I guess I "needed" another project...

About a year ago a buddy of mine gave me a Durango. He really didn't want to look at it sitting in his driveway anymore and was too cheap to have it hauled away, so he "gave" me the truck. It's a 2000 SLT with 200K miles, leaky transmission and bad bottom end knock. Fast forward to last week, a 1998 Durango with 128K miles shows up at a Copart auction in my town.
Looks good, has "small" front end damage, it says "runs and drives". I pulled the trigger and after all the obnoxious fees I got it for $670 ($425 for the truck + $245 buyer premium, loading fee etc.).

Here's what it looked like at the auction:


After I got it home it turned out that it didn't really run and drive. The fan was stuck in the radiator and there was a lot more damage than disclosed.
After I removed the radiator and both coolers I saw the extend of the damage. First I had to deal with pinched transmission cooler lines:


As you can see the frame rail was tweaked, too.

So far I have replaced: radiator, left fender, radiator support (the U shaped hydroformed thingy), fan, crankshaft pulley, battery tray, fuse box, overflow reservoir, hood and got the transmission lines fixed. I also cut and beat the end of the frame rail back in place.
It starts and runs without overheating. Today I will take it for a spin and see if it shifts okay and drives straight. After that paint prep, paint an final assembly.
This is what it looks like now:



Here's the cost breakdown so far:
$670 purchase price
$70 radiator
$32 salvage yard shopping spree (Overflow tank, fan, pulley, dipstick (I broke the original), battery tray.
$6 hose clamps.
Total: $778
I also got the hood, fender, fuse box, radiator support, radio (gotta have a CD player) from my "free" blue Durango.

I already have paint (it's a Toyota crystal white), but should be better than blue, so if everything goes well, this thing will be on the road in about a week.

Maybe I should enter it in Cheap Truck Challenge

 

Sounds like things are working out so far.

 

OK, took it for a spin today. It runs good, shifts fine, but I get an intermittent ABS/brake light popping on the dash.
I'm thinking an ABS sensor, since the brake fluid is good, Is there one on the rear axle? (it only has one axle ABS). Is this common on those trucks?
I get a low wash light, too, but the tank is plum full. Wonder if I can jump it somehow to disable it.
Also, shocks are shot, I hope my donor's shocks are better, at least they are not covered in oil like the ones on the white truck.

 

There is a sensor on the rear diff. It controls the speedo and abs system in these trucks. The washer fluid level sensor is weird on these trucks. Drain the tank and look down in with a flash light and make sure the sensor float is oriented correctly. Being a 98, the washer fluid tank is on the firewall passenger side correct? I would make sure that sensor isn’t in sideways or otherwise incorrect.

 

Thanks, I will look for that ABS sensor. I hope I can swap one from the blue truck.
Yes, the tank is on the fire wall. Silly me, I just filled it up and thought it would go away. Now, I have to drain that whole thing.
If the sensor is bad, can I jump/bridge it? I don't really care if I have washer fluid or not. I figured it's a switch that either makes contact when empty or breaks contact when empty...
Good news on the shocks. The donor vehicle had them replaced 20K ago, so, I will just swap them

On a side note, yesterday I replaced a bad speaker on the 98 with one from the Y2K. WTF, the stock '98 "Chrysler" speaker is a lot better quality than the Infinity one.
The magnet is twice the size and it has a lot better low and mid range.

 

I’m sure either jumping it or just unplugging it will make the light go away. But what I was originally getting at was that the sensor is just a float device that sticks into the tank through a rubber grommet. If it’s not rotated correctly where it floats up, the light will give you some problems. I found this out when I replaced my tank, I also integrated the rear washer fluid system into the front tank at the same time. So it may just be rotated wrong, and all you need to do is spin it a little bit then the light will work correctly again. When your abs lights pup up, does the speedo go to zero for a second or at all?

 

Update.
It turned out that the AC clutch was shot, so I got a shorter belt and bypassed it for now, since I don't even have the . No more squeaking and squealing.
Bumper is back on. Front shock transferred from the blue one, will probably do the same with rear shocks. I took it for a spin around the back yard and it feels a bit bouncy in the back. I will try to tag it tomorrow, so I can take it on the highway. No ABS light now, but I have a feeling it will come back, since I haven't swapped the sensor yet.
If weather permits I will paint it this weekend, A couple more things popped up, too. Can't get the front left headlight low beam to work. Swapped light bulbs and still no luck. The harness got smacked quite a bit, so it may be a pinched wire or something like that. I'll have to take it apart. Oh, and the center seat back won't fold. It locked in the accident and it won't release on the left side. I've tried driving in reverse and slamming on the brakes, but it only released the right hinge.

 

Cost update:

$670 purchase price
$70 radiator
$32 salvage yard shopping spree (Overflow tank, fan, pulley, dipstick, battery tray.
$6 hose clamps.
$25 serpentine belt
$5 transmission fluid
$9 coolant
Total: $817

 

Done!

 

Wow. MUCH better. Looks great!