it's a 92 sir!.... those parts in the life of this old girl need to be replace.

Now let me ask you this

How much are your monthly payments on this truck?

keep in mind, once you finish with the little details here in there, the payments stop.

My 93 has 309XXX miles and I have replace minimum parts but I believe in in a good maintenance program, she does not have the looks, but it sure is a lot better than the stupid duty.

 

Bought the truck 10 months ago for $7000.00, I now have just over $14,000.00 in it. If my math serves me correctly, that's $700.00 per month just to keep it on the road. Oh, since I posted that list:
Complete rebuild on the IP
6 new injectors
Complete front end rebuild
New master Cyl.
4 new Geolander tires with front end alignment
New TPS (2nd one in 7 months)

It all seems a bit excessive to me.
Bill

 

Bill,
If you pay somebody to do the work, it will always cost you an arm and a leg on any vehicle.

How much did you pay for the front end rebuild?

Potentiometer is cheaper than a TPS

Lastly, diesel-itis is a terrible affliction. As soon as you tell a mechanic you have a diesel they assume your made of money because you pay more for fuel.


Remeber when diesel was dirt cheap compared to gasoline...it's a popularity contest and thanks to the power hungery male ego, diesel is king now!

 

Come on Bill, we all know that firemen are no good at math, until it comes to going over on chow......Mark

 

Kscrewcab,
The guy that rebuilt the front end charged me $400.00 labor plus parts. I did most everything myself except the IP rebuild, front end rebuild and the A/C work.

Mark,
Man you got that right, let supper go .25 cents a man over budget and you'd think we were all just robbed.

I will say this, since I sold the 92 in Feb. I got extra money in the bank at the end of the month again. I went back to driving my old 88 Toyota and haven't spent one red cent on repairs. I gotta say, it's nice driving a vehicle that I don't worry about breaking down.
Bill

 

Bill,
You might have gone in a bit high. I bought my 93 D350 for about 5-5.5K (Truck and attached 5ver for 7500) with 180K on it and zero rust. Flushed the tranny, ($300, they nicked me $14/qt for AF+4), Tires ($1000), Undercoating and rust proofing, ($500) ball joint, ($100 and about an hour) and a few hundred in miscellaneous stuff, KDP, belts, hoses, etc. TPS went and replaced it with a couple of 10 cent resistors. Planning to go throughl the brakes (about $200 in parts). Also planning a whole bunch of relays, headligts, heater motor, and semi grade wiring for towing a double.

It costs about 2.5 times as much to drive as the rice burner, but it's way more than 2.5 times more fun and/or productive. I'd like to see you load a cord of red oak, or pull 12,000 lbs of trailers with the rice burner.

All in all, for a heavy rig, I expect it to cost me way less than a late model truck per mile, even if I run into major mechanical trouble like a transmission.

 

Im late to jump in on the conversation but for me personally its been worth it in the long run. First and foremost i think i overpaid a little bit for mine. I paid $2500 needing an auto trans, which we do transmissions for a living, so that was a no-brainer. Frame is 100% rust free, cab mounts and cowl are rotted/torn respectively. Did valve cover gaskets, serpentine belt, changed all the fluids, replaced the throttle rod, did the trans again (my fault), replaced the bed with a rust-free one, cleaned and undercoated the frame,killed the KDP and killer case bolts, and replaced the front leaf springs, which were SDSprings so i need to replace them again. Still needs a lower steering shaft and an alignment. So far in the past 2 weeks i've put over 1,200 miles on it nonstop and usually with a car and car-dolly behind it. Overall i might be coming up on $3800 invested in my truck and that is only because i made amateur mistakes when i first went to buy it. Oh and i bought it to get out of causing any more damage to my dads 3rd gen, which recently chewed up its transfer case and now has to be towed to the shop by the 12 valve my dad so often mocks.

 

This is kind of an old thread (I sold the truck middle of Feb), but I'll say this. Maybe I just got ahold of a bad one. It looked good but performed poorly and was as unreliable as a vehicle I've ever owned (and I once owned a 6.0 PS Ford). On average I was spending $700.00 a month to keep it on the road and keep everything working like it should. That kind of money would make a payment on a fairly new truck. Only difference, payments would eventually stop, repairs on that 92 I don't think ever would. Plus, I never abused this truck, never towed or hauled with it, just drove it to town every day (about 45 miles round trip). I still have my 93, but because I'm shell shocked from the 92, I don't drive it. I'm afraid if I did, it would begin to self-destruct just like the 92 did.
Bill

 

Mines just the opposite... i let it sit for a year and fire it up and drive 1/2 way across country, but boy she doesn't look like it would be a good idea.

 

Bill,

That has to be the saddest thing said in this entire thread. Granted I completely understand what you mean about how much money you have to invest into these trucks to get them back in shape, but FWIW, after I do my springs (again in the last 6 months) this week, I really do believe I can just drive it, as I think I've come to the end of the ride with repairs.

Your truck is in magnificent shape, and it deserves to be driven, as that's what it was designed to do. Get out there and enjoy it... You paid enough for that truck, you might as well get your money's worth using it.

 

I hate to hear you had that many problems with it. I've had mine for almost 4 years now. I drive it everyday & I tow frequently. Other than replacing wear parts (pads,battery,t-stat,water pump, etc..) I haven't had any real problems. It's made me a whole lot more than it's cost me.

 

As odd as it might seem, I get alot of satisfaction in having the 93 just sitting in the shop. I still believe these trucks are the best looking truck ever built. Every now and then I'll go in the shop and just look at it. Sometimes I'll open the overhead door, sit in a lawn chair, and just stare at it. Then I'll shut off the lights, close the doors and jump in my old Toyota truck to go where I need to go. Now, I know how jacked up that sounds, but that's the way it is. One day I'll probably get tired of sweeping around it and put it up for sale. But for now, it just sits.
Bill

 

bill-d-c -

I am with NJTman, get out there and put some miles on it. There are many that believe letting the truck sit is the worse thing of all. Whether you believe that or not, think about this. You know that feeling you get driving the black beast down the road? Oh yes, you know the feeling. If you think about it for a second, I know you are smiling right now :-)

You also know it is a feeling you never get driving the toyota. That feeling is worth a lot of money by itself. You earned that and worked hard paying for and searching for that truck. Life is short. If you are like me, you rarely turn on the stereo and just enjoy listening to that 12v cummins purr.
You have already made the significant investment in that truck. I would put every mile of good weather driving on that black truck and drive the Toyota during inclement weather or grocery getting tasks. Take it on a road trip to Washington this summer and put some nice weather highway miles on it.

 

It's a good feeling to be on the giving end of the help line again.

I have torque.
I have a jerk strap.
You have a problem.
Let's git er done.

 

I haven't said anything here yet(or read all the posts) but my 93 is the best truck I've ever had. Its been used hard with the power turned up and is currently over 320,000 miles.
Has it broken and worn out parts over the 60,000 I've put on, yes but I've tried to do less with other trucks and ended up with more broken parts.

In my experience with beating the tar out of different trucks I've come to the conclusion that Dodges will hold up to abuse better than any other truck out there. Normal driving that seems to be a different story. I have had just as many problems in normal driving as hard in hard use still not bad for a rusty 20 year old truck