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Pickup dilemma

B

blue924.9

Member
Hello everyone. Im in a bit of a situation here and need some input as i'm sure some of you have been in this situation before. I have an 01 ram 2500 with the 360 in it. It has 132k on it and 1 spec of rust from a paint chip I foolishly ignored. The engine has developed some mechanical issues as well as the front driveline. In short it would need 3500 dollars worth of work to bring back up to spec. The big items are intake gasket, cylinder heads, and a new front driveshaft. I am a cat technician and will be doing all the work myself. Is it worth fixing this truck or letting it go? I pull my pulling tractor with it and potentially my mother's camper this summer. I have already put a better built transmission in it to the tune of 3500 dollars and other things like wheel bearings and water pumps. The value of this truck in kbb is 8800 dollars.

If I do end up fixing it I have a mind to find a good used engine and build a 408 stroker for the truck for some additional pulling power. This will bump the price up another 200 roughly.

Thanks for everyone's insight. Being my second truck I have never run into this situation before.
 
nothing lasts forever, so if its your main transportation or something u need and cant afford new, then you have no choice but keep on a repairing as things wear out. don't matter what you have into it or what its worth , it will get your jobs done.
 
You should be able to get another 132k out of it with your proposed repairs....that
makes the next 132k miles the cheapest miles you will put on the truck. Fix it and
go!
Ben
 
To me....if the body is rust free or very close to it and fixable, no frame
troubles, you said tranny and hubs, you need a new front drive shaft, some
touch up here and there, if you can easily drop in a good used power plant, do
you really love your truck......then GO for it. Now if you can start adding
negatives to my list then you may have a problem with your love baby.
I bought a used Husqvarna GT2254 beast of a garden tractor. 700 for the
machine, 150 to get all of the welding done, 130 for a new carb, 90 for new
mandrels, 25 new headlite bar, belts, 130 for the mower clutch, new bronze
bushing in the axle and roller bearings in front wheels, couple of steering
parts, and a lot of other piddle parts. If I knew how much at the
beginning......NO WAY!!! With my big bad baby BEAST all put together and
running and mowing like a dream....wellll ok yes I would do it again. Just
remember, she is an Estate machine and big! ;)
cvphoto53.jpg
 
Your existing investment would be tossed if you didn't fix the issues you now face. A drive shaft should be easy to repair, not new (unless it has toasted yokes, or worn
splines. The engine is going to cost more than 200 more than the repairs to the existing engine (to build one as stated). If it is working and fulfilling your needs,
fix it. You seem capable from here> Jim
 
You said it a little shorter than I did and if the costs to keep fixing a solid machine are reasonable, then fix it! SALT rot has crucified so many perfectly good vehicles. Such a shame. Today's vehicles are much much more reliable than stuff in the 70s.
 
For me it would depend on how much you like the truck. I am still driving my 1981 Ford F-100 that I bought new. I am on my third 300 inch six with a little
over 600,000 miles. I swap engines at about 250,000 miles. I like my truck and it looks good. There is a place in Houston that sells the premium long block
for about 2 grand for my truck. There are lots of variables, body shape, steering gear box, rear end, how easy the truck is to work on, but you are a mechanic
so that isn't an issue. I probably would fix it up, but I like older stuff. Also the price of a new truck is more than my first house. Ellis
 
I also have a 2001 Dodge with the 360 and over 130,000 miles on it. I have had rust repaired Doors and 1 fender. I have a great repair shop that does my work, they have done a lot of small repairs, brakes, break lines, water pump, air conditioning compressor and such. Much cheaper than a truck payment and higher insurance rates. If it costs less than the payment keep it. Merry Christmas joe
 
I will add I thing to the other posts.if and when you buy a newer one the much more complicated
electronics will make it much harder and much more expensive to fix then what you have now.as a mechanic you know what I mean
 
Let's put a price on your own labor. Figure $3500 in parts and another $3500 of your own time. Can you go out today and buy a truck that's better than what you would have for seven grand? I'm guessing probably not.
 
