My Ongoing HMMWV Thread

[Ryan Ruck]

A quick update until later today...

Didn't get in until about 10:30 last night after spending most of the day on the road. The trip back with the truck was very slow going.

My original plan to borrow a friend's truck fell through because it was too short notice and it was tied up so ended up stuck with having to rent a U-Haul truck to tow the U-Haul trailer. They are a bunch of damn highway robbers! $0.79 per mile! Damn trip to pick up the truck ended up costing as much as it would have to have it shipped. $639 for truck and trailer plus about $120 in gas versus $70 plus gas if I hadn't had to rent the truck.

Regardless she's home now. It's raining cats and dogs today otherwise I'd snap some pics but here are a couple of her loaded up, ready for the trip home!




Tight fit!




This looks like a 2003 F-150 standard cab/6ft bed/4x4 to you guys doesn't it? At least, that's what U-Haul got told it was.

I've decided, with all the posts about the trucks and future updates I'll post, I'm going to spin this off into it's own thread later.

[Malsua]

Very cool. What are your plans for this thing?

[American Patriot]

I expectyou to put some gopros on that thing, fore and aft, sides and top, and do some real shit with it. lol

[Ryan Ruck]

Sorry for no update guys.

Busy the last couple days besides the truck. Came home today and started working on it before a cold snap moves in for the next several days.

Got some of the old lights removed to prepare for the LED lighting upgrades.

I haven't had a Jeep to wrench on in years and forgot how much fun dealing with 20+ year old rusted fasteners can be.

Picking the truck up ended up being a lot more expensive than I was anticipating. Being able to use my friend's truck to tow the trailer fell through since it was tied up with his business until the weekend and the yard is closed on weekends. So since I already had the trailer lined up and had my younger brother off work to assist in the pickup, I ended up having to rent a box van from U-Haul.

They are damn highway robbers! $0.79 per mile plus the rental fee!

Between the $640 for truck and trailer rental plus about $150 in gas, picking it up in person ended up costing me just as much as if I had had it shipped. Would have only have been about $230 if I hadn't had to rent the damn truck.

The folks at City Salvage were easy to work with. I called Tuesday to let them know I was going to be down to pick it up. They told me no problem and to just make sure I was there before 2pm local time.

Got down there at 1pm, showed them the PDF of my release. They had me email it to them so they could print it and I could sign it and that was that!

They had a guy bring a front end loader with forks around, moved some trucks out of the way of mine, and then lifted mine out and set it near the trailer. He was pretty gentle moving it but it would have been better if he hadn't stuck the back of the fork assembly right up against the rocker. No damage though.

I drove it up onto the trailer and finessed it in.

Here she is home!



The front passenger and rear driver tires were flat. Got some air in them so we'll see if they hold.

Was able to let the truck idle for a while and get up to operating temp. Was doing a walkaround and noticed a puddle under the front passenger side...




Thought, "I really hope that's just rusty/muddy water leaking out of the floorboard since I just moved it because that looks a lot like Dexcool."

Caught some in a glass and touched it...




Uh oh, it's warm and slick.

Opened the passenger door...





Already started a claim with Gov Planet since the truck was sold with no leaks noted. I noticed there is some wording in the dispute about self transporting. Hopefully they'll make it right though. The rep I'm working with has, so far, been fairly helpful and responsive.

Still sucks it needs that.

Found one of my hood straps is dry rotted too. Went ahead and ordered two new ones. Found them for $9 each on eBay.

I also ended up just buying a new soft top for it instead of screwing around trying to patch it. Only $200 shipped but, the catch is it's white. Going to have to paint it since I'm not going for the UN look. Hopefully painting it will help seal it and prevent it from dry rotting. Another owner on ARFCOM said his top rotted simply sitting in his garage!

Very cool. What are your plans for this thing?

Just a weekend fun/offroading/camping truck. BOV if the situation warrants.

Going for a GMV/Expedition type vehicle setup.

