So I had seen a couple of '72-'80 trucks sitting off the road a little ways in front of a repair shop several years ago. Never had the time to stop by until today. Had a few minutes and I was in the neighborhood, so I stop in and ask if either of the trucks are for sale (got a look at the grilles-'77 or 8s). Owner wasn't there (probably a good thing) but employee told me that the RC LB 4x4 was not for sale but the 2wd 3/4t Club Cab LB was. Owner wants $4k for it. Engine supposedly rebuilt (didn't ask what engine was in it) some years back but carb had been stolen.
Are these bringing that kind of money or is the owner dreaming? Yellow and white 2 tone, tailgate missing, carb missing, body looked pretty good other than being almost black from sitting under tree. If I hadn't been in shock I might have looked it over better to see what trans and how the interior was.
Oh, and he had a '67-'71 (employee said owner told him it was a '63) that was not for sale because when he finished fixing it up, it would bring around $40k.


Tim

You would be better off asking to buy some of what they are smoking.

It's an '81, but here's one in my neck of the woods, and not too far from yours. (not mine, and I don't know the seller)

https://okaloosa.craigslist.org/cto/d/defuniak-springs-81-dodge-ram56-150/6796883584.html

That's closer to what I had in mind. I was thinking $1k-2k depending on condition and equipment. Didn't notice any body rust but didn't get within 50' of them. First thing I would have checked for was rusting out above the windshield drip rail if he had come back with a reasonable number. For some reason, above the windshield is kinda hit or miss around here, meaning some have it and some don't.


Tim

Around here those 70s ones are rusted out junk with I need a tetnis shot or I'm gonna get a disease just by looking at it interiors when they're in the 1-2K range. Prices get a little bit better for the plastic grille years.

Maybe the guy that owned the trucks lived in the Midwest rust belt? A rust free 73-80 would bring that kind of money, or at least a lot of people are asking that kind of money here, but it has to be free of rust. Drive train doesn't seem to matter much, unless its a factory 440. The roof and the radiator support are the worst areas, after the floors and wheel wells.
Any pre 94 trucks are getting stupid, price wise, and its pretty hard to find one that still has good sheet metal. Gene

Buddy of mine just stumbled across a 76 half ton factory big block truck that has rusty floor pans and some jacked up wiring for 500 bucks, truck is fairly straight and he drove it on the trailer, it's rough overall but I just looked at it this morning and it's well worth the money and savable. Long wide bed Adventurer Sport.

Check out Craigslist in Pa or Ohio where people are asking $4000-7000 or more for them.

Club cabs and crew cabs are worth more than the standard cab trucks. 4WD even more money. A 4x4 crew cab, running and minimal rust or no rust is a $7000+ truck all day long depending on condition.

Not only have prices really jumped in the past several years for rust-free running & driving models (especially crew cabs, factory 440 Ramchargers, etc.) but people are actually paying a premium for nice examples.


It's a double edged sword though.

Got about 2 days to see how steep the red and white 77 on ebay goes to, and the reserve? Who knows. Club cab long bed w150 in need of a nice set of lil red rims.

I was looking around on craigslist and they really are priced all over the board. Found a '79 PW (poss. Macho) for $1950. I posted the link to it on the ebay, craigslist,etc. forum. Might be worth checking out as it looked pretty good in the pics. There was a '76 350 Club Cab w/ a 400 for $5k that was a running & driving truck.

Maybe I should go back by and check that truck out a little better, get some pics, and a contact number and put that on the ebay, etc. forum.


Tim

I had a parts wanted ad and a guy called me. I went and looked at his truck and it did not have what I needed. Out of curiosity I asked him if he wanted to part the truck out or sell complete. It is an old Air Force service 3/4t 2wd, auto. Nothing special. Had been sitting for about 15+ years since he parked it off a wrecker. Said it ran back then,ok. It was grundgy as you could expect but complete with some dented fenders, cracked glass and mouse ridden rest of it. He said he wanted $4,000.00, it is a '77. He reasoning is simple that is the prices he's been seeing. To me it is a $100.00 parts piece. Also found out the transmission had no reverse. I blame Barret-Jackson for the crazy prices but people need to realize those are very good OE or completely rebuilt.

