HMMWV Hummer 1 ¼-Ton, 4X4

Background

One day while driving down the 101 freeway going South to Santa Barbara I passed a very long column of Hummers being delivered to the army at Fort Hunter Liget and/or Fort Ord. There were all kinds of models, most fitted with military radios. I started to study them. It turns out that A.M General would not sell me a Hummer then because they were not street legal and they had their hands full building them for the Army and other U.S. and foreign services. Later they developed the "Heavy Hummer" that had a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) in excess of 10,000 pounds. This required not only adding heavier springs for the vertical load but also a lot of changes to the drive line to handle the higher torque that propelling the heavier vehicle required. With this higher GVW the rules change for street licensing and made the Hummer street legal. A friend purchased one of the first 100 and had it custom painted a civilian camo (the factory could not use the same robot pattern they used for the Army for legal reasons). My friend ended selling his back to A.M. General because of all the problems it had. One of the problems was that there was nowhere he could go that had trained mechanics. If the mechanic is not trained on the Hummer in the process of fixing one problem, he can create one or more new problems.

Note: The most reliable vehicles are those that are made in very large numbers. This way the manufacturer gets all the bugs out. Vehicles that are made in smaller numbers, independent of the selling price, will have more problems. A friend had a BMW, don't remember the model number, but it was a V-12 engine and the control layout looked as if it came out of an airplane. Although the warranty would fix problems, that's not much consolation when the car is in the shop more than it's on the road. A V-8 engine Rolls Royce is in the same category.

The HMMWV is in the limited production category and so is expensive to maintain. They also were designed for use off road and so the military diesel engine versions have a maximum highway speed of about 55 MPH (which used to be the US national speed limit, but that law was overturned as a violation of states rights.)

Models

Model	Drawing	Description	Pass	Armor	Winch	Curb Wt	Len	Ht
M966		TOW missile carrier	2	basic	N	?	180	73
M996		Mini-ambulance, 2-litter	2+2	basic	?	8,380	202	86
M997		Hard-top maxi-ambulance, 4-litter	2+4	basic	N	9,100	202	102
M998		Cargo/troop carrier soft top	4	basic	N	7,880	180	69
M1025		Slope back, armament carrier M60 7.62 mm M. G.	4	basic	N	8,200	180	73
M1026		Slope back Armament carrier Mk 19 40 mm Grenade Launcher	4	basic	N	8,200	185	73
M1035		Soft-top ambulance, 2-litter	4+2	basic	N	7,700	180	69
M1036		TOW missile carrier	2	basic	Y	8,200	185	73
M1037		S-250 shelter carrier	2	basic	N	8,660		69
M1038		Cargo/troop Carrier	4	basic	Y	7,700	185	69
M1042		S-250 shelter carrier	2	basic	Y	8,660	185	69
M1043		Slope back, armament carrier Mk 19 40 mm Grenade Launcher	4	extra	N	8,400	180	73
M1044		Slope back, armament carrier M2 50 Cal M. G.	4	extra	Y	8,400	185	73
M1045		TOW missile carrier	2	extra	N	8,400	180	73
M1046		TOW missile carrier	2	extra	Y	8,400	185	73
M1069		Tractor for M119 105-mm light gun	?			?
M1097		Canvas top truck	2+	basic	N	10,000	180
M1097A1		Canvas top truck	2+	basic	Y	10,000
M1109		Slope back Armament carrier M60, 7.62mm machine gun M2 .50 caliber machine gun or MK 19 Grenade Launcher	4	Up	Y	?
M1114		Slope back Armament carrier M60, 7.62mm machine gun M2 .50 caliber machine gun or MK 19 Grenade Launcher Bushmaster 25mm autocannon?	4	Up	Y	?
M1116				Up	N	?
M1123			2	?	N	?	180	69