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Trucks are flippin expensive.

24K views 154 replies 22 participants last post by  woodsman 
#1 · (Edited)
I've been looking around on CL and what not.....looking for a pickup that tickles my fancy...... and everything is really expensive. I was considering purchasing a new or slightly used truck but I swear I could purchase a BMW or Benz for less for what I want.

I really don't own a car now. I mean I have my elco and work vans but not really a personal vehicle. And I don't need a truck all the time but more for special circumstances. Example.......ever since my wife got her new GMC she doesn't want to launch the waverunners cause she doesn't want "saltwater on her wheels". And we can't really just go up and check our lands cause she doesn't want dust on her car. I really don't blame her as I don't want both on my El Camino either. But I don't want to dump 60K on a truck for these and a couple other instances only. So I've been looking.

Been watching this truck at a local dealer for some time. It was first listed at $7900...then $5900....and now I can get it for $5000...perhaps a little less. I love the look...4X4.....104000 miles and perfect for launching boats, desert runs, etc. But what these pics don't show is the crappy paint job and the little things. New tires and what not. Oh well. I'm starting to think that the 5K is worth it to me after looking for similar things local for awhile.

The sagebrush in the desert might start to sand the paint off.

Thoughts?

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Just had to edit......

The yellow paint is about as loud as geeto67s comp baffle on his CB or a front row seat at a Metallica concert....just saying.
 
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#3 ·
I love that generation chevy truck but rust was always a huge concern for that body style. Not that you have to worry about it in SoCal

Lifted vehicles are a pain in the ass to live with. It's why I never lifted my jeep. All the hassle of driving a semi truck without the fun of airbrake management or getting paid.

With that generation, transmissions were always "not if but when" it fails. My father had a 1999 surburban and mom had a 1999 tahoe sport. Both had Z71 offroad packages and automatic transmissions. The suburban trans failed at 160K, the tahoe at 120K miles. The tahoe needed a rear at 136K. To be fair, my father babied the suburban and we used the tahoe to tow. Both trucks have over 200k on them now, two close friends of mine bought them so I still hear about them and see them. I miss the tahoe.
 
#9 ·
Lifted vehicles are a pain in the ass to live with. It's why I never lifted my jeep. All the hassle of driving a semi truck without the fun of airbrake management or getting paid.
I would agree.

It does have a lift kit but I think the pic makes it look taller than it really is.......just a tick higher than a Chevrolet Express work van.

What I have to make sure is that it runs solid with no anticipated surprises cause we cross the desert quite often. Its starting to sound like a go though.
 
#4 ·
A lot depends on the area you live in too. I bought a 96 F-250 XLT 4x4 a few years back (my favorite Ford truck) for $4000, with only 132k miles and the 460ci. Most people want the powerstroke in the bigger Fords, but I love that 460, I've owned and sold 2 now. Anyway, after about 2 years it spent more time sitting in my driveway not being driven than I would have liked, it ran great, I just never had the need to drive it. So I put it up for sale, a kid drove from South Dakota to my house in Idaho and paid $6000 for the truck.

The point of my story is that people will pay a nice chunk for a truck they really want, even if they have to drive, so sellers are pricing accordingly. I could never have sold my truck for $6k to a local buyer. Honestly I think that $6k for my truck was an inflated amount, but hey if someone is willing to pay that, then who am I to stop them?

That body of Chevy is popular all over. I currently drive a 96' tahoe, the wife gets to drive the brand new Focus. I prefer Ford cars and trucks, but Chevy/GMC owns the large SUV market IMO. I do like that I can pull parts off the fullsize SUV's and trucks to replace any on my Tahoe
 
#6 ·
Right? Some trucks deprecation is next to nothing. In 06' my dad traded in his 02' 7.3L Powerstroke for a new 6.0L Powerstroke (he regretted it soon after). We drove by the dealership a week or so later, His old truck was listed at only slightly less than a brand new powerstroke, but that was in part because in Bozeman, MT the 7.3L was highly sought after, especially when Ford stopped putting it in the 250's
 
#22 ·
Bought a new, leftover, 2013 Tacoma in 2014. Paid $26K for it. I could list it up now, and get that back out of it. Used car prices are insane these days, as are the new ones.