IMO any 72-80 without rust or very little rust easily repaired brings good money. No rust around roof drip rail or floors especially. Short bed standard cab without rust and a V8, big money.

Just try and fine one.

Having watched prices creep up over the last few years, I started worrying about that too. For a while the late 60s / early 70s chevy p/u was a resto flip that could make money but that trend seems to have faded. Ok, not entirely - saw a 70ish 4wd go for over $100k last month.

I'm thinking it's not a thing to worry about with Dodges as the "investor" car clowns don't have any love for them and the sleazy ebay flippers aren't making any money on them. This year at BJ there were only 2 - a 2wd 80s RC that went for maybe a grand or two over reality and late 80s 4wd RC that went for $30k. Hard to argue with that price when ya consider fresh paint, leather seats, G3 hemi swap, custom bumpers and the build documented on RamChargerCentral. The few LREs that I've seen run across the block over the years didn't go as high as you'd expect for something with obvious "collector value".

Most of the flipper specials that I see in the $10-15k range take a really long time to sell. Start with a running driver for under $2k, spend $5k or more for rust repair and paint, add wheels, tires, exhaust, carpet and you're close to $10k to build. I wouldn't build to flip with a $2k margin and 6 month to sell model. Add in almost zero aftermarket / repop support, Dodge guys are cheap and the corners that cut scaring away buyers with a clue and I can't see this trend lasting.

I paid 5k for my big block W150 club cab short box out of Reno NV. At the time I thought that was high but not easy to find rust free ones like this.

How cool that is! Fresh paint and lookout!

Getting there...

Nice truck! You did very well!

nice indeed!

I have been lusting over this one. Original 440 truck.
Guy wants $30k OUCH !!

I’m probably going to cut loose of my 77 440 SE because it needs far more work than I have time to do. In almost a year I’ve had one day for it. It was suppose to be a good runner, but really just lot drives. Hate to see a high optioned truck go, but it’s a sad sight sitting there. Really don’t know what it will bring. 2wd stuff isn’t popular. The ones I see mostly just stay for sale at like 5-7k.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNz...kFPdFAweHlBbzR3

This one popped up on CL in MD for around $8k 2-3 yrs ago. If I had more garages, I would have been on it. Later showed up at some internet consignment weasel that was trying to get $30k for it. Within the last year I've seen on CL in NJ for $12k. 78 D350 w/ 440.

Now here is somebody that is very out of touch with 72-80 values and no, I wouldn't touch what he's smoking. Listed as an 80 with an ask of $26k. Yes, $26,000.

Unless the south american produced trucks are way different than north american trucks, this thing is one of the worst resto flips I've seen. Even if half this stuff was correct, I don't think I'd touch it.

79 grille, 76 or earlier cab (in cab fuel tank), strange bumpers / mirrors / air cleaner, automatic w/ manual brake pedal, home made looking wheel wheels in the bed, goofy dash vents is odd places, ya gotta see the throttle linkage to believe it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-Other-Pickups/163508971584

I bet a lot of that stuff is original. South American trucks usually didn't incorporate all the changes at the same time as the US did. In Argentina they made the 61-71 truck body style through the late 70s and sold them new into the 80s. They also had a different bed than US trucks.

I don't know what is different about a 79 and 80 grille, but they had that style both years. Is there a paint or bezel difference?

What year does that hood start? I thought it wasn't until 81.

80 grille the two grille parts are blacked out.

I would like to have seen that truck before they started on it. South of the border or not, that is a crappy "resto" if that's what they tried to do. Every other screw doesn't match. Maybe they riveted the name plates on the fenders in the factory down there? Body and paint looks rough even in the pictures.
Guitar, that hood started in '79.

T2R9, that is a nice one.

SomeCarGuy, that's a nice one you have also. If I was in the market for a 2wd, I would probably be all over it.
That's a nice one blewbyu found also but a little (lot) steep in my book.


Tim

Thanks. I go back and forth on keeping it. Hard to find somebody selling one priced to sell when you are looking. Hard to watch one dry rot while time is limited. 20 years ago I’d have had it on the road humming along within 30 days.

