Choose One of These Two Trucks

I realize that this is just 2wd but I wonder how many miles are on this 2005 F250 asking $3,500

I agree.  Even here in Arkansas, vehicles come from The Salt Life North.  I am only going to purchase new used vehicles from Texas, the PRC or points in between.   My most recent purchase, a 2011 LR2 spent it's first six months in NYC, then moved to Texas, where it stayed until I had them mail it to me.  I'm currently doing my 3rd #UZFE timing belt since July, all about the same age (~20.)  First one spent some time in Kansas, mostly in OK.  Second one spent time in Ohio, I think.  Third one has been here 20 years and before that was from Texas.  3rd one is a dream compared to the second, which was easy compared to the first.

I’d be leery of the 7.3 because it looks like it’s been owned by diesel bros.  Visor.  Flares.  Bigger tires.  All these things scream AVOID.

I’d be leery of the Chevy due to rust.  My dad’s ‘01 half ton is about to experience major structural failure.  May I add that it has never even been to what is considered the rust belt?  We discovered the issues when we went to attack a leaking brake line.  I refused to finish it.  Told dad he would be a danger to himself and many others if he continued to drive it.  Sad seeing has how it has a 45k mile 5.3 LS under the hood...or not sad if you’re wanting an LS :-)

in my opinion, it’s quite egregious what GM did here.  This puts public safety at risk and they knew that.  This is the second GM truck from this era that my poor old dad has owned that rusted right out from under him all while the body stayed cherry.  The other was an S10.  I seriously doubt the ton trucks were made out of anything different.

I'm a big fan of  the 7.3 but the 8.1 is a solid choice as well. When you shopping trucks of that age, particularly in the rust belt the condition of the specific truck should be the biggest deciding factor. 

Atlanta area (30330 ZIP if you want something easy to search on Auto Trader or Cars.Com) is full of nice cars and you can fly direct from Milwaukee on Southwest or Delta for under $200 most any time with a 1-2 week leadtime.  One night in Nashville, and its a smooth trip straight north the next day.  Leave on Friday, home on Saturday PM.  With a wonderful, rust free vehicle.  Then fluid film it and plan on keeping it nice.  

Atlanta is a sort of a honey hole for Midwesterners because it is far enough away from the coast to not have salt, far enough south to not have much snow, an easy fly n drive due to location and a large airport, and a ton of money in the area so there are a lot of nice pavement princesses down there.  Stuff will have miles on it since everything is a bit of a hike between major towns but miles don't kill modern vehicles.  

Only word of caution is run a Carfax on anything you are looking at because there can be vehicles brought from the north, either by owners or via the auctions, that are rusty despite being in the south.    You want a vehicle that hasnt left the south.  

My Land Cruiser came from a Toyota dealer in Athens that had sold it new and was a local trade, always dealer serviced, about an hour away from Atlanta.  Flew in, took a bus to Athens, walked a mile from the bus terminal to the dealer - they would have picked me up but it was 50 degrees in January so of course I was going to walk - did a quick look-over, test drive, handed them a check, and drove home.  They put plates on it for me that were good for 3 months.  

Was a painless process and i would do it again in a heartbeat.  I justified the cost of the plane ticket in a few ways.

Rust free-priceless.

Quick road trip with the wife - also priceless.

Found a Land Cruiser in the color, year, condition, and miles I wanted - really tough considering there are only around 3000 of them imported per year.  

Well, I did a thing.  Time to let these two get to know each other:

I paid $3600, and it got 12.5 mpg on the way home, which I'm honestly quite happy with considering it wasn't all highway by any means.

I'll admit that I spent the last couple of days looking at ads down south (heck, I even sent a GRMer on a wild goose chase that didn't even end in a test drive), including a whole lot of Atlanta craigslist this morning- the thing is, the trucks down there are EXPENSIVE.  A similar truck with similar miles and whatever "no rust" means in Atlanta is like $12,500 asking price, and the nearly $9k difference buys a pretty large amount of my time so patching up the rockers and painting the frame isn't the end of the world.

When we arrived to look at the truck, I initially thought I might not even make an offer- it's not very rusty, all things considered, but not as clean as advertised.  Then I drove it and discovered the magical properties of the 8.1 (namely all the torques at none of the rpms) and the mind reading capabilities of the Allison (downshifts?  real engine braking?  incredible!) and that honestly it drives like it has half as many miles on it.  I offered low because I still felt that I should make it worth my while to fix stuff and discover whatever else is wrong while I'm in there... and the guy just wanted another $100 on top.  So we shook hands and now I've got a big green truck.

Congrats - that looks like a great tow pig!

Nice pickup. Now, you need to paint it to match the rallykar. Or Chief :)

Guess I won't be walking you up the hills when towing hahaha....

Make sure you check the rear brake and fuel lines thoroughly. They tend to rot. I replaced them on my 1996 and found that the fuel lines were at least the second time they were replaced. They sit on top of the lower part of the rear frame rails and rot from the moisture and dirt held there. Replacing them isn't difficult but you'd be better off doing it before they fail completely. 

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

So, Chevy guy was asking $5.5k, you offered $3.5k and he countered at $3.6k.  Well done. 

I sensed there would be a lot of room in his price. 

If you think that thing has a lot of torque now, wait until you tune the torque management out of it. They don't even feel like a big block in 1st gear. 

Congrats!!

Seeing the Chevy parked under the lift makes me wonder, "what's the curb weight of a 2500HD long body w/ 8.1L and 4wd?"  Can the lift handle it?

In reply to John Welsh :

It's about 6k lbs- the lift is rated for 9k lbs and the truck fits parked nose-in only since if you back it in it hits the wall.  I think I'll use the lift to work on it, but probably not more than a few clicks off the ground so that it doesn't have a ton of leverage on the anchor points in the floor.

With the wheels off the floor, it feels about as stable as a MaxJax with a B2300 on it- which isn't reassuring given the scale involved, and is certainly a little more floaty than other stuff I've had on this lift, but probably not really dangerous.  Hopefully.

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Very cool.  Yeah, after I posed the question of weight some internet searching lead me to believe it would be about 6,700 lbs (that is twice as heavy as a 3,350 car!)  Though, if your rated for 9k lbs then it will be fine.  The conservative height seems wise!  

In reply to John Welsh :

My guess is "all the lbs."

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:Then I drove it and discovered the magical properties of the 8.1 (namely all the torques at none of the rpms) and the mind reading capabilities of the Allison (downshifts?  real engine braking?  incredible!)

I know, right?

Awesome acquisition.  You will not be disappointed.

Good choice. I've only towed with that exact truck (green and everything) for a hour or two, but it was good. 

Score, at a great price!

Looks like a good purchase!

And no more hauling fuel inside a vehicle- woot!

I want a green truck, too.