Oshkosh Corp. on Tuesday won a $6.75 billion contract to build almost 17,000 new light trucks to replace aging Humvees for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, cementing the future of its defense business.
Source: Oshkosh Wins $6.75 Billion Military Contract to Replace Humvee – WSJ
Good news indeed even though the Humvee was never intended to be a light armored vehicle but a substitute to the venerable Willis MB 1/4 ton truck. The Humvee proved to be an amazing platform which went above and beyond its original design and was maligned for political purposes. It was akin to getting a Corolla as a substitute for the Pinto, suddenly demand it did the work of a Ford F-250 and then bitch because it was not doing it 110%.
What we need now is DOJ to make the retiring 120,000 Humvees available for the civilian market the same way they did with the Willis MB.
Hat tip to Justin P.
I second that motion. I’ll take a used Humvee. Would make an awesome beater truck.
Have you seen the vehicles DoD has either “donated” to law enforcement or had for sale on the surplus market so far? “Rode hard and put up wet” would be kind. By the time vehicles are ready for the surplus market they have gone from “periodic maintenance only 3 months out of date” to “Hey, Sarge, is there anything else we can cannibalize off that one before it hits the scrap heap?”
stay safe.
And… it would be a project vehicle. Build one bad ass trail rig if the price was right. Can’t be much worse than restoring a classic sports car or putting an F250 on 44 in boggers. A man can dream… a man can dream…
Dream? I live near a Marine Reserve Unit and I see them things parked there, a few feet away from the road calling my name…. I need a pair of bolt cutters and and accomplice 😀
Well… we would have to get 2.
If it happens “you’ll” have to buy a kit to make it street legal…a kit that will no doubt cost toms of cash…or promise to never, ever drive it on public roads. Gots to meet the emissions standards, dontcha know…
GovPlanet . com is actually doing a humvee auction today:
http://www.govplanet.com/Humvees?kwtag=navbar
You have to get Form SF97 in order to get a title that will allow off road use only and an End Use Certificate (EUC) is required for it as well. I don’t know of any kits that will make them street legal though.
The ones for sale are in the $7500 range, but the ones actually sold are between $25,000 and $41,000.
Don’t get my hopes up like that 😐
Yep, $7500 is the bid start and with heavy bidding there’s no telling what someone will eventually pay. A lot of money for something you can’t use on a street. Kind of like that Barrett MRAD .338 Lapua I still want and can’t noway nohow afford, and have absolutely nowhere to shoot locally. 🙁
According to this article, a kit is under development:
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2015/06/29/surplus-military-humvees-heading-to-highway/
Gonna cost yah though. Key quote:
His company, Banks Power, is already working on a kit for the surplus trucks that would swap in a brand new GM Duramax Diesel V8 and six-speed transmission tuned to 420 hp and 900 lb-ft of torque that meets current emissions standards, but the real trick is bringing the original engines up to snuff.
Banks Engineering developed the turbocharger system to retrofit the 6.2L naturally aspirated diesels to turbo diesels. They made an improved kit to upgrade the 6.5 turbo as well for the up armored Humvees. If you want to do it right, you can to an engine swap for the 6.6L Duramax. There are a few companies that do that. I’ve also seen swaps for the 5.9L Cummins, and even going from diesel to gas with the Chevy 454, 502, and even the 572 crate engines. You could also find an old 7400 or 8200 Vortec and tune those up.
The point is, Gale Banks makes some great stuff, but they also make very expensive stuff. Big block engine swaps are common in trucks. There is a decent amount of room under the hood of a Humvee and it uses a standard Chevy/GM/AM General engine mount bolt pattern. A good mechanic who can do an engine swap for a diesel pull truck or off road buggy should be able to pull this off.
If I were going to get a cheap Humvee, I’d look for an older 6.6L Duramax to pull from a salvage vehicle and tune it up myself. You can do some bolt on work designed for the Chevy 2500/3500 series pickups that will clear 800 ft/lbs without having to have banks sell you a $20K engine.