19trax95's 1986 CUCV M1028A1

Yeah pretty much everything interior wise is compatible from 73-91. Exterior panels and such changed a bit through the different years, but a lot of the stuff is the same.

Plus they are stupid easy to work on haha.

Next weekend I'll hit the junk yard and search for a tilt column and steering wheel.

Nope. Still 24V for the starting system. I'll probably leave it that way. I actually prefer how the 24v starters crank over. Faster and more reliably in the cold than 24v imo.

Tires are ordered. Hopefully will see them this week.

Went with a 255/85r16 Toyo Open Country MT.

As for the bed, if I were to sell the service body, it would either get a pickup bed put on it, or I'd build a flat bed.

I'll see how useful I find this bed. If I'm not really using it, then I'll probably sell it and buy a clean bed. And that would still technically be correct since the M1028 trucks were converted from the chassis cab M1031 trucks.

Got the truck all registered and the title transfered. Just need to add it to my insurance for the whopping $15 a month, and then inspect it.

First real "mod" done today. Got a cheap (sub $100) backup camera. It's not bad for what it is. It's a wireless unit.

Installed it tonight in sort of a temporary fashion. Haven't quite decided where I want the monitor to reside, so it's just suctioned to the dash at the moment.

The camera is mounted centered on the top of the body under the clearance lights. I need to make a little mount for it so I can angle it down far enough to see the bumper. Quality of the image actually isn't too bad. Pics to follow in the daylight.

I also got a new clearance light from work to test fit. It is of similar type to what's on there, so I think I'm going to replace all of them so they are all the same type and brightness. That is I we have enough of them. They are new old stock, and not made anymore so I'm not sure how many we have left. I need 10 total. 5 amber and 5 red.

Yeah power is definitely something it does. It have lol. But thats what gearing is for lol. Also doesn't help I'm used to driving an animal that has more power available than traction lol.

These J code motors are rated for 148hp and 245ft/lbs of torque @2k rpm. Definitely pretty dismal, but it moves the truck along good enough for what I'm using it for.

I would like to swap an overdrive trans in it at some point likely a 4l80e, so I can take it on the highway without being limited to 55mph lol.

Ran out of bolts for the lights so I still need to do the front 3 over the cab.

But my tires showed up at the shop today. I just dropped off the wheels so he can get them switched around tomorrow. Should have some pics of the tires to post after work tomorrow night.

Also got my amsoil order for some oil and filter for the truck. Used my saved up customer bucks and got everything for $12 lol.

Yeah they are definitely a beefy tire haha. Just on the quick trip around the neighborhood, they are nice and smooth and I don't hear any tire noise at all. Granted I don't think I'd be able to hear even the loudest tires over the old 6.2 anyway lol.

I have never ran the toyo MT before. I have always wanted to, but never bit the bullet and bought them.

I figured since this is a fun "toy" I would use it as the test dummy for the MTs. If I end up liking their performance, I'll get them for my 15 the next time around.

I have ran numerous sets of the toyo AT2 and AT3 and I love them. That's what I run on my summer and winter wheels. They do great in all conditions. I'm interested to see how the new AT3s do in the snow compared to the AT2s and the BFGs I ran last winter.

Yeah I'm pleased with the look. They ride nicer than the old tires too haha. Especially once I dropped the from 80psi lol. Speedo is only reading around 1mph slow. Makes me wonder how far off the speedo was beforehand. So my fuel milage calculations were likely off since if I can increase tire diameter by 2" and the speedo is basically correct now, that leads me to believe that it was reading fast before, which would cause my milage calculation to be a little higher than it was.

I also like that the rpm is noticeably lower while cruising 45-50mph. Not a ton obviously, but enough to notice. So that should help milage a little bit.

I also think I want to change the exhaust from the current true dual axle dumps it has now, to a single 3" rear exit. Will even out the tone and make it a little quieter in the cab. Plus I have a small leak at the clamps right before the muffler so I can hear that slight puffing sound at idle.

Yeah they are load range E. I'll be chalk testing them this weekend, but I run 45psi rear and 50psi front on my 15, which is much, much heavier than this truck.

Granted it's a different size and all. Truck only weighs a touch over 5k. Once I have the plow on there and weight in the back I'll likely have to bump up the pressure a touch.

Yeah the mirrors would be super easy to change. I'd just get some factory small mirrors and put them back on. The holes are still there from them. I would need to weld the other holes shut and smooth it out obviously from these mirrors.

As far as the hubs go, they work the same as the ford's do. Just turn to lock and unlock. This one has had warn hubs put on it at some point. They stick out so far mostly due to the wheel width and offset. The wheels are just 16x6.5 and like a 4.5" backspace.