I had my dually into a body shop for a diagnosis. It's not terminal, but it is extensive. It's years of living in Jersey have caught up with it.

It doesn't look too bad in the pictures, but it's there. The body shop, recommended to me by people who live in the area, doesn't want to take on the job as they are afraid that the rot will be worse as they pull the truck apart.

So, I've got a hard decision to make from some very bad choices.

-Drive the truck the way it is. There is a dent in the driver's door and some surface rust bubbling up that annoys me every time I go to get in it. And the dry climate out here is likely to make the situation worse over time. The paint will fade and crack due to the cancer.

-Fix just the dent and surface rust. This kicks the can down the road until I can figure out a long term solution. But it's lost money in terms of a complete solution.

-Sell/dispose of the truck and move on to something else. This is the most sensible option, but the truck is unique and anything I replace it with won't be as cool.

-Find a donor crewcab and swap the body to the existing chassis/drivetrain. The donor's firewall would need to be cut to match the '93 dash/HVAC. Also my existing chassis is rusty and should be stripped down and powdercoated.

-Find a rust-free donor and swap just the diesel drivetrain into it. The problem is the 8ft bed crewcabs are 2wd only and the 4wd crews are 6 ft beds only. I could do a 4wd conversion, but that's more work. I guess I could forgo having 4x4. After all it doesn't really snow out here. That also still leaves the problem of cutting the firewall.

-Find a '93 Cummins and swap just the crewcab box from another donor onto it, plus a modified shortbed or maybe a flatbed. Stiil the problem of the firewall plus having to buy two donor vehicles.

-Find a small body shop that would be willing to take my truck, strip down, and do all the work necessary. Using donor parts like a replacement 8ft bed where feasible. The problem being, I don't know anybody out here and I've run into the problem before of small shops going bellyup and projects languishing.

 

I feel your pain. That is a sweet looking truck and it's a shame that these trucks were such rot-boxes. I have a ton of money into drivetrain on my truck and it runs better than new, but my cab mounts are totally gone. This is causing the floor to buckle as gravity does its work. The fenders are totally detached from the quarter panels and they flap and rattle going down the road. I feel the same way you do, that a body shop isn't going to want to work on it. This would also be putting more money (alot) into a truck that is just going to keep going downhill. You did exactly what I wanted to do. A crew cab conversion with duals. The problem is finding a donor that isn't going to be more of the same. I even thought about doing more bodywork on mine, but then I still have a reg. cab that is useless for the family. As much as I would hate to get a newer one and have a debt again, you can't argue that the newer trucks are not near as prone to rust. The manufacturers must have better treatment processes now.

 

It would be a crime to let that truck go. If I didn't have the time to fix the body myself I would find a GOOD shop to do it. If I didn't have the money to have a shop do it I would find a safe place to store it until the time / money came available.

But that's coming from a guy who has run out of storage space.

JP.

 

Too nice to turn the other cheek on. Maybe another crewcab, fix the body up while you drive this, then bolt it on in a weekend when it's ready?

 

I definately agree. Take it to a different shop....somebody will appreciate what it is and be glad to work on it. I realize that gets expensive really fast so store it somewhere until you can build up a nice little nest egg to make it like new again. I think you'll be glad you did once it rolls out of the shop in the future
Dan

 

I would fix the truck. I would keep looking for someone to fix it. Do you have a highschool or Vo-tech school in your area. Maybe they could take on a part of the project at a time. Like if you need the dent fixed. Then fix a rocker or whatever later. Then paint last.

That is how I am going to have to fix my truck because I can't have it off the road for too long. So I already fixed one rocker.

BTW nice truck

Dean

 

If the bed is bad, id flatbed it, makes it a lot more useful in my opinion. AND flat bed duellies look bad ***! specially all black ones.

 

Can you post a few pics or describe exactly where rust problems are. I might have few options .

 

if it was mine i would fix it, i went to vocational for auto body though, i dont know what kind of experience you have but fix it some way. i would get the body fixed then spray it in POR15 to prevent any new rust then coat it with what ever paint you want or you could possibly use the POR15 as the paint.

 

I'm going to expand on Dean's idea. So. Cal is a Union friendly town...try and locate the apprenticeship program for body and fender work. Talk to the coordinator about possibly having his apprentices take your truck on as an on the job training project. The apprentices have to learn to deal with all types of situattions. Most Union apprenticeships are non-profit, so there you have it.

 

You might consider repairing one section at a time. That is essentially what I'm doing although I don't have rust that bad, just under the clearance lights in the roof front center, typical for these body styles. Go figure, clean as a whistle down below, but rust in the cab roof. I had the hood and roof done last year. Next up is the area around the club cab windows which are starting to show some rust. It's a white ruck so paint matching isn't too bad.

John

 

I'm wiping tears off my face thinking about how an awesome truck like that is going to rot away. Good luck on whatever course you go.

 

It's like Will Rogers said about real estate: "They ain't makin' any more of it."

 

So Cal? your out of the rust belt. The rust will start fixing itself.

 

What he said!