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Another pickup....

D

DeltaRed

Well-known Member
Been thinking of 'upgradeing' my farm/work
pickup.My old, '89 DodgeCummins is needing lots of
work.The engine is perfect(250,000),the rest is
about ready to fall in a heap.But it gets almost 25
mpg.Anyway,I found a nice '91 Chevy 1500 4x4.Short
box;350;4 speed;aluminun wheels'148,000
miles...Asking price is 2500.The plan is to remove
the bed and install my fuel tank/tool box and build
a 'custom' flatbed. Opinions?? Thanks,Steve
 
I had the same problem with my 95 Dodge. The body was junk but the Cummins and drive train were still ok. I found a nice 87 GMC 4x4 with 8' bed and switched the frames with the drive trains intact. Now its a better truck than it ever was and the switch was pretty straioght forward.
 
I don't have a comment on the Chevy,but I've been kicking around the idea of a different pickup.
Trouble is,my 85 Ford diesel has fewer miles on it than the wife's 2002 Explorer Sport Trac. I was thinking about a newer dually flatbed 4x4 to replace mine,but been thinking more and more lately about an F250 extended cab short box gas to replace hers. I could put a gooseneck ball in one of those to haul cattle. That's about the only thing that I do with mine that makes me nervous. I'd still have the 85 to haul hay and use around the farm like I do now. Could even haul cattle with it if she needed her truck when I had to go with a load. These short box two door extended cabs don't appear to be much longer than a regular cab long box.
 
The trans is missing 5th gear,front end is SHOT,Clutch is weak,brakes are gone,tires smooth,homemade wooden flatbed is falling apart....BUT,the old diesel doesnt use any oil,starts easily even in the coldest weather,has lots of power,gets 25 mpg....
 
I bought a 94 Chevy with 150,000 miles on it. It lasted until I could get the inside door handle replaced to get rid of it. The body just kept falling apart, and it wasn't rust either. Just aren't made to last that many miles I guess.
For the kind of money you are talking, you ought to be able to get into the early 2000's with about the same miles.
 
I've got a 90 GMC 1500 that came from Texas. I bought it with a 140 tho on it about 15 years ago. It's got 286000 on it now, ain't much left to the body of it in N Ill.winters but nothing ever goes wrong with it, about the most reliable transportation I've had including some new ones.
Only put about 3000 miles a year on it anymore and it needs tires and a pitman arm so I'm going to retire it soon, a/c even works yet.
 
Find a 40's or 50's truck body, and put it on the dodge drive train. Guy in town put a 1952 F6 on a
late model ambulance he got for cheap, this thing is cool.
 
I have a '66 GMC that was my fathers.I was considering the swap.I decided to not butcher up Dad's pickup....
 
The 91 would have the old 350 small block. I think it would have a roller cam, not sure though. The weakness of those engines were flat cams (the flat tappet models) and head cracking.

Other than that, good engine and drive train. Might want to jack it up and feel the front wheel bearings, especially if it's been used off road. Maybe beef up the rear springs while uou got the bed off.

I'd park the Dodge and be on the look out for a good truck with a bad engine, Lot easier than reinventing the wheel!
 
Only one in several thousand engine blocks is a "keeper". If yours has given you 25K with no troubles, best keep her, she is one of those.
 
I had an '89 Chevy X cab, long box 4X4, 5.7 ci, I bought at an auction with 259,000 miles showing. When I drove it home from the auction, I found the odometer was stuck on 259K. I have no idea how many miles it actually had on it.

However, it used no oil, and was a reliable old workhorse until I upgraded to a 2000.
 
This past summer I saw a pumper type fire truck that had a retrofit job. I would guess these guys bought it at a county auction. They were a landscape crew and had removed the pumper body and mounted a full size dump truck body on it. That is a single axle body on a single axle truck frame. There was about a four foot gap from the back of the cab to the dump body. The weird thing was a shinny red fire truck with a beat up green dump body. Neat!
 
why don't you do that to your dodge?If your going to make a flat bed being rusted out doesn't matter.148000 is wore out for a chevy.
 
My next truck is going to be a 4 door chevy. I didn't think much of them, until I rode in a friends. Even with just the 2 of us, it's nice to be able to take the dogs with us. It still has a short box for the little bit of hay or straw we haul. The back seat is pretty good in the 4 doors.
 
I have a "94 Chevy K1500 4x4 with 350, auto & 3.43 axles, std cab, 8 ft bed. It's still a good reliable truck, but I don't get 15 mph. A neighbor had one a few years older. He drove it to 213,000 miles and it was still good when he traded it for a new 4 door pickup.

If gas is now 85 percent of the price of diesel, then a gas that gets 21 MPG has the same fuel cost as you diesel at 25 MPG. Break even on spending more for a diesel truck depends on how many miles you drive per year.
 
rrlund I would switch the wifes Explorer out. You then can have her in a newer vehicle and then depreciate it. Which your could not do on the Explorer.
 
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