bob95065

I found a 1997 Dodge 2500 SLT Diesel with a 5 speed manual. The truck has a 8' bed and extended cab. It has the limited slip rear end and towing packages.

The guy that has it is the second owner and he bought it from a friend. The first owner's wife is a seamstress and made custom seat covers for it since it was new. The interior is in excellent condition.

The truck has been maintained and comes with records. The clutch has been replaced once.

The only downside that I see is the truck has 220,000 miles on it. The price is $9000.

I heat my house with wood and need a heavy duty truck to haul firewood mainly and occasionally construction materials. I have a small truck that I only put around 3000 miles a year on. I want the 3/4 ton because I don't drive my truck that much and when I do it is constantly overloaded.

What do you guys think? Anything I shoudl look for before I give him the money? This is my first Dodge and first diesel. I have a friend that has a 96 2500 diesel he bought new and he says this sounds like a good deal.

TIA,

Bob Elliott

Ironstone

Sounds like a fair price to me . For comparison, I am asking $8500 for my 1996 and it has 149,000 miles.

clutch1

sounds like a good deal. any leaks, any extra blowby, how does it drive?

Box5

if it's 4x4 then it's a good deal, go for it. Just make sure to check the oil and coolant for obvious signs, if it sounds good and drives good, u'll love it.

dieselfuelonly

I hope you know how lucky you are to find a '97 5spd CTD in great condition lol . Those are probably the most desired of the 12 valves because of the hydroboost stuff (lol I think thats what its called) and a few other improvements. If its a 2WD I'd try to back him down a bit from $9,000, but if its a 4WD man you better jump on that sale fast before someone else does .

thebestofindica

I just picked up truck in sig for $9000. It had 100k miles when I bought it and has not one spot of rust on it. It seems that the more miles a truck has, the more it goes for. Who'da thunk?

Box5

ur's was similar to my truck when I bough it ^. 94, auto, 150k, basically stock, I got it for $8250.

bob95065

The truck is a 4x4 and from what the seller says basically stock. I am going up to see it Saturday. I haven't seen it or driven it yet.

dieselfuelonly

BUY IT!!!!!!

Thats about the best 12v setup you could get.

billp102740

Thats a good price . Check for bombing mods, plate , turbo , injectors etc. If you buy it and it doesnt have gages you want to install at least boost and PYRO . Also check the throttle linkage /TSB changeout . The fuel tank sending unit probably was replaced , if not , check fuel gage operation . And finally the KDP , hopefully its fixed . Good Luck .

patdaly

Better buy it, I paid 12K for essentially the same truck, except for Auto and 100K on the clock, and that was the best value I found around central Illinois after a 2 year search.

220K wouldn't bother me in the least. Lets put it this way, if that truck were anywhere near me when I was looking, you wouldn't get a chance to buy it...

bob95065

I am new to Dodges and this is my first diesel I have ever owned. I am a gas mechanic. Because I haven't owned or worked on a diesel I don't know the acronymsa nd diesle termanology. What are bombing mods, plate, PYRO, KDP, etc? How do I check the turbo?

I need help so anything you can tell me is greatly appreciated.

Bob

dieselfuelonly

BOMB = Better off modified baby
Mods = Pretty much same thing as BOMBs
Plate = Fuel Plate (do a search for "fuel plate" and read up)
Pyro = Pyrometer, its a gauge that measures the temperature of your EGTs (Exhaust Gas Temperatures), which is very critical to watch. A good set of gauges for a 12v will include a Boost Gauge, A Pyrometer, and a Transmission temp gauge (if it has an auto).
KDP = Killer Dowel Pin - its an alignment pin that has a tendancy to fall out and one of 3 things will happen: either it falls out and gets stuck in the timing gears and causes terrible damage, or it falls out and gets pushed throught the front gear cover and causes an oil leak, or it falls down and somehow misses the gears and lands in the pan and does absolutely nothing (however it is critical to replace the pin AND TAB IT if it falls out).

Hope that helps, I have some pics of the KDP "Killing" process if you would like to see them. Tabbing the pin or using a "jig" to stop it from moving (Tab is reccomended, yet a bit more work), is a must and should be almost the first thing you do when you get the truck. TST Products makes an excellent "kit" that contiains everything you need to fix the problem. Its about a 4-6 hour job, and the kit costs $44.

Pics of the KDP fixing process by me:

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=143355

http://www.tstproducts.com/index.asp...PROD&ProdID=64

bob95065

Do you have a list of BOMBs?

wcbcruzer

Good deal. I paid $11,000 for mine with 185k miles. I feel like I still got a good deal.