I need a bigger truck for landscaping and snow removal. I been watching prices and they tend to vary. I seen 88s for $6000 and 97s for $3500. I havent looked at them all so I couldnt tell you about the condition of each. Either way I have a budget of $8000 for the truck and plow. A lot do come with plow but I would also need the sander.

How would you feel about a 25 yr old dump truck that has been used to plow? I know there heavy duty but at the same time thats abuse and age. A few that I did look at had to much rust for me to feel comfortable footing that type of money for. I seen f250s/f350s without the dump in better condition but the dump is real important to me at this point. I want to use this truck for commercial properties only. I have a smaller truck for driveways buts its limited with some of the work I do all season.

What should I be looking at besides break lines, transmissions, etc? I would like a diesel but I know a lot less about them and they can be difficult to start in the winter.

First off, the older ford diesels were complete crap. Not sure about your area but around here a decent f350 diesel dump will run $7k and up for a 2wd.

Most people selling dumps will be a business, ask for service records. If possible arrange for a trusted mechanic to check the truck out. Make sure everything works on the truck right down to all the lights, it's a good sign that the truck was taken care of. Check the dump bed, the lift frame, especially the pivot points at the rear. Lift ram for seepage around the packing. Look to see if all the pivot points have been kept well greased.

This is all I can think of at the moment. goodluck

 

One of the problems with old stuff is; Why are they selling it? The truck may need many repairs or parts. It may be near wore out or the frame is about done. Unless you can wrench your own stuff, you may be buying a real money pit.If you are going to plow with it and spread salt. It needs to be in good condition and repair. You really should have 4x4 with it too. You will get in too many bad places without it.

 

Im only interested in 4x4s. I heard good things about the old ford diesels. I know there not that powerful but they seem reliable. I'm not sold on diesel anyways. There not even all fords but a majority of them are. I just looked at a GMC at a used car dealer. It has a lot of new parts and minimal rust but its 5 speed. I dont want to plow with a stick.

I can do some work. Breaks, alternators, etc. Nothing with a welder or engine lift.

I went to a surplus auction for a local college. One went for $1200 the other $3300 both mid 90s. There was complete records but the damage was to much for me to deal with. Im talking it needed new fuel lines, break lines, exhaust manifold, gas tank, frame was rusty to the point of rotting and there was a leak from the transmission.

I do have a mechanic from a family garage that will overlook any vehicle for $60 but with the amount of trucks I'm looking at it could get expensive. So I want to inspect if Im serious Ill have him look at it or see if the seller will let me take it to a garage. My experience with garages is they look at the bare minimum.

The money pit seems to be the problem with me. If I get it cheap enough I wouldnt mind some work but I dont want to be stuck with something that maintenance would be useless for. I had a chevy like that and finally got rid of that headache.

As far as the frame I just been looking at mounts and the amount of rust/rot.Other then that is there anyway to check with the naked eye? or will the damage only be detected when driving?

 

Just remember, parts for a 1 ton dump are gonna be alot more than for the family cruiser. Rotor for dump over $100 each, family car as low as $20. Plus with 4x4 you got twice the drivetrain.

When I am being a used vehicle I always try to figure on the worse happening. Basically I am buying it cheap enough to throw a motor in it tomorrow. Now I can do all the work myself so don't have to worry about labor costs. My big thing with used plow vehicles is brake lines. Mine always seem to rot out in the middle of a storm.

Just be very meticulous, if you know a friend that can go to any local auto auctions you can find a good deal that way.

As far as rust, I poke at the frame with a screw driver, some sellers don't like this. Body mounts, spring perches, pretty much any where anything is mounted on the frame is place for dirt to collect and create rust. If it is mostly surface rust you can knock the loose off with wire brush and paint with POR-15, amazing stuff but not cheap.

 

I looked at this truck today and its leaking tranny oil from this hose. Is this a cheap fix? I couldnt really follow the line it gets lost behind the engine. There is another line next to it that could be replaced at the same time.

The rest of the truck is in good condition. The plow and dump both work. New hydraulic pump on truck and new piston on plow.

 

Not hard to fix but will need a flaring tool and tube bender, can get them for $20-30 at local parts stores. If that line is rusted I would there are more rusted also. It is a time consuming job replacing lines just because of trying bend them to the correct shape and fish them thru the truck.

 

do you think I could cut a chunk out and replace it temporarily with a rubber cooling hose? This would be to test drive and take home.

 

do you think I could cut a chunk out and replace it temporarily with a rubber cooling hose? This would be to test drive and take home.

Most after market tranny cooler kits use rubber hoses so I don't see why not. May have trouble getting a good seal on that old rusty line.

 

as long as you run specific tranny cooling hose your'll be fine. both of my trans lines are rubber hose and thats it, very high PSI. I had it with replacing rusty lines and just went the rubber route. FWIW

 

First off, the older ford diesels were complete crap.

i don't know what you are smoking, but it must be really good stuff.
the pre powerstroke IDI diesels are very dependable engines that run forever, require only minor preventative maintenance, and don't cost hardly anything to fix.
the old pre powerstroke IDI engines will not win any races, but they will always get you where you are going.
unlike the powerstrokes that cost an arm and a leg to repair.
just look at injectors.
$35 each for the IDI or $235 each for the powerstroke
and the IDI does not have those pesky cam position sensors that fail in the middle of nowhere either.
or injector drive modules.
or egr valves and egr coolers that cause all kinds of problems.
or exhaust backpressure sensors to plug up and cause problems.
or glow plug and injector wiring that get shorted out because they run under the valve covers.

these are just a few of the problems with the powerstrokes.

