This proves the army was lying, you can drive these without an ACH, current dispatch, PMCS checklist, a ground guide and nobody dies.

So, for the unfamiliar: these trucks, and all military vehicles to a certain extent, are designed to be cheaply manufactured and simple to operate. What that means in practical terms is you've got a bunch of manufacturing shortcuts taken with a vehicle that will probably be driven by 19 year olds with no sense of their own mortality. By the time they reach their retirement, they're beaten to hell, everything that can leak will leak, the electronics may or may not be on the verge of explosion, and the less said about the drivetrain the better. But. They're also designed to be maintained and repaired without any proper workshop support. A half decent mechanic willing to put in the time and effort can get one running and keep it that way until the heat death of the universe. Just don't think too hard about all the pops and rattles, and make sure to keep the fluids topped off.

Double check your air-ride cab selector, the cab is not elevated like it’s supposed to be, causing a rougher ride. Used to maintain several of these trucks and the Operators always failed to engage the air-ride cabs. It’s a very nice ride and very capable truck! Congratulations!

Im sure many of us can personally attest to how fast these things can be off road, as many of us have suffered through ride after ride with some random PFC flooring it down range roads lol

I had the same problem with GOV PLANET getting my title. The problem is in Florida NO MATTER where it was bought YOU MUST register in 20 or less days otherwise you get a very steep fine. First they sent me a bill of sale (I never asked for I wanted a title) DMV refused it after around 5 months I got the title and had to pay a $550 late fee plus tag $200 (that is JUST THE COST OF A PLATE NOW), plus title $50, plus registration $99 a year. The small claims court and GOV PLANET and I went the rounds they sent their lawyer and they LOST !!! They claimed they have up to 6 months to send title judge told the 30 days and not to show up in court room for this problem again or else

A Gatorade or Powerade cap fits perfectly over the buzzer, by the way.

Watching this was a trip. I fixed these for years. "Alternator blew and the truck rolled to a stop, dead on the side of the road." YUP. I'd still buy one without hesitation.

I worked at Stewart and Stevenson in Sealy Texas for 13 years building these trucks. Great to see it still being utilized and appreciated. Good luck with your FMTV.

Your GP truck is a rarer LVAD Low Velocity Air Drop LMTV issued only to Airborne and Special Forces units. The hard top lifts off using the spare tire lift and the windshield, side windows and upper rear wall fold down for palletized parachute drop. The Special Forces rigged them up like Mad Max into support gun trucks for the ODA Ground Mobility Vehicle GMV Humvees.

Steve, the truck you bought from GovPlanet is an Air Drop Truck. The upper cab folds down into the interior to accommodate C-130 / C17 transport. Better check the motor mounts to see if this truck has been airdropped. If it has, they will be broken. Good Luck!!!

When i was in Iraq I did an engine to one of these and gained mad respect from the motor pool. I told them it didn't need an engine, it was a bad injector wire but they didn't listen. So I said fine, I'll replace the engine in a day. They laughed and said it couldn't be done. I waspped it in about 14 hours. New engine, same issue. So they sent it to the contractor mechanics. Next week it came back with a new wire running from the power board in the dash to the injectors. Ran like a new engine. Injectors are mechanical and electrical. Needs 24 volts.

I really enjoyed the troubleshooting part, particularly that swapped relay start inhibit. It was almost as if some instructor had set it up to test mechanic students.. lol!

I discovered and fell in love with turbochargers because of these LMTVs. I was hauling a water buffalo and damn-near a platoon, and their crap, when faced with an extremely steep incline. I told the TC I didn't think this piece of shit could make it up a hill that steep and he's like "yeah, it will. Just give it the gas". I tried to get a fast run-up, but I could hear the RPMs dropping before the hill even got started proper. Soon after was my first experience hearing the turbo spool up, and it did. Once it got some good pressure going, I realized that all the driving I had been doing in the thing before that wasn't really using the available power at all. Those things really really go. They're miles better, and funner, than a HMMWV.

As a former Infantryman, I never thought that I would be missing being in an LMTV. Thank you !!!

We followed one of these pulling a trailer near a national guard base and I thought “Wow, I wonder what you could haul with that.” Then we took a hard right turn and a huge box fell out into the road, spilled open and toilet paper rolled out. It was disappointing.

