The CUCV Build-1986 M1031 Mobile Field Maintenance Assault Vehicle

PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
As I sit here under the stars with a cold Ale 8 in my hand, camped out next to a soybean field in central KY, pondering an adventure in the near future, I find it appropriate to have a build thread before I begin a travel thread. So here's what I got, she's a 1986 M1031 CUCV Mobile Field Maintenance Assault Vehicle. For those that need to know, CUCV stands for Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle. Yes, it's mobile, drives anywhere in the field, it has tools to maintain things when stuff breaks down, and came stock with gun racks for assaulting things if the need arrises, and well, it's got four wheels. Everyone just calls it "The CUCV", pronounced cukvee. I don't really have a better name for her, so we're stuck with that for now. I know, there are many CUCV's out there, but this one is mine. As I write up this thread, please feel free to express your opinions, concerns, and general constructive criticisms. This vehicle has spent much of it's time on SteelSoldiers and at military shows and swap meets, but it has clearly transitioned to the expedition side of the interwebs. I'm not sure if this thing is supposed to be under Expedition Vehicles or Expedition Campers, but since you currently can't stand inside the back of the vehicle, I don't think one could classify it as a camper.

First, a little bachground on what's going on here and why. I guess it was sometime early 2012, the end of the world was fast approaching (supposedly) and all these strange zombie attacks were going on...

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Yes, because zombies are real, right?

Ok, so maybe we didn't really believe the world was gonna end. But hey, what better excuse to build a vehicle for the apocalypse? The apocalypse never happened, and those "zombies" were actually naked people high on bath salts, so I'm able to write this up. And would ya believe that an apocalypse vehicle is very similar to an expedition vehicle? Well, it is, so we're taking this thing on an expedition with no destination or deadline. But that's gonna be written up later. I'm an electrician by trade, college educated, and on the side fabricator/mechanic, so you will see this vehicle keep it's roots as a true maintenance vehicle.
 

PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
So I found the truck on the interwebs. Talked with the owner about all the good and bad about it, grabbed some cash and a truck, and went out to see where we stand.

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As the truck sat when I went to look at her.

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After some minor haggling, my buddy and I went to the local Uhaul to borrow a trailer.

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Take note, these stupid jacks are just plain garbage or you really shouldn't exceed a trailers maximum weight capacity.

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If weight wasn't an issue, length almost was.

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But hey, couldn't have been that bad if my lil Jeep could tow that thing around. (No, we really didn't tow it across state lines with that.)

Now that the thing is home and in the driveway we can see what we have to work with. Some good tidbits to know, the odometer read some 45k miles. It has a Detroit 6.2L diesel engine, TH400 3 spd automatic transmission, NP205 transfer case with pto setup for generator, front Dana 60 with limited slip differential, and rear 14 bolt with Detroit locker. Axles are geared at 4.56 with 31" tires which brings our top speed to 55 mph, but we'll fix that later.

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Just look past all the rust. Purely all cosmetic, haha.

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One of the nicest qualities about this truck is the utility body on the back. The entire thing is made of aluminum, so that really cuts down on the weight and doesn't totally destroy the whole center of gravity thing.

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If you look carefully, the small lower cabinet had a padlock on it. The previous owner said it was like that when he got it, and he didn't know what was in it. Sadly, after cutting off the lock there was just some garbage and a rotting piece of wood.

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And some fancy technical data if anyone is curious.
 
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PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
Alright, now onto the good stuff!

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Ah, the heart of this build. A good amount of potential going on back here. Maybe some fold down cots, hammock, or other kind of bed of some sorts. All the way up front you can see the pto driven generator. On the left is the onboard air system.

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Here is the generator control panel. It's a 12k watt 3 phase 208v generator. It only had 11 hours or so on it and the previous owner stated that he never had it running. A bunch of the wires looked cut and stuff all out of whack, but all the main components were there. If this thing runs, the truck will be worth my time and money. If not, I don't know why I even bought the thing. It doesn't even have cup holders!

