Neutral is normally used for towing the truck (and even then a lot of folks will disconnect the front drive shaft if it's more than a couple of miles) or if you have a PTO fitted. Unless you have a 'shift on the fly' type transmission which I would think unlikely, then you are correct about being at a full stop before shifting into 4H or 4L (or back).

So the rig got racked and check out by the truck shop at a Les Schwab. As it turned out they did new ball joints around 15k miles ago. Not sure how long ago that was but guessing two the three years ago.

But the truck has steering and front end issues. They suggested doing about $900 of further front end work.

Does it not seem odd that they would of done ball joints at a mileage of around 225k and not replaced all the front end components that undoubtedly would of been worn out at that mileage on a rig like this?
To me seems really strange. But I am not in the loop.

They are not a mechanical shop so did not do any determination about the steering pump or steering box to any helpful degree.

Not sure where to go from here. I do not have a ton of confidence in Schwabs for this type of work. Have no idea what they did for ball joints either. Trying to get some further info.

Thoughts?

quote:

Does it not seem odd that they would of done ball joints at a mileage of around 225k and not replaced all the front end components that undoubtedly would of been worn out at that mileage on a rig like this?

I think lots of people wouldn’t see that truck as being anything other than an “old truck” and wouldn’t want to put $2000 or more into repairs on it.

How much do they want for it? If they’d had the front end completely rebuilt don’t you think they’d factor that into the selling price?

arf, sure lots do not see these trucks for what they are. Not sure your point, if there is one.

Ah, yea. If the front end did not have issues in need of repair I think it would affect the sale price. Agsin, not sure the point. But thanks

The point being that you’re going to have to pay for some maintenance and repairs on a 21 year old truck with 240k miles, whether they were done before you buy it, or after you buy it.

The difference being, if it’s after you buy it, you get to pick who does the work.

absolutely, that is the reason I posted the question about replacing the ball joints and not doing the rest of the worn parts in the front end. So I could sort of understand what I was in for going forward.

Deal has been made. So the truck is mine pending sending payment which will happen tomorrow.

The truck is probably an 8 cosmetically for the year and model. A ding here a small dent there. Very Little rust. Has a nice matching leer canopy. No dash damage. Interior is very good other than foam damage to drivers seat. The rear seat looks unused and like new. Suicide doors work good.

The truck starts, runs, shifts, etc. Other than that we really do not know a whole lot about it. It does not drip any fluids after parking it after driving it.
The shocks and brakes are good. Tires are serviceable for another 15k or more.

Plan is to get the front end/steering work done to my satisfaction then off to a reputable diesel shop to have it serviced and determine what, if anything is in need of attention. Hopefully the Cummins will get a clean bill of health and will be good to go. We'll be moving ahead in the next couple of weeks.

The price was good enough to know that spending some money going forward to fix the front end and normal repairs should be ok. A major component failure (engine/tranny) would certainly hurt so I really hope that is not the case.

I appreciate all your help and support guys.

I think my 06 had no first gear when I bought it from my sister. She bought it new and I didn’t check it out much, and the price was right.
These things have so damn much torque you would hardly know it.
Soon it threw a code and it said transmission. At that point it started slipping. Clear the code, the slipping stopped. Until you shut it off and started it again.
Life with all this computerized bullshit.

I have an 04 2500. FWIW, here's my recommendations. I redid my steering and tie-rods with an upgrade to the 09 style(my truckhas the Hemi, with a diesel yours might already have the heavy duty steering). Did the ball-joints at the same time. I would change both the steering box and the pump. I had the steering box go out on a Chevy after I changed the pump, and ended up buying another pump.

Ok guys, so the thing I missed was the simple "blow by" tea kettle test. I have committed to buying the truck. Thinking this truck is sound enough mechanically. It will be a few days until we can do that test. Now I am bit worried that if the truck does have blow by the motor is shot and I am screwed. I wished I would of known to do that simple test. Hoping this Commins is sound. Hoboy. Probably won't sleep particularly good for few nights. Please let this engine be sound!

