Today, we find ourselves talking about surplus army trucks again. And why shouldn’t we; surplus army trucks are awesome! Go ahead, and check out the videos on YouTube of army truck trials and driving them in the mud. You know you want to. Army trucks were designed to go into the worst places on earth. And the coolest thing? The Department of Defense, i.e., the Army and other branches, all auction off hundreds of these trucks annually. You don’t have to do anything special or have any special credentials to buy them. You don’t even need a dealer’s license – just a checking account and a winner’s attitude.
But what do you need to know about surplus army trucks before you bite the bullet and buy one? We’re here with the answers you’ve been looking for, from titling, tagging, and registering a military vehicle for street legal use on public roads to what sort of machines you’re likely to find on the civilian market.
Who Are The Main Army Truck Manufacturers?
Like so many government contracts, there isn’t one specific manufacturer of these products. Shoot, sometimes there were several manufacturers for an identical product. For example, during World War II, there were many manufacturers that made common items.
Take the infamous M2 or “ma-deuce” .50 BMG machine gun. Singer made a bunch of them. Yeah, as in Singer Sewing machines. Gonna punch some holes, that’s for sure. Also, Goodyear (like the tires) manufactured under license the Vaught F4U Corsair fighter-bomber.
So, trucks aren’t all that different.
The M35 deuce and a half? Yeah, it was made by four different manufacturers in the U.S. alone and several foreign companies under license. The U.S. manufacturers were:
REO (the original designer)
Kaiser
Studebaker, and
AM General
Since the truck is built from one design and under license by the other companies, all parts are universally and wholly compatible, so it makes no difference which flavor you end up with.
In more recent years, the mainline manufacturer of these trucks was Stewart & Stevenson. Now, they not only make army trucks; Stewart & Stevenson is one of the major manufacturers of heavy 4X4 aircraft tugs. How do I know?
The mighty, beautiful Bone. Not a surplus truck, but too pretty to not share.
Because that’s what we drove to tow the badass B-1B bomber, along with the not-quite-as-badass KC-135R aerial tankers.
Fun fact: the tugs do not use enormous engines. Nope. For the tugs, we used the original 12-valve Cummins 5.9l. Like in an old Ram. True story. I can’t even begin to guess the gear ratios, but they would top out at around 10-15 mph. But it is still impressive, considering the ramp weight of a loaded B-1 is way over half-a-million pounds. Wild.
What Sizes and Models of Surplus Army Trucks Are Available?
There are a bunch sizes of surplus army trucks that you can buy, but the most common above Humvees and 1 ¼-ton CUCVs are 2 ½-ton and 5-ton models, and boy, are there a lot of them. Let’s look at some of the most common types out there.
Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles
The newest trucks in the inventory are the FMTVs, a family of flat-nosed trucks that are either 4X4 Light Medium Tactical Vehicles (LMTVs) or 6X6 Medium Tactical Vehicles (MTVs).
The 4X4 LMTVs are a four-wheeled, 2 ½-ton replacement for the classic M35, which ran on ten tires. Logistically alone, ditching six tires is a huge improvement. The basic M1078 LMTV is a cargo package and can be used for just about anything, from hauling butts to parts to cannon ammo.
The 5-ton 6X6 MTVs are used for all kinds of things, and they replaced the M929 and M817 5-ton trucks, which are both readily available on the civilian market. Like the previous generation, the MTV is available in:
Basic cargo
Tow tractor
Wrecker
Van body
The MTV is also produced as a 10-ton dump truck, which is rarer in the civilian market. Here is a great overview of all production styles, most of which will eventually find their way into civilian hands.
Since this article is about getting your surplus army truck tagged and titled, I’m focusing on what you can find being sold directly by the DoD, and those are predominantly (if not exclusively) either LMTVs or MTVs. The older models have likely been phased out and auctioned off already. Right now, the only thing on www.govplanet.com is FMTV trucks – a variety of styles are available, and the longer you wait the more you’ll find.
How Hard Is It to Buy Tires & Parts For Surplus Army Trucks?
Thankfully, lots of army trucks were produced over the years, most of which are derived from a handful of base models. This led to widespread parts availability. First, you can find lots of parts through the same auction houses as the trucks. Of course, in case you didn’t need 239 door handles, you can always check out the many individual retailers of FMTV parts.
You can also check out eBay and Amazon. Amazon has a lot of common parts, seals, etc. eBay has a ton of original parts for these and any of the other surplus army trucks. As always, parts are just a Google search away.
Where Can I Buy Surplus Military Vehicles and Trucks?
The consigned auction houses are the most readily available source of surplus army vehicles and trucks. Iron Planet, the parent of GovPlanet, is a great place to start. All auctions there are completely online; again, there is no requirement to have a dealer license. All you have to do is sign up and wait for them to approve you.