Funny story - Many moons ago, you use to buy directly from the Government Surplus Office. My high school buddy and I won a bid for a Jeep ambulance, we were so excited with anticipation of converting it into a camper. We borrowed a flat bed to bring it home. When we showed up at Fort Dix, in New Jersey we showed our paper work to the guard at the gate who directed us to an office building. There we were escorted to a warehouse and showed our purchased lot. It was a pile of oscilloscopes. We tried to explain we bought an ambulance but this guy insisted that our documents was for this lot number and it was electronics not a vehicle. We took the junk home and for many years we each used one of the oscilloscopes as a coffee table. They actually powered up and displayed waveforms.

The Taliban can offer a lot of parts support these days!

As someone who drove these trucks (MOS: 88M) this man is telling me stuff I didn't even know. We never really messed with the mode selector on the transmission select pad. and I never drove one with the tire inflation system working. it was always broken

I love how your online community is supportive of you with every aspect of your project.

When I was buying trucks from Govplanet auctions it was usually an adventure in one way or another. I helped a new truck owner pick up a Deuce from Ellsworth AFB in SD and it was in the middle of winter and when we got to his Deuce the fuel cap was off on the fuel tank, OK I had told him your going to need new batteries and all new fuel and oil filters plus a plethora of tools. Well we dumped 10 gallons of fuel into the truck and got the batteries installed, this truck did not have the flame engine heater but it had an ether injections system on it but of course the can was empty, so I craked the hose on the intake and he gave it a shot of go juice while I turned it over and it fired up and ran very good. We then proceeded to the nearest truck stop and fueled it up and hit the road we had a tow bar and pulled our CUCV behind the deuce. We covered about 200 miles that day and the truck was running great. We got a motel for the night and there was a truck stop right next to the motel and we fueled up again and hit the road, I got about 10 miles down the road and the engine was not happy as soon as we got out of town I hit the clutch to pull over and the engine stopped. I new we had a filter problem, I changed the primary filter and got it running again and went for another 30 miles when I saw an implement tractor dealer and pulled in there, they let me use one of their bays to work on the truck, first thing I did was drop the bung on the fuel tank and I got about 8 gallons of water out of that, apparently there had been and iceberg in there that didnt melt till I added fuel that morning. Got all the water out of the tank and changed both secondary filters and all was good! I picked up an M925A1 from Kansas from Gov Auction beautiful truck brand new overhauled engine trans etc. and brand new batteries, drove the truck 600 miles home not a problem. After a few days the batteries started behaving oddly and wouldnt turn the engine over, they showed full voltage on the charger and ammeter but wouldnt turn the engine over. I finally put a load tester on the batteries and they were junk. After I replaced the batteries I started to look at the brand new batteries that were in the truck and found the date codes on them and they were 8 years old! There are a million stories about peoples experiences with Govplanet some good and some just unbelievable! My best words of advice is be prepared!

I have no idea those were being sold for so cheap. I drove around in Iraq for a while, I remember flying down the road with the lights off and taped up dodging mortar holes in the pavement to deliver fresh guard duty. Got really good at dodging those potholes, so I ended up having that detail a lot.

The origin of this LMTV is the Austrian built Steyr 12M18 (9 speed manual transmission with 3 diff locks, ~180 hp), so the Pinzgauer is a close relative! Both Puch Pinzgauer and Steyr 12M18 were built by the same company group "Steyr-Daimler-Puch". When I did my military service here in Austria, the 12M18 was the common truck.

THESE ARE GREAT! for making off road campers so much potential. And being in the military for 24 years I can tell you these babies were well maintained

I've purchased from Govplanet and it's worth it to pay them their fees for titling. I didn't have to go through the process that you went through. When I completed my purchase online, I added in the options for them to send me a title. I was able to pick up my vehicle and about 6 weeks later, I had the title in hand (it was from Montana), and I took that and all my sale paperwork to my local DMV and it all went smoothly. I do it this way because I've had a horrible time dealing with my local DMV with just a Bill of Sale and and other paperwork. I spent a year dealing with my local DMV arguing back and forth over a Certificate of Origin. I think it cost me about $150-$175 extra to have Govplanet get me a title, but it was so worth it.

