Worth it?

[Kris K]

Well the truck in my sig after many years of servcie has given up the ghost. So I'm on the hunt for another truck.

I found this.

http://kslclassifieds.kslcars.com/cars/CarDetail.do?car.carId=2302369


I like that it has a turbo, I kin dof like the Idea of a auto also. I'm going to be pulling a 16' car hauler with a 2800 lbs rockcrawler on it.

 

[flatlander]

You won't find one in Indiana that looks like that for that little.

 

[Doc]

It's a pretty truck and the price seems right. The mileage is only 123K, that's pretty low for an '85 diesel, which is great. My 2 cents is buy it if the coolant checks out, there are no leaks, and you can get paperwork for the rebuilt tranny. I don't know if having to rebuild the tranny at under 100K miles is a bad thing or not that unusual, but it's worth looking into. And at least you'll who did the rebuild and you can check out their reputation. Also, spend the $15 a get a CarFax report. You may learn a few extra things about the truck. Main things, check the coolant for SCAs, have someone follow you when you test drive it to look at the rear travel and alignment, too. Oh, pull the fuse box panel under the dash and under the hood to see if there is any indication of presvious electrical mishaps. My father-in-law was looking at a used Chevy truck and the wipers wouldn't work. When the owner pulled the fuse box you could see where they had jury rigged some wiring and there was evidence of some serious electrical problems from their work.

 

[Diesel JD]

The SCAs shouldn't be that big of a deal with a 6.9 especially not on one with that low of mileage. If it starts and runs well, not a lot of blowby and doesn't seem to be blowinga lot of blue smoke, then I would say buy it. I'm sure being a 6.9 owner you know about the issues with head gaskets. If theya re leaky, that should either discourage you from buying it or knock 500-1000 off the price. Also the glow plugs may be shot, but who really knows until you check them. Off topic, but what caused the demise of your current rig?

 

[Kris K]

Off topic, but what caused the demise of your current rig?

Well I noticed I was getting alot of fuel in the valley pan. Come to find out the ajustment bolt right above where the injecter lines come in to the pump. The threads where stripped letting fuel by BAD. So I would have to get a new IP. But with 300+K on it I figured her days where over.

 

[69oiler]

my '86 needs an IP too and i did get a new truck but i'm still gonna get an IP for the '86. IPs are cheaper than new trucks. and the '86 is a great truck.

but i agree, $3200 is a good price for that truck in these parts if it's in decent shape. but it may end up needing an IP next week.

 

[Kris K]

Well I got the truck this morning. It has a ATS turbo installed by a great Diesel shop I know localy. It has a pyro and a trans temp gauge. It dosen't have a boost gauge though. The guy had record all the way back 10 yrs on what was done to the truck. The trans has a towing shift kit in it with a huge cooler. New front tire's. still has the sticker on the valve cover showing it's a 158 hp engine. I've got alot to learn about a truck with a turbo.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'm sure I'll be asking alot more questions about it.

 

[Kris K]

Here's the truck after I took the shell and running boards. I added the rims, and tires off of my old truck plus the took box out of my old truck.

 

[dsblack]

SWEET!

 

[Darrin Tosh]

Real nice truck! You got a great deal on that thing, I sold one just like, but with a little rust for 5K last summer.

Congrats!