How to Turn a 2-1/2 Ton Truck Into An Overlanding Monster

January 20, 2023 John McCoy

Hey guys! This article is part of a series of articles focused on getting military vehicles street legal. Make sure to check out the rest of the series!

Well, guys and gals, we’re back at it again. Talking to you about surplus army trucks again. Is this a dead horse we keep whipping? We don’t think so. Why?

Surplus army trucks are cheap.
Surplus army trucks are easy to find.
There are thousands of them on the road, with dozens more hitting the auction sites weekly.

If you want (or need) a surplus army truck, you can find one and buy it. One of the coolest uses for surplus army trucks hitting the civilian market is converting them into badass Overlanding rigs. And why not? They are one of the cheapest solutions on the market, and unlike your typical ½-ton+ pickup, these trucks are absolutely made for it all. But let’s throttle back and take a look at the big picture: what these trucks can do, how to make them do it, and how Dirt Legal gets these awesome rigs street-legal, even in unfriendly states like Colorado and California. More on those later.

What Is Overlanding Anyway?

The best place to start is in Overlanding itself.

According to Wikipedia, “Overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal.”

That sounds reasonable enough. The journey is the goal, not the destination. Of course, you need a robust truck to get you to the destination.

Jeeps, FJ Cruisers, and pickups are all popular for a baseline Overlanding vehicle, and they can get the job done. But here’s the deal: modern light-duty trucks (anything 1 ton and under) are built for driving on the interstate and in the suburbs. I’m sorry, and the truth does hurt sometimes, but take a look at a late-model pickup or Jeep product and tell me it is tailored for austere conditions. You can’t because they aren’t. They come from the factory with slick highway tires and cushy seats. Solid axles? Why would we want solid front axles and leaf springs?

Anyway, the whole point of Overlanding is to get out into the great unknown, and to do that; you have to use something that can get you there and back again. And if there is anything on this planet capable of getting there and back again, it is a surplus army truck.

Why?

Because this is their entire purpose. They came off the factory floor better equipped for the soup, the bogs, the sand, and the trails than you can even build a civilian factory rig to do.

Oh, and did we mention a baseline price?

Well, let’s take a look. IronPlanet lists sold vehicles if you have a login. They have 300 FMTVs in the sold section.

One of the best examples I found was this 1993 LMTV M1079 with the van body. This truck only had 1,852 miles on the odometer, and I’ll bet those are accurate.

Why, you ask? First, look at the other ones. That mileage is consistent.

Second, most military fleet vehicles hardly have any miles on them. I had a Ram 2500 GSA lease for ten years (a standard duration for light-duty trucks), and we turned it in after a decade with about 25K miles on it. And yes, I was disappointed that I couldn’t buy it from the auction house. What a steal.

Anyway, the military fleet vehicles are driven even less; they more or less sit around the motor pool and only get taken out on occasion. So when you see crazy-low mileage on these trucks, it’s probably accurate. With a Cat diesel, it is barely through the break-in period (or not even). With proper care and maintenance, you could easily find a truck with a couple of thousands of miles that will last the rest of your life.

Where Can You Take Your Overland Rig?

So, this is contingent on what it is that you want to do. But the great thing is that once you get away from the twenty percent of the U.S. where eighty percent of the people are, there is much room.

Public beaches are one of the best places to take an Overlanding rig. The best example is the Padre Island National Seashore outside Corpus Christi, Texas. The sand is hard-packed to the point that people routinely take motorhomes out on it. In fact, my family spent a few nights out there with a Ford Excursion and a 34’ travel trailer.

Here’s the deal about this place. Only the first few miles are accessible by factory-produced stock trucks and definitely stock travel trailers (Overlanding trailers would be fine with a lifted truck, preferably with lockers).

The coastline stretches for about 50-60 miles of National Seashore that anyone can stay on for up to two weeks at a time. The catch?

Nobody is coming to rescue or check on you when you’re that far down the beach.