I expectyou to put some gopros on that thing, fore and aft, sides and top, and do some real shit with it. lol

But GoPros are expensive! I'm going to be spending all of my extra money on the truck!

I still have $400 worth of paint to buy to repaint it, $600 for Lizard Skin heat/sound insulation and bedliner for the interior, $1300 worth of tires and wheels to buy before winter, a custom fabbed cargo rack, and a whole bunch of odds and ends.

I might be able to get one from a friend though.

[Backstop]

Cool!

In my experience they are reasonably capable 4x4 vehicles.

Does it have a key ignition or the switch?

Did they show you how to disable it?

[Malsua]

FWIW, just bypass the heater core. Only a pussy needs heat in a HMMWV

It would be nice if they make it right for you though.

[Ryan Ruck]

Cool!

In my experience they are reasonably capable 4x4 vehicles.

Does it have a key ignition or the switch?

Did they show you how to disable it?

Yep, pretty capable of road with no mods! Can't wait to get wheeling with it!

It's got the standard lever ignition. I'll probably add keyed ignition to it, especially since the doors don't lock, once I start driving it around

FWIW, just bypass the heater core. Only a pussy needs heat in a HMMWV

It would be nice if they make it right for you though.

Haha! The thought crossed my mind but since it comes with the Iron Clad Guarantee and they sold it as no leaks (one of the big reasons I bid on it, a lot of trucks have leaks here or there) I figured it would be best to take advantage of it. Plus, you have a limited amount of time in which to file a claim if you find anything wrong.

I've seen a couple reports where buyers have gotten the short end of the stick from GovPlanet in the claim process but most people seem pretty satisfied with the end results with their claims.

Like I said, the guy working with me seems to be pretty helpful so far. As part of the process, they want an estimate from a repair facility so I talked to the repair shop near me I've used in the past. He didn't have anything HMMWV/Hummer/AM General in his computer system with book rates to be able to put together an estimate and, he's never worked on them so didn't have any way of totaling everything up. He thought he could do the work no problem but just didn't have any idea on scope/cost. I told the rep this and that I'd also be open to using a repair facility of their recommendation but, he said he'd look up the average heater core cost and book labor to replace it to get the information and claim amount together for me. So far, so good!

[Ryan Ruck]

And I said let there be light!




The adhesive lined heat shrink I ordered showed up in the mail today so I got the new headlights wired up.

The Trucklite LED headlights have a standard civilian headlight connector on them so I ended up cutting the Packard connectors off the old halogen headlights and rewiring them to the new ones, hence the heat shrink. Even made sure I put the correct number tabbed Packard connector on the correct headlight wire.

17 - High beam
18 - Low beam
91 - Ground

(The number scheme is standard to all military vehicles. Here's the list.)

Here's the high beams:




I'd love to do more of the lights but it's too damn cold. I need to drag out the extension cord and Dremel to wire wheel the ground connectors for the other lights before I install them.

Can't wait to see these at night!

[Ryan Ruck]

Been busy the last couple days!

Installed all my LED lighting. Looks phenomenal!

Since the marker lights bolt to fiberglass and plastic, I went ahead and used stainless steel fasteners for those. Just an FYI to anyone unaware, steel fasteners into the aluminum body isn't optimal because of galvanic corrosion (in which the aluminum loses out) but is often necessary. Stainless steel into aluminum is worse so don't do it!

Put tons of dielectric grease into every Packard connector.

Installed the upgraded turn signal controller with self canceling turn signals. The clicking it makes whenever you turn the wheel is a little annoying but it's a small price to pay for the driving convenience. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Installed my push button master light switch. Found out it was sold to me not working correctly. I bought it 2 months ago in used condition from Those Military Guys off eBay and got in touch with them, explaining the delay and what it is doing. Waiting to see if I hear anything back from them.

The switch would react to button presses but wouldn't turn any of the lights on, kept the BO driving light on at what looked like half power all the time, and my brake lights were stuck on. Put the 3 lever back in and everything works fine.