I just retrieved my LMTV this past weekend. Hopped in and drove it from Ft Campbell KY to South Florida. Not one issue. Couldn't be happier.

@9:10 That tail end of a 356 looks interesting, fingers crossed for a video on that. Steve is an excellent mechanic, turns his hand to any car or truck and gets it fixed. The trucks are cool, go-anywhere kind of vehicle, fun to drive around in and a LOT of vehicle for the money.

Your patience and effort can only be described as heroic. Thank you for your service. ha,ha!

As a former Aviator, I will never forget what senior enlisted maintainers (USAF & USN) told me about every vehicle the military has ever had. "If it isn't leaking, it's empty" This applies to aircraft (and those poor things without the joys of flying) almost universally in the Service.

Driving a cabover or cab-forward truck is such an entertaining experience, between the amazing visibility and the ability to so easily place your wheels wherever you want them.

I have worked at the plant that made these in Sealy, TX. It is a "ghost town" now. We took this chassis and turned it into a MRAP, for Armor Holdings and later BAE. The MRAP version has the 8cyl Cat motor in it. They are very capable. Thanks for the video. Brings back some good memories.

Very informative. I looked at these auctions. Your real life experience confirmed everything I imagined about how it would go down, not mention the (likely) actual condition of the vehicle.

When I was in the Army the joke was that over a weekend a vehicle that ran great on Friday would need to get towed into the shop on Monday because it broke down.

My wife caught me watching this and threatened me with some unpleasant actions

I admire a man whose personal interests produce (or maintain) something unique and special. Looks like you have collected several, such accomplishments. Thank you for sharing your very interesting projects.

That LMTV idle is the official sound of a National Guard drill weekend 👌

That big Betty purrs like a kitten.

That looks like the work of a mechanic swapping out that relay so that the truck wouldn't start. I guess someone didn't want it to start or didn't want someone driving it. Nice to know though for possible future troubleshooting. Thank you for posting!

Good survival vehicle. Working on them was fun and easy.

Man this video brought me back, crazy I was driving these things just 5 years ago. I remember one time getting an LMTV airborne offroad. I have to say you must've read the manual because you knew more about its buttons than I did.

No interest in trucks, but as usual Steve tells a great story. The methodical approach to troubleshooting is always a pleasure to watch! In my case since I work alone in the garage, the troubleshooting usually includes a few choice four-letter words to aid in the analysis.

I used to train on those things in the SEABEEs, Ret now and would not mind having one. Yours is the first video I seen about the GD process. What a pain. The tires are super expensive too.

This sounds like one of those nightmare trips 😂

I like how they sell trucks in a better condition than what they toss into my motorpool. Trucks with severe frame damage from PFCs that managed to back into the only tree on the DZ for 5 miles. Trucks with rusted out beds, interiors that are so infested with mold that they have been “condemned” and sitting in the same spot for 6 years. Trucks with crushed roofs because SPC Snuffy thought he was a master forklift driver with his 30 hours of experience.

Only someone that haven’t spent days, weeks and months living out of those trucks with 1 or 2 other people crammed into it would be so excited about them. Lol. But nice to see it wasn’t scrapped and is still doing it’s thing. Congrats.

Your scored with great tires! When I was enlisted, I would sneak into the motor pool and scavenge tires off "dead" trucks because I couldn't get new ones from the shop. If your truck comes with a bed tarp- usually stowed in the cab, make sure to remove it before lifting the cab. I cracked a windshield forgetting that one day. I miss this truck! 88 Mike 82nd Airborne

Putting 100-mph tape over the buzzer was the first thing I always did when I got in one of these trucks.

At the 12:40 mark I recognized the road and realized you’re in/near Ames. Small world!

Well done. Yeah, GovPlanet is not exactly well known for how easy it is to get stuff from. Lots of nightmares and busted rigs come from Govplanet. It is a shame as they would never allow military personnel to treat equipment like this so poorly. Good job working through the issues, and I wish you the best of luck with your rigs. You got a new subscriber.