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

So an update. Got the truck finally. Exactly what I expected or pretty much. Solid. In pretty darn good shape for a twenty year old full size Dodge with Cummin's Turbo diesel and auto tranny. Has a few bumps and bruises as one would expect. But no real rust. I drove it about six hundred miles in one day. Got around 18 miles to the gallon. Cruised over peaks and though valleys at 65-70 mph without any issues.


A bit of background. The truck was a one owner. Older gent had it. Drove it down to his watering hole maybe 25 miles round trip virtually every day to see buddies for twenty years as best we know. No real major mileage runs or towing. 240k miles and twenty years later here we are. The truck as been serviced extensively and repairs have been made recently. We really do not have any maintenance history on it. But pretty sure it was basically maintained over the years.

We had all the things done I mentioned earlier to the tune of about $4500. Including a new PSC steering box, which is awesome btw.

This is where I have a question or two and could use some advice.

As I also mentioned the shop who did the work was great and thorough. When they did the oil change they used a full synthetic oil which was not recommended by one of you. I understood but opted to go with what the shop recommended.

After about three hundred or so miles I stopped to stretch and what have you. Looked under the rig with it running and could see a oil drip about every four or five seconds. Turned it off. Waited a couple of mins. Checked the dipstick and the oil level was fine. Watched the oil pressure Gauge and made one more check down the road and it still dripped but the level seemed full. So drove home.
So the other thing was that the oil on the dipstick was black. I mean dirty and that was after about 500 miles on it.
My take on that is that the way the previous owner used and drove the truck their were deposits inside of it. Using a synthetic oil on this change along with getting the truck up to temp and running it pretty hard which probably had not been done for years if ever. This made the running yesterday almost like a detergent cleaning of the engine. So my guess I need to warm it up and do another oil and filter change on it using Rotella or Delo 15-40w conventional oil. Drive it and watch it. Do a second change in another 1000 miles or so and then should be good. But wondering what your thoughts are and also do you think the leak will quit. It never had leaked prior. Thanks guys.

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

Old,
Thanks for the update, good to now you bought the truck.

In my opinion, fully synthetic motor oil creeps between and around gaskets more easily than a conventional mineral oil does. My experience was with with an early '70s Chevelle that I bought. It had a very raced-up 454 motor in it. I changed out the oil and put full synthetic in it. Prior to the oil change, no oil drips on my garage floor. With synthetic, it was dripping oil and leaving small puddles on the garage floor. I drained out the synthetic and put in regular mineral oil, no more oil drips or puddles.

Enjoy your truck.

What other fluids besides the oil change were done? If you worked on the power steering system and it’s got new fluid in it, might’ve been over serviced or there is a leak. I would certainly do a couple of oil changes in the next couple of miles thousand miles, especially if this truck just paid short local runs all the time and not under load. Good quality oil and fuel filters always. Also an opportunity to power wash the engine block and transmission. Then you can look for leaks.

I believe all synthetics have some cleaning detergent added to their formulas. When a vehicle uses conventional oil it can leave deposits in the engine. These can build up over time. Switching to a synthetic will loosen up these deposits and it will be collected in the filter. I think your filter is full from all the deposits, and I suggest just changing the filter and topping off with the same synthetic oil that they used. I'd run it for another 1000 miles then do a full oil change with whatever oil you want. Diesel oils turn black no matter which oil you use. Just make sure you use a good filter.
Did you see where the drips were coming from? I know with my '99, I had to periodically get under and re-torque the oil pan bolts. It might be a matter of just making sure bolts are tightened.

Ok guys, some great feedback. What do you guys suggest for a quality oil filter for this vintage of 5.9 24v Cummin's? Thanks. I appreciate it.

I have been driving Cummins diesels in Dodge Rams since 1990, and the oil gets black quickly after oil changes usually check it before going on trips, almost never add any to it. I have run Rotella 15w40 for years and change every 7500 miles with Fleetguard or Wix filters. 240k is nothing on a 5.9 motor though on the 24v motor you should keep track of the lift pump fuel pressure so you dont have to replace the injector pump. Enjoy your new ride!

Fleetguard LF 16035 oil filter

Baldwin PF 7977 fuel filter
Fleetguard FS19855 fuel filter

Thanks ptruck