So I am still looking for a heavy duty truck. No half ton's.

I have not found the Diesel I was looking for. My budget has shrunk unfortunately too boot.

So I am looking for a truck for hauling and pulling purposes. My hope would be to eventually find a flatbed ($500-$1000) remove the bed and install the FB. In the mean time use it with a bed.

So the question is what truck should i be looking for?

I have a vehicle that is desireable in my area that is worth $4k trade value. I can scrounge together maybe another $1500 or so.

An older Ford diesel maybe. I don't want to have to pour thousands in addition to purchasing which I know can be a problem. I missed out on a nice dodge a while back. Just bad timing.

What do you guys think?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: old rugged cross,

Around here you will be very hard pressed to find any diesel pickup in even somewhat usable condition in the price range you envision. They start out at around twice that amount. The older GM diesels are the least costly.

if you are able to find an older diesel you're looking at old chevy 6.2 or 6.5's and ford 6.9/7.3 IDIs. not exactly desirable. Older dodges have real bad rust and trans issues. for 5500 any diesel you find is gonna be either a.) super high miles b.) an absolute basket case or c.) rotted like no other.

Now, if you consider gas trucks, they'll eat fuel considerably more but 5500 should get you into an f250 or 350 with a 460, they're plentiful and cheaper than diesels. Hell maybe even a newer 6.8 triton V10, which are essentially bulletproof and pull like freight trains.

Does not absolutely need to be a diesel.

I found a low mileage late eighties ford F250 manual tranny with a 460ci gas.

Is that engine a no go?

quote:

I found a low mileage late eighties ford F250 manual tranny with a 460ci gas.

Is that engine a no go?

The Ford big block, or "385" engine is about as bulletproof as a gas engine can get. It will pass everything but a gas station. Late 80s (1988-89) should have fuel injection.

20 years ago I sold a 91 Ford F250 with a 460 in it to some older Hispanic friends who are caretakers on a remote ranch in west Texas. They are still driving it today-I saw them at the Post Office in it this morning. And he doesn't know anything about taking care of a vehicle. He utterly destroyed a new Toyota 4wd in less than 15 years on that ranch.

I wouldn't disregard the 7.3l fords. They are pretty highly regarded in the diesel world and it is not uncommon to get 500k miles out of them. They don't have a lot of power,for a diesel, but they are reliable. I think you could find a pretty nice one in your price range.

I purchased a 1988 F350 with the 460, manual ZF5 transmission, 4x4 with dana 60's front and rear, about a year ago. Like someone mentioned, the 460 is about bulletproof. I searched for awhile, almost a year, and found this one in Reno. It needed a new engine, but for about $4000 total, I have basically a new truck.

Good luck in your search, I used a nationwide craigslist search to find mine.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bigpond73,

Thanks guys you have given me some optimism again.

And yes the V10 Ford is a good option too. I have looked at them some as my buddy who is a mechanic said they are good rigs.

Among the challenges are finding one that does not need the front end rebuilt or a new tranny.

I am going to keep looking.

Thanks.

Go to Car Gurus and put in your parameters:

https://www.cargurus.com/

quote:

Originally posted by Garret Blaine:
I wouldn't disregard the 7.3l fords. They are pretty highly regarded in the diesel world and it is not uncommon to get 500k miles out of them. They don't have a lot of power,for a diesel, but they are reliable. I think you could find a pretty nice one in your price range.

This, the 7.3's are bullet proof, but very hard to find in this area. You can make power out of them with aftermarket parts. A buddy of mine is a diesel and outboard mechanic. He pours up to 15 gallons of used drain oil right into the fuel tank and it runs perfect on it. He'll do an oil change on a yacht and literally walk out to the marina parking lot and pour the drain oil right into his fuel tank using nothing more than a paint strainer to get larger particles. He has been doing this for YEARs and zero issues.

The 460's and V10's are both solid motors, but eat gas like crazy and really don't make much power for their displacement.

Thanks guys. 41 I did look there. Helpful but nothing found. I like how user friendly that site is compared to others.

Garret, I agree.

I think i could find a Dodge or Ford with lower miles in 2wd. I might consider that down the road, but really want 4wd.

Think I am just going to have to be patient and stumble on to the right rig.

If someone here has a good one let me know. I might let me unfired Scar 17 go toward it. As I need the truck just a little more than the FN at the moment.

Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by Garret Blaine:
I wouldn't disregard the 7.3l fords. They are pretty highly regarded in the diesel world and it is not uncommon to get 500k miles out of them. They don't have a lot of power,for a diesel, but they are reliable. I think you could find a pretty nice one in your price range.

