M1010 expo build. The Mountain Turtle

[stevo-mt]

I made a little trip down the top of the world highway. Ended up stopping at Canada, but pretty fun! There is a ton of cool country down the Taylor. Chicken AK is a pretty need little place too.

As far as the old M1010 goes. The aux fuel tank I put in the truck on the passenger side worked out pretty well. I need to do some fine tuning on the filler neck. I meant to buy a straight one that would mount flush to side of the truck. After a nice little trip with some slush on the road I wasn't too happy because it gathered right on the thing and I had to chip off ice to add fuel. I will be 3d printing out a part of ABS plastic to correct for this problem. I want to make it covered a bit. I was originally going to redo this when I had time, but I think I will just make it work with a little custom price of plastic that can protect the cap from snow and ice going down the road.

It was more of a parts mis-purchase on my part. I might someday change it, but I was scrambling to get an aux tank for my trip. Other than that... The chevy tank I bought off of amazon works great. I'm having a little flakey reading on my fuel guage so I need to troubleshoot that. The sending unit seemed pretty tough. You can just use any set of tank holders from a junk yard or ebay. I bought the straps off amazon with it and did not use them at all. The OEM ones off of an old truck work great. I think they are swappable too as to what side they will work on. The simplicity of the transfer fuel pump is pretty hard to match. You just run one line over to the other sending unit and wire it up and done. Just have to be sure to not leave the switch on or anything. Warwagon's cucv has 3 tanks and it turned out pretty nice. I'm still needing to clean this thing up.

As for the M1101 trailer. I'll figure out a door that lifts up above the tailgate. I want to be able to load my snowmachine in the back and lock the door. Just to make it difficult to mess with. Just kind of standard hardware for the latches and key locks that I can buy from mcmaster carr. I hate to put too much engineering time into the thing and then get to the trailer and not have anything fit.

On the 4l80e transmission front, I have a pretty good lead on a 90's chevy with a 454 blown up. I should be able to get it cheap and send the transmission off to get rebuilt. Depending on the transfer case get that figured out and overhauled and install a slip yoke eliminator. I know the NP241 isn't necessary the best transfer case but I like its low gearing for low range. The one in my uncle's ranch truck is still dragging overloaded goose neck trailers around his ranch moving hay from the fields after 10 years and no major issues yet. Even with a small stand alone computer under the seat I think it will be a better overall setup than the TH400, 208, and a gear vendors. Should be an interesting install if it works out.

 

[chilliwak]

I have the 4l80e trans in my Yukon that is powerd by a 6.5 turbo diesel. The transmission works great and shifts smoothly even after some 370000 kms. Kind of interested in hearing about the old duece that is hauling a house on its back that you have pictured. Any info? Have fun and keep us posted. Cheers, Chilli....

 

[piratexpress1369a]

awesome red sky was that a morning shot or evening shot ...where did you take the pic of the old m37 truck with the house on it

 

[stevo-mt]

That house on the back of the old deuce and a half and m37 is the stage for Chickenstock in chicken Alaska. On the Taylor highway. Kind of a neat setup. As we were driving to chicken the evening sky looked like it was on fire. Of course we were in somewhat of a hurry so I only got one or two pictures that evening. Petty fun trip as far as cruising around that part of the state. Didn't make it all the way to eagle though so I will have to come back later!

 

[stevo-mt]

I got to spend a week up on the North Slope so I tried to take some photo's. Went up to Deadhorse and checked out some of the cool arctic expedition vehicles there! Pretty fun trip. It just gets me more excited to go back to Montana and work on my truck!

As always when I'm away from my vehicle I tend to do a lot of plotting and thinking. I found a cool rack that is bolted onto the back of military vehicles for storing packs and stuff. I figured it would work perfect on the back door of my truck that doesn't have a spare tire in front of it to hold things that I don't want to carry in the truck. Such as elk quarters in game bags.

Of course it will be painted flat black. This will also serve as a protection bracket for a boat outboard motor. Details to come ...

I'm planning on doing a week long trip as soon as I get back so there is a few issues that will need to be corrected asap. A friend is flying into Montana so there is a bit of a time crunch to get the cobwebs flushed out. The 208 transfer case leaked a good amount of fluid onto my shop floor. My father said it was a couple of quarts. So that is going to get the quick overhaul and re-sealed. I've got to check the bearings in the darn thing too. I'm pretty much over dealing with the 208. A friend is putting a 4l80E transmission and 241 transfer case into an 80's suburban so it will give me a good reference to how that works out. I plan on doing the same this winter sometime but utilizing a slip yoke eliminator on the np241 and be done with seals.

