I have been looking for a good used 1998 3500 2wd dually (12valve). I ran across one last week on autotrader, and so I decided to check it out. It had 127k miles on it. I called the guy, and he offered to bring the truck by my office after work yesterday. So the time came, and I met him outside. The truck was very clean, and appeared to have been taken care of. It was a base package with vinyl floors, and it also had a 5speed. It had all the features that I wanted (except it wasnt white).

So we go for a test drive. Right off the bat I notice the throttle pedal was really hard to push down. I have never experienced this with a CTD. Anywho, I take off, and everything sounds good. We get to a stop sign very quickly. I try taking off in 2nd gear, and it dies! I was like, dang. Ive been driving these trucks for a long time, and this has never happened to me. I started thinking the clutch might be bad. When I tried starting it, it took a few turns to fire off too. I didnt like that.

So we get out on the freeway, and it runs like a dog! Of course I am used to running a 24valve with a EZ, So Its like night and day. But I used to have a stock 12v, so I know its gonna be kinda sluggish. It did have a tight front end on it though. Very smooth riding, and very responsive steering.

We get back to my office, and I get out to inspect it. I noticed it has commericial liscense tags on it I asked the guy if it was a hot shot truck, and he said no. He said the previous owner used it for his dirt moving business to haul a backhoe. But why do you need commercial tags to haul a backhoe??

The engine is sparkling clean of course, and I crawl under it and notice the bottom is covered with dirt/oil. nasty. I make my way back to the engine bay, and me and they guy are b.s.'ing about the truck. The P7100 was a virgin. Then something told me to check the air filter. I seperated the air box, and guess what.....................the air filter was almost sucked into the turbo!! If it wouldnt have been for the little wire mesh, that turbo would have been eating paper for breakfeast. It looked as though it had never been changed. IT was nasty to say the least. I figured it was a mopar filter because of the black foam molding on the sides. I then looked at the filter minder, and the top was broken off. I guess the turbo pulled so much vacuum on it, that it busted the filter minder to pieces. I figure this is why it died on my when I tried to start off in second. It coulnt get any air.

So i told the salesman it was a no-go. I told him that this is a reflection of the maintence record on the this truck. If a man cant check/change out a his air filter, then there is no limit to what kind of other routine maintenance things have not been done to this truck.

So I left him with that. HE was real nice, and took everything I told him really well. I explained to him what he needed to do, and this could really cause some damage. He had no knowledge of the CTD before I met him, but I think he left with a little more.


here is the truck

Later...
Phillip

 

Kid,

ya shoulda jumped on that truck...after all, it's: "Priced to sell Fast - Don't Wait This Truck Will Not Last At This Price!!!!"

Salesmen....yeesh

 

I had actually just received all the info about this truck.... I wanted something a little more optioned out though, but was seriously considering it..

I kinda chuckled when he said it has a "Bose audio system" in it..

Scratch another one off the list...

 

Glad I could help Eskimo.

The truck was nice looking, had a nice ride, and handled great. I just couldnt handle the air filter deal. Thats why I hate buying used trucks. You just never know what your gonna get.

 

Maybe the previous owner thought the truck was dying and decided to sell it for a Dmax...little did he know he should check the freakin air filter every once in a while!

 

You should see some of hte trucks I looked at before jumping in the 02.

97 3/4 ton with what appeared to be mud on every horizontal surface under the hood. I questioned the salesman, thinking it might have been a flood vehicle. His reply to the question was, "well, we haven't really cleaned this one up yet".

Umm, that doesn't tell me why it's there is mud all over the engine compartment. That just tells me why I am seeing it.

I did come across a 98 12V quad dually on Ebay, loaded with leather for $13,000, think it only had about 118K on the ticker. If it was a 3/4 I'da been all over it.

 

About the Commercial Tags, my dad regularly hauls around a backhoe with a good size float and he has to have commercial tags on it. He has to go for a safety every year and also the emissions every year instead of every two. About the oil and dirt under the truck, that can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing, first check for any leaks and if none are found then that means the truck has been oiled regularly, to verify this, check inside the the engine bay, between the box and cab, behind the bumper etc. for oily dirt. This is a big bonus if the truck has been oiled every year for obvious reasons (although your body and paint man might not like you too much). As for the dirt underneath, there is plenty underneath my truck, I wanted to clean it, but my dad says to leave it and oil the **** out of it, because the dirt will hold the oil, and therefore keep a nice oily layer across the whole bottom of your truck.
As for the whole air filter idea I am not to sure , the guy could have been cheap on maintenance or just not knowing what he was doing, but if he doesnt check the air filter then he probably never changed the fluids in the truck. If you arent sure just check to oil to see what it looks like, look inside the rad, just do whatever the guy selling it will allow.
Another thing on these trucks the floors can collect alot of condensation, so check to make sure the floor of the cab is no rotted out especially if you live where they salt heavily.

Just my two cents....