Pick up suggestions

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gzecc

Minister of Fire
Sep 24, 2008
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NNJ
My son is looking for a used pick up. Probably diesel in the 10k range. Any suggestions on what to look for and what to stay away from?
 
My buddy has several of the early 2000's Ford F250 and F350's with the 7.3L. Great trucks, great motors. He runs his own biodiesel in them almost all year round, and they run like swiss watches.....

He bought one of them from Ohio off of ebay for around $12,000.00, it had around 130,000 miles on it. Just gettin' broke in. someday I'll be pulling the trigger on something betwen 1997 and 2004 with the 7.3L motor.
 
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People say stay away from the 6.0 Ford engine, I have not heard anything bad about the 6.4 Ford engine. The 7.3 is a great engine, but it guzzles some fuel. The 5.9 cummins is great on fuel and power. The weak point in the Dodge power train is the transfer case. It will wake you up when you are driving down the interstate and the transfer case dumps into N on its own. It feels and sounds like something blew up under the truck. I am not even thinking about automatic transmissions here. If it is a Dodge 4x4 and has around 150k miles or more ask if the transfer case has been replaced or rebuilt and when. Dodge doors like to rust at the bottom.

I have zero experience with GM.
 
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My buddy has several of the early 2000's Ford F250 and F350's with the 7.3L. Great trucks, great motors. He runs his own biodiesel in them almost all year round, and they run like swiss watches.....

He bought one of them from Ohio off of ebay for around $12,000.00, it had around 130,000 miles on it. Just gettin' broke in. someday I'll be pulling the trigger on something betwen 1997 and 2004 with the 7.3L motor.


This was going to be my suggestion
 
$10K isn't going to buy much of a diesel pickup.
I'd stay away from any pickup owned by anyone under the age of 25. Every hillbilly kid in these parts is buying diesel pickups and thrashin' the chit out of it. New fad is to run 50% tranny oil in the fuel and smoke out every intersection on a lug start. DOT is watching this. Kid down the road got a $2700 fine for emmisions and another for creating a traffic hazzard. Diesels are HIGH maintenance. Unless you or your kid are mechanics and or you have a mechanic friend that is willing to work cheap I'd stay away from a diesel. Any diesel garage around here worth its salt is getting $100-$140/hr labor rate.
 
I went for a ride with a friend yesterday in his 2005 Dodge 1500 Hemi 4x4 with 60,000 miles. He was borrowing my 16x6 trailer to bring his Can Am UTV back home after having it serviced. He's building a log home in the mountains south of here, near the Maryland state border. On the way down, about a 50 mile drive, the left front wheel started making a LOUD "clunk! clunk! clunk!" on right hand curves. By the time we dropped off the UTV and started back home, it was so loud and shaking the vehicle that I told him to park it at a store a couple miles from his log home and had my wife bring my Expedition down to pick us and the trailer up. I think it was the CV joint or the left front axle going out. Apparently this is common on the Dodges, but given the year and mileage I'm surprised it went bad this early.

By the way, I talked him into using Woodstock stoves in his new log home. He ordered a Fireview for the great room in the basement and a Keystone for the 1st floor living room. The Keystone alone has been keeping the place heated adequately for his contractors over this past winter, keeping the house in the upper 50s while they're working, just from burning scrap lumber from their construction. It sits at 3000 feet overlooking the Maryland state border so it takes a lot of wind and cold, but its well built and very well insulated.
 
My buddy has several of the early 2000's Ford F250 and F350's with the 7.3L. Great trucks, great motors. He runs his own biodiesel in them almost all year round, and they run like swiss watches.....

He bought one of them from Ohio off of ebay for around $12,000.00, it had around 130,000 miles on it. Just gettin' broke in. someday I'll be pulling the trigger on something betwen 1997 and 2004 with the 7.3L motor.
Friend on mine has one of these, frankly i cant stand the sound of the motor,sounds like pots and pans banking together.He buys a new one every few years.Have they cured this in the newer models? Every one since the 90s was way too loud.Im used to my sons duramax which is whisper quiet compared to the fords.
 