I need to get the interior tidied up a bit. I don't think I'll have time to shoot the top coats of paint into the back. I have battleship grey marine sitting there waiting to be sprayed in the back cabin. There are two different colors right now, grey and green from when I removed some of the stock parts that didn't get sprayed grey from one of the original owners.

I am utilizing some more ram mounts to put two 1" balls on the rear passenger and drivers sides near the top. They will then swivel and have a led flood light mounted on each of them. I will tie that into a deutsch plug so they can come off when not in use. This will also allow me to pivot them and turn them as needed. I found out when we were using the lights that only a portion of the light was actually focused near where I needed. The forward led spotlight on top of the cab works great for anything forward, but didn't do any good unless it was directly to the sides or in front. Another cool thing is they will be able to cover about 300 degrees of the vehicle and then tuck away safely behind the truck to stay out of the way branches. Of course I found out rigid does this same thing too, but I've got a little different twist to it then they do. RAM mounts sells a ball that is basically a 3/8" bolt. I'm just going to use that and eliminate one component of the puzzle.

In the area of cargo control I purchased four of these kits.

http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Ratch...ystems/Anchor-Point-Tie-Down-Kit-w-Round-Base

The plan is to mount a bunch of these guys around the cabin of the camper to help secure stuff as were cruising down the road. L-track is pretty handy and all the That was one of the areas that the truck needed improvement on. Just anchoring simple things like water jugs and bunjiing down back packs and such.

For the big addition. I am installing aircraft aluminum L-track on the passenger side of the truck on the main structural posts. There will be two 6 ft peices that run vertically on the front and rear of the box and also some shorter pieces to give tie off spots. These will serve as an area to raise, lower, and anchor my new 14 foot porta boat to the side! I'm trying to secure a deal on a 15 hp outboard to go with it. I'm going to get a zodiac still, but I got a sweet deal on a 14 ft porta-bote that I couldn't pass up on! The L-track will have some handy dandy U shaped brackets that will lock into the L track to hold it up. I can lift the 100 lb boat up and slide the brackets that hold the weight up after the boat is in the air. I just wish Porta-bote didnt' put such cheesey stuff on their website. They make it look like a grandpa fishing boat (not that there is anything wrong with that) contrast to when you strap a 15 hp 2 stroke on the back and it becomes a high speed machine! Plus the outboard will be usable on a 12 ft zodiac as well. The rack on the back door will work out perfect for helping protect the lower unit of a 15 hp outboard. The outboard is about 72 lbs and I will be able to use the lifting spot that is designed to help lift the back boards from the old ambulance part of the truck. Glad I kept those brackets on! The other main reason for the Porta-boat was that I will be able to take it with me to King Salmon when I go to work for the summer. The freight will be similar to a zodiac, but the fuel savings on a porta boat @ $7 a gallon gas adds up quickly!

Many of these wacky things will play out over the next few months.

As always fun times!

 

[chilliwak]

Stevo what a wicked read.
Sounds like you got some cool ideas about mounting stuff on your truck and 2 thumbs up about the alu. reinforcements.
I would like to see some shots when you get that stuff mounted on your truck but I can already imagine the way its going to turn out.
Show us pics of your motor, zodiac, and other purchases.
Keep those blood red sky pics coming, as well as anything else you think we should check out.
Nice stuff and ideas.:drool:

 

[Mfriguy]

Thanks for all the great info, my build is coming along. I love the spare tire set up yo fabricated! Another question about the aux fuel tank, you said you purchased it on Amazon. Was it a model specific tank or just a universal tank that was the correct dimensions? I am still shopping around for one.
Thanks

 

[stevo-mt]

Thanks for all the great info, my build is coming along. I love the spare tire set up yo fabricated! Another question about the aux fuel tank, you said you purchased it on Amazon. Was it a model specific tank or just a universal tank that was the correct dimensions? I am still shopping around for one.
Thanks

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C7QK8C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s04?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's cheap now! $70 on the zon! It is a standard tank. I think they are the same tank on the passenger and drivers sides. All you need is some of the stock tank brackets to bolt it up. It fits under great. The only thing that is a pain is hooking up the filler neck. I tried a boat one that was a 45 deg and that didn't quite work. If a guy used a straight filler neck from with a vent and then bent a pipe for your angles it would match up easy. Then all that would be necessary is some hose to be the couplings between the tank, pipe, and nozzle.

