Okay heres the thing I bought my 1st gen last November and it has sat in my front yard ever since I love these old trucks and I bought that one on impulse and regretted it because a 2 wheel drive is not what I want or need so my problem is should I sell it or fix it and keep it and drive the hell out of it. Here is a list of what it needs to the best of my knowledge
It needs 4 front ball joints brakes need some help the front passenger side one has something wrong with it forget what was quoted 1000$ to fix it and the back ones are seeping one of my u joints is gone or my tranny is almost done my overdrive doesn't like to kick in I think the power steering box is starting to leak on me and I aint sure but I might have some burnt valves I am 18 and I can only afford to dump 1500-2000 in it at present so if any of you can give me an idea of whether this is plausable or just to sell it and sadly mope till I can scrape together enough cash to buy a 4x4 one and thirdly how do these things do with snowy slippery roads cause I commute everyday thanks again and I hope this isn't to much of a brainful for you guys. And I know there are a few dumb questions in there but please bear with me

 

Shop at rockauto.com... parts for these trucks are one-third to one-half the price of buying parts locally. Also, just fix what's wrong. 'Complete' brake or suspension jobs are how shops make money.

On my D250 I feared all the front end joints were shot and brakes kaput. What I actually needed was upper control arm bushings on one side, rotors (mine were warped), and the brake hardware was falling apart on one rear drum.

I have spent about $2000 on my D250 since purchased (2yrs ago)... and that includes some extras like a starter, coils, shocks, Lockright, carrier & hub bearings, and a pair of new tires.

 

Okay so your Ball joints are still good and yea the brake thing seems a little over priced to me so I will figure out if I can do something else and I have checked out rockauto abit

 

The fact of the matter is (unless its a garage princess) any truck this old needs work. Buying a different truck usually means different problems - or maybe some of the same ones again LOL!

I order from rockauto regularly. pick your parts carefully so they come from the same warehouse. keeps the shipping down. I save 30-40% over local parts after freight, tax, etc with $300-500 orders.

EDIT: rotors and coil springs I bought local because of the freight charge (heavy).

 

Ya i did notice their prices are considerably cheaper than ones up here rock auto has them for 300 and something with shipping versus over 400 up here in stock lol!

 

X2 about rock auto. I just priced a drag link for my truck at rock auto, $47.00 cheaper than the local parts store.

 

u2slow how many k's on urs?

 

white D250 = 389,000
grey D250 = 370,000
W250 = 322,000

 

so which one cost you two 2gs to fix?

 

The white one. Mind you, this stuff was spread out over 2 years... didn't need it all right away. Checking the rear brakes was a can of worms as numerous bearings were worn out. The Lockright, Rancho's, tires, and coils were wants - not needs.

rough cost breakdown:
- starter $200
- tires $500/pair
- Lockright $500
- rear diff bearings and seals ~$300
- upper control arm bushings $10
- upper balljoint $20
- rotors $120/pair
- brake pads $50
- idler arm (probably didn't need it) $15
- shocks (rancho) $100/pair
- coil springs $200/pair

 

My starter is fine I have got free tires with decent tread for it so thats 700 I won't spend on that stuff and I already have bought some things for it I have all new valve cover gaskets and oil and fuel filters along with full synthetic oil so thats some stuff taken care of.