I?ll mostly echo what others have said. Rust issues aside (doesn?t sound like a problem for you) the only downside I see with putting money into an
older vehicle is that if it gets wrecked, insurance will only want to pay out for an average vehicle. Not one with a new motor/tranny etc. Other than that,
vehicle ownership cost is directly related to how long you own it.
 
if it were me, i would buy a crate motor and put it in. we have gotten engines from jegs.com and they come with a warranty.
 
With only 132K on it I?m surprised it needs heads. The 360 is a pretty
solid engine. They are not known for having head issues. Anyway, an
intake set and heads isn?t too bad if the rest of the thing is good
shape. You can do a cam change with some better heads and
probably get the same result out of that 360 as you could building a
stroker engine. A few lbs of boost won?t hurt either. A small turbo will
wake that 360 up. I did a Turbo on a 360 several years back and it
ran great. Turbo?s make really good torque. Some computer tweaking
will be needed. As I remember to have the computer work done was
like 300 bucks.
 
My second truck is a 91 Dodge diesel. I
don't really need it anymore. I bought a
16 f250 to pull my pulling tractor. And to
drive to coffee shop. So I try to always
fix the Dodge on the cheap. So I vote to
patch it. Sell it. And trade your other
truck for one that fits your needs.
Remember license,tires,insurance and
maintenance etc. Never workes out even if
you tell me you are getting 20 mph on your
other one. lol
 
What could be wrong the the front driveline?
222000 miles on my 2000 f250 front end still has
same wheel bearings, iv never even greased them,
iv done ball joints, wasent that much$$,, a new drive
shaft, is it broke? If not can you just put new u
joints in it? why do you need heads? My 99 Dakota
also needed intake gaskets, but the heads were
fine, seems intake gaskets are a common problem
for dodge. If the body is that good, and I?m sure the
frame is solid I?d fix it, can you get any good use
parts from a u pull it salvage yard? 132,000 is not a
lot of miles, unless truck was abused, price a new
truck today! Shocking
 
Why do you think it needs heads ? I had a 1996 2500 with the 360 gas and that is a good solid engine design. My tranny was acting up so I sold it. I had almost 200,000 mi. on it.
 

Sounds like a 5.9 Cummins swap to me :) 6-speed swap be a bonus too.

Rust is the killer here in salt county.

Here.....if the motor dies before the body the truck was no good!
 
My trucks are a 01 Dakota 3.9 with around a hundred and rusting bad, Now the other that I prefer to drive is a 03 Dakota with 4.7 and 300,000 with body about falling off from rust but no plans to get different. I just put a lot of money into it. I would think your figures to repair are supect. Repair and use.
 
(quoted from post at 06:40:19 12/23/19) Why do you think it needs heads ? I had a 1996 2500 with the 360 gas and that is a good solid engine design. My tranny was acting up so I sold it. I had almost 200,000 mi. on it.
Click to expand...

Some did have valve seat issues... All of them will need a heater core and evaporator core in time... Most I have worked on were mules the only reason they got rid of them was to upgrade to a diesel so they could run with the big boys...

They are about as EZ to work on as it comes to me the easiest of the big 3... I would repair it he can do it for the cost of one years worth of payments on a replacement...
 
Well, sorry for this comment, but it sounds like you are not a true Cat technician,
but merely a parts replacer. A good mechanic would repair it rather than replace
everything that looks bad.----------------------------Loren
 
I've the the exact same truck, albeit rustier. Mine was a city/village vehicle; hour meter in the fan shroud is just under 4900, odometer is about 122000. We just did top end gasket kit due to broken exhaust manifold studs and spark plugs that we couldn't get out. My research from this project indicates that there was indeed a valve seat issue with this era of the 5.9 gasser. I also found that Summit Racing has replacement heads for about $365 + $100 core, Rock Auto has them for $255 + $75 core. Complete engine gasket kit is $115 from Rock Auto; we did a new timing chain as well, so this made more sense for the job as opposed to a top end only kit. My heads were good, so I've got a couple hundred dollars in pats and a few days' work into it. Can you clarify how yours needs $3500 worth of work? If that's an accurate price for repair, I'd look awful hard at a crate engine.