You can also check Craigslist and Marketplace. A lot of these are also already titled and tagged for street legal use.
This is just a suggestion, but you might want to keep an eye out in Colorado and California since both states are unfriendly toward street-legal surplus military trucks.
Are Surplus Army Trucks Street Legal?
No, they are not – at least, not right out of the box.
The military takes advantage of special exceptions to use public roads without the traditional registration processes civilian vehicles are subject to. There are also tons of operating restrictions that are outside the scope of this article, but to make a long story short, the military can drive a military vehicle on public roads but nobody else can.
All tactical vehicles are considered off-highway vehicles and are sold accordingly. This doesn’t mean much, though, because plenty of states will tag them. Of course, there are a few who won’t. If you have any questions at all about whether or not your state will title a surplus army truck, check out our street-legal military vehicle program which takes the guesswork out of the process entirely.
When you buy a military surplus vehicle from an auction house, you’ll be issued an SF-97 form, which will be branded for off-road use only. It’s alright, though. Some states will take that along with your bill of sale (which will also be issued by the auction house) and issue you a clean title, tag, and registration – those are the states we work with through our military vehicle program so you can get the same advantage regardless of where you live.
What Do Army Trucks Need to be Made Street Legal?
There are two tiers of requirements to make a surplus army truck street-legal.
Administrative requirements and paperwork
Physical items
The administrative items are simple to take care of. Just make sure to get the SF-97 and the bill of sale when you buy the truck. Without these, it’s going to be a non-starter. If you use our program, the remainder of the paperwork is provided by us.
Like any other DOT-approved vehicle, you’ll generally need the following parts regardless of what state you’re in. Military trucks are usually equipped with these already, but you’ll have to double-check:
White headlights with low and high beam
Red tail lights with brighter or separate brake light
Reflectors: yellow front and rear
White license plate light
Front and rear turn signals
DOT tires
Mirrors
Horn
Quiet exhaust with muffler
Seat belts
Handbrake
Windshield and wipers
You DO NOT need these parts installed for us to register and plate your vehicle, as no inspection is needed with our program. Otherwise, you’ll be subject to the vehicle inspection processes in your state.
Are Surplus Army Trucks Legal to Title & Tag in All States?
We’ve already touched on this a little bit, but the answer is no. While we aren’t going to cover or research all the states, we know for a fact that surplus military vehicles will not be titled or tagged in California or Colorado. Considering those are both pretty big states with awesome off-roading terrain, we feel these are significant in and of themselves.
In fact, Colorado’s ruling is oppressive enough that if you have a military vehicle with an existing on-road title and registration, it will be de-registered and an OHV title issued.
However, it is not illegal to drive a surplus army truck there with out-of-state plates. Ironically, Colorado allows foreign military vehicles to be tagged in Colorado; only U.S. military surplus vehicles aren’t allowed to be tagged. Odd.
If It's Tagged Out-of-State, Can Colorado & California Still Pull You Over?
They potentially could pull you over, but that seems like a long shot. However, Colorado is fairly notorious for pulling over tagged UTVs, but a military truck like a Humvee or LMTV is quite a lot different. It does seem unlikely that they would pull you over if it’s wearing Montana or Utah plates, and even more unlikely that it would go anywhere in traffic court.
The Dirt Legal Advantage
We’ll make titling and tagging your surplus army truck a breeze no matter what state you live in. No long lines just to be told that you can’t do it there. No more ‘no’ answers without an explanation. Just send us the information we need, fill out the forms we send you, and wait. You’ll get a crisp, fresh title and license plate in a few weeks.
Our street-legal military vehicle program is just what you need to get a truck out of your driveway and on the road. Best of all, it gives you the peace of mind to know that you can log on to GovPlanet and bid with the assurance that Dirt Legal has got your back; you won’t be stuck with an albatross that you can’t drive.
When you check out our military vehicles service, also make sure to check out our other services to make your dirt bikes, ATVs, and UTVs street-legal!
Wrapping Up
Don't waffle any longer if you’ve been on the fence about buying a surplus military truck. Army trucks are awesome, and the army always drives them on highways, so why shouldn’t you?
Are you building yours for Overlanding, camping, hauling, or a little bit of everything? Let us know in the comments and check out these related articles for more military vehicle goodness.
John McCoy is a lifelong car and truck enthusiast and has a strong mechanical background off the road. He spent over 13 years in the U.S. Air Force as a crew chief, assigned to the B-1B Lancer, affectionately known as the Bone to those in the community, and the KC-135R Stratotanker. He resides on a small farm in Eastern Kansas where he (sometimes) enjoys fixing ancient farm equipment.