Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Military K5's

My son just bought a 1985 K5 with the diesel. 42,000 miles on it. Bought it off a collector that was a retired motorpool guy in the Army.

Brand new tires on it. Did the video walk around and for a former National Guard Commo truck - it's very straight and 100% rust free. Some seat tears but that's easy enough. Got the full spare, crank down rear window, blackout light etc.

He's going to run Rotella and Wix with a fuel additive for lubricity.

How tough are these things? Anything super special he should know about? It's not his daily - mostly for fishing around the base and back roads of Georgia.

The military designation was M1009 CUCV. Should be able to find out just about anything on the web, including service manuals.

Was basically a stripped down civilian K5, with the diesel, and uprated springs to 3/4ton capacity. So pretty much same strengths and weaknesses of any other 1985 K5, with diesel and dual voltage electrical system thrown in. I'm not very knowledgeable on diesels, so don't know how well it will work with current ultra low sulfur fuels.

If I remember correctly it had glow plugs for starting, so several steps to get it running (something like switch on main power, turn on glow plugs, wait, then start??). Also, they all came keyed the same, so door locks and ignition provided absolutely no security. Had to chain and padlock the steering wheel.

Original electrical system was dual 12/24 volt, so something to keep in mind if not converted to 12V. I've used M1008s, M1009s and M1010s back in the late 80s. Most common problem I recall was getting the charging system set up right to keep batteries charged. My M1010s ate a lot of batteries at first until maintenance figured out the charging problem (and there were two because of the dual voltage setup). The M1008 and M1010 were 5/4ton pickup chassis based, but used same engine as the M1009.

More durable/thicker paint if it still has the original CARC, so that helps keep rust/corrosion down. And if it has the CARC paint wear a good respirator if grinding or sanding on it. Very high solids paint with chromate primer underneath.

And if it was a commo truck, there may still be a metal radio mount in the back with lots of sharp edges and corners to get caught on, and beat up your gear and passengers.

It's been converted to 12v

Boy's an Engineer stuck in a non-engineer unit. Spends all day in the motorpool.

The plug operation - exactly right, he showed that in the video last night.

Jerk the POS diesel out and put an Oldsmobile 350 in it. That’s the only GM small block that shares the bell housing with the 6.2. Used to be tons of pickups, Blazers, Jimmy’s, and Suburbans around that had Olds 350s to replace the gutless 6.2s when they went tits up.

Watch the frame where the steering box mounts for cracks, box and plate as needed if it cracks.

I agree the 6.2 is probably the worst power plant ever but I must say, I've beat the hell out of more than 1 in the 90's. They still keep going.

Ripped open a Honda civic one time in VA with the brush guard. Cops had the road closed off so our convoy could leave the gas station and the Honda jumped around the cop as I was pulling out. Still drove the CUCV back to lejuene.

You can get decent power out of that 6.2 by changing out the injection pump. We did that to all of our TOW HMMWV'S. It's still a naturally inspired diesel but it helps.

Did those things have civilian type heaters in them? Back in the 70's, the army hadn't discovered heaters yet. While a bizzilion civilian vehicles had good hot water heaters that would keep you warm way below zero, military trucks had those insane gasoline fired heaters (if any) that were so noisy that you needed to wear ear muffs to be in them.

Stock GM heater/defroster. No AC.

Does it have the 700junk4 auto overdrive trans?

The 6.2 diesels have the Chevy bell housing bolt pattern, not the BOP. I believe you are thinking of the 5.7 GM diesels in the late 1970s, that could be replaced with a gasser 350 Olds engine.

Unknown - he's been using it to do some minor mud wheeling while accessing new bass ponds on base - in the tank trails/back country areas. He's having a ball with it. I'm a touch jealous.

Been a few years but I thought the old cucv's had the "turbo" 400 tranny. The 3 speed .

I "owned" a few of those during the last year or so that I was in the Army. In 1983 we turned in our Jeeps and M880 Dodge commo trucks and drew CUCV Blazers to replace the Jeeps and Chevy pickups to replace the Dodge pickups. The Jeeps and Dodge truck were well worn, but the Jeeps could go places that the Blazers couldn't. The Chevy pickups seemed to be more rugged than the Dodge pickups that they replaced. My M880 Dodge commo trucks cracked the frame just behind the cab. Those commo vans were heavy.

M1009 Specs

Tabulated data for the M1009 Truck, Utility, Tactical, 3/4 Ton, 4x4:

Engine GM (Detroit Diesel) 379 cu in. (6.2L) J-series non-emissions diesel V-8 engine, 135hp3600rpm
Transmission GM TH400 (Turbo Hydramatic 400) automatic transmission with 3 forward and 1 reverse speeds
Transfer Case Manual NP208
Axles GM Corporate 10-bolt front and rear, with 3.08:1 gears, 6-lug. Eaton Gov-Lok in rear diff
Curb Weight 5200 lbs (2361 kg)
Payload 1200 lbs (545 kg)
Towed Load Allowance 3000 lbs (1361 kg)
GVW 6400 lbs (2906 kg)
Wheelbase 106.5 in (271 cm)
Length 191.8 in (487.1 cm)
Width 79.6 in (202.0 cm)
Height 74.9 in ((190.2 cm)
Electrical 12/24 volt dual voltage, 100 amp electrical system
Brakes Hydraulically activated, power-assisted front disc and rear drum service brakes, silicone fluid
Fording 16 in (40.0 cm) w/o kit
Ground Clearance 8.2 in (20.8 cm), rear axle @ GVW
Tires 10.00R15LT (Load range C) Steel Belted Radials
Tire Pressure 35 psi (241 kPa) front, 35 psi (241 kPa) rear, spare same as rear
Fuel Tank 27 Gallons US (102.2 1) liters)
Maximum Speeds At Governed RPM
High Range 1st 25 mph (40.2 kph)
2nd 35 mph (56.3 kph)
Drv 55 mph (88.5 kph)
Rev 9 mph (24.5 kph)
Maximum Speeds At Governed RPM
Low Range 1st 14 mph (22.5 kph)
2nd 23 mph (37.0 kph)
Drv 35 mph (56.3 kph)
Rev 6 mph ( 9.6 kph)

Anyone have a pic of one of these?

Thnx

Bob

Use the link above for specs

Thanks a Mike. Should have thought of that myself.

Bob