Before I installed it I disconnected the batteries. Then before I reconnected the batteries I connected a ground wire direct to the alternator. So, I know I didn't fry it.


Installed the keyed ignition switch I decided to pick up. Got the heater core bypassed.


Today I did a lot of work on the doors/tops.

First I replaced a missing soft top fastener. Bought a bag of them off eBay and riveted it in (with aluminum rivets!).

The next issue with the roof was that the bow rails were barely held in place. It was missing some screws and, with the ones that still had screws, the wellnuts were in sorry shape. Pulled out the old wellnuts on all of them and replaced them with aluminum 1/4-20 rivnuts. The bow rails and bows are now firmly in place!

With that done, I realigned all of the doors. Had to replace a couple missing screws and a missing nut. Also "re-formed" the doors to get a better seal to the top. Everything now seals up really well! Not air tight, since that would be fighting a losing battle, but enough that I am really pleased with it. Driver's door still needs a little tweaking. Tomorrow the doors are getting a scrub down with OxyClean and the windows are getting cleaned with Meguiar's PlastX. Once they're all cleaned up, going to put some Teflon lube on the zippers. Still need to restitch part of the driver's door window and hunt down a limiting strap hook for the front passenger's side door.

Here's a shot of everything lined up:




Put up my new rear curtain that I got from Equipment Parts Sales. Nate was extremely helpful. After I bought the top from him about a week and a half ago he followed up with me and let me know to get in touch with him directly if there was anything else I was looking for because not everything he has is listed on the site. Let him know I wouldn't mind picking up a new rear curtain to replace the one I had. On Friday afternoon he emailed me and let me know he found a green one! He even made sure it went out same day! Ended up being $100 shipped but it NOS and looks great! Installing the rear curtain was a little daunting at first because you actually have to cut parts of it out with the 3 point belts in place. Here's a pic, notice you can actually see through the rear window! Pay no attention to all the junk in the bed, everything is kind of in a state of organized chaos at the moment.




Also got my deep fording snorkel and pre-cleaner installed. I'm not sure that Kascar sent me the right 90 degree rubber elbow that connects the snorkel to the air cleaner assembly. It sits way down inside the air induction box instead of coming out like the installation diagram indicates and each side is equal length unlike pictures I've seen of the part. I've almost got a sneaking suspicion it is a standard plumbing 4.5" 90 degree elbow. Need to take a trip to the hardware store and look... Not going to be happy if I paid $30 for a plumbing part I can get at Home Depot but, it seems to work though getting to the hose clamp screws was a pain. Anyway, the Turbo III pre-cleaner is really nice!



I had refinished the snorkel since it came to me from eBay pretty beat up. As you can see, the Krylon Deep Forrest Green is a bit darker than the 383 Green.


Finished up the day replacing the antenna mounts that had been removed (going to install my reverse lights on them, may mount actual antennas eventually) and getting my cargo extension cover installed. The new style cover looks really good!






Really need to get that white top taken care of! Soon...

Tomorrow the weather will finally be warm enough to break out the pressure washer and get the interior scrubbed out. Going to be a big task!


Got my order of Lizard Skin Sound Insulation and Ceramic Insulation. Ended up getting 4 gallons of each since a gallon covers roughly 25 sq ft to correct thickness. We'll see if that will be enough. Ordered the application kit to go with it as well. Not sure when exactly I'll get around to spraying that in but hopefully I'll feel like tackling that soon.

Also got my 2 gallons of tintable Monstaliner I ordered. Got the OD Green so it will be a close match for the truck. Hoping the 2 gallons will be enough to do the interior but may have to pick up a third. A gallon is supposed to cover 60 sq ft 2 coats thick.

[Ryan Ruck]

I had a productive, if tiring, day yesterday. On a whim I decided to forego cleaning the truck. Instead, I removed my old brushguard and "bumper". Installed my frame extensions for getting the winch mounted up (later) and got my Ibis Tek bumper installed!