If you're anywhere near A&I Balancing in Concord, MI they're the best place around for any type of driveline/power shaft work. The last front driveshaft I had done a couple years ago (for a Jeep Grand Cherokee) was $120.
 
The blue book value for that truck is $3800, it is worthless now with the engine torn apart, so put the $3500 in it, and it is worth that.

Assuming $8800 for that truck is extremely optimistic.
 
I don't get it.
I'm not a CAT tech, just a retired gasser mechanic.?
I have my own truck. Or two or three.
Any way, the third truck is a 125K mile, 12/93 F350 Dually 7.3 turbo pre-Power Stroke and after it came home for $7,000.
Then the engine went south.
I found another engine back east for $4167.
It is sleeved and a stud kit with Felpro gaskets.?
As I am going in for knee replacement tomorrow, and the next knee is March, I can get it dropped in for another $2K.? ?
That puts $13,200 into a 26 year old truck.
Add a new/rebuilt turbo for another $1000,
water pump, starter, fluids, filters, etc for another $400 or so and the truck is up to $18,000 easy enough.
As long as we are playing, lets convert it to a solid front axle and make it 4X4 at the same time.
Add another $2K for the trans and bring it up to just over $22,000.
Whoops,
I forgot the transfer case, add the next roughly $1,000.
That get's it up to about $23,000.
Oh yeah, I still have the drive lines to shorten the rear and make the front.?
So, $23,000 plus for a 26 year old truck and that might be a situation.
What's your input?
I could buy a new one.
That's only about $75/80K to replicate this one.
I guess either fix it or junk it.?
Fix it right or fix it again.??
 
The work you describe is labor intensive but not that expensive to do. I would think the cost would be in the 500-600 dollar range, doing it yourself. If the heads need work just remove them and have a machine
shop do the work. I just had the heads done on a car not long ago and it cost about a hundred bucks each to have them refurbished. You probably have to remove the intake manifold anyway so the gasket would be
just part of the job. I've replaced a CV axle on a car before and it wasn't that bad to do. One thing I would add with more than 100k miles is a timing chain or belt. It would be the next thing to go.
 
A no brain-er, fix the truck you have. Much cheaper than buying a new truck. Or, if you buy a used vehicle what unknown problems may appear in the
near future?
Jim
 
I personally think the 94-02 Dodge trucks are the best looking trucks ever built, but that is just me. I have two '96 ClubCab 2500s with the V-10 and love them. Never plan on selling either one, the 4x2 or 4x4. When I get my '98.5 QuadCab 3500 (24v 5.9) running I will be happy.
 
With no rust it would be a no brainer if
it were mine, fix it. We are running
older vehicles and putting some money in
them and I always tell the wife ya its a
lot of money to dump in an old vehicle
but how many payments will it make?
Answer is not many. We just put $1000 our
05 Explorer with 175K miles. How many
payments on a new one, a little more than
one,, no brainer,,
 
Blue Book value really has nothing to do with it.What it would come down to for me is the cost of repairs how and much longer the truck will give you service,compared to what you can buy another truck for that will fill your needs.Also is it what you really want to own to do the jobs you do with it? I've seen a lot of people in your situation spend the money for repairs then turn around and trade the vehicle off or sell at a lose because they wanted something different.
 
I would fix it. The 5.9 makes the truck a bit underpowered but it is a good engine. Why heads? We didn't see many problems with the heads. Intake gaskets were common along with the thermostat gaskets.
 
Exactly, the only two ways that major repair money comes back is if you purchased the vehicle in need of repair AND way under book value or if you use up the repair cost. Otherwise your better off to sell it as-is.
 
