My very good friend owns a tire business and general garage. They have a fleet of service trucks and retire one now and then. They have one that has some serious issues and he approached me last night and asked if I wanted it free and clear, they have gotten their investment out of it and its not worth them tinkering with. Here is what I know about the truck and some questions on sourcing parts to follow.

*94 Cab and Chasis 1 ton dually
*35x,xxx miles on it
*rear end makes noise
*3rd gear grinds
*mech at their shop said it needs a headgasket.

my Mechanical experience is limited to Hondas and small block chevys.

Can I rebuild this cummins for a reasonable price?
Where would I get an overhaul kit for the engine?
Can I rebuild the NV4500 in my own garage?
local yard for a used rear end or can I rebuild that also?

almost forgot, is there a good shop manual for the engine and the tranny?

 

Dont look at a gift horse in the mouth.

Take it, investigate the issues further to find the root cause of the issues.
If it turns out to be more than your willing to fix, either due to your mechanical skill set, finances, or both, then sell it.
Even if you only get bottom blue book, thats still profit to you.

If you decide to address the issues, while not impossible, it is unlikely that the engine would need rebuilding after only 35,xxx miles.
Sounds like the truck is primed for some big performance parts.
While you have the head off, replace the head gasket and stud the head which allows you to modify the boost (bigger turbo - twins?).This would allow more fuel.
It also offers you the chance to replace the valve springs in preporation for an exhaust brake.
You also have the chance to go through the tranny and upgrade the clutch and internals for greater performance capacities.
The rear end may just need a seal and fresh fluid. It may need more. Wont know until you get a closer look at it.

Even if you just address and fix the issue back to a stock configuration, I still would not turn down a free truck that is in reasonably good condition.

Rich.

 

I have to agree with Rich, there is really no downside to you taking the truck. I would take it, dig into it, and have fun and learn more than you wanted to know about it on DTR... And BOMB the snot out of it while it's apart!

 

I guess the thing I would be most afraid of is the nv4500 and putting new syncro's in....

guy also said it looses oil pressure at idle sometimes, what might cause that?

do I need a metric or sae tool set for this truck?

 

On the oil pressure, I would first check the sending unit. The gauges are nothing more than a glofified idiot light, and not the most reliable.

You will need metric and SAE, probabally more metric.

 

cool about guage being possible cause,

great about metric... I have a full library of those, all of my hondas have had extensive mods in my garage.

 

Definitely take it!

 

take it!
my friend got a fairly newish S-10 for like 500 bucks because the guy couldn't keep it running, it ended up being a vacuum line fell off. im not saying it will be that easy, but you never know until you get it.

 

yad better take, i know i sure would!!!!!! pull the head, new gasket, studs, valvesprings, valve seats. then a fuel plate, turbo, injectors. well first fix the traney and rear end then bom it.

 

take it and sell it to me cheap

 

gstan... beat me to it. But I'll even pick it up at the shop, you wont need to store it for me