Learn me - cheap trucks

Nothing wrong with a throttle body injected (87-95ish) GM truck. Decent power, easy on gas, at least relative to a Q-jet, and they are old enough all the problems are well documented. And, there are not that many problems.

Thats it, ANY ford with the 300/6. Personaly, I would want one with an auto if you have any form of in town stop-n-go.

Well, there are 5 traffic lights on the 25 mile trip to work...

Most of the trucks out here are auto, which will keep The Wife happy as she doesn't like driving a stick.

Saw an almost perfect truck this morning - '93 F250 with a 460, camper shell, very good condition by the looks of it but it turned out to be 2WD .

If you give half a crap about mpg do NOT buy a 460 anything.

I was pretty sure I had figured out why that truck has a 75 gallon auxiliary tank...

While I'd prefer something with reasonable fuel consumption, a lot of the trucks that I've found so far will only get ~10mpg. I think I can probably live with the fuel consumption for a winter while I save up for something more sensible, ie a Diesel truck, but I'd rather put a little more cash away than in the tank.

That said, in this case the condition of the truck suggested it might have been worth taking a chance.

Any comments on this truck: http://reno.craigslist.org/ctd/1834639247.html

Price seems to be creeping down slowly, but I haven't got the foggiest as to how durable these are...

BoxheadTim wrote: Any comments on this truck: http://reno.craigslist.org/ctd/1834639247.html Price seems to be creeping down slowly, but I haven't got the foggiest as to how durable these are...

transmissions are made of glass

ignorant wrote:

BoxheadTim wrote: Any comments on this truck: http://reno.craigslist.org/ctd/1834639247.html Price seems to be creeping down slowly, but I haven't got the foggiest as to how durable these are...

transmissions are made of glass

Thanks, I knew that the Cummins-equipped ones has transmission issues, didn't know that this extends to the gas engined ones as well.

I'll tell you something interesting about the 2500 dodge's with the v10s. Cummins Reman did all the rebuilding of the mopar replacement engines and spare part engines. Word on the street was that these engines ran better and longer than the factory ones..

BoxheadTim wrote: Any comments on this truck: http://reno.craigslist.org/ctd/1834639247.html Price seems to be creeping down slowly, but I haven't got the foggiest as to how durable these are...

Good trucks. We sold ours with 196k on it AND THE ORIGINAL trans under it.

The problems with the auto trans is the people that own them and dont change the fluid every 30k like the owners manual suggests. Service the trans and thye will run for a very long time.

the old 5.9s ran pretty good. Pulled a spec E30 on a 16ft open trailer all over the place with it. Even with 190k on it we had not a worry pulling the E30 500 plus miles out of town to go racing. Up here at 6k plus feet the 5.9 was a little down on power. Once on the open road and running closer to sea level it was just fine.

Always check the front suspension on the second gen Dodge trucks. they dont wear that well.

CaptainSpaulding wrote: Good trucks. We sold ours with 196k on it AND THE ORIGINAL trans under it. The problems with the auto trans is the people that own them and dont change the fluid every 30k like the owners manual suggests. Service the trans and thye will run for a very long time.

right.. so assume you need to buy a trans, if you buy one of those trucks use.

Well, if I have to budget for a trans when buying the truck then I better look at something else...

Just talked to the owner of this truck, kinda looks promising in the pictures: http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/1824713690.html

Ive rebuilt 500/518s and i can tell you they really dont have any major issues other than lack of maintenance, as said. Also, people tend to overheat them by doing a lot of towing without putting an external cooler on it.

Also, a lot of them die because of a failed one-way check valve in the cooler lines thats supposed to prevent converter drain-back.

The ones that have the most issues are the diesel ones, for obvious reasons, and even then the big issue is the overdrive section (4th gear) because.. you guessed it, people put a LOT of power through 4th when they shouldnt, i.e. wot on a modded 800 lb ft diesel motor, or towing something with same.. You cant really fault them for that. The latest updates and upgrades on a rebuilt 518 make em pretty tough even behind a cummins. Build a gas-motor 518 to diesel specs and i guarantee you CANNOT burn up that 4th gear (something like 23 clutch discs just for 4th gear!). The front section is just a 727 torqueflite, same design thats been holding a ton of power reliably since before the 426 Hemis it was behind were outlawed by nascar..

Compared to the chevy equivalent in half tons (4l60e) its definitely a way tougher unit.