I've been looking to get into military vehicles for years and this has been very educational. I would have never considered these as an option. I was looking at Deuce and a half and 5 tons, but these might be another good option.

It’s amazes me how little they sell for considering what the government payed for it originally.

I guess I got lucky. I bought one of these on govplanet about 8 or 9 years ago. Contacted "uship" for transport and paid $950 to have it trucked from Georgia to Virginia. I had it in my yard about 3 weeks after the auction ended. When it arrived, I had a local mechanic check it out and the only thing wrong with it was alignment, a bad tire (due to the bad alignment), and a brake light out. Paperwork to get a title in my state arrived about 30 days later. I enjoyed it for about 18 months, driving it in parades and taking kids for rides. I sold it onward to a business that has used it for "advertising" since then.

sounds like you got a good truck.. now you have a history together and the bond is solid. you know everything about it now

As a former LMTV driver this brought back alot of memories.

Steve, your delivery and explanations are so patient and concise, I can almost see how easy it might be to underestimate all your incredible experience. Though, after seeing your terrific car collection video. I am really curious to understand what you actually do for a living? Restore? Race? Repair? Flip? How do you feed the beast? And keep the lights on? LoL. Great work. Keep it up!!! Thanks

Never ever not be able to go to the shop again,, what a great purchase especially when someone had the wrong relay fitted ,,☺️☺️☺️☘️☘️☘️☘️ from northern Ireland ,, now you can pick the best one for your use ,, here you buy gov stuff you own it and take it that day ,, from a registered out source

I wish you all the luck in the world. Every LMTV I ever drove was a knackered POS. I can vividly recall driving 12 hours cross-country in one with a massively cracked windshield and a defective brake pressure alarm that couldn't be turned off. I can't recall a single one where the central tire pressure system worked properly, so nobody ever used it. Still... you could fit 10 Joes and all their battle-rattle in the back, so off we went!

When removing a nut from painted, dirty, or corroded threaded stock, I've taken to power wire brushing the threaded stock (and nut) before I start. Makes the job so much easier and is good for inspection of components also. Saves a lot of hassle and work not to mention skinned knuckles or damaged tools.

Thanks for the information, always wondered how that worked with buying off gov planet.

13:18 I remember when the Hummer first came out, its automatic trans was a big point. Army was getting more and more recruits who had never learned to drive manuals, so all the newer trucks had to be auto going forward (I'm guessing for ease of anyone driving...I know they almost definitely have training courses)

Just so you know. I love that you have 2 of them. They are fantastic. I've drove one before in the military

Just as a point of comparison, if you buy an ex-military anything from a British or Australian source, they are in very good condition (they are serviced and fixed prior to sale). If they are in bad repair, the Army just scraps them and does not even attempt to sell them as a safety measure. I've also seen, quite often, that they throw in spare parts for free if the reason for sale is it's a discontinued platform and they just want to get rid of it.

Military maintenance isn’t what it used to be. It started going bad in the middle to late 90’s. Why learn to fix anything when you can just buy new?

I'm only halfway through the video, and I can tell you you have the patience of a Saint. Apparently, deep pockets as well. Excellent vid

My Brother was a Heavy Equipment Repairman in the Army National Guard. He was out in the Field retrieving at the end of some Exercise years ago. One day he was Towing a M198 155mm Howitzer with a LMTV down a Country Road when he felt a Jolt. He looked in both Outside rear view mirrors and spotted the Howitzer going into the ditch to his right. The four bolts holding the cross member at the rear of the Frame were SubStandard and snapped allowing the cross member that the Pintal Hook was mounted on to pop out of its Mount. A Farmer happened along and Volunteered to tow the Howitzer to the Guard Armory. He used his Articulated Big John Deere Tractor to Tow. My Brother’s OIC saw the Tractor and said that the Guard ought to Invest John Deere. My Brother considers the LMTV SERIES Junk.

Me and the rest of my veteran buddies are scratching our heads wondering just who in the hell would want one of these, and why? Must be some civilian fascination.

I’ve wanted to buy from gov planet but I was reluctant of the countless problems I may encounter in the buying process. Thanks for the video. I’d like to learn more of the bidding n buying prices.

Retired military here....I love the sound of those diesels ❤️❤️

I am impressed with the way you proceed with each issue.

