I picked up a 93 dually with about 130k on the clock a few months ago and have been slowly sifting through all the issues. You folks seem like you have a lot of answers so I figured I would join up.
She has low miles but is a rusty girl. I didn't notice how bad the frame was when I picked it up. Already ripped the rear spring hanger in half towing a 16ft trailer and a little vw bug.
Issues so far:
New spring hanger and shackle, finished yesterday. Rides way better (I think the old one was binding).
Door pins loose/gone
Squeaky tensioner- needs new belt
Radio doesn't work
Tail light wiring is odd/broken-no running lights, reverse lights on when running lights are on. I re-wired the headlight switch and used a relay, the PO had done some of this already, and the running lights worked for about 2 hours before burning something out.
Smoke stack is wayyy too loud right behind my head- have a new 4" kit to put it back to the rear.
Frame welding is questionable- you can see where the truck was severely overloaded and broke above the axle in the rear as well as where the rear of the front springs connect to the frame. It is 'fixed' but it does not look safe or pretty.
Transmission doesn't like to shift properly unless the tcase is in 4hi for some reason.
Pump pin supposedly turned up by PO- judging by the amount of black smoke this is true.
already has boost and egt gauge, 4wd works great.
Plans:
Beef up auto transmission as this is my tow rig.
Full fluid change on everything. Had a jeep j10 a year ago that made odd sounds until they got louder and louder- turns out the rear diff was full of mud so I want to prevent that this time around.
Small/free hp mods for engine, but reliability and longevity are more important.
4 link or traction bar the rear as I don't fully trust the rusty spring hangers and rusty frame mounts to fully hold the axle in place.
Paint is ok but needs touching up in places.
Need new tires soon.
Needs front visor put back on, you can see the holes where it was removed.
Needs new drop hitch bolted/welded on- truck is so damn tall all my trailers are too low for it. Has the 16k lb pintle hitch there but it is non adjustable/non tube style so I cant run a drop hitch.
Let me know your thoughts on general tow-rig improvements- hope to meet some of you all one day soon.
-Quint - Boone NC