 

i don't know what you are smoking, but it must be really good stuff.
the pre powerstroke IDI diesels are very dependable engines that run forever, require only minor preventative maintenance, and don't cost hardly anything to fix.
the old pre powerstroke IDI engines will not win any races, but they will always get you where you are going.
unlike the powerstrokes that cost an arm and a leg to repair.
just look at injectors.
$35 each for the IDI or $235 each for the powerstroke
and the IDI does not have those pesky cam position sensors that fail in the middle of nowhere either.
or injector drive modules.
or egr valves and egr coolers that cause all kinds of problems.
or exhaust backpressure sensors to plug up and cause problems.
or glow plug and injector wiring that get shorted out because they run under the valve covers.

these are just a few of the problems with the powerstrokes.

My issue with the pre powerstroke is they were slow, under powered, fuel guzzling hogs. But this is just my opinion. The only diesel I do like from ford is the 7.3. The 6.0 was a complete disaster. Don't know too much about the 6.7 or 6.4. My brother had an 06 and it spent more time in the shop than he got to drive it. It had all the issues, turbo was replaced twice, Had the egr problems, injectors were replaced and had computer flashed several times. But like I said this is just my opinion. Ideally I would have the ford body style, a CAT diesel with allison tranny, but dont think anyone is building that just yet.

 

IDI's are not gas hogs either. my 88, with 4.10 gears and a 5 speed trans regularly get 20+ on the highway and 16in town.
now that it has the C-6 in it with the 37 inch tires, it still gets 14 mpg with the crap fuel they are selling us.

 

My issue with the pre powerstroke is they were slow, under powered, fuel guzzling hogs. But this is just my opinion. The only diesel I do like from ford is the 7.3. The 6.0 was a complete disaster. Don't know too much about the 6.7 or 6.4. My brother had an 06 and it spent more time in the shop than he got to drive it. It had all the issues, turbo was replaced twice, Had the egr problems, injectors were replaced and had computer flashed several times. But like I said this is just my opinion. Ideally I would have the ford body style, a CAT diesel with allison tranny, but dont think anyone is building that just yet.

cat diesel yes, I dont get why everyone wants an allison, if you even think of putting an EFI live or towing over 10k with it you should just throw 4k at the trans right off the bat, there great in stock trucks for minor towing, but thats about it, my IDI used to do ~25 mpg on the highway, underpowerd, absolutely

dont run cheap fuel, and allways run syn oil and a fuel add in a 6.0 and throw the EGR in the scrap pile and get rid of that ford gold coolant that they use for some CAT ELC and they will run as long as a 7.3 with better milage and alot more power, and alot of people dont know how to properly fix them, so it drives the value down so people like me can get a steal on a at the time 3 year old truck with 40k. (instead of a 8 year old truck with 200k on it for the same price)

6.4 and 6.7 have way to much computer stuff to deal with

 

Not hard to fix but will need a flaring tool and tube bender, can get them for $20-30 at local parts stores. If that line is rusted I would there are more rusted also. It is a time consuming job replacing lines just because of trying bend them to the correct shape and fish them thru the truck.

you can rent both tools from autozone for FREE

 

cat diesel yes, I dont get why everyone wants an allison, if you even think of putting an EFI live or towing over 10k with it you should just throw 4k at the trans right off the bat, there great in stock trucks for minor towing, but thats about it, my IDI used to do ~25 mpg on the highway, underpowerd, absolutely

dont run cheap fuel, and allways run syn oil and a fuel add in a 6.0 and throw the EGR in the scrap pile and get rid of that ford gold coolant that they use for some CAT ELC and they will run as long as a 7.3 with better milage and alot more power, and alot of people dont know how to properly fix them, so it drives the value down so people like me can get a steal on a at the time 3 year old truck with 40k. (instead of a 8 year old truck with 200k on it for the same price)

6.4 and 6.7 have way to much computer stuff to deal with

I guess I just love my 02 7.3. It has been completely dependable, tows excellent and hasn't cost me a penny other than routine maintenance. A buddy had bought a 1990 f350 dump with 7.3, it was horrible. Maybe the crappy fuel mileage was because of towing and for some reason he had to put glow plugs in it every year.

As far as the allison, my father has an 06 3500 that we used to move my grandmother back to PA from OK. Trailer weighed over 8,000 and the tranny never even broke a sweat. Thats running 75-80 for 24 hours only stopping for fuel. Now my 4R100 started to heat up after towing my pontoon up a 3 mile long hill. Now my truck has alot more miles and I had my foot stuck in it, but my boat weights less than 3,000.

you can rent both tools from autozone for FREE

Yes they do. Don't they charge a deposit?

 

you get the money back once the tool is returned even if its broken because all tools are under life time warranty

 

I fixed the tranny line with a rubber hose only so I could test drive the truck. The ones i bought were supposedly good enough to be permanent. I replaced the lines already with metal.

I found a leak in a brake line replaced all of them and the wheel cylinders. Now I just have some holes in the floor and a exhaust leak. I believe its from the manifold. Oh and the engine temperature gauge doesnt work either.

With parts and labor the truck cost $2375. Not to bad for 74,000 miles. She has plenty of power and shifts smooth. Just some rust issues. I was going to undercoat it with paint. Not sure if i should use bed liner, rustkill, rustoleam or what?

 

POR 15, it is not cheap but works excellent.