Newbie buying advice
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From: Portland,Or
Newbie buying advice
Looking at a 97 V8 Sport, 4x4 with 140k, Rebuilt transmission, great shape for 2800.00
What's the most important thing to inspect or watch out for?? Thanks in advance to all you Dak lovers out there. Marshall in Portland.
What's the most important thing to inspect or watch out for?? Thanks in advance to all you Dak lovers out there. Marshall in Portland.
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 10
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From: Portland,Or
Don't know yet. I'll see it tonight. My son found it and love's it so far. What's the easiest way to check the BJ's? or is there.
We're both gearheads and will do most of any repairs ourselves.
We're both gearheads and will do most of any repairs ourselves.
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Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Okemos, MI
Belly pan gasket. Don't know how to go about checking it prior to purchase. Ask about oil usage? Lots of black sooty deposits around the tailpipe? There may be oil in the intake, which will be visible, but yanking off a TB is a pretty extensive pre-purchase investigation, and it might not even let you know one way or the other for sure.
It isn't a really "hard" or expensive fix, but it is definitely time-consuming and messy.
As for the suspension, the ball joints are cheap and easy to replace. In fact, i think pretty much everything up front is relatively cheap and easy to replace. I wouldn't not buy it because of suspension issues, but I would use it as bargaining leverage for sure if I could point out that something appeared to be going bad. Look for abnormal wear on the tires. Bad ball joints on my truck caused pretty significant cupping on the inside tread in pretty quick amount of time. Shocks will tend to cause both the outside and inside to wear prematurely. Don't forget to check the back tires in case a recent rotation was done. Also, the ball joints will definitely start to squeak or clunk. Slow speeds, lots of bumps, with the window down will give you any indication of noise coming from up front.
Rust. That has been covered. If it is metal, it is prone to rust. No other way to explain it.
It isn't a really "hard" or expensive fix, but it is definitely time-consuming and messy.
As for the suspension, the ball joints are cheap and easy to replace. In fact, i think pretty much everything up front is relatively cheap and easy to replace. I wouldn't not buy it because of suspension issues, but I would use it as bargaining leverage for sure if I could point out that something appeared to be going bad. Look for abnormal wear on the tires. Bad ball joints on my truck caused pretty significant cupping on the inside tread in pretty quick amount of time. Shocks will tend to cause both the outside and inside to wear prematurely. Don't forget to check the back tires in case a recent rotation was done. Also, the ball joints will definitely start to squeak or clunk. Slow speeds, lots of bumps, with the window down will give you any indication of noise coming from up front.
Rust. That has been covered. If it is metal, it is prone to rust. No other way to explain it.
Belly pan gasket. Don't know how to go about checking it prior to purchase. Ask about oil usage? Lots of black sooty deposits around the tailpipe? There may be oil in the intake, which will be visible, but yanking off a TB is a pretty extensive pre-purchase investigation, and it might not even let you know one way or the other for sure.
It isn't a really "hard" or expensive fix, but it is definitely time-consuming and messy.
As for the suspension, the ball joints are cheap and easy to replace. In fact, i think pretty much everything up front is relatively cheap and easy to replace. I wouldn't not buy it because of suspension issues, but I would use it as bargaining leverage for sure if I could point out that something appeared to be going bad. Look for abnormal wear on the tires. Bad ball joints on my truck caused pretty significant cupping on the inside tread in pretty quick amount of time. Shocks will tend to cause both the outside and inside to wear prematurely. Don't forget to check the back tires in case a recent rotation was done. Also, the ball joints will definitely start to squeak or clunk. Slow speeds, lots of bumps, with the window down will give you any indication of noise coming from up front.
Rust. That has been covered. If it is metal, it is prone to rust. No other way to explain it.
It isn't a really "hard" or expensive fix, but it is definitely time-consuming and messy.
As for the suspension, the ball joints are cheap and easy to replace. In fact, i think pretty much everything up front is relatively cheap and easy to replace. I wouldn't not buy it because of suspension issues, but I would use it as bargaining leverage for sure if I could point out that something appeared to be going bad. Look for abnormal wear on the tires. Bad ball joints on my truck caused pretty significant cupping on the inside tread in pretty quick amount of time. Shocks will tend to cause both the outside and inside to wear prematurely. Don't forget to check the back tires in case a recent rotation was done. Also, the ball joints will definitely start to squeak or clunk. Slow speeds, lots of bumps, with the window down will give you any indication of noise coming from up front.
Rust. That has been covered. If it is metal, it is prone to rust. No other way to explain it.
One thing I know that is expensive up front is bearing hub assembly auto zone wants 198.99 for one side
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