Other popular destinations are on Bureau of Land Management land, which is spread out all over the West. There are a few popular apps that share experiences with these things. My personal faves are The Dyrt (NOT the Motley Crüe Netflix biopic, although it was awesome), FreeRoam, and the National Park Service to some extent. Also, the r/Overlanding subReddit is a great resource to pull from.

How Many Different 2 1/2-Ton Army Trucks Are There?

Over the course of history, there have been a ton of different army trucks in the 2 ½-ton size. This is because it is one of the most useful overall sizes for the military. Since they are smaller and a little shorter (especially the LMTV), they are more agile and versatile, but they are also much sturdier than the average 1-ton truck.

Before the LMTV, the M35 series of trucks were in service for nearly forty years. Six manufacturers produced nearly two hundred thousand over these decades, with at least eight body types.

Most of these have been phased out of military inventory, and today they are easy to find on Marketplace and in Facebook groups dedicated to surplus army trucks.

Which One Is the Best for Conversions?

I suggest the LMTV, for a few reasons.

Two axles and four tires make for fewer parts to fail. It is configured like a huge pickup with a cabover.
The two axles and cabover design help a lot with approach angles.
It is the newest design with lots of spare parts floating around.
Four tires versus ten tires is a lot simpler logistically. Carrying two spares gives you 50% coverage instead of 20% in an M35 with ten tires.

Got Any Examples?

There are a bunch of examples out there, particularly on Instagram.

Some of my favorites are:

YouTube is also a great resource for some build ideas and getting an idea of what’s possible. Here are a few we like:

Well, Where Can You Find a Used 2 1/2-Ton Army Truck?

Probably the easiest place to get a used 2 1⁄2-ton or 5-ton truck is off of Marketplace. However, if you want to build an Overlanding rig straight out of the military motor pool, your best bet will be IronPlanet.

These trucks are at least checked over before the auction goes live, so you know whether or not they run. Also, they sell parts trucks in case you want or need a donor vehicle.

The thing is, if you buy one from IronPlanet, it is going to come with something other than a street-legal title. Instead, you will get a bill of sale and/or an SF-97.

Are They Even Street-Legal?

Surplus army trucks are considered tactical vehicles. While they are delivered to the DoD with DOT-required lights, mirrors, horns, etc., they are tactical vehicles intended for off-road use. Accordingly, they are not titled for street use. But you can still get them titled, tagged, and registered for street-legal use in most cases.

However, at least a few states will not title, tag, or register surplus military vehicles. The ones we know of are:

There are likely others, but we know of these.

How Dirt Legal Gets You on the Road

Dirt Legal is your expert in all things off-road when you want to be on-road. Our military vehicle service is made to take your surplus army truck from garage-queen to road king. Or, in this case, off-road king.

We work in such a way that with your bill of sale and/or SF97, we will take those and take care of the rest. You just need to sign the required documents, send them back, and wait by the mail.

In return, you will get a valid out-of-state tag, title, and registration. It usually takes somewhere in the ballpark of 2-6 weeks from the time of initiation to get all of your stuff, and once you have it, you never have to get a state or smog inspection again. You don’t even need to have an initial inspection conducted.

In other words, you can have a street legal 2 ½-ton military Overlanding truck without ever leaving your home.

Parting Thoughts

There isn’t a more durable platform in existence than the surplus army truck to use for Overlanding. For one thing, they are all made with snorkel kits and must be able to cross deep water; it’s part of the trials to compete for the contract. So you know they can handle creeks and shallow rivers getting out to the way-off-there's.

Second, they have the great ground clearance to deal with rough terrain. Also, they are built with gnarly tires to handle the boggiest of bogs. Oh, and did we mention central tire pressure systems? That’s right. These trucks must adapt quickly to their environment, and tire pressure is key. You’ll want to drop that pressure on the seashores, but you need it bumped back up for that Walmart run.

Surplus army trucks are also the most economical option, especially if you find a unit with a van body that you can convert to living space quickly and easily. The hiccups can really occur when you start looking to tag, title, and register one of these. But we’ve got the hookup for you. So click the link, sit back, and start planning your next Overlanding trek; we’ll handle making it street-legal.

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