My M1079 Plan

zoti

New member
Hello. First post for me here. I have been reading a bit and I have been thinking a lot about building a low budget expedition truck based on an M1079 Stewart & Stevenson.

I am in the initial phases of finding a truck but I am one of those guys that try to plan ahead and like to visualize things. I want to go with an M1079 because it already has a box on it and although it is a bit small I think it can work pretty well with good planning.

Planing for the usual things.

- Solar panels for battery charging.
- Small generator for extra power (when batteries are low or you need A/C or heating) under the box. Probably next to the exhaust.
- Install A/C in cab.
- GPS and entertainment system in cab.
- Casette toilet in a wet bath (no black water tank and fuss).
- 2 burner stove.
- Fridge
- Folding dining area that can turn into a 65 inch bed (can fit a child's mattress).
- Relocating the original box windows (depending on what type of box I find).
- Adding a folding "balcony" in the back (later stage).
- Adding storage under the box and behind the wheel for propane tanks (simple and you can get it anywhere).
- Adding small storage boxes where possible.
- Check the possibility of a pass through to the original van box.

I'm only in the initial stages and checking the possibility of even taking on such a project.

And this is my plan for the box. I made rough measurements based on what I found online. Any comments are welcome.

Screen Shot 2017-05-08 at 5.55.55 PM.jpg

The dining area will fold into the wall while transporting and if you need more room. I'm also planing to make the inside bench fold in half (to seat one person) so you can pass through to the bathroom area even if the dining table is open. The table will also drop to the bench level to make a bed platform or about 65" long or fold al together so you can lay a mattress.

Screen Shot 2017-05-08 at 5.55.44 PM.jpg

Screen Shot 2017-05-08 at 5.55.09 PM.jpg

Screen Shot 2017-05-08 at 5.55.30 PM.jpg
 

Ovrlnd Rd

Adventurer
Plan on going slow and buying lots of diesel. I have a M1078 and love to drive it unless there's some place I need to be.
 

FBJR

Adventurer
These are growing on me more and more and can be had for cheap. Now if they would just do more than 60mph.
 

waveslider

Outdoorsman
So since it already has a box on it, are you saying you're just going to do a build- out of the existing box on it with the layout you have? Those rigs normally don't have a pass thru do they? If so you might want to consider more/bigger windows to compensate. Looks cool though.
 

Dirt_diggler

New member
We have one we're building out too. I wouldn't try to change the windows. The box is solid and the windows are nice. Moving and resealing your work is not worth it.

We put our bed across the back (it's just longer than a normal mattress inside).

The most complicated part is the electrical. Love to bounce some ideas off each other if you're interested.

Ty
 

cj7ox

New member
These are growing on me more and more and can be had for cheap. Now if they would just do more than 60mph.

You can get them to do more than 60, but it requires a laptop with the Army maintenance program in it. All of that is limited in the software. All of ours in the National Guard are tuned up to run a little over 70mph so we don't get run over on the interstate.
 

Ovrlnd Rd

Adventurer
You can get them to do more than 60, but it requires a laptop with the Army maintenance program in it. All of that is limited in the software. All of ours in the National Guard are tuned up to run a little over 70mph so we don't get run over on the interstate.

Are those just M1078s or M1078A1s?
 

SootyCamper

Active member
Impressive CAD design work you did! I tried google sketch up but I'm still learning, so I do rough stuff on good ol grid paper. In regards to the LMTV i've heard some nasty things about the cat 3116 engine, It's not held in very good regard on many of the forums i've researched. Anyways looking forward to your build!
 

quickfarms

Adventurer
Impressive CAD design work you did! I tried google sketch up but I'm still learning, so I do rough stuff on good ol grid paper. In regards to the LMTV i've heard some nasty things about the cat 3116 engine, It's not held in very good regard on many of the forums i've researched. Anyways looking forward to your build!

The cat yellow is very close to gold because that's what they want for the parts.

The engine does not like high rpm's

To get more speed you also need the faster axle gears.

The trucks have electrical issues.

Parts can be an issue to get

The wedge air brakes suck


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Jjackson410

Observer
Hello. First post for me here. I have been reading a bit and I have been thinking a lot about building a low budget expedition truck based on an M1079 Stewart & Stevenson.

I am in the initial phases of finding a truck but I am one of those guys that try to plan ahead and like to visualize things. I want to go with an M1079 because it already has a box on it and although it is a bit small I think it can work pretty well with good planning.

Planing for the usual things.

- Solar panels for battery charging.
- Small generator for extra power (when batteries are low or you need A/C or heating) under the box. Probably next to the exhaust.
- Install A/C in cab.
- GPS and entertainment system in cab.
- Casette toilet in a wet bath (no black water tank and fuss).
- 2 burner stove.
- Fridge
- Folding dining area that can turn into a 65 inch bed (can fit a child's mattress).
- Relocating the original box windows (depending on what type of box I find).
- Adding a folding "balcony" in the back (later stage).
- Adding storage under the box and behind the wheel for propane tanks (simple and you can get it anywhere).
- Adding small storage boxes where possible.
- Check the possibility of a pass through to the original van box.

I'm only in the initial stages and checking the possibility of even taking on such a project.

And this is my plan for the box. I made rough measurements based on what I found online. Any comments are welcome.

View attachment 399881

The dining area will fold into the wall while transporting and if you need more room. I'm also planing to make the inside bench fold in half (to seat one person) so you can pass through to the bathroom area even if the dining table is open. The table will also drop to the bench level to make a bed platform or about 65" long or fold al together so you can lay a mattress.

View attachment 399882

View attachment 399883

View attachment 399884

So what became of this build?
 

Tennmogger

Explorer
You can get them to do more than 60, but it requires a laptop with the Army maintenance program in it. All of that is limited in the software. All of ours in the National Guard are tuned up to run a little over 70mph so we don't get run over on the interstate.

Your NG FMTVs must have the CAT C7 engine. It is electronic and programmable. Going over recommended rpm is at your own risk.

The earlier FMTV engines, CAT 3116 and 3126 are mechanical and really don't tolerate over-rev'ing. With known issues of driveline imbalance, over-speeding can break stuff. Lots of info on Steel Soldiers forum.

The 'cheap' M-1078 and M-1079 trucks are the earlier versions with mechanically injected engines. Their comfortable speed is around 50.
 

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