I still need to get my winch mounting plate modified for the 10" bolt pattern on my winch. I can just bolt the plate in between the bumper and the extensions when it's done though.

The bumper is great but does stick out quite a bit with those frame extensions. Looking at pics online, on the ECV trucks the "snout" takes up that space. If you don't run a winch, you can bolt it direct to the frame instead since it includes some extra brackets. The extra space is kind of handy though... You can sit facing backwards on the flat part of the bumper between the bumper and the tires and use the hood as a table/desk!

Very glad I got an impact driver. Makes dealing with these rusty bolts far easier.






Going to actually clean up the truck today and possibly get the new seats installed.

Maybe work on the rear bumper tomorrow-Sunday.

[MinutemanCO]

Looking tight.

New bumper would be good for zombie apocalypse. Just replace rubber elements with big teeth.

or this...

[Ryan Ruck]

Haha! Thanks MMCO!

Just spent the last 9 hours tearing everything out of the interior of the truck (not that there was a lot to begin with but there was a lot of old radio wiring) and washing it.

So much river mud and sand in so many places and I am so beat from hosing and scrubbing.

I should have taken a "before" picture so you all could compare it to an "after" pic but I got too enthusiastic.

I'm not even done though. More scrubbing and pressure washing to do tomorrow before I can get the new seats in. It's got to be super clean before I can apply the Lizard Skin and Monstaliner.

The truck had some of the original interior foam floor insulation but it's pretty rough and was missing some pieces. With the Lizard Skin and Monstaliner though, I don't know I'm going to bother replacing it. It traps too much dirt and water and makes it too hard to hose the truck out.

One thing that surprised me is that I didn't have any "auxiliary drain holes" added but that would also explain all the mud in every crevice. Ended up adding a couple of my own. Definitely one of the nice things about having an aluminum body, drill a hole and no need to worry about rust!

[Ryan Ruck]

Well, I'm a bit pissed right now...

A bit ago I got an unexpected Saturday phone call from the supervisor at the Clermont County BMV but before I go into it, let me rewind a few days.

On Thursday I got an official email from GovPlanet telling me about the delay in Florida titles asking me how I wanted to proceed; whether I wanted my SF97 and $100 refund or to wait until they got the title situation ironed out (with no time frame on resolution).

So, not knowing how/if Ohio deals with SF97s, I stopped in to my local BMV office and asked a) if they've got any problem giving me a title via an SF97, b) if my Ohio title would be branded off road when it was received, and c) if I should be able to file the BMV Form 3803, have the truck meet the listed equipment standards, and have my Ohio off road title changed to a passenger vehicle title.

Not surprisingly, the clerk I dealt with didn't have much in terms of information but thought that they could use SF97s however she'd have to check with her supervisor who was not currently in. She took my questions down and my number and told me the supervisor would call me when she got in that day. Later in the day, I get a call from the clerk that the supervisor will have to call me Friday.

Friday I actually do get a call from the supervisor around 4:30pm. She tells me they can indeed give me an Ohio off road title with no problem with the SF97 but that she didn't think based on information from Columbus that I could get it titled as a passenger vehicle because it didn't meet emissions standards and made some mention about safety. That the only way it would meet emissions standards is if it had a V-8 diesel and 6 speed transmission installed instead? I have no idea where the hell they pulled that from. I pointed out to her that a) my truck is exempt from emissions standards and has a sticker to prove it and b) military vehicles sold to the public are exempt from safety standards as noted in this 1994 NHTSA memo. I told her I could forward her this information as well as the 2nd YouTube video that Hoosier_In_Cornfield posted in an email and we could go from there.