I had a deuce and a half and still have a pinzgauer and considered a LMTV for a moment but was turned off by the auto trans and all the electronics. The deuce although really cool was a chore to drive for me since I am tall and it really didnt fit my body. So far the pinz is my great love...it may be my forever vehicle and is so simple....great video

Earlier this year i bought from a Ritchie Brothers auction here in Alaska two 2015 Peterbilt 579 sleeper trucks, one for $2100, the other $2400, they were emissions disabled.

Love that style truck. It's nice to see many people helping with advice. :)

I love it when i know exactly where you drove.

Always wanted to buy a retired USMC humvee but man...the process looks bruuuuuuuutal. Bidding, shipping, etc looks like such a nightmare.

Great video! Now that you've experienced both the LMTV and the Pinzgauer, which do you recommend? Perhaps you can do an in-depth comparison between the two, such as: various systems and components, maintenance schedules and costs, ease and comfort of operation, size and weight limitations you've experienced, and which one is the better "first purchase." Please, more videos!

Thanks for sharing. Always wanted one of these to build for off grid camping

I exploratory bid on a M105A2 Ammo Trailer and won in a similar fashion. Only cost me $400. I ended up building an insulated cabin on top of it. I used it as a home on a trip through Canada to Alaska and back to California all over PNW to Wyoming Arizona Nevada. Sold it for $800 to a kid in Mesa. Had a great time and would love to do it again.

I Was in the Army when they started introducing these trucks to different units. It's crazy how fast they are for sale for civilian use to fast. Some military units didn't get these until after 2001

Yeah I've been looking for USPS vans on Govplanet over the last year and also thought there was some dodgy stuff going on there. Bid on maybe 3 or 4 and was 2nd place twice. Was told not to bid a maximum. I think for better or worse sometimes they don't check very thoroughly. It depends on the inspector. Saw some of the same ones relisted within a few weeks so for whatever reason the person who won backed out.

Great video. I used to have a few of those when I was younger. Once I got going in one I was hooked. I hated it when mom would call me home for lunch. My trucks were much smaller.

I was thinking of purchasing a LMTV but I passed. I love my Pinzgauers. I currently own 3. A 710M, 712M and a 712K great simple go anywhere machines. Thanks for the informative video.

My unit on FT. Carson (3rd ACR) back in 96-97 was one of the first units to get the LMTVs. We had multiple issues with the cap raise and spare tire raise lower valve banks. And just overall the trucks were objectively worse than the older 5 ton series of trucks they replaced. The LMTV wreckers for instance were complete garbage that are often more trouble than they were worth. The old 5 ton wreckers at least had a gondola boom that made them far more useful to mechanics in the field and in the motorpools. The LMTV wreckers were something we prayed never came our way. The HEMMT series of trucks was the Army's work horse without a doubt. But yeah LMTV's made me extremely happy I was a Bradley mechanic and not a Wheel mechanic. Tanks and tracks are far easier to work on if but a tad heavy lol.

I work the motorcade as a civilian contractor, I hated the LMTV's because of the electrical issues they all had. Interesting vehicles though, the engine, transmission and gear oil are all 90 weight. The axle gearing is in the hubs and the run flats are a cool design too but go ahead and get you a torque multiplier for the nuts and bolts they got through the two-piece rim. All the hydraulics are easy designs especially the jack to remove the spare tire. And even as heavy as they are they did pretty fair in Kentucky mud.

5 tons are awsome but the 7 ton the marines have is 1200 hp cat motor . I dont kniw a whole lot about military vehicles but i did haul military equipment for about 10 years. A lot of the stuff would go to places like Fallon NV to the air base and placed out in the desert to be blown up by fighter jets training . We took alot of old APC's out there but 1st we would take them back to our yard. A large percentage of these old vehicles would still run and by putting minimal effort into getting them running and switching some parts off other vehicles to get them to move or function we had a blast. We actually had a track out in the feild and have races with old trucks and APC's ,lol ..we definitely gave a lot of the old vehicles one last bit of glory before taking them to be blown up. With some basic mechanical skills and knowledge of how a fuel pedal , steering wheel and breaks function, just about anyone can drive these things.

