new member with a "new" 86 6.9

[cincymoto]

Hi all, just joined after I bought this truck. Been searching for a decent cheap diesel for months (sold my gm 6.2 after the junk 700r went to nothing). finally found this old bird. 86 6.9 4 spd 4.10 sterling, dually, xlt lariat centurion. 89k original miles (i hope), rust free and with a mint interior to boot. driver window switch don't work, a/c blows warm and turn signals don't flash on the dash but other that that it starts ad runs great. 1 1/2 hours home on the highway at 55-60 was enlightening, but what are going to do. I need it to pull a trailer w/5-7000k on it once a week or so. after reading many many hours of forums I thought the ole f250 was a good choice. love the cummins but pricey parts and a used one will need a few a I'm sure. plus the old d250s are shaky with age. the ford idis seem the cheapest and easiest way to go on a budget. i think i found a decent one, and for 2k I can afford to fix it up a little. 1st things... grease, oil & filters. 2nd... open up that air flow! what do you think?

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[icanfixall]

Welcome to the forum and thats a really nice truck for the price. I see that it has a C6 auto trans because thats whats offered in that year for auto trans. A dually is a nice truck for towing too. Changeing the fluids will tell you lots. Having a large tran cooler on it will help the trans too. Usually the bigger then better but ask question here before buying any large one. Important item when buying a cooler is the amount of fins per inch for cooling. More is always better. At this mileage it getting close to injection pump replacement time. With 4.10 it will haul easily but a Gearvendors will change all the towing too. They are offered up on ebay all the time. The J model is the early type and the P model is what you want. If you find one and it does not have the needed trans tailshaft adapter buy it anyway. GV will trade in what you have and charge you a steep fee to do so... they will not outright sell you an adapter. A seller located in Aromas Ca has sold many adapters over the years. I have no idea where he finds them either. GV is a great aux trans and they are very supportive over the phone too with info. Find a GV.. Get the serial numbers off it and call GC. They can tell you what it is if you don't know. Some parts for the early ones are no longer avaiable.

 

[cincymoto]

Thanks for the reply, it's a T19 4 spd though. what are common signs for pump failure-leaking or poor fuel delivery-both? mine has a oily area under the pump and on the driver side of motor coming down the side. it looks like it's coming from the plug with wires on top of the timing gear cover. after a serious engine clean I will now for sure. Man this C5 4.10 axle is murder on the highway rpms. but towing is why I bought it. the divorced OD sounds real good for keeping the rpms down while not sacrificing low end grunt or durability.

 

[Hyde]

Good looking truck! I like the ex-cab duallys. Youll love it over the 6.2 for towing.

 

[DesertBen44]

I have those seats in my parts truck they are INSANELY comfortable! nice score

 

[lindstromjd]

Nice truck!!

 

[Devon Harley]

very nice truck!

 

[91idi]

I love it! Lots of 86 today. I likey!

 

[hesutton]

Very nice truck! Hope to see it at the Rally next July!

WELCOME TO OB!

Heath

 

[cincymoto]

THANKS! I joined a few other forums after buying this beast and so far none have the # of friendly replies this one does. I am super stoked about running wvo, I have two tanks so a huge head start and have read about the details of wvo for over a year now, it all sounds easily doable. On top of that I've read literally 100's of posts about the merits of one diesel motor vs another. here's my summation: cummins get big power and good mpg but it comes at the expensive of the most costly parts, plus the older dodge trucks suffer from weak front ends, easily rusted frames and parts are higher and harder to find used. gm diesels have good mpg but are costly and under powered, not to mention junk auto 700r4 trannys behind diesels (STUPID!), I had a 6.2. Mileage was around 23-24, never towed but it felt strong enough, but the overall body quality was poor. fords have the best overall motors in terms of expense, reliability and power, bodies hold up, frames hold up parts are plentiful and cheap. Powerstrokes scare me with the costs of pumps and injectors. everyone is concerned about mpgs and fuel savings, but all in all if you added up the total 10 or 20 year operating cost, the old ford idis are the hands down winners. never thought of myself as a ford man, but it turns out i am. I am the odd man out though because I couldn't care less about smokin' and screamin' or huge horsepower, I drive it easy, humm along and strive for reliability and overall usefulness of my truck. 55 or 65 is fine with me as long as my 10 year ownership costs come in lower than a gasser. This IDI is the best thing I've bought. I'm looking forward to tweaking it into the perfect truck (for me).

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I had those seats in my F250 before I wrecked it. I agree. They were really comfortable. I almost wish I'd have kept them. My 81 F150 daily driver could sure use the upgrade. Nice truck and it looks good in black!

 

[idi_econoline]

Welcome to OB, and to this friendly lot of IDI guys. You'll learn a LOT from these fine people on here.

Really nice-looking slantnose rig you have there. I, too, really like the extended-cab dually look.

Yeah, Ford/Intl IDIs are the way to go. I run pretty much stock, and enjoy the simplicity with reliability.

Looking forward to some towing this fall; engine's on a stand, pop-testing injectors tomorrow; reconned heads go on one of these days.

 

[cincymoto]

Thanks!

 

[cincymoto]

a full rebuild on an idi would be awesome, you know you have about 300k at least before another (from what i read). not mention if you use top notch parts, even longer.

 

[cowman79]

nice looking truck. welcome to OB. I am only about an hour south of cincy.