7.3's are great, I don't think anyone would say otherwise.

Problem being, a 15 year old 7.3 with 300k miles on it in decent shape, at least here in New England is still a $10-15,000 truck depending on cab/box and options.

The v10s (99 up) are much better value typically in better shape with lower mileage and around 30% cheaper than the equivalent diesels.

If you go back to the OBS trucks (92-97) the 460 and 351 trucks are dirt cheap (talking 2-5k) vs the 7.3 idi/powerstrokes (7-10k).

Late 80s to early 90s (91 I think was the last year of that body) would have had the non-turbo 6.9 idi in 87 which is a dog but reliable, non-turbo 7.3 idi 88/89 or in gas could have had 351 or 460.

So a bit of a development today.

An offer came to me for an early 90's D250 Dodge. Low mileage. Original. Standard cab.

It has the 318 V8 gas engine with the three speed tranny with OD. A little surface rust on the roof. A crease in the drivers side front fender. Minor I am told. Have not seen yet.

I would love to get some thoughts on this Rig. My plan would be to put a flat bed on it eventually.

I would prefer it had a diesel and a stick but this combo may be good. I did talk with my mechanic and he seemed "OK" with it.

Wondering what the thoughts are here. On the truck and its value.

Has under 100k original miles supposedly.

Those are decent old trucks, but if I was planning to tow anything I would want a bigger engine and a HD transmission with a "granny low" first gear. Also, how tall are you? The cabs on those are kind of tiny. I had a single cab 4x4 12 valve Dodge Cummins, when I had the driver's seat all the way back there was barely enough legroom, and the bottom of the steering wheel was awful close to my belly. I'm 6'2" and 250. The body on Dodge pickups is pretty cheesy-the driver's door on mine broke off the hinges at around 200k miles. Parts are higher than Ford or GM.

That's about a $2500 pickup around here.

The 318 is a solid engine that's been around for years (I've personally owned 3 vehicles with that engine and drove a late 80's Dodge 1/2 ton for work). I thought they were pretty easy to work on. Parts should be plentiful. Obviously it's not going to be a puller like a diesel, but if you're not pulling heavy loads all the time I think would be fine.


I can't say I've had any experience with the transmissions of that vintage though and I'd recommend researching that a bit before purchasing.


Less than 100K - has it been sitting for a long time?


Value - that's a tough call and likely to be dependent on the local market. A quick look on KBB in my area shows a private party value of 5-6K in my area for a 1992 2WD D250 in fair to good condition. However, the going rate for pickups around here seem crazy high to me.

Thanks SBF, that is helpful. I would agree.

This is a 4wd 3/4 ton long box.

It was a grandpa truck. The second owner has now. Family man who runs a small engine business. He say's he has put a couple thousand miles on it in the last couple of years.

Serviced and rtg according to him.

A typical heavier load would be 5 to 6k
With this truck.
I would not haul/pull heavier loads than that often or maybe at all.


arfmel, a good lower mileage 3/4 ton 4wd will easily fetch twice $2500 here. Diesel, more yet.

More typical to the $ SBF is talking or more.

I've had a number of 318 V8s in my old Dodge trucks. They all worked very well with minimal issues, but that was 20+ years ago.

A particular model of 'D100' suburban style was used by Oregon DOT survey crews for generations, with LSD and a 4 speed. The one I had was a true work horse that earned it's keep many times over. You'd have to get a trailer though to augment the large rear carry volume. It had the same running gear as the 'heavy half ton' pickup of the era.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
Thanks SBF, that is helpful. I would agree.

This is a 4wd 3/4 ton long box.

It was a grandpa truck. The second owner has now. Family man who runs a small engine business. He say's he has put a couple thousand miles on it in the last couple of years.

Serviced and rtg according to him.

A typical heavier load would be 5 to 6k
With this truck.
I would not haul/pull heavier loads than that often or maybe at all.


arfmel, a good lower mileage 3/4 ton 4wd will easily fetch twice $2500 here. Diesel, more yet.

More typical to the $ SBF is talking or more.

I was assuming the truck you are looking at was a 2wd, since there wasn't anything in your post indicating otherwise. Yes, a 4wd will bring $5000 here as well. I sold the 4wd diesel I had for $8500, it had nearly 300k miles on it and they showed.

What is he asking for the truck? It sounds ideal for your purposes.

no problem arfmel. Was thinking the "D"model was 4wd.