Retired military vehicles.
 

Ever purchased one?

These trucks tend to have very low miles, but I wonder what type of abuse they endured during their time of service. I feel that this one in particular is a bit over-priced, but I'm interested in something similar:

1987 Chevrolet ton and 1/4 diesel w/under 40K miles - $4200

http://images.craigslist.org/3mc3o93...9a510e1c69.jpg

I used to have an '86 2WD diesel, and I would have kept it for future restoration had it not been so eaten up by salty Michigan winters. Vehicles down here are infinitely more solid (assuming these military trucks were originally stationed somewhere in the south), and this is my favorite body-style pickup.

I like my Dakota, but I almost never drive the truck anyway, and I could do without the payment. Makes more sense right now to pay for something older in cash, and perhaps keep it for a frame-off resto sometime down the line.

BTW, the Dakota:

2006 Dodge Dakota V8 w/ 6-speed MUST SEE - only 30,000 miles - $11999

Seems overpriced to me.

I sold my '86 more than two years ago for $1,200. Of course, it had 8 billion miles on it, swiss-cheesed rocker panels, and it was just RWD, but still.

If the truck in the ad is solid and the mileage is authentic, I think $3K (ish) is fair.

Maybe worth a ride?

http://http://www.100dollarman.com/trucks.html

A bobbed deuce would be a bit overkill...but oh so much cool.

Yeah those are some of the best body styles. But the absolute best looking were the old Jeep J20's.

As for treatment. Think of a rental vehicle. Now take that rental vehicle, give it to a 20 y/o and tell him to get to the other side of this field/ditch/slough/river and you can't believe he's not there yet. Once he gets there, he leaves it idle... all day... in case he needs to go somewhere. Yeah, that's how it lived every day of it's life. Further, there will be no radio, no A/C, and marginal heat in it.

To put it in perspective. The average civilian 6.2L diesel had a lifespan of 150-200k with decent maintenance. The average military 6.2L diesel in the CUCV's had a lifespan of around 20k miles before rebuild. When they were rebuilt, they often used new parts, unless there were budget problems, then used parts worked. (this includes rods, pistons, cranks, etc)

And one more thing to note, that beast is geared LOW! Like 5.60's or so low. Top speed will be about 60 mph, which is another thing to remember, this vehicle spent most of it's time either at redline on the road, or idling...

So, my opinion. If you just need a truck occasionally to haul something short distances, and have some mechanical knowledge to fix things, they are not a bad deal for the right price. Just don't think that it will be the equivalent of buying a civilian version with low miles, cause they are vastly different.

I'd rock the shit out of a cucvee

I drove a cucv in the Army. it was geared for shit. as in highway gears. 3.73 maybe 4.11's rode around at 70 easy. yes it got wheeled. everytime we took it out we "drove" it. maintainance was done by the driver except major issues. Mine never had a major issue.
Do they get driven hard? absolutely. are they maintained? absolutely. thing gets everything it needs and then some. my heat worked fine. no ac or radio though.
would I buy one? in a minute. would i buy one for 4200? not on your life. they usually have very little to no rust, and usually go for around 3 grand. look around you can find them everywhere for 3 grand or less.
watch out for the ones that were purchased and then screwed up by folks who knew nothing about vehicles.
also a BIG thing to check into. make sure your state allows it to be registered for street use. Wisconsin just passed a law that vehicles that were not originally registered for street use cannot be registered for street. guys with old mil trucks are less then happy.

to illustrate the "driving" I was the first person in my unit to stick a hmmv. it took 3 feet of water and 2 feet of mud but it was stuck!! never did run the same.
put a jeep in so deep it took a 5 ton wrecker to get it out. then there was the time we fell through the ice.....
I was a howitzer driver too. LOL at least I wasn't the one who put the gun tube through fritz's bedroom.....
don't expect it to have been babied through life. some are, but most are driven and used as trucks should be.

worst part about mil vehicles is the pirated parts. make sure to check it over for missing items. although the cucv's were just gotten rid of as a whole so most went out intact.

Here is my $.02

Stay the fuck away from it

http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/282525..._5870188_n.jpg

should point out that the cucv program was right about the time the army's book keeping went to shit and a LOT of those things were pirated for parts in house but reported as functional vehicles.