I bought my K3500 a little over a year ago and it's been a decent truck but nothing to write home about... it's a smooth ride has plenty of room and pulls ok on the flats. Since my k10 is somewhat finished now I've been going on more trips and have quite a few planned and I'm realizing I should have gone diesel (duh!) So Sunday afternoon I was driving home from lunch and saw it sitting at one of the used truck lots in town... just calling to me. I wen't and checked it out today since they weren't open on Sunday's and it's a '98 ext. cab long bed dually with the 12v cummins. It's barely broken in with just 73k miles on it and it shows... the interior looks brand new and underneath looks great. I don't know much about dodge's except everyone who tows says to go with a cummins so I'm just looking for some tips on what to look at on this truck. They're asking $15,900 right now but this is the same lot I got my k3500 at and they'll drop $500-$1k off the top without much work. So what do you guys think? What should I be looking for besides obvious signs of wear and tear?
Some things that I like to check are: The brake pedal. This could tell you about how those miles were put on the truck. If the pedal has a lot of wear on the lower rights side then I would say that the miles were all in town miles. Those are a little harder on the truck than highway miles. Look inside the receiver hitch. Does it have lots of use? Is it bent down any? Is there a goose neck hitch installed in the bed? Is there evidence of a fifth wheel hitch? These will also tell you some about how the truck was used. Make sure the four wheel drive still functions. The engagement on the front axle has been known to go out on the CAD (central axle disconnect). Look for leaks. In the engine compartment, under the truck, under both differentials. While you are there look to see if the truck has been on the differentials. Stick your finger on the rotors and see if they are grooved badly. These are just a few of the things I would look at. It is an older truck with few miles but these items will tell you a story about how those miles were put on the rig. LT.
It has a B&W hitch in the bed... Thanks for the general info but I was looking for vehicle specific issues (like the KDP on the cummins)... Sounds like there aren't many things to look out for though. I'll post up if I get the truck...
stick or auto? I would plan on putting some $ into the transmission if you plan on adding any power... but if you leave it stock you should be fine.
SHould try to find out if the KDP has been taken care of. And check for play in the steering. If it's 4x4 check for a death wobble.
Head over to cumminsforum.com and look around in the 94-98 forums. All this truck will need is a set of gauges, and some tranny [or clutch] work if youre gonna make some power with it. The 12v cummins is easy to lay down an extra 100 ponies for free as long as you have the mods to support it.
They want WAY too much money for that truck Avery. I wouldn't pay more than $12,500 or so for it, depending if it's got leather and is fully loaded.
This deal is long gone. They wouldn't budge and offered me a rediculous amount for my k3500 so I walked away. The lot closed up which kind of ticked me off since the dodge was still sitting there but a few days ago I was driving north through madera and saw that they moved up there so I'm not sure what happened to it.