Granted, I got a hell of a deal on the Tacoma. The bank was at the dealership selling them for the dealership. Apparently loans were not satisfied. Paid $500 less for the truck than the dealership had in it with the bank.
 
#30 ·
To add on to what Geeto was saying,
While many in the "older" generation do love the older vehicles. There are many who don't want to hassle with the maintenance of older rigs. My father in law likes all the amenities that come along with newer trucks, heated seats, A/C, power everything, etc... Which is funny because the man hates anything else new, he still uses a flip phone, does not know how to use a computer to save his life, and had to be dragged kicking and screaming into Direct tv service over his old basic cable (now 3 years later he can't understand how he managed to live without a DVR lol).

I have the benefit of appreciating both old and new. I can value the craftsmanship and beauty of the older rigs, but also appreciate the technology and safety of new ones. One of my dreams was to combine old and new. I wanted to take a foxbody mustang (i know its not that old) and put all the guts from a newer 5.0 mustang into it. i would get the look I liked with the new engine tech. In fact I helped my father re-upholster 3 1929 Fords for a guy, coupe, roadster and sedan ( i was only slightly jealous). The owner had them all fitted with modern engines and A/C, heated seats, etc... On the outside they looked original, lift the hood and it was like looking at a brand new car. And whats better is that he drove them all the time, I think the coupe was his daily.
 
#37 ·
I love that old Yamaha scheme!

I posit that the El Camino was the perfect bike truck. Low bed of good size, and when it's not hauling junk it's basically a car. We used a base model as the shop mule, but the boss' SS was even more fun. Of course they'll never make that again so I've been thinking about a Colorado for the next vehicle. I honestly don't need or want anything like the behemoth F-150, but I really liked my S-10.
 
#41 · (Edited)
Good for you for getting to work with such a good group.

This truck has all kind of CAT emblems

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We got it home a couple of days ago and decided to watch a sunset in Mission Bay.

Going to do some maintanence tomorrow and just familiarize myself with things.

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During high tide getting to close to the shore is a little misleading if your not familiar with the layout......or a little tipsy like these fellas.

Wife snapped a couple pics......it missed us by about 10 ft when we were backed in and totally came out of the water.....every part of it. What the one pic doesn't show is how the boat was facing completely inland and there was a Bronco parked there that was missed by feet. This would have been a DUI and wreckless endangerment if harbor police were around.

We all suprisingly turned the entire boat around and put back in.

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#46 ·
It looks like a nice truck overall. Hopefully the previous owners were nice to it so that you do not encounter any surprises
 
#48 ·
Couldn't get the pics pwalo....not showing up on my end.

So took the truck to Vegas and back and went to Lake Mead (boulder beach) and it didn't miss a beat. No overheating, good oil pressure, solid volts, straight steering/no play, air conditioning ice cold....everything great except......

This thing is....a.....dog. I mean I was having to time passes with fully loaded trucks going up the grades in the truck lane. It's got the small 305 and TBI and I understand even in the early 90s....cars and trucks were still suffering from low performance but man....it's unbearable.

Based on what it feels like in overdrive I'm going to assume the gear ratios are stock and never changed out to match the tire/wheels size. Transmission sometimes shifts hard so I might be in for a ride with that but I'll see. Everything else feels so nice and tight and straight that I'll just address things as they pop up.

I'm also going to look for some performance improvements that will be EPA/CARB compliant but those 2 terms don't go hand in hand....usually. But first I'll figure the gear ratios and change accordingly and I'm sure that will pep things up.

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With the exception of the items mentioned above....I'm satisfied with my $5000 purchase.
 
