tell me what you think

[RumbleFish]

i cant stand not having a real truck and driving this car with a bed i have now. its a 1990 D150, x-cab short bed with a 318 4 spd. somewhere around 180k on it, the odo stopped at 167k. rusted rockers, cab corners, and rear whell arches. nutless wonder. a neon motor and trans will level the rear end.

so this guy i worked with at my old job calls me up today. asked if i still wanted a ctd, and offered me this: my truck and $3500 for his truck. his truck is the black/silver one that was with me at sop last year, for those of your that were there. for those that weren't heres what it is:

1992 D350 LE, x-cab, drw, was auto/converted to a getrag, 4.10's, farmer style gn hitch, staight pipe, boost/pyro/tach gauges, 16cm housing, somewhere around 340k miles. solid, but dented front pass fender and the silver paint is flaking off. dually fenders are good. no rust the last time i saw it. it was used to haul campers by the original owner until 2005. the trailer lights and some other stuff are on toggle switches for some reason. he bought it in late 05 or early 06 from a dealer for like $5900. the auto took a deuce 8 months later.

it has alot of the things i am looking for: manual trans, drw, power windows/locks, ac (although non functional right now), tow mirrors, gn hitch, black/silver/black like my 1st ctd, gauges, 16cm

as for the list of cons: 4.10s, flaking paint, been smoked in, 4.10's, questionable dash wiring, i was hoping for less than 200k miles, 4.10's, speedo is like 40 mph off, and maybe down on power. he always told me it didnt run like my 91 non-ic, which only had pod's and a couple turns on the pump. he said he tuned the fuel screw until it stopped. oh, and the afc is unhooked if i remember right.

i am sorta undecided on it right now. ive been looking for the last couple of weeks, and have come up with no other trucks so far. they are either automatics, way too much money, or on the other side of the country. i am heading to florida in a month, and have found a delaer with 3 5spd trucks, but he seems to be on the high side. i am waiting for more detailed info on these trucks, but im not holding my breath.

so gimme your opinions, or let me know if you have or konw of a decent, reasonably priced 5spd 1st gen.

[cummins king]

give it a little bit prices are going down

[BEARKILLER]

the trailer lights and some other stuff are on toggle switches for some reason.

It shows someone knew a little about trailer-lighting.

Trailer lights should NEVER be operated by the truck's headlight-switch, NEVER.

I don't even like them operated through relays.




You better try to trade; if you don't, and the truck is what you want, you will think many times later "I wish I had.........."

5-spds don't set long with a for-sale sign in the window.

I would much rather have a 4:10-geared 5-spd than an auto with any kind of gears.


Gears are much easier to swap than transmission conversions.

[GO OVRIT]

I've never followed any prices for 2wd trucks, but it sounds like its a pretty good deal. I can't see the value of it dropping off much in the near future, so you should be able to get your money back out of it if you find a better one. I've got a 3.54 posi in a spare axle that I might get rid of.

[bgilbert]

I'm gonna give that truck a value of $4k tops. How much is he giving you for your truck? I'd value it anywhere from $1000-$2000. I haven't seen either but I would think more along the lines of $2000 plus your truck, considering the price of fuel and how the price of these trucks is on the way down. I think it was Cummins Pride on dtr that had a hell of a comment on the price of these trucks and the economy etc. Wish I could find it and quote it.

[CumminsPride]

Thanks Bill. Yeah that was probably me, C/PRD/ on DTR. Honestly, you could probably buy a similar truck within 3 months for whatever their mortgage payment is. It's gonna get rough and these trucks will sell for 500 over scrap unless they look like NEW. Try craigslist. You will find the same truck for the difference and then you can still sell yours.

[bgilbert]

There are no good jobs left hardly, no one is spending money and the days of resale value are almost over so I say start low on anything you want to buy. Then offer more if you really want it.

Found it on dtr, quoted above. I agree totally with that statement. The days of resale value are almost over. The 1st gen market has peaked IMO. Just a few years ago, you could get one CHEAP. Then up to now or recently everyone wanted high dollar for a beat one. I do believe the price is on the way down. Who wants to pay $76 for 15 gallons of diesel fuel?

[PToombs]

Jeff, look on e-bay and craigslist and see what one comparable is going for, then make your decision. Most of the bad stuff listed is minor if you can fix it yourself, wiring, afc, (which could be the power problem), smoked in, etc.

I don't agree with the prices thing. I bet the value of 1st gens will stay up. Better fuel mileage, cheaper price than a new one, cheaper to repair.

[cummins king]

cheaper to repair.

ya maby for one of us, but sombody who thinks his cummins has six spark plugs, it wont be cheap at a dealer to fix it, plus most wrather buy a new,
no offenice to any of you but the USA economy is hurting and value on everything is going down, big time,
we needed a new john deere, and it cost us 105 thousand up here, we went down to florda and bought the exact same machine with AC and it only had 160hours on it (bran new) and we payed less then 1/2 shipping included

[RumbleFish]

ive been watching ebay, and craigs list around here is a joke. i bought my truck for $1200, its worth maybe $1500 tops. i was thinking my truck and 3k tops, but more like $2k or $2500. i was thinking this would be a good opportunity to unload my truck, as i dont see it being an easy seller.

http://www.turbodieselregister.com/foru ... -a-17.html

this page has a pic of the truck, its the black/silver drw under the pic of my old crew.

i dunno, im thinking i might hold off unless he comes down like $1k

[CumminsPride]

If that's what it takes then shoot him the deal, you're the one with the money! Heck, name your price and let him come to you.

EDIT: Try surrounding big cities like Detroit, Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis when searching craigslist. 3hr drives not too bad to save some $$$$.

[PToombs]

I was looking around on some of the sales sites. The prices are dropping! I'm shocked, trucks the same as what I looked at 3 months ago are 2-3 k cheaper.
Nice, southern rust free trucks. Not rust buckets like I got.

[CumminsPride]

That's what I'm saying, Rust Buckets ain't selling at all. Maybe just for parts. Needin this and needin that adds up to paying 2g's more for a Real Nice one.