The 350 in that truck.. well, 350s are pretty simple and reliable, but they're subject to the same maintenance let-downs as a 518, except they have no overdrive (which sucks, but on the other hand if it did itd be a 4l60 and it would break for no reason).

So, in my trans-builder opinion, do not avoid the dodge just because it has a 518. Just do as good of a job as you can to check out the background by talking to the owner, looking at/smelling the fluid, giving it a WOT workout on the test drive (its ok to WOT powerbrake it in D and R for 2 or 3 seconds to see if it slips, too. Just dont do it in front of the owner if he seems irritable), and making sure its got no major leaks. Major leaks are a sign its probably been run low on fluid repeatedly.. Also, take a sharp turn around a corner while giving it gas.. if it slips or seems to go into neutral while in a hard turn (even when its full of fluid) thats a bad sign.

If you do buy a 500 or 518 truck, take the check valve out of the cooler line as preventive maintenance.. its a hand tools job, no biggie.

Well, the Dodge is at a small dealer here, I guess I better ask for lots of paperwork regarding the servicing as won't have much chance talking to the owner. Thing is, we could do with something a little newer/hopefully less worn. Thanks for the tip re the check valve!

I'll probably check out both trucks and try to find out how old the drivetrain in the Chevy really is, not that it turns out to be one of those "new crate engine and gearbox 10 years ago" jobs.

Also dont over look the late 80s to mid 90s EFI Ford trucks. I saw some one post some thing about being scared of the EFI. The EFI systems on those trucks are childs play. Basicly the same as a 5.o mustang except they dont run SEFI they run Bank fire.

You dont really need a scan tool to pull faults as they are so darn basic and reliable that all you really need is a spare TFI module and replace the fuel pump on the high mileage trucks.

Also dont over look the 6.9/7.3 idi diesel trucks. Easy to work on, decent power and 100% mechanical unless you get one with the E40d.

I have an interesting plan, should I ever need such a truck.

For some unknown reason, Suburbans are cheaper than trucks. Get a nice, solid Suburban with a rock solid drivetrain like 350/350... and a Sawsall. Make yourself a proto-Avalanche.

http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/1793834011.html

http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/1775776005.html

http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/1848171827.html

http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/1846265080.html

http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/1778625760.html

http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/1777631609.html

Just an fyi, my 79 chev gets about 10mpg. It's a 4x4, 350/4-speed with 6" of lift on 35-12.0-15's

Yeah, I noticed the bit about Suburbans being cheaper, too.

Didn't have much time this weekend to look for vehicles as we moved house (again) into something hopefully a lot more permanent now.

I did have a look at the blue Silverado I linked to a little while back in the thread but I wasn't too keen on it. Also looked at another couple of trucks (both F250s) that were parked on the side of the road with For Sale signs but again, not too keen just by looking at them...

Our favourite so far is a '90 Ramcharger that seems to have an awful lot of work done (lift w/ lowered transfer case, roll bar etc) but the paint has suffered a lot of sun damage. Looks solid though, but I didn't have a chance to talk to the seller yet. It's also a 'make offer' with no indication of price which tends to annoy me a little. Plus they seem to have lowered the gearing to 4.10, good for wheeling but $DEITY knows what that does to the fuel consumption...

You can paint those things with a roller..

If its 90 it's tbi which means reliable and super easy to diagnose.

Those are a rare truck that's only getting rarer. If its been done well its definitely got a certain cool factor.

i AM predicting 10 mpg, though.

I was thinking that if it's in good condition it might be worth getting it an improving it over a couple of years simply due to its rarity. Mind you, it'll probably take a couple of years to find the parts that I'd need to finish it properly.

The downside is that I'd end up with another vehicle that's too nice to use. One day I should really get my act together and buy one as an appliance.

lowered t-case = cheap lift kit

lowered t-case = cheap lift kit

OR laws of phsyics, depending who you ask.. i suppose

2 u-joints can only run so much angle..

Honestly, Boxhead, i have a hard time picturing a ramcharger too nice to use being anything less than $6-7K. A nice, late, well done 4wd is a rare thing, but ultimately i think you'd have a hard time making it too nice to use..especially since it'll be a lifted, big tired, shortwheelbase truck, meaning it will ride, turn, and stop like crap at all times...

I'm more worried that I'll start restoring it and it'll end up too nice to use...

I'm not sure that I'm ready for something that will ride, turn and stop like crap at all times .

Coming from even a reasonably sporty car, that is pretty much completely unavoidable.. welcome to trucks