I went for a ride with a friend yesterday in his 2005 Dodge 1500 Hemi 4x4 with 60,000 miles. He was borrowing my 16x6 trailer to bring his Can Am UTV back home after having it serviced. He's building a log home in the mountains south of here, near the Maryland state border. On the way down, about a 50 mile drive, the left front wheel started making a LOUD "clunk! clunk! clunk!" on right hand curves. By the time we dropped off the UTV and started back home, it was so loud and shaking the vehicle that I told him to park it at a store a couple miles from his log home and had my wife bring my Expedition down to pick us and the trailer up. I think it was the CV joint or the left front axle going out. Apparently this is common on the Dodges, but given the year and mileage I'm surprised it went bad this early.

By the way, I talked him into using Woodstock stoves in his new log home. He ordered a Fireview for the great room in the basement and a Keystone for the 1st floor living room. The Keystone alone has been keeping the place heated adequately for his contractors over this past winter, keeping the house in the upper 50s while they're working, just from burning scrap lumber from their construction. It sits at 3000 feet overlooking the Maryland state border so it takes a lot of wind and cold, but its well built and very well insulated.

Sounds more like the hub assembly. I had to replace the right front hub on my 2002 3500 dually last summer. Did the brake light come on on the dashboard? When the hub is going bad the antilock brake sensor gets knocked out and the brake light comes on. Breaking the hub loose is a bear I had to use the power steering and 3/4" socket extension wedged against the axle frame to get the hub off. I was liberal with the anti-sieze when i put the new one in.
 
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My son is looking for a used pick up. Probably diesel in the 10k range. Any suggestions on what to look for and what to stay away from?
My son bought a 2003 duramax about 3 years ago for 15K The thing has scary power and it tears through rear tires with all the power. Been pretty dependable except for the allison tranny ,but since that has been serviced the truck has even more power. He claims close to 20 mpg highway which is almost double what i get with my gasser K2500 Silverado with 200 HP and way less power. THat duramax has been a winner ever since its been introduced in 2002 and ford and dodge have been trying to catch it ever since.
 
My son is looking for a used pick up. Probably diesel in the 10k range. Any suggestions on what to look for and what to stay away from?


In that range, early to mid 90s Dodge diesels - strong preference for manual transmission

Second choice is mid-late 90s Fords - also with strong preference for manual transmission.
 
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When you're talking $10k diesels the market is full of 200k+ trucks waiting for injector pumps to fail or turbo seals that will need replacing soon.
Everyone single one of the adds stating it's just now getting broke in! translation it's going to cost alot of money to keep on the road - so I bought a new one.

The 7.3 International(Ford) prior to 99' is probably the best of the engines. The later mdels have different cylinder cover and drives up cost of repairs
Cummins had bad block design with a thin passage(can't remember the year range off hand) -as noted above dodge had a rash of drivetrain issues across it's truck lines
'01-04' Duramax had injector issues which should have been replaced under warranty and they didn't have the emmsions restrictions of later models.


Is your son ready to fill up a diesel? Most of the grown men I know cringe pulling up to a pump
 
My buddy has several of the early 2000's Ford F250 and F350's with the 7.3L. Great trucks, great motors. He runs his own biodiesel in them almost all year round, and they run like swiss watches.....

He bought one of them from Ohio off of ebay for around $12,000.00, it had around 130,000 miles on it. Just gettin' broke in. someday I'll be pulling the trigger on something betwen 1997 and 2004 with the 7.3L motor.


same with me. Also, look south(va and south) for used. I bought a 2006 d-max in va. Amazing, no rust
 
Friend on mine has one of these, frankly i cant stand the sound of the motor,sounds like pots and pans banking together.He buys a new one every few years.Have they cured this in the newer models? Every one since the 90s was way too loud.Im used to my sons duramax which is whisper quiet compared to the fords.

All the newer diesels are insanely quiet compared to '08 and older. You can barely pick them apart from a gas truck.


Probably diesel in the 10k range.

What's the intended usage? Best deal for a 10K diesel is gonna be a 2003 or older Ford with the 7.3L Powerstroke.

If it's not going to be a daily driver, there are some great gas engine options that will pull hard but drink a lot of fuel for commuter type use. Scads of GM 2500's out there for cheap (because everybody wants the Duramax!) with the 6.0L gasser, lots of working power in that engine. A handful of 8.1L's too but that is definitely out for a daily-driver truck.
 
