New truck

[gsxtacy]

You know, I really like my Cj-5.  It's great, but it's just that...well, owning a CJ guarantees not very much storage room, but great reliability and ruggedness and you get looks from the girls when you're crusing later at night.  My job right now is fine with the CJ, and all my stuff fits in the room nicely.  My next job, however, will be in the oil patch, thus what I'm looking for needs the ruggedness and reliability to be offroad almost every single day.  I thought about my Jeep and decided there wouldn't be enough room, the J2000 and 3000, 20s and 10's but they're not very numerable in decent drivable shape, I'm looking at not just a truck for this job, but an extreme workhorse. A horse that will put up with the constant bashing of cutlines and way out of the way, middle of nowhere work, it must be reliable to the max, and servicable in the field if anything does break.  An M715.  can anyone tell me what they think?  Has anyone on this board owned one at any point?  I would really like to do a 6.2 litre GM diesel or a Cummins swap so I can run Biofuels in it. Can you help me out?

Thanx

In case some of you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, here's a pic:

http://www.geocities.com/imfmotorpool/m715.5.jpg

[TJ54]

How about a H2

[SuicidalPenguin]

How about a H2

That's perfect! Looks sweet AND has GREAT offroad reliability!

[gsxtacy]

??

come on guys, no bull


I'm throwing this out there honestly, you of all people, TJ54 should know this (from an exec, no less, "lead by example" comes to mind.).  and I'm asking that you respect my plight, and at least it's not a FORD i'm considering!
:evil:

so stop it and let's hear some honest stuff come this way.

[SwampSinger]

??

come on guys, no bull


I'm throwing this out there honestly, you of all people, TJ54 should know this (from an exec, no less, "lead by example" comes to mind.).  and I'm asking that you respect my plight, and at least it's not a FORD i'm considering!
:evil:

so stop it and let's hear some honest stuff come this way.

gsxtaxy... please don't take this too hard. TJ54 is just busting your shops man.  :wink:

If you are looking for something RELIABLE ...i would go with something NEW. This is my opinion... I have friends that work on the patch and they all have big fairly NEW deisel trucks (ei. Dodge Ram 3500 crew cab). The Kaiser M715/M725/M726 looks like a freakin tank.  :twisted:  I would love to try one of these but it's an older truck (produced from 1967 to 1969) and have some older "not so reliable" parts.  :roll: Unless time and funds ($) is no limit to you... I would go new. The Kaiser would cost you a minth to rebuilt fairly new and it would take a while to do it too.

I might be wrong.. but that's my opinion. :roll:

Here's a nice one that is use for work,...



It would be a great project for an off roading toy... :twisted:



with a V8



and a DANA 70  :twisted:



It is a wicked  Jeep truck... :twisted:



Cheers,

[gsxtacy]

thanx very much singer, i know, but it's just irritating.  and you actually convinced me to get one.  those pics make it look SUPER rugged. and perfect for the job.


i wrote to boyceequipment.com and asked if they had one that was in top shape and everything else, i have also been looking on ebaymotors.ca and have been finding really nice ones. it seems justifiable that the best would be new, but money is not there.  I took a look yesterday at a new dodge ram 2500 short box reg. cab, cummins six speed.  it would cost me 60 thousand or more to customize it for the type of work i'll be on, when, with a jeep truck, the truck'll cost about 10 grand total, (including travel expenses to go and get it, title and gas to drive it back) for a really good one.  throw on a lift and a set of 35x14.5r16" boggers or 38.5x14.5r15 TSL SX, bolt on some rok rails and that'd only set me back about 15-20 thousand dollars, and it'd be twice the truck that the dodge could ever be.  add a 10 000 lb winch and bumper and it'd go anywhere.  

thanx singer, you really got my gears movin'...

[Elsifer]

What about considering an FC??


A little different, can come in a lwb, build your own deck on the rear.

Might be a *bit* more noisy in the cab tho, the motor bay is between the seats and a bit behind!  :twisted:

[gsxtacy]

thanx elsifier, but an fc is out of the question.  

although they are cool ,i don't believe them to be the most rugged trucks that jeep has ever built, and besides, i wouldn't want to mar that wicked cool forward control with lift kits and huge tires.

I'm sticking with the M715, besides, i've already fired off emails to boyce equipment, Surplus city and memphis equipment

thanx for your input

[Elsifer]

Sweet! Let us know how it goes, what are you planning on putting on the rear bed/deck of your new truck? Welder? Steamer?

Good luck!
Chris

[TJ54]

Here's a more serious link, It's not a jeep but they are tough and they can take a beating. Unimog.
A local dealer

http://www.redcougar.ca/

 There is a mog dealer in red deer as well. The freightliner dealer I think. Can't remember the name, but I do have a  good contact there. The name will come to me  in a while.
Tell us more about this job you have. Oilfield, logging, surveying. There are people here from all kinds of fields and I'm sure someone could make a good suggestion with more info.

Kaisers are way cool but they are getting old now, parts will be hard to find, you will probably end up fabbing parts for it. Which could be a lot of fun, but when the vehicle you are using for work breaks down,then you're not working. If it takes two weeks to order/build parts that is going to cost you alot of work.
I am going to agree with Swampsinger on this one, Buy a dodge diesel, it will be reliable and you can get it fixed by any chrysler dealer in any small town.

[gsxtacy]

it'll be up the bush :lol: , pipeline and compresser station/battery NDT with jaunts down logging roads, cut lines, mountains, etc... where ever that pipeline goes, so do i.

and most of the equipment is extremley heavy, very very bulky and the dodge's just cost too much to customize, and can't be trusted with the constant bashing.  this truck almost needs to be a rock crawler.
a unimog sounds neat, and i like the idea but $$$$$$ is a factor

and i was looking earlier at this place called Memphis Equipment who specializes in this truck (m715) with next day parts shipping.  and they also completely refurbish these trucks too.  If i get one, i'm getting it from them, fully refurbished, running strong.
or if i don't get a refurbished one, i'll most likely tear out the engine and trans and replace it with a new crate and a refurbished trans.
thanx for everyone's input thus far

[Elsifer]

If you think the M715 is a mean rig, check these out!

http://www.coldwarremarketing.com/vehicles.asp?s=Soviet

http://www.vermont-unimog.com/misc.html

http://www.4wdonline.com/Man/8x8.html

http://www.exarmyvehicles.co.uk/8x8.htm

[gsxtacy]

those 6x6s are really cool, when i was over in russia, i used to work at an airforce base, they had tons of those around.  they'll go anywhere.  and i love he 8x8 trucks, those are truly wicked, but i found this military vehicle supersite on the web and it's just amazing

there's tons of 715's for sale at great prices, it's called steelsoldiers.com
i found one yesterday that was completley refurbished for only 7500 buxx
only downside is it's in vermont or tenesee or something like that, but mind as well.

thanx for everything guys

[Robb]

I think Ian is on to something with the Mog.  Parts are still readily available.  These things are tractors that can do highway speeds.

The other thing I would take a look at it CFB Suffield may have some bedfords ready to be decomissioned.  Check out some of the Edmonton Equipment auctions as I'm sure they'll be showing up soon.

[gsxtacy]

what exactly is a bedford?