(quoted from post at 08:12:59 12/23/19) I've the the exact same truck, albeit rustier. Mine was a city/village vehicle; hour meter in the fan shroud is just under 4900, odometer is about 122000. We just did top end gasket kit due to broken exhaust manifold studs and spark plugs that we couldn't get out. My research from this project indicates that there was indeed a valve seat issue with this era of the 5.9 gasser. I also found that Summit Racing has replacement heads for about $365 + $100 core, Rock Auto has them for $255 + $75 core. Complete engine gasket kit is $115 from Rock Auto; we did a new timing chain as well, so this made more sense for the job as opposed to a top end only kit. My heads were good, so I've got a couple hundred dollars in pats and a few days' work into it. Can you clarify how yours needs $3500 worth of work? If that's an accurate price for repair, I'd look awful hard at a crate engine.

If you're anywhere near A&I Balancing in Concord, MI they're the best place around for any type of driveline/power shaft work. The last front driveshaft I had done a couple years ago (for a Jeep Grand Cherokee) was $120.
Click to expand...

If his valve seats are hammed he will spend in excess of $300 per head to have them repaired... It would be a good time to put performance heads on his hauler...
 
A break down for everybody. Truck is 4wd what ever they call the cab with half sized suicide doors and an slt fairly highly optioned.

The intake gasket is most likely out, i'm running down a smoke machine to confirm but it has been leaking oil for about 20k miles so it's pretty safe to assume. And If it is I will be getting a new intake to eliminate this gasket

The heads have broken manifold bolts and will likely be cracked on removal as the engine has been worked and the temp has creeped into the 230 range a few times in muddy valleys where stopping wasn't an option. So im budgeting new heads

Timing chain will likely be stretched enough to warrant replacement while im that close.

Front main and balancer is leading and oil soaked. Could be a few others I'll look at the list I made
 
If you would like a new (not used) truck and can afford one then trade. If not, fix what you have. A newer used truck can have as many or more problems no matter how good it looks.
 
Is your repair estimate $3500 for the parts alone or is it more like $1000 for parts outside labor (head repairs) and $2500 of your own labor?

If your out of pocket costs are less than $1000 and you can supply the labor, I would fix it.

If it will take $3500 in parts alone and that much again or more for labor, I would test drive some newer vehicles and think about how well you like the the truck now and what it will be like in another five years. Also look at what the salvage value is on your low mileage light rust vehicle AS-IS (maybe $1500 to $3000 as it sits?).
 

Oil leaks from crankshaft... M'm Before you spend a boat load of money check crankshaft end play I have see the thrust worn excessive on those trucks...

I would also check for excessive blow by but if the lower intake gasket is blow all bets are off on that...

For the most part those are high mileage engines I do run across one every now and again that's used up at 130K...

At 130K there are pattern failures such as upper intake gasket leaking coolant, lower intake gasket leaking sucking the oil out of the crankcase, valve cover gaskets and other leaking cooling system parts "A leak at the crankshaft leak in not one of those pattern failures tho"...
 

Considering that NEW trucks are in the $50,000 and up range, $3500 is nothing, also, your 2001 has considerably less electronic gadgets to fail. I'd fix the 2001, and when the rust gets worse, fix that also.
 
Bruce, a mechanical 7.3 shouldn't cost $2000 to have installed. Maybe it would at a high dollar shop, but that's a real easy swap, worst part is the 2 top bellhousing bolts, but they can be gotten to. To make it 4wd would take a little more than the axle, which would be a $1200 Dana 60, and the transmission/transfer case. I don't think I've ever seen a one ton Ford that was 2wd and didn't have coil springs and control arms on it. A 4wd would have leaf springs and the front of the frame is just a bit different. I'm making a 4wd 1 ton out of a 2wd, but I have 3 donor trucks, so it's not a big deal for me. A little cutting, a little welding.

Ross
 

I would upgrade to a later Power stroke I found one local for $1500 with 83K on it... In my search west of the Mississippi they could be found for $500 with low miles. I am not sure about his turbo on my 95 the kit to rebuild the turbo was $100 are less and EZ to rebuild youtube it... Mine already had a
DieselSite Billet Turbo Compressor Wicked Wheel

www.car-part.com

Use 1999 down

I guarantee its not going to be a one night stand If I take on a major project on a older vehicle I marry it : ( and its gonna cost ya more than 2K...
 
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