Congrats on your purchase they last a long time just keep up the maintenance on them, im a diesel mechanic for all those LMTVs, PLSs, Hummers, generators..etc.etc.

Thank you for the video Steve. I've been tire kicking on these and govplanet for some time now so it's nice to hear some real world experiences and costs. It's a shame that the freight calculator isn't more accurate or that they have a way for carriers to put their bids on their. That part is crap. Still seems like the Govplanet unit was a far better price unless I missed something in the video. You paid $3000 and $5000 in shipping. What other charges does govplanet put on there or what was the total bill from govplanet for that $3k rig? Just curious about any other hidden charges. On freight side, I hear people just go direct and save a bunch. Being new to this, is there good place to go to for quotes on something like this? Thank you!

Snooty neighbor: "How do you like my Humvee?" You: "How cute" Awesome machines, sir! Cheers from Louisiana.

Fun to watch, you’re a good mechanic. Thnx Steve

this brought back so many memories when i was active duty. I rememebre sleeping on top of the cab when deployed to iraq the first time it was cooler out

Just curious, what was the total cost you paid on this vehicle from the auction to the making it road worthy?

Wow it took close to a year to receive the vehicle and get it registered to be able to drive it on the street. Your a very patient man

Looks like a lot of fun, especially off road, handy for carrying loads. 👍😎

I live in a city in Australia that was a Frontline military Town during WWII after the war there was a lot of surplus vehicles and Darwin was literally two thousand miles from anywhere else. There were huge auctions but also a small population so things went cheap, Now I was told this in the mid 1970's thirty years after the war ended, A friend in his then twenties went to the post war auctions to buy a Blitz truck, which he got for five pounds (10 dollars) about a weeks pay back then, he took the vehicle immediately and went to get it registered. About a week later he got a knock on the door from the auctioneer....asking when he was picking up the other four trucks, he had not realized the trucks were in bulk lots.

From what I see.it is all explained on the website. I think it would be best to be pre approved. That would save ,moths of wait time. Once approved then go bid. From what I read everything the author mentioned is in the website. It even tells you if the vehicle will start. Me personally, I would drive out with a friend and drive it back. You se you friend as a support vehicle. It would be a great adventure driving it back across the USA. Of coarse give your self plenty of time for break downs. I did this once with a similar vehicle. I figure what the heck I will drive it till it breaks and if I have to tow it…..it will be a cheaper tow. I made it 1500 miles and it finally broke 5 miles from the house. I was able to limp it home and had a great adventure. Just read the website.

Stew and Steve originally thought that they could buy the drawing package from Steyr, slap a new logo on the drawings, and call it good. Per Fed Specs, they tried local sourcing for metric thickness steel plate, and then spent three years redesigning the whole truck, because of tolerance stack ups... They bought a glass tempering factory in Sealy, Tx, rebuilt it as an assembly line and test track. At the time, it was the largest CARC coating installation in the world.

Excellent straightforward presentation. Thanks

We haul brand new, to inter-base transfers, and final disposition up to 36,000lbs. We have ramps and charge as per following within the 48 states: milage ÷ my lowest fuel economy x the average fuel cost x 3 Ex: 1,800 miles ÷ 5.5 (low fuel economy) x 3.85 (average fuel price) x 3 = $3,780 We can haul 2 LMVT's or mixture of 2 per delivery. We work with independent owners, mom & pops, all the way up to Big Army and AM General, Stevenson, and Oshkosh. P.S. Most motorized Army equipment are moved in pairs, because one is certain not to start.

Interesting stuff Steve. The equivalent here in the UK would be something like army surplus I think? You could get Cassie to drive the other one and have races. 😂 Great video Steve thanks for sharing. 👍

I have a complete LMTV build series on my channel in the playlist section for those of you that want to see what a full complete restomod is all about... Thanks for making this video! BTW your ctis is not working correctly. It should stay solid and not flash unless it is changing tire pressures...

Thank you Steyr Puch. Beautiful engineering

These things are so cool. There is someone in Long Island, NY who has one. I take a special route on the way to my in-laws just to see it. Guy has it in perfect-looking shape with a fantastic camper made up in the bed.