feeling a little like selling it , someone talk me out of it

 

Don't do it, you'll regret it. I speak from experience, I had a '93 champagne and maroon 3/4 ton w/CTD and auto and a little bit done to it, I sold it in '03 and have missed it ever since.

 

Why do you want to sell it?

 

Well I went from the 06' 3500 to this and what a diff. of course I know it is apples and oranges so to speak , I like the brute looks of it and the rattle but what an uncomfortable ride and the wife hates it , allthough that is not the reason for selling , I cant find anyone around here that will do the valve service for me and the local dodge dealer is out of the question for many reasons , the simplicity of being mechanical is great but I am not a mechanic , Normal maint. is not a problem and basic repairs I have done and will cont. to do but as far as performance build-up I am lost and this is my driver so I cant have it down for longer than the weekend , I hated the truck payment and that is why it is gone and I owe no one for this one , You guys are great on the tech. walk thru's , I dont know just a little distraught and a little venting is all , Thanks

 

Grind your fuel pin and put in a 3200 gov. spring. That wil cost you less than $20 and an afternoon.

read the sticky, that will tell you all you need to know.

Your truck is funner than you think.

 

If you can change oil, you can adjust valves.

Come up to SOP in IN (I know, it may be a bit of a haul, but to some it isnt), and someone can get to it. Or show you how.

Daniel

 

Man, i know exactly where you are coming from. I went from a '99 3500 dressed out, leather all options, to my '92. The '99 required no little "fixes" and didn't make new noises every once in a while, the truck rode like you where in a vehicle and not riding in an old suspensionless semi. I could turn on my heated seats in the winter (nice) and I could talk to a passenger while on the highway without shouting. i have considered selling my truck many times, even had it for sale on dtr once, but I always end up keeping it. Truth is.....my first gen is the only truck that puts a smile on my face when i crank it.....one short cruise in my truck convinces me i have something rare.....3rd gen owners who stop to stare....who tell me to "name your price" whenever I pull up.....people who simply stop and ask me what kind of truck i drive....friends who pass up a ride in a new ford or chevy to roll around in a real truck. You are lucky man....you have a 3500 4x4 club cab....the biggest, freakin baddest 1st gen available....also even more rare than the average first gen. I see way more 250's and even D350s than your model. It is also true that these trucks are all but depreciating in value. Why don't you spend some of that "truck payment" money and put a good air ride on it....make the interior a tad more plush....turn it up some more...you saved thousands buying a first gen...spend some of that towards it. In any case, I would keep that truck (i am saying that even though i would love to buy it ) i think you will regret selling it...even if you don't right away...eventually you will miss it. About working on these things....gosh almighty....I need to replace brakes....u joints...bearings....clutch....fluids.....ect. Most of that is just maintenance...these are older trucks.....but if you put half the money of a newer truck into your 1st gen.....you will have twice the truck...thats the way I see it...thats what i am doing. Keep it man. By the way....awesome truck. redwake.

 

badram... if you wanna make the trip to middle TN we can take a day and i'll show you how to improve all of the things you mentioned! i'll gladly walk you through pump mods, valve adjust, and everything else there is to do. As far as ride quality we can definately help there. it probably won't ever be like the 06 but we can make it a ton better. and a little time stripping the cab and adding some sound insullation will do wonders for the noise. I am serious that i'd help with anything you need all you need to do is make the drive! If you have the original bench seats there are also much better options and I could have a frame built to add 2nd gen (40-20-40) seats while you were out this way... I'm sure that i'm not the only one that would love to help. as Dave (wannadiesel) said to me when he was letting me watch him work on my truck while i was learning "I've already done this to mine, can't do it again" We love this stuff and can only do so much to our trucks before we run out of money so we need fresh trucks to get our "fix" lol.

 

Now that you don't have a truck payment maybe you can afford a Keldermann air ride. I've ridden in a couple of 4X4's with that setup and they are smooth as a 3rd gen, if not smoother.

You CAN do the valve adjustment yourself. If it's just too intimidating, try a shop that works on big trucks.

 

Man you guys are great !!! I went from feeling low to king of the hill by reading Redwakes and Micaiahfieds posts , Micaiahfied about where are you in Tn I might take you up on a trip when I am sure the truck will get me there and back , I have only had it a couple of months and am working out the bugs still , And I would like to meet some more 1st Genners , I have the only one around that I have seen , I feel like I get looked down at around all the new trucks around here but now I am going hold my head high and be a proud owner of a piece of history and cont. to build it . Thanks guys

 

DEFINITELY don't do it! I had a 91 till 95 and went for new. At the time mine sold for 14K.Then i missed it soooo much that it took me 3 years to find one as nice and 11 years later it cost me 10k.Its worth more to you than you think. I have a new gasser and will probably trade that on super clean 65k mi 92 dually nearby.I 'll have no payments, the ability to repair cheaply and easily,good mileage and another grin (already have two).

 

I'm in middle tenn. I would love to show up and hear about the mods that can be done and what someone else has done to there truck. I live in Dickson (west of Nashville) and have only done a couple of things to it.

Please let me know when or if you guys are going to meet up.

Thanks!

 

Badram....We are 2 peas in a pod! I have the SAME truck, same color and all! Post more pics please, it's cool to see 'my' truck in another state! By all means take these guys up on their offers! I've learned all I know so far from this forum and mine run 10 times better than it did when I got it less than a month ago...I'M HOOKED!!!

 

97, you need to look in the local chapters sections TNDTR , we just met a few weeks back. I am in springfield area. you don't have to wait for badram to come, i'll work on them whenever... just pm me and we'll set up a date. i've owned 7 first gens now and have gotten pretty used to them.

badram, like i said i am in the springfield area, just north west of nashville. The greatest thing about these trucks is that you can fit everything you need to work on them (doing anything short of pulling the motor) in a relatively small toolbox. if you are going to come let me know if you want some specialty tools we can make you a "timing wrech" from a cheapo 13mm, and one of the injector pullers out of the sticky. just let me know.

 

i do enjoy driving my old fleet . you see a hundred new look alike rigs. don't get my wrong they are very nice and mine will never compete with them . but it is the last of the real pickups for me and i will keep it as long as i can. having something different is great for me. years ago i built a 23 tbucket from scratch and it road horrible but no one complained because of the coool factor. same thing here.