M1010 expo build. The Mountain Turtle

[jamesgrizzlyadams]

Thanks for the info! Very helpful. :bowdown:

I've already trimmed the rear fenders, and the bushwacker cutout fender flares are on order. Maybe what I'll do is get my new wheels/tires first and see if it's doable before I drop 3k on new suspension.

My problem is that the current suspension is not great, the leaves are badly corroded and have separated on the rear springs. I also feel like the shocks are not doing their job as I had a pretty serious "death shake" after going over a section of rough road the other day. The truck started bouncing hard: enough to knock my batteries out of place, disconnect them and shut the truck off. My dog didn't like that.

So the dilemma is: since I feel that I need to replace the leaf springs and shocks to make it adventure worthy, I figure I may as well do the lift.

Thanks for the info on the light bar too, that's another thing I have on the list as the current headlights leave something to be desired (light). Hard to justify 10x the price for a brand name one.

 

[stevo-mt]

If your needing new leaf springs and everything anyways might not be a bad idea to go with the ORD kit. The rear springs on the truck are a gigantic leaf pack. The previous owner to me had them overhauled and straightened. I would check with a suspension shop or with ORD before I replaced them because it is a 5/4 ton truck, I Think mine tipped the scales off around 8K lbs! I don't know if ORD has a rear set of springs that is heavy enough, but they can probably get you whatever you want.

I wish I would have bought these. http://www.quadratec.com/products/52451_0001.htm Some portal axles would make the M1010 the most rad truck ever! Thinking about it $7K would be steep but I wouldn't of had to do a lift, steering, and H1 wheels and tires would have worked from the get go. So other than the ridiculously slow speed the truck would of had with 4.56 gears it would have been epic. I probably have 7 grand into the lift, steering, wheels/tires and that jazz anyways! Just throwing that out there, hind sight is always 20/20. But at the end of the day the truck drives and rides pretty smooth with that ORD setup. I would keep the lift as low as possible, but 4" isn't too bad. I remember the front tire rubbing once on the bottom of the fender while going down a jeep trail and flexing it pretty crazy. No front sway bar and I should probably install those competition bump stops. (or at least space mine out accordingly...) I was having my lady friend drive and there was a 1 ft tall rock face to climb over. I told here to just creep up to it and then drive right over! It seems counter intuitive, but that old under powered 6.2 is probably the reason that thing goes anywhere and has the traction worthy of a mountain goat. You don't have to worry about the truck spinning out and loosing traction. A turbo will be nice though. I keep thinking of re-powering after driving my dad's truck with a 454 but I just don't think I could bring myself to it.

One thing I've been mulling over has been to re-install my rear airbags. Before I had a lift or cut the fenders I cheated and used a set to keep clearance on the truck's rear tires/fenders. It's either that or buy a rear sway bar, which might be worth it. I think that it might help with the truck off-roading on side hills and also if your on an uneven camp site you could level it out a little. I wired in switches to control the air pressure in them on the fly with 12v solenoids independently. I just might have to get a taller bag, one of the "sleeved" type bags that will have 12" or articulation to accommodate the trucks lift kit and movement.

http://www.bajadesigns.com/ProductDetail?ItemNumber=490003 These are one of their new models of lights. I have one of these as my motorcycle headlight that I bought 3 years ago. They have since come down on price about $100 a light. If you can spring it there is not a better LED light on the planet than Baja designs. One of the squadron lights on my motorcycle will blind any oncoming traffic so it has a dimmer on it. I would have gone with them for lights, but it is tough to spring a grand for lights. I need to find an aftermarket chevy headlight that is brighter but nothing really turned up when I went searching. One of the boats I drive for work has a super expensive set of rigid's on it. $500 worth. That el cheapo LED light bar put those things to shame unfortunately. I'm sure the rigid ones will hold up much better in salt water though.

 

[chilliwak]

Thank you for posting that long rant Stevo. The info about your truck is always a great read. If you want to do a dual shock set-up you can easily use the stock Chevy front hangers, and extend them by using a longer bolt and putting a spacer in between the shocks to hold them apart. I used a Helwig rear sway bar for the back of my truck. Works great but I did have to extend the connectors by about 6 inches due to my lift. I love the pics you posted from your trip Stevo. Please post more if you have them and it would not hurt to see some pics of your friend that was along on the trip.
Cheers, Chilli...