I managed to get a few things half horsed this week. I am taking off tomorrow for a week with a friend flying in so the truck will get some good use around Montana and Wyoming. There are few things I want to try out and figure out what I want to modify. I fixed the transfer case leak, but I think that I'm getting some ATF coming out of the tranny somewhere. It was a quart short after sitting for six months so I will have to keep my eye on that. The pool of red ATF looked like a pool of blood sitting under my truck! Sadly . On the positive side of things I jerry rigged a rack to hold a propane tank and a basket of spare parts on the back above the spare tire. With the propane outside thats at least one less thing to worry about. I will fabricate a better bracket that will look nicer once if determine if I want to use a regular old bbq tank or this nice horizontal tank I bought real cheap from the propane guy and maybe mount it underneath the truck. In armour of course! I was thinking of using a spare tire hoist to raise and lower it some how.

I bought an el cheapo light bar of off amazon. For $112 it isn't half bad. I built some nice tough aluminum brackets to hold it on the front grill guard for now. I was thinking about extending the rack that I have above the cab of the truck to come out over the cab further and mounting it there. This is the trial run. But from what I've seen playing around it is pretty flippin' bright!


I also angled the old pair of rigid lights out to the corners as well as the KC highlights. I figure I can see in the barrow pits better since most of the time deer are on the sides of the road vs. right in the middle. I was glad to have over wired the old little rigid LEDs. The relay and wire was heavy enough to just add the 300W lightbar. I am a little frustrated with my self for not buying american on that bar, but I will eventually buy a baja designs light bar in the future. I have a baja designs squadran light on my motorcycle and its brighter than the 20 inch rigid bar that one of our work trucks had. I should have bought one when I was still doing a real job...

I wired up the fridge and had to install a stainless bottle opener on the side. I'm pretty excited to try that out. I have some delicious alaskan salmon sitting in it's freezer right now for the trip!


Right now my setup is kind of totey! I am using totes to keep everything organized and puppy proof... As I start on the main parts of the camper this winter I will integrate some good space saving components. One thing that I'm exited to try is my on demand water heater. It is a aquacube from Mr. Heater. I'll see how I want to go with my water heating setup for the camper. I like how this setup can have the little pump tossed into a creek and you can heat water out of it! Put it into a bucket and you can double heat the water and get it super warm!


My lagun table has a simple piece of wood on it right now. I had the mount fabbed up so I figured I might as well give that a try. The table top I am going to make look like the state of montana, or at least take a square table and wood burn the state map in. I'm kind of a nerd on that stuff.

On this trip I'll get to test out a lot of things and take some good pictures. It will be nice to have a week of fun and no set schedule. The only dates in stone are when I'm picking my friend up from the airport and when she is flying out. So a week of fun! I have boxes of stuff to go through. But I'm realizing that I need to paint the camper inside and get everything on the same page before I start screwing and gluing things in!

 

[stevo-mt]

I got to put a few miles on. I turned 30K on the odometer so that makes it a total of 7k miles of fun in the truck. The refrigerator worked great. The solar panels powered them fine when the truck was parked, not that I would even notice with the two batteries in the back. The diesel heaters still will roast a person out if you want it to. I didn't get a chance to try the Mr. Heater Aquacube. I was able to end up at a hot springs every other day so it wasn't too necessary to break out. Especially since there was snow in the high country. I ended up on an old jeep trail south of the pryor mountains that goes from the Wild Horse range into Wyoming. It was a pretty good test of the old truck. The 37's grip like a mountain goat! I did manage to wipe out and lose the antennae for the wilson cell booster. So I have a new one here and need to install that.

The light bar works great out in the back woods, my only issue is its too bright and reflects off the back of reflectors and signs bad on the back roads. The LED lights on the side and back come in handy. There were a couple nights were we set camp up a little late and they were sure nice to be able to use. I'm looking forward to having two that will cover the corners between the sides and the rear. I am also looking at installing dimmers for the different LEDs. It would be nice to tone them down a bit so you don't ruin your night vision so bad, but still have some lighting.

The truck ran good and no mechanical issues. The only thing will be the turbo, it needs to be installed. The truck loses all of its power at high elevation and goes sllooowww. But Oh well. It a good old truck and gets by. No reason it can't get by at a little closer to the speed limit!

 

[sojourner]

Wow, great job and fantastic pictures

 

[piratexpress1369a]

cool pics..as to the dimmer switch do you think you could get one for 12 volt

 

[chilliwak]

Hey Stevo if I come over your way can I take your truck for a rip?:drool:

 

[jamesgrizzlyadams]

how's the "sway"?

I managed to get the cross over steering installed along with a new heavy duty power steering gear box. The 37's turn pretty easy now Quite a bit of improvement, but I lose the sway bar due to it. I guess you pick which one you want, to steer or sway a little bit. If I would of realized I wouldn't be able to utilize the sway bar I wouldn't have bought a sway bar disconnect kit.