Which brings us to today and the unexpected Saturday phone call from a government bureaucrat. The supervisor confirmed that they will definitely have no problem with the Ohio off road title from the SF97. She then tells me that from her supervisor in Columbus, I cannot get the title changed from off road. The story has now changed to that emissions requirements don't matter but instead that it is because my truck doesn't have some safety sticker. I again referred her to the memo that military vehicles, so long as they meet standards as delivered to the military, do not need to meet FMVSS requirements. She pointed out a section of the memo that states, "(however, because of safety policy considerations they have not done so with respect to M-151 jeeps and HMMV vehicles)". I informed her that this was only a policy (not law) by the government governing sales of the vehicles and that this was before the government decided to revisit the policy on sales to the public, and since the trucks are now being sold, they now fall under the stated policy of not requiring military vehicles to meet FMVSS requirements to subsequent owners.

I also asked her where in the Ohio Revised Code or on the affidavit that it required this sticker and, if this is a requirement, how vehicles like rail buggies which are ostensibly less safe than my truck are able to get Ohio plates with the affidavit and operate on the road and yet my truck couldn't. I pointed out as well that a number of other military vehicles like M35s and M900s are operated on Ohio roads without issue while not meeting these safety and emissions standards (the funniest part is that there is a plated 5 ton parked at someone's property visibly along the route you'd have to take to the BMV office she's in and he assuredly got the plates from there). And lastly I asked how the gentleman in the YouTube video was able to get his plated using nearly the exact same process I was inquiring about in that he got an Ohio off road title, filed the affidavit, and received his valid tags. The only difference is that I would be using an SF97 to get my Ohio off road title while he used a Florida off road title to get his Ohio off road title. What should be an inconsequential difference.

In classic bureaucratic standards, she wasn't able to answer any of that with any specificity, only that this "is what Columbus has told her" and, suggested I call her supervisor in Columbus directly and see if I could provide her with any information she didn't have and see if she says something different. In other words, go bother someone else so they can tell you the same thing.

So the gist of it is that even though I would be in full compliance with Ohio law, they don't want to give it a regular title for some unknown reason, and are making up non-existent standards to justify it. Just like the ATF! Yay government!

I may be down at the moment but I'm definitely not out. I've got Plans B, C, D, E, F, and G in place and ready to be put in motion. I won't disclose them in public though until I've gone through them. If those fail, I'll go nuclear and see about involving my local state representative and possibly local Congressman to twist some arms.






I've got some upgrades I've been meaning to post that I've done but haven't had time. Hopefully I'll have some time to get that done this weekend.

[Malsua]

Funny thing is, I recall reading a long long article some while back about a guy who tried to get his HMMV titled and essentially gave up. My takeaway from that was "Don't ever buy one, no matter how cheap since you can't title it".

When you posted your initial article, I was pleasantly surprised to be incorrect in my thoughts on the topic.

Now however, I want to point out a similar subject. http://www.alloutdoor.com/2015/08/29...egal-dont-ask/

I guess my suggestion is this. Stop all inquiries and take a different route. If you make enough noise, they will simply shut you down because they can.

Go about it a different way. Hell, buy a salvage title on a H1, swap some parts and stickers over and title it that way. Telling a bureaucrat they are wrong invites retribution.

If you have to wait on the FL title, wait it out. Don't make any stink about it and when you do title it, go to a different MV location. Seriously.

It's better to ask forgiveness than permission.

[Ryan Ruck]

Funny thing is, I recall reading a long long article some while back about a guy who tried to get his HMMV titled and essentially gave up. My takeaway from that was "Don't ever buy one, no matter how cheap since you can't title it".

When you posted your initial article, I was pleasantly surprised to be incorrect in my thoughts on the topic.

Now however, I want to point out a similar subject. http://www.alloutdoor.com/2015/08/29...egal-dont-ask/

I guess my suggestion is this. Stop all inquiries and take a different route. If you make enough noise, they will simply shut you down because they can.

Go about it a different way. Hell, buy a salvage title on a H1, swap some parts and stickers over and title it that way. Telling a bureaucrat they are wrong invites retribution.

If you have to wait on the FL title, wait it out. Don't make any stink about it and when you do title it, go to a different MV location. Seriously.