I love my 2008 d-max but if i didnt have a fifth wheel to tow i wouldnt bother w/ a diesel. It is more expensive to fix, if your not on the highway and in unfamiliar territory it can be hard to find diesel, 4 times the cost for oil changes, and there arent any shops around me other then dealerships that work on diesels. On the up side is the power when towing...amazing compared to the gmc 2500 w/ vortec engine that i traded up from. So if your not towing heavy loads dont bother w/ the diesel. My daily driving mpg is 14.5mpg stock which is a mix of highway driving and backroads.
 
I wood stay away from duallys also. Most insurance companies will only insure them commercially. BIG bucks.

First, it depends on the company. Second, it depends on the truck. If it was built with a standard bed some companies will insure it as a standard truck. If it was built as a cab and chassis as mine was then it is going to be commercial for sure. Big Bucks? I have commercial coverage on my 2002 Dodge 3500DHD dually flatbed. Full coverage, 500k limit, can't remember the deductible, $448 a year. There are two other vehicles and the farm insured with the same company.

Also, if I didn't need the truck for my farm and small business I wouldn't own it. The truck is ridiculous and a pain in the butt to drive. And as stated above is expensive to run. In the last week I have been wondering about my injector pump.
 
$10K isn't going to buy much of a diesel pickup.
I'd stay away from any pickup owned by anyone under the age of 25. Every hillbilly kid in these parts is buying diesel pickups and thrashin' the chit out of it. New fad is to run 50% tranny oil in the fuel and smoke out every intersection on a lug start. DOT is watching this. Kid down the road got a $2700 fine for emmisions and another for creating a traffic hazzard. Diesels are HIGH maintenance. Unless you or your kid are mechanics and or you have a mechanic friend that is willing to work cheap I'd stay away from a diesel. Any diesel garage around here worth its salt is getting $100-$140/hr labor rate.

x2, I just bought a Duramax and 10K doesn't get you much in the way of diesels.

If you're just looking a standard cab, 2wd you may have some luck. As others have said Diesels are high maintenance and expensive when they break. I've prepared myself for mine sitting a lot when it breaks.(notice I didn't say "if" it breaks) ;lol
 
I have commercial coverage on my 2002 Dodge 3500DHD dually flatbed. Full coverage, 500k limit, can't remember the deductible, $448 a year.
That's not commercial. Thats plated farm insurance ,big difference.
You can hardly get liability alone for $400/year on a POS beater Chevy S-10 here.
 
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I love the diesels as well but as far as cost of ownership it dont get much better than my Silverado 2500HD Ex cab pickup.Its paid off for many years and i pay 225 a year for insurance. I can haul 2 ton on it but rarely put ,more than a ton on it, and it can tow 12000LBs. It only ever needs the usual exhaust part or tie rod here and there and the parts and labor are cheap. It s does get lousy MPG but i rarely put more than $50 a month in it as i dont commute with it. Used to have a toyota truck but the GM is much more reliable,way less rust and parts when you do need them are a lot cheaper. Mpg was worse with the toyota.
 
That's not commercial. Thats plated farm insurance ,big difference.
You can hardly get liability alone for $400/year on a POS beater Chevy S-10 here.

Just payed my premium today and I pulled the policy under Type Policy is says commercial auto. It is a different policy from my other vehicles.
Don't hate the player.
 
People say stay away from the 6.0 Ford engine, I have not heard anything bad about the 6.4 Ford engine. The 7.3 is a great engine, but it guzzles some fuel. The 5.9 cummins is great on fuel and power. The weak point in the Dodge power train is the transfer case. It will wake you up when you are driving down the interstate and the transfer case dumps into N on its own. It feels and sounds like something blew up under the truck. I am not even thinking about automatic transmissions here. If it is a Dodge 4x4 and has around 150k miles or more ask if the transfer case has been replaced or rebuilt and when. Dodge doors like to rust at the bottom.

I have zero experience with GM.

Don't buy a dodge/RAM with an auto behind a cummins... ever! We had a '98 3/4 ton 4x4 cumins..... it ate that useless A904 about every 10,000 miles... we gave up on it after the 4th rebuild... The same era cummins trucks with the 6 speed were about bulletproof

That being said... if I've only got 10K to spend... and with diesel at $4.42/gal..... I'd buy a gasser...
 
old dodge w/manual =gold

Old ford w/manual=silver

Old chevy/gmc whatever= sorry about your luck
 
Still don't understand why we can't get a 4.0ish liter diesel in a half ton wrapper. I like torque as much as anyone...but I dont need 700 lb ft. I just want to tow 7000 lbs and get 25 mpg.
 
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