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What do you need an onboard 12k watt 3 phase generator for? The air compressor of course! It runs on 3 phase and is dual piston with enough cfm's to run any air tools you got.

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Everything with the generator stuff gets it's own little cabinet. It even comes with metal schematic panels on the door! We will be needing those later when we attempt to fix all the wiring and get her running again.

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One bad thing the military installers did was only use white wires. What's up with that? At least at each end of each wire there is a crimped on numbered metal tag that corresponds with the schematics on the door.

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All the generator controls are in aftermarket locations in the dash.

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And what a cozy cab it has! No electronics on this thing. No radio, no a/c, no heated seats, but has nice hand crank windows! What does all that mean? Not a piece of junk, just a simpler vehicle with less stuff to break!

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And I wonder what we can do with all these extra empty cabinets? Any ideas?
 
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k9lestat

Expedition Leader
I like it. I think it would cool if you could disconnect the pod from the truck once on site.

Sent from my QMV7A using Tapatalk
 

PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
I like it. I think it would cool if you could disconnect the pod from the truck once on site.

Sent from my QMV7A using Tapatalk

It is quite popular to take the contact body off the back and slap it on a trailer. These old Chevy's usually rot out and fall apart long before the aluminum body on the back will.
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My truck still runs and hasn't completely rotted out yet. But maybe phase 2 of this vehicle's life will be a trailer life.
 

PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
So there's obviously a lot of work to do. The runs runs and drives, but it's been sitting awhile and semi neglected in the maintenance department. She's gonna need new tires, shocks, brakes, fluids, filters, everything greased, some ujoints, exhaust, and just general maintenance things. We'll do all that stuff little by little as the need arrises or I remember to do it, or whatever I come across that needs to be done. Some say it's a lot of work and I should have bought something new, but this is what you get when you find a "good deal". And as long as you keep up with maintenance and the vehicle doesn't rot away, older vehicles can run a long time and be quite dependable. Oops, did I just jinx myself?

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So my brother had these STA Superlugs mounted on these chrome rims for his Jeep project. Good thing about old American trucks is that they all used the same lug patterns! So they looked like they would fit, and we had 4 extra that weren't mounted that I could use. Kind of a big step up from 31" to 36", but they fit and will actually help with overall highway speed.

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Prepping for some new shoes.

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These old tires have about had it. Dryrot gets all tires eventually...

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The news went on great. The rims needed a little tlc though, so they getting some new paint.

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Ah, flat black, what a nice color. There won't be any fancy chrome or glossy colors on this rig.

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She likes her new shoes! Doesn't she just look adorable?

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Even though she has the bigger tires to increase top speed, she will have lost some torque values and she will still drink fuel. She only has a 20 gallon fuel tank, so I think we're gonna have to mount some auxiliary fuel cans somewhere before this thing goes anywhere.
 

olly hondro

mad scientist
Probably don't need extra fuel, the 6.2 diesel + big tank stock does pretty well. Just in case of a zombie event, however, I carry an electric diesel fuel transfer pump + long hose so I can "aquire" fuel from disabled trucks en route.
 

PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
Probably don't need extra fuel, the 6.2 diesel + big tank stock does pretty well. Just in case of a zombie event, however, I carry an electric diesel fuel transfer pump + long hose so I can "aquire" fuel from disabled trucks en route.

Well, she won't break 300 miles on 20 gallons, that's a fact. And I hear rumors that there are some roads out west that sometimes have quite the distance between fuel stations. The Boyscout in me just says to carry extra fuel. I've run out of fuel more than once in the backwoods highways of West Virginia and I tell you that 5 gallon jerry can was worth its weight in gold.
 

PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
All of you electrical wires should be labeled every foot or so. That should help keep things straight.

Yea, some of the wires have a tag id written on the wire and others like the ones running around the truck have metal tags crimped on. Just gotta get used to looking back and forth to the schematics all the time.
 

Hartigan

Let's go!
Great to see a contact maintenance truck being built up!! I bought an M1010 ambulance a few months ago to build up, but I've always really liked the concept of an expedition-ish M1031. Can't wait to see what you do with her :)
 

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