It's better to ask forgiveness than permission.

Yep, in my concurrent ARFCOM thread in the autos forum, another Ohio member who has a registered truck was trying to warn me about the same thing. I reminded him I've been on ARFCOM since 2006 and am all too familiar with letters, memos, etc. Not looking to be "that guy" but I will have my license plates because I what I am doing is legal.

I told him that here in Ohio what he's done, that guy in that YouTube video has done, and what I'm trying to do is a 100% above board and established method. Nothing shady about it. You have an Ohio off road title, you install the listed safety equipment, you file the affidavit and, you get your passenger vehicle title. On paper, Ohio should be a state where it is easy to put just about anything on the road. I mean fuck, we have golf carts running around in the village with license plates!

But, for some reason ignorance is reigning and since this isn't something like a rail buggy or dirtbike that normally goes through the procedure, bureaucrats are scared to possibly rock the boat.

I do know I don't need to wait for the FL title. That's not the hitch. The hitch is going from the Ohio off road title to Ohio passenger vehicle title. And why this is a difficult thing when there is a specific form for it with the requirements clearly spelled out, I haven't the damned foggiest.

I'll post about it here since our site has far less visibility than ARFCOM and I didn't want any BMV eyes seeing it but... Since 2002, Ohio residents can go to any Ohio county for title processing. As you know, we have 88 counties.

First step is instead of getting my VIN verified at the title office for the Ohio off road title, I'm going to go to a new car dealer since they can do it. Out of sight, out of mind. The only time the Clermont BMV will see me is getting my tags renewed. I may go back there to get my SF97 changed to the Ohio off road title but I'm not sure if I'll even do that or just go to another office instead.

Regardless, then I'm going to try blending in with the unwashed masses at the Hamilton County title office. I'll have all of my ducks in a row when I go in so I can just hand them the off road title and affidavit, have them sign off on it and, move on to "serving" Citizen 14635 after me.

If that fails, I'm going to try some more rural offices in Brown and Adams. Those fail, I'll start on other counties until I can find one that will process it or I get tired of looking.

If it goes further than that I may check into a title service. After that, I've found I can request a court ordered title if the BMV is uncooperative. Further still I may see if I can't temporarily sell the truck to someone trusted in a state where it's easier to title, perhaps Indiana from what I've read. A temporary Indiana residence isn't out of the realm of possibility either.

Absolute last resort will be involvement of state rep or Congressman to bust heads.

I've wanted one of these trucks for 20+ years and now I have one. It will legally be driven on Ohio roads with Ohio license plates one way or another.

I'm thinking of custom tags that say "FTBMV" when I get them.

[American Patriot]

Just add some shit to it and call it a "home built machine"...

[Ryan Ruck]

That may be a possibility but, if I understand the requirements correctly, there are requirements to show receipts for I believe includes the major components and then, the vehicle has to be inspected by the highway patrol.

If it doesn't seem I'm making headway otherwise, I may look more closely at that.

[American Patriot]

Connect a tiller behind it and call it a "farm implement"... /shrug

[Ryan Ruck]

I know I've been extremely negligent in keeping this thread updated but today is a momentous day!

Today is the day my truck became road legal!



I am so damn happy right now it's not even funny!

I ran into a couple more roadblocks after my last post but today was the day I overcame all of them.

The plate is redneck rigged on there for now with zip ties until I can fab up a more permanent mount. After I took the pic, I installed a 24v LED plate light and redneck rigged that up as well.

I'm now patiently waiting for the State Farm agent to call me back so I can take her out on her first (legal ) drive!

I do plan to detail all of the work I've been doing to it. I've kept a thread on ARFCOM updated with the work and have been talking with other new and existing owners of these trucks so that's why I've been bad about keeping this one up to date.

I may just copy/paste my posts from there over to here...

[vector7]

Congrats man, I know you were getting frustrated.

It looks amazing with all the work you've done!!!