thinking about trading for a '85 f250 6.9L

[mikhail]

I have a 1988 broncoII 4x4 5spd, im thinking about trading this guy for his 1985 F250 6.9L diesel, 2wd, 4spd. I was just wondering about the value of it and if it seems worth it.

My b2 runs fine, everything works except the a/c, amp guage, parking brake. It has a chop top, cut to make it look like a fullsize. 33" mud terrains

The f250 runs and drives, has current stickers, title, a/c heat. its non turbo but he is going to give me one he was going to put on. The fuel guages dont work, hes giving me the sending units from a parts truck. the windsheild is cracked and leaks. the tailgate is missing, but ill ask him if the other truck has one, theres a gooseneck hitch in the bed which is why. it appears to be in kind of rough shape, i asked him for more pics but these are what i have now.

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he was asking $2k for it, from what ive already seen on here i know thats a rip off, heres my truck

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thanks

 

[FordGuy100]

I dont know if I would do that, its kind of a toss up. Is the bronco a daily driver, if so what kind of fuel milage does it get? That 85 should get around 15-18 MPG depending on if it has 4.10's or 3.55/3.54's, it could get a little better. That body looks rough on the 85. But if he's throwing in a turbo, and the fuel sending units, I actually think I would go for it.

 

[mikhail]

yeah thats what im thinking, the b2 is my daily driver, im in highschool. Its got the stock drivetrain, so its not like i have too much into it. it gets about 17mpg, but i cant really take it on the highway its way too slow with 3.45s and 33s.

it is 4x4 though which is what im debating, cause i go offroading just about every weekend, most of the stuff im thinking the f250 will make it through though but im gonna miss 4x4. The f250 has a really solid drivetrain though so i think this might be a good choice. the rust really isnt a problem since i just painted the bronco, and i still have blue paint left.

i was wondering how the front suspension is setup though? is it leaf sprung?

 

[The Warden]

If he's giving you a complete turbo setup (that doesn't need to be rebuilt or anything on those lines), and if the truck's in good operating condition otherwise, and it's a straight trade, it's probably worth it.

A 2 wheel drive will have coil front springs and a Twin-I-Beam setup.

It'd be nice to see what the interior looks like, and what the underside looks like. Based on the pictures available so far, it looks like the only problems with the body are a missing grille and quite a bit of surface rust. Not trivial, but I think more pictures are needed to determine if those issues are indicative of the truck's overall condition or not.

Just my $.02...welcome aboard, BTW

 

[Ironman03R]

I think I was reading the post from this guy on another forum, if its, then is its just a turbo from a DT466. I dont know if I'd do it. Just keep in mind that most of these old trucks were used and abused so its gonna take some TLC and money to make into a good driver. And Diesel parts cost more than gas parts.

 

[mikhail]

i asked him for more pictures, he hasnt sent any yet. i think he gets home sometime around now. if its beaten up i dont think im going to do it.

He said hes a diesel mechanic, so its probably been somewhat maintained lately. said theres new batteries,injector o rings and return lines on the engine. rebuilt starter and a rebuilt injector pump.

 

[Greenbeast6.9]

Keep the bII.

 

[Diesel JD]

Hmm, it depends on how bad you're going to miss the 4WD. That F250 is no good for that sort of thing unless you spend a ton of time and money into making it 4WD and L/S. It may not get the fuel mileage of your BII, it may do a little better. Being in high school I don't know what your budget is if something breaks, but IPs break occaisonally as do injectors and such. The big cost would be something like head gaskets. Ask him if they have been redone and if they leak. It would cost you around $2000 to get that done right unless you did it yourself. The fuel tank senders is really a pretty easy job. Rust is hard to get rid of particularly if it has advanced very far. Windshields can cost anywhere from $120-400. Be sure to get it done by somebody who knows what they're doing though even if it costs a bit more. As far as the turbo, if its from DT466, IDK if it will work. Not without some custom mounting mods, and then I don't know if they 6.9 can spool it up. If its a kit for an IDI that's fairly complete and doesn't need an overhaul it adds a LOT of value. New, those go for 1700 bucks or much more. Even a used good turbo kit nets around 600-1200 on evil bay. Let us know what you do we'd love to help you whether or not you get this truck.

 

[mikhail]

im definitely going to look over it when we meet this weekend. Ive seen some bad rust and know what that will do. Do the head gaskets tend to go out on these motors? I havent ever worked on a diesel before but ive done alot of work on gas engines, i should be able to do it myself.

He says it runs fine so i dont think theres anything really wrong with the motor. im just worried about the body and frame. you say injection pumps and injectors tend to go out, is it often, like going to be really expensive?

off road wise, i was planning on running some big tires in the back, like 36s and getting a locker, ill re-read the emails and see if he said what kind of turbo it was. I want to run biodiesel of some sort, probably going to blend it with reg diesel. would it be good or bad to have a turbo for this, and these are mechanical diesels right? (no ecu, or electronics controlling fuel)

thanks for all the help

 

[Diesel JD]

Yeah the head gaskets tend to go at around 150-200K miles. The parts are not expensive and the job is not hard, just very tedious and time consuming and can keep you off the road for up to a couple weeks if its your DD. If they have been done right and with updated headgaskets then USUALLY but not always you are good to go for a long while after that. IPs run around $250-550 with a rebuildable core. Injectors around $150-300 for a set, sometimes new, no cores required. Biodiesel is not hard, its just really messy and time consuming, but there is money to be saved an a bona fide environmental benefit both of using a noxious waste product(WVO) and turning this "bad" into a "good" and reduced smoke, CO, and CO2 emissions (but slightly higher NOx emissions sometimes is the counterbalance).

 

[mikhail]

i read on this forum http://www.biodieselnow.com/forums/default.aspx
a few people said they had been running biodiesel in 6.9s and they worked fine, even with B99 or B100. I think bio diesel is illegal in texas, wonder if it has anything to do with the oil refineries down here. So i was thinking of mixing in veg oil with diesel. I thought that was biodiesel but its not the same as the stuff you can buy at a pump in other states. I gotta look at the price of it though to see if its even worth it.

ill also ask about the head gaskets too, thanks for telling me about that, didnt even know that. worst case scenario though i can always use my moms old car to get to school if i have to, but i definitely dont want that happen.

 

[mikhail]

about how often do the injector pumps go out? i just looked up the price from Oreilly and its $490. are there any other parts more expensive that break often? this is a good reason to stay with a gasser for me, the parts for my b2 are dirt cheap compared to this.

 

[Hyde]

Man you get around Oh and FordGuy100, seriously man, quit posting. I get a serious wave of jealousy everytime I see your avatar

 

[FordGuy100]

Man you get around Oh and FordGuy100, seriously man, quit posting. I get a serious wave of jealousy everytime I see your avatar

Well, I suppose a thanks is in order . The pumps seem to have a life of around 100K miles, some go out sooner than that, others later. Injectors seem to last a little longer than the IP's, but you might as well do them if you do an IP just for good measure.

 

[Hyde]

Yea awesome truck man [hijack off\]