#60 · (Edited)
This thing is....a.....dog. I mean I was having to time passes with fully loaded trucks going up the grades in the truck lane. It's got the small 305 and TBI and I understand even in the early 90s....cars and trucks were still suffering from low performance but man....it's unbearable.
There are things you can do to make the 305 not a dog. most were plagued with horrible cams and head designs but hopping one up is no different than hopping up an old 283 or 307. The reason hot rodders hate them is it costs the same as hopping up a 350 and if you are looking for a project engine, you can usually get 350's for the same money as cores. Read this article, I would do the cam and vortec heads for sure:
305 Chevy Small-Block Engine Build - Hot Rod Network
How to Mod a 305 with Bolt-Ons to Add 168 RWHP


Based on what it feels like in overdrive I'm going to assume the gear ratios are stock and never changed out to match the tire/wheels size
.
A common problem for lifted trucks in general. As the diameter of the tire goes up, the numerical number of the gearing goes down. It's not hard to turn a 3.23:1 ratio into a 2.50:1 just by putting large by huge tires on it.

Transmission sometimes shifts hard so I might be in for a ride with that but I'll see.
Do you have the computer controlled trans? If so, hard shifting is a sign that the trans is operating in "limp mode". I know the 4L60-E will drop into limp mode if even a fuse is blown so check all the fuses first.

If you have the old school vacuum trans maybe someone put a shift kit in it? those 700-R4's always shifted from 1 to 2 hard when cold, it's a quirk of the tranny and nothing to be concerned about, provided it goes away when warm.
 
#54 ·
Thanks Dohc.

You know I was thinking the exact thing half way back from Vegas. I mean how hard would it be to source a 93 350 from California truck and just work on it at my leisure. ..........just getting everything tight and right?

That would liven up the party somewhat.
 
#51 ·
You can actually build a TBI 383 stroker and there are tricks to get around the sniffer test if you are crafty, lol. We can get away with running antique tags on anything over 25 years and not have to pass emissions in the counties that require it. But I register my non-antiques in a different County, and mostly commute on a bike or in my antique VW, so it's a non-issue.
Until they figure what they're going to try to make me do about my diesel Jetta....
 
#52 · (Edited)
...
Until they figure what they're going to try to make me do about my diesel Jetta....
Too easy, all they ever did with ours was to check the oil and leave it idle in the parking lot for a while to see if it was huffing any black smoke.

... Highly recommend you throw a little Kleen-flo diesel fuel conditioner into it once in a while.
 
#56 ·
Had a long post about my 4 cylinder jeep on big tires pulling a fairly large boat with better gearing and being way too slow without anything behind it before, but it didn't post for some reason.
Suffice it to say that I agree that regearing is 90% of your problem, and although it'll never be fast with a 305 and 35's, you can at least make it as good as stock.
Personally the 305 would have been a deal breaker for me. It always felt like even the 4.3 v6 had more balls than the 305 did. The 305 was just the cheapest option you could get just you you could say you had a v8, even if the v6 was actually just as strong.
 
#57 ·
You have the right idea with overgearing for now. Not only do you have to compensate mathematically for leverage, extra torque is used to move all that rotational mass. Just keep in mind that a 10 bolt will only take so much. Once you gear down, the axle shafts start seeing a lot of load in certain situations.

Yep, grab a 350 and put it in the roaster. By the time you're fed up, you have a well built Bowtie Clydesdale to swap in.
 
#58 ·
You have the right idea with overgearing for now.
I have a feeling this is the main issue

Suffice it to say that I agree that regearing is 90% of your problem, and although it'll never be fast with a 305 and 35's, you can at least make it as good as stock.
Personally the 305 would have been a deal breaker for me
Well......I was infatuated with the looks......kinda took me back to my youth. And like a drunken kid sailor I jumped.

The only thing now is I'm old enough and wiser to make things work out.

Now I'm off to work in my express van 1500 with the 4.3. I'm sure it will feel like a race car compared to this weekends journey.
 
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