So a guy near me has a 2001 2500 4x4 with a flatbed and only 60000 miles on it. He is selling it for 800 but it has no title. It was abandoned on some property he bought. It did run and drive and everything works. He drove it last week and then it died on him, so he noticed it was low on gas and when he went to put gas in it he noticed no fuel cap or door. So he's thinking it has water in the tank. Should I buy it? How can I test the water in the gas theory? Can I pour some fuel into the throttle body or should I use starting fluid?

 

$800 seems a little too good to be true, but ya never know. If your really interested in it before you hand over any cash I'd look into getting a title, or something so you would have valid ownership...

 

I'm gonna have the VIN ran first to make sure it's not stolen or has a lein on it. If it comes back clean I can apply for a abandonded title

 

Well if everything checks out on the VIN, just check the truck over real good.

 

If I cant get it titled how hard would it be to swap my quad cab body onto it? If it can be done since it is a reg cab. Or would it be easier to swap the whole driveline? I would really like to have that rearend, 360, and 4x4.

 

I think to put your quadcab body on a single cab you'd have to lengthen the frame.

 

if you can't get it titled, its nothing but a parts truck.
as an 01, it has the better front brakes.
as a 2500, it ...should... have dana 60 axles.
5.9/360 engine, 46re
if you're in a place with a market for parts, its worth plenty.

i'd offer him $500 in its non-running condition and hold pretty firm. i wouldn't work on it at all until it was my truck, because if you fix it, then its worth a lot more.

after its mine, i'd give it a spray of starting fluid down the throttle body while trying to crank it. if it won't hit on that, its got other problems. gas treatment will fix the water in the tank problem. if gas treatment won't clear it up, its pretty easy to drop the tank. you can also test fuel pressure at the test port on the rail on top of the engine.

 

Well I can't get ahold of the guy now for the VIN so I'm guessing it was stolen.