I've recently acquired an M1010 and this thread has provided me with inspiration, and seemingly endless ways to empty my wallet.. (thanks a lot). Thanks for spending the time to document your build!

I'm putting together my order for Offroad Designs, to bring some life back into my suspension (4" lift system), and am wondering how the crossover steering has worked out for you? I'm trying to decide if I should bother ordering the sway bar disconnect kit, or if I should just wait and order the crossover/hi-steer kit in the spring. I understand I'd need to get a new steering box with this as well...

Have you had any "sway" or body roll problems with the sway bar removed? I'll be putting 37"x12.5 BFG A/T TA's on mine and it will likely see similar use to yours (hunting, camping, exploration, no SERIOUS trail use).

Thanks, (and sorry for hi-jacking the thread :costumed-smiley-007)

 

[stevo-mt]

Well Chilly, The with the cold weather and changing in air pressures you can actually feel the change in difference of power with the engine. On a low pressure system the truck is doggy. On a high pressure day its a little quicker! If you have to be coming through eastern Montana give me some heads up and you can feel what its like to drive 55!

I couldn't utilize the sway bar disconnect kit at all with the lift kit. The crossover steering and the 2wd steering box was a night and day difference with the truck, I would say necessary. You could feel how it could barely turn with the stock steering setup with a dropped steering arm. The steering dynamics are just too funky. One of these days I'm going to get a rear sway bar installed to help with the back. It doesn't do too bad all things considered but there is room for improvement. I've taken it in some super hairy places for a regular pickup. I wish I would have cut my fenders first and tried this before I dropped a ridiculous amount of money into it. Just too see how it worked. I put my 37 MTrs on before I lifted it and it might have worked out with some serious cutting. In reality the height would be better and then there wouldn't be as high of center of gravity. http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?76267-My-M1010-Now-on-37-s-w-no-lift!-(Pics!) Even with a 4 inch lift you will have to cut the fenders in the front and back. I would suggest the bushwacker fender flares on the front. I kept the front of the fend almost where it was originally and cut an inch into the back towards the cab. You will have to see what works with the 37's. Although the ORD lift kit and suspension does drive nice. It rides better than my old ford pickup, not that says much. It was a pretty good amount of work and I think I finally got my transfer case to stop leaking, so there will be a ton of gremlins that pop up when you start doing that stuff.

I really need to do the high steer kit as well. I've noticed with the stock tie rod between the wheels it just doesn't seem strong enough for 37's. I am kind of afraid of that giving me issues down the road. I saw how Chilliwak on his truck camper installed double shocks. I might give that a go too. At the least it would look awesome! Not to rant... but on the shocks. I had to refab the F250 shock mount that ORD sells to actually work with the M1010. I wish I had been able to see how they have been installed on somebody's ORD truck, but I could not get the geometry right so I just welded on some angle iron that gave me the right angle for the shocks to flex with the axle and not destroy themselves. The ORD directions and quality of their stuff is pretty good though. Personally I would stick with the good old warn hubs (also upgraded the Dana 60 axle to 35 spline when I had that all apart). Another gentleman on this site had issues with the Yukon ones on his CUCV, enough of an issue I wouldn't buy them.

Not to ramble, but if I could do it all over again I would cut lots of fenders before lifting, but that's my 2 cents. At least it would be a good starting area. But if you do lift it, plan on buying the crossover steering and eventually the high steer kit when the stock tie rods wear out.

 

[stevo-mt]

Also to continue to rant... I would get some aluminum 16.5" wheels if your going to run H1 tires. The 12 bolt's I had looked awesome and drove about 1500 miles, then I got the death wobble. Then you don't have to mess with dually hubs on the front and spacers on the back. I did and it cost me as much $$$ as just buying new rims to begin. Having that said, I have a set of dually hubs, h1 wheels and tires, and rear spacers if anyone needs any . But they might not be too bad re-centered.

I drove the truck through a blizzardy night the other evening and the light bar actually was perfect. It lit the road up and with the rigid LEDs pointed to the corners of the road there was no need to worry about hitting a deer. Which I did actually do on my trip a couple weeks back. Two hairs were found and I felt kind of bad for the little bambi.

For the exterior LED lights for camping I'm planning on just using the pulse width modulation controllers that you can buy from amazon for 4 bucks a piece. http://www.amazon.com/LEDwholesaler..._sim_hi_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0ZV92GJ7Z7VC4FW76SNW

For that cost I can put one on each exterior light. It would be nice just to have a little control over it because it seems that you don't need too crazy of light. I will of course put that into a different box or a panel. I've had one in use for about a year and no complaints with the strip LED lights. They work pretty awesome for what you pay for. As usual when something cheap says its good for 8 amps, run max of 4 and you will less likely have an issue.