. This is running unloaded of course.

I ran 100 miles with an inside rear flat on a long trip before I noticed. Didn't seem to be presenting any problems I finished the trip.
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This is my experience running dual G177s on a 5ton as well.
 
K

Karl kostman

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You want a "CAPABLE" military truck that can run through DEEP snow without ever having to touch a set of chains, one that is capable of hauling anything that you want to haul, capable of pulling just about anything that you can hook behind it, capable of loading itself with its built onboard crane, capable of running down the road in total comfort and capable of going through water up to your waist! There is only one vehicle I know of that can do all this and MUCH more and its certainly NOT a Deuce, its an M977 HEMTT!! I was running through DEEP snow a couple years ago hauling wood and there was no stopping the truck, the only time I had to stop was because snow was coming up to the windshield, I just backed up a few feet and took off again and all this without locking any diffs etc. GREAT VERY CAPABLE TRUCK!
 
V8srfun

V8srfun

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Thoers said:
I want a once a week toy that can serve as a survival and bad weather vehicle. How would the common military trucks rank as off road and deep snow use? I like the 5 ton but are they as capable in the rough terrain as a m35a2/a3?

How much maintenance are these if they are only driven once per week? My other option is a regular truck or Toyota something.
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The 2.5 and 5 ton trucks are more capable than most people will ever need in most situations but just like any vehicle you need to have the right setup for different weather conditions. I personally have no desire to move a military truck in snow if it is still wearing ndt tires. But that doesn’t mean that these trucks are bad in the snow it just means ndt tires are.

maintenance is a huge factor as these trucks REQUIRE much more attention than any other Toyota truck you would buy. I do not know your mechanical skill level or your financial situation but I would say if you plan on paying a shop to maintain a mv you better have LOTS of disposable income. Parts for these trucks are expensive and labor is not cheap. If you plan on doing the work yourself understand that most jobs are much more labor intensive and require larger tools than most people would have if they only worked on passenger cars. Repacking wheel bearings and doing front boot service is a yearly adventure and took me probably 20 hours to complete my first time.

you really need to consider the physical size of your once a week toy as these trucks are massive compared to a small pickup or suv. There are places that it is just not convenient to take them because of the size and turning radius. I find myself driving to a fuel station that is out of the way when I need fuel (which happens almost every time I take the truck out) because the station that is closest to me is a pain to navigate with my deuce.

yes it is fun to play with the idea of how great a multifuel would be in a bug out situation and how you can run it on almost anything combustible. But the truth is that these trucks are probably the worst choice in that situation for many reasons like fuel economy, slow, loud, parts availability, size, weight, and they attract far to much attention. If you are trying to bug out the last thing that you need is a slow noisy machine advertising to the world where you are going and what you are doing.

Just do your research and spend some time around military trucks before you commit to buying one. They can be some of the most fun you can have in a vehicle just as easily as they can make you regret ever seeing one.
 
HDN

HDN

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@Thoers I see you haven't been online since you made your last post on Wednesday. There are good answers to your question here. Don't let them discourage you from getting a military truck if you really want one. We just want you - and others who come across this topic with the same question - to be understand and be prepared to do what it takes to keep one of these running. In some ways, green iron is like having a child - a fun time and money suck that's ultimately rewarding.

My truck is a hobby vehicle that I hope to never have to bug out with. If I do, it's because I want to save my truck. The fact it can carry a lot of stuff is just a bonus :p
 
montaillou

montaillou

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Why go through the snow when you can go on top of it?



They also make systems you can drive a wheeled vehicle onto, strap in, then take off.



Should have included this, they make these things for bigger trucks too, so, put some on your MV

 
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SCSG-G4

SCSG-G4

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V8srfun said:
. If you plan on doing the work yourself understand that most jobs are much more labor intensive and require larger tools than most people would have if they only worked on passenger cars. .
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Before I bought my first deuce, the biggest set of sockets I had were in 3/8 drive and no impact ones. Now I have a double set in 1/2 drive, plus an impact set, and a 3/4 drive set. Might have to go to a 1 inch drive for a couple of items. A single 1 inch drive socket can cost as much as an entire set of 3/8 drive ones. YMMV.
 
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