My new wood HAULING truck

I finally got one. It's not a 3/4 or 1 ton. It was a good deal, so i couldn't pass it up. It's a 1997 Dodge 1500 Ex Cab 4x4. Has power windows, power locks, even a power sliding rear window (I've never seen one of those before). It has good air conditioning. I wish it had four doors, or even a third door, but it doesn't. I can't believe the condition of the body. Pictures do not do it justice. I thought it was going to be a case where the dealer's pictures don't show any of the bad spots on the truck, but was surprised when i showed up and the body was completely rust free. (ok, there is a scratch on the tailgate). It has the 5.9L V8, previous owner has some loud exhaust setup, but it's in good shape, so It'll stay. Needs new tires before winter, too. Looks like payload should be around 1650 lbs, but I got such a good deal, that I might be able to buy a trailer, too. Wife is looking at a new fridge, so I might end up doing my wood hauling and scrounging with the truck and my 1000lb trailer. that should do a decent job. Still looking at rear suspension options to improve loaded state of the truck (timbrens, monroe load levelers, etc).

ANeat said:

Danno thats a great truck, I used to have one just about identical. It may be too pretty for a wood truck though :lol:

I ended up trading it in and getting something I could abuse a little more and that had a long bed.

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I like the looks of most of the newer trucks better, but in terms of 13 year old trucks it sure is pretty isn't it? I'd never spend the money to put those fiberglass "ground effects" on one of my trucks, but it does make the truck look "Fancier." Any bets on how long it takes me to rip those off with a stump in the timber? I really would have liked a long bed, but at least I'm less likely to overload it with firewood.

All I need now is this bumper sticker:

Tony H said:

For a second there I thought maybe you went and make yourself a truck out of wood !
Good luck hauling

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lol, i guess that extra word does make a difference, doesn't it. speaking of "made of wood" here's a picture of the interior. Looks pretty good, but it's another thing i probably wouldn't have done on my own truck.

Tony H said:

For a second there I thought maybe you went and make yourself a truck out of wood !
Good luck hauling

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Tony, just for you I renamed the thread. I don't want people thinking I finally made a Flintstone style truck out of Walnut or something....

Highbeam said:

How do you figure that you get 1650 lbs of payload? My F350 only legally holds 2400 lbs. My old 1998 half ton chevy only legally held 400 lbs. You must have weighed this new truck?

I was sad that the market for really nice half tons was so soft when I sold that 98 half ton. It was really nice but I couldn't get much for it. I installed timbrens on it and loved them. I may use them again on the F350.

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I haven't checked the weight of the truck, I'm basing it off of internet figures only. Dad just put in a new scale at his grain elevator, so i plan on getting the truck weighed sometime soon. I haven't even verified this information by looking in the door jamb or in the owner's manual.

MSN Autos tells me that Standard GVWR is 6400, and that Standard Payload is 1685. that's after I specify that its a short bed club cab 4x4. that's just a number though. Like you said, i really need to weight the truck full of gas, people, and "stuff". I'd also like to weigh the truck with just my equipment, half a tank of fuel, and myself in it.

GolfandWoodNut said:

I am looking at a similiar truck right now. It is a 2003 but looks really clean and they are asking $7,500, I think it has around 80,000 miles. Do you think that is a fair price? It is in the AS TRADED section of a chevy dealership.

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It sounds fair to me. is it a 4x4 at that price? As traded will mean that they didn't replace anything, where they usually go over the brakes and fluid changes for you on the other things.

I'll bet the don't come down another 1,000 on it, but if they do it sounds like it would be a good deal. is it an extended cab, too, or a regular cab?

GolfandWoodNut said:

I actually got them down another 1,250, it is the extended cab (6,250 total plus tax and tags). I put a new radiator cap on it and it seems to work, I just want to be sure it is not a blown head gasket. Other guys want to buy it (even while I was testing it out) but I ran out of time tonight (they close at 5:30) so I hope I can get this done on Monday. I just don't want to have a head gasket issue, but there are no guarantees, it makes you worry. But the truck is sweet and does run like a charm.

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That's a good deal. That's only a few hundred more than I paid for this one...

Dang brakes went out on the way home from the store yesterday. Felt like master cylinder gave out so I yanked the old one and took it in to Autozone for a reman one. Only ran about 30 bucks, but once I got it on and started bleeding the brakes I found the REAL problem. The brake line is shot near the rear drivers side. I could see fluid dripping off the frame in front of it. I have a call into the stealership that I bought it from, because it has a 3mo/3,000mi warranty on it, but i'm figuring that it's a drivetrain only warranty and they won't offer to fix the brakes. Not only that, but I bet they tell me it HAS to come to their shop (40 minutes away). So I'd have to get it there on my own dime. When it was only $30 for the part I was willing to take the hit because then i would save myself the trouble of being without the truck all week as well as making multiple trips to the stealership, etc.

I've never replaced brake lines before, is it easy? It looked to me like they ran inside the frame rail, and that doesn't seem like an easy task. Anybody have any experience with brake line replacement? I know there are a million different scenarios, like line from front to back, from the main line to the passenger side, etc etc. What's the worst case scenario for a shop to fix it for me? If it's <$50 in parts and an hour of labor I might be better off having my preferred shop do the work...

Oh well. I'm taking it into my mechanic. Not covered under the drivetrain warranty (like I figured). Hope he gets it done quick. can't get it in until after work...

Still interested to hear if others have experience with what this is going to run me...

GolfandWoodNut said:

Hi, I picked mine up this morning. Picture included, hoping for no issues. I took the truck to a mechanic I know before I bought it and the brake lines where the first thing he looked at as he said they often rust out on dodge trucks. I was lucky because my brake lines have a rubber coating over them and they said they looked real good. I have never replaced brake lines, I would imagine they just cut them and put on a new section, probably like doing plumbing where they would need a compression fitting but I am certainly no expert on it. Good luck.

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well, at least I know the master cylinder is good, and then I won't have to worry about the lines for maybe another 100K miles, lol. I don't see the picture of your truck, must be my stupid work blocking it.

P.S. My buddy swears by LMC, so i'd go to their website (if you haven't already) and get a catalog for your dodge sent out. If nothing else, it's nice to look at the "upgrades" they have in there.
edit: ok, it's there now.... that truck looks hella-nice. I can't believe you got it for that price. that's a crew cab (or whatever dodge calls it) not the extended cab! I don't know if it's location or what, but I've never seen one at that price around here. There is a 2002 dodge crew cab with 4x4 for around $6,000, but it had 230,000 miles on it.

cost me $114.20 to get it done. could have been better, could have been worse. Let's hope I don't have any more problems with it.