 

[stevo-mt]

Here's some photo's of our trip a couple weeks ago. The Wildhorse range in Montana/Wyoming is a pretty skookum place to do some "overlanding". Both the trails that go into the Wyoming side are 4x4 necessary. I only went on the Sykes ridge road, but it was pretty fun! Then of course the Centennial in southwest Montana always is a good drive!

 

[Woofwagon]

Subscribed!

 

[binrat]

View attachment 256373

Here's some photo's of our trip a couple weeks ago. The Wildhorse range in Montana/Wyoming is a pretty skookum place to do some "overlanding". Both the trails that go into the Wyoming side are 4x4 necessary. I only went on the Sykes ridge road, but it was pretty fun! Then of course the Centennial in southwest Montana always is a good drive!

I love the look you are getting from the 4 legged navigator.

 

[chilliwak]

Wow:Wow1:Stevo, those pics you posted are sooooo cool. The smiles on your faces says it all. What better way to spend time then to be out 4 wheeling with a cool lady friend. The scenery and the adventures in the pics are world class. I love it. Cheers, Chilli...:drool:

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Wow, what an impressive rig. I've always referenced this site for ideas, but this thing is true inspiration. I have a M1031 I've been working on, maybe I'll post a build thread on here one of these days. Glad to see others who are dedicated enough to deal with the 6.2L slow and go way of driving. These old CUCV trucks will get you anywhere you need to go... eventually...

 

[jamesgrizzlyadams]

Thanks for all the great info stevo!!

The pup is getting big! Here's my copilot:





I'll start my own build thread so I can post my stuff there. Keep up the great work!

 

[akmedic77]

This is a really awesome build. I like the traditional LP on your truck! You don't see them often. I've not gotten as deep into this as some, but would like my truck to go in that direction eventually but I work too much. The benefit is I enjoy the work most of the time...

Watching this build! Thanks for sharing from a transplanted Montanan.

 

[snekvasil]

Engine question

I'm pretty uneducated when it comes to the military trucks. I actually had an M1008, but didn't really know what I had until I sold it. It was used purely as a firewood/hauling truck. One guy told me it was a Cadillac engine with diesel heads; honestly, that statement doesn't even make sense to me. Is there any truth to that. I believe it was the same engine you have...the 6.2L diesel. The truck ran great for me, but I had an opportunity to make a profit by selling it, so I took the money.

Love your build...I'm watching closely. Kinda makes me want to get another M series truck/blazer again!!!

 

[Woofwagon]

Snekvasil,

That guy was obviously not smoking weed for medicinal use. The 6.2 was designed as a diesel from the ground up. Has no parts in common with the much earlier Cadillac engine family.

 

[snekvasil]

Snekvasil,

That guy was obviously not smoking weed for medicinal use. The 6.2 was designed as a diesel from the ground up. Has no parts in common with the much earlier Cadillac engine family.

Thanks, Woofwagon. That makes a lot more sense to me.

 

[chilliwak]

The 6.2 and the 6.5 that I have are diesels with incredibly high compression ratios. Another reason that they strongly recommend that you DONT use ether to start the engine...:Wow1:

 

[superbuickguy]

Snekvasil,

That guy was obviously not smoking weed for medicinal use. The 6.2 was designed as a diesel from the ground up. Has no parts in common with the much earlier Cadillac engine family.

:elkgrin:

to the point they sound like transit bus diesels - which makes driving it on rainy days kind of fun (it lures the poor bus rider out of their shed with a hopeful, then dashed expression.

I get those folks too - "is that an olds diesel, those are junk"... the last one who said that to me got my, friendly response "are you always an idiot?" "here's my proof, 1) you talk ********** and you drive a Camry, 2) you talk ********** to a person who looks like he buries wise-guys for a living, and 3) you simply look like you should be on a short bus"

why do people always leave mad after they talk to me? I figure it's because they can't handle the truth.