Hey guys- I picked up a truck recently for a great deal. It's a 99 extended cap 4wd with the 5.9. in pretty good shape has some minor flaws. I picked it up for a friend and want to make sure it's solid before I hand it over. He may be driving it as a daily driver for a few years. I wonder if you guys could help make sure I don't miss anything and that it's as solid as possible. My friend lives 700 miles away.

I have done a tube up- plugs wires rotor and cap. Air filter, a valve cover gasket and one exhaust manifold gasket. Did the pcv. Have a belt, tensioner and an idler pulley to go on it.

Brakes appear to have been replaced recently. Will check.

Front end doesn't feel horrible, but it has 110k on it and it looks original, so I bought all new Moog stuff. So that will be fine.

Gas tank strap rusted out I replaced one of them.

I know I'm supposed to check the plenum gasket with a mirror and a magnet. Haven't yet.

Interior driver seat is ripped. Got a deal on a passenger cushion which I understand fits pretty decently. So that's done.

Dash is shot. Thinking of a cover rather than replacing. Thoughts?

Rear bumper was rusted out I cut it off got new bolts and put a new one on.

Issues I haven't figured out yet: .Appears to have weak poswer steering when cold and relatively stiff most of the time. Thinking about just putting s pump in it.

Little bit of a wooshing or hissing noise when cold and accelerating. Almost sounds like bearings maybe it's the p/s pump?

Slight clunk in the steering column. Sometimes when turning, low speed going over a bump. Really feels like it's the actual column and not the front end. Is this a thing?

Anything I missed and should check?

Thanks a bunch for reading and sorry for the long post.

 

Do the plenum fix, and timing chain and gears while you are that deep.

Dash cover won't help is there is nothing to glue it to. Replacements can be had for a couple hundred bucks. If you go that route, replace the heater core while you are in there. (if the dash is really bad, makes doing the heater core easy.... don't need to pull the dash. )

For the clunk in the column, look up Rock Solid Ram Steering fix.

Where did you find a new bumper??

 

My '99 had the clunk in the steering column to. I just lived with it. If your going to all this trouble, replace the front wheel bearings. Also check the rear u-joint on the drive shaft. While you're under there, replace the main brake line that goes to the back (if it hasn't been already).

This must be some special friend....

 

Yeah, plenum, steering, and dash are the big three issues. Everything else is just annoying.

Get that new belt and tensioner on and the steering should lighten up. I just did mine last week.
Yep, passenger seat swaps right in the driver's.
Hissing is the throttle body. Do a good cleaning on it. I have a diy here somewhere. Also check that the air hat is properly sealed.
Might want to do whatever the auto guys do to old trans to extend the life. Something about a check valve?
Steering clunk is just the column. Wouldn't worry about it.
You're an awesome friend. Good job!

 

The check valve is in one of the flexible cooler lines that attach to the radiator. It can clog up & cause tranny troubles. I think the fix is to eliminate it.
Mike Sal

 

 

Wonder if they have any unpainted....

 

why wonder?

 

Cool. My rear bumper is more not there, than there.......

 

I used my plasma cutter to remove areas of the face bar to get at the support structure bolts, so maybe you're already halfway there!