M1010 Build. The Rompulance

dakota123

Adventurer
I have been searching for an m1010 for quite some time and finally found one for sale in PA through Instagram believe it or not. One guy I had been following for a while and keeping up with his build etc put it up for sale so he could move out to California. Well i messaged him right away and told him I wanted it. So i pulled out a loan and tried to hop on the next flight out of LAX on one of my moms standby passes. Well I didn't get out due to it being thanksgiving week. I was super bummed and was telling one of my other buddies who i follow on Instagram who actaully has a M1010 as well and he was like hey.... Ill drive out and get it just pay for the gas! Long story short he drove out in his crusty old cucv and towed my m1010 all the way back over 5000 miles round trip!

We (my girlfriend and dog bella) just took our first trip out to the desert in it and had a blast! This is how she sits now. We are working on a box build out and figured I would get this thread started!



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75SUB4X4

Member
that's pretty sick, surprised you couldn't find one out here in CA. I have a M1031, I bought for the 1T suspension and will be using the utility box as a trailer. Sweet rig though
 

dakota123

Adventurer
There were 2 that i came across but they were pretty beat up and had problems and were close to what i paid for this one. A while back i came across some for cheaper with problems but wasnt ready to pull the trigger just yet.

My plan for box is to be able to sleep 4 people. I plan to frame the inside the box in order to more reliably bolt my kitchen and storage setup on the passenger side of the box. On the driver side i plan to have a bench that slides out into a two person bed with storage underneath. Then above the kitchen setup going from the driver wall to the passenger wall i plan to hang two cots (two metal poles with fabric in between) to sleep two aditional people.
 

dakota123

Adventurer
Yeah its crazy i cant find any super good build threads on box build outs on these things. Hopefully i can throw something somewhat unique together. Ill post a photo later tonight of the kitchen setup i have wiaitng to be put in after the framing
 

stevo-mt

Member
Nice rig! I love the M1010. They are brutes and dogs love them! It must be the ability to go back and forth into the back from the cab. I am excited to see what you do in the box. It was tempting to tear everything out. I've left most of the stuff stock so it could sleep four people if needed, but there is room for improvements with that. I love seeing what folks do with these and look forward to getting to watch your progress!
 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Hey Dakota I really love your new ride. A cool truck with tons of ways to make it your own specific rig. Thanks for posting pics. Cheers, Chilli..:)
 

dakota123

Adventurer
Thanks guys!

Stevo-mt You are actaully one of the ones that motivated me into getting one of these! Feel like i have read every thread on here about m1010's haha
 

Flat_Ernie

Observer
What are the interior dimensions of the box?

I've got a similar era military ambulance, but it's not an M1010...it's a navy field ambulance and the box appears smaller than yours.
 

dakota123

Adventurer
Must be the height! Never seen/heard of what your got! Things rad!

Looks like the plan as of right now for me is to get started framing the inside of the box. Planing on getting the steel this sat. I will keep you guys posted!
 

dakota123

Adventurer
Hah, I've been following either you or your buddy on instagram. Nice rig!

Haha to funny. My IG is @Freedom_From_Routine and my buddies is @Bornforadventure

Got the inside most of the way framed out today. We posted a little time-lapse on IG.

I snapped a few photos ill post here as well.

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These are from the beginning stages of the process. Ill try and do a sketch of what the general plan is tomorrow sometime.
 
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