The foreign ebay truck is priced typically for that stealership. Ridiculously. And the truck is ugly.

Blewbyu, that's a beautiful truck. MAYBE if it only has something under 50,000 miles and is original paint, runs perfect, rust free, everything works perfectly...could be worth close to $25k to you?

Around here the prices for the pre-94 trucks have gone insane. If you want a clean 4x4, you're not starting for under 5k. 2k can occasionally get you a clean or salvageable 2wd truck but who wants a 2wd?

I've seen this truck, it's a beauty, top dollar but not crazy for this one.

Just last spring got a 90 W250 out of Seattle, stole it for 5K, was almost 4 hours at customs with it, they said no way, said it was 15K min.

I dig the rig - what's not to like about a black big block SE w/ rallye IIs? Might be cooler if it was a shorty.

I go back and forth about selling my LRE. Some times I get annoyed about it tying up my finite amount of garage space when I'm mostly driving one of the other trucks. Cash in, move on, let some body else dig it. That mostly goes away when it cranks right up after sitting for 3 months and I go for a run. Doesn't take more than a few WOT blasts to get to they can sell it when I'm dead. Depends on the mood I'm in when I get around to writing a will.

25K might have me pull the trigger.

There are very few of these trucks here in Wisc.
Most are short bed 4 W.D.
The few that are in decent shape are priced around 5 or 6 grand.
They do sit quite awhile. Just not a popular truck here about.
The ones I see most often are plow trucks and not for sale.

Start posting decent ones that are short bed 4wd, especially standard cab, please!! I wouldn't think they would sit. And I would think WI trucks would have lots of rot underneath especially. And the snowplow trucks are notorious for rust, for obvious reasons.

This one sold for 28K two years ago.

Nice truck but they cheaped out on those brake lines.

There's a pretty simple reason for that - they work incredibly well as plows. Every time a plow guy see's my old one, I always hear the same story - had one, was the best plow I ever had until it rotted away.

Yea, that is a fact! My old 77 3/4 ton was a great plow truck, and the 80 short box chassis I used under my 50 Dodge 4x4 was also a great plow truck. The 77 rusted away after only somewhere around 300,000 miles and was put to rest around 2002. The 50 Dodge on the 80 chassis replaced the 77, and it did very well right up until the lady turned in front of me and I hit her head on. That would have been 2011. The wreck put me out of the snow plowing business because all the plow brackets got bent in the crash. Gene

Thanks but they would be me and no, I didn't change out the brake lines.

You did a beautiful job on the truck but redoing those lines at least at the master cylinder would have made it even cleaner.

I'll have to try and remember to carry the camera and take pic's.

The vintage Ford & Mopar trucks are not popular around here.
Like I said, most are rusty plow trucks and don't see the highway.

The ones for sale are not rusty and probably not local either.
They are almost all short bed 4wd.
Not my bag either.

I was taking about what you called "the few that are in decent shape are 5 or 6 grand", and I thought you were speaking of ones you see listed, and any others I would figure you had camera on cell phone. Not asking you to go out of your way or anything. Just comes natural to me when I see old Mopars. Thanks just the same though.

72-79 seems to be hot here in the SW. Same in California. I’m in the process of buying a 74 Stepside, getting it for 4K. That’s the best I’ve seen price wise in quite awhile. Club cabs seem to be the most in demand.

Yep, there all pretty hot I think from 72-80. Good luck with your purchase!

Here is my plow truck. It's an '85 Power Ram Royal SE 150 4x4. I got it 10 years ago for $2K. It's getting rusty but it's been a great reliable truck.

BEAST ^

That's a beast MuscleMopars.

[quote=RWG75]Now here is somebody that is very out of touch with 72-80 values and no, I wouldn't touch what he's smoking. Listed as an 80 with an ask of $26k. Yes, $26,000.

Unless the south american produced trucks are way different than north american trucks, this thing is one of the worst resto flips I've seen. Even if half this stuff was correct, I don't think I'd touch it.

79 grille, 76 or earlier cab (in cab fuel tank), strange bumpers / mirrors / air cleaner, automatic w/ manual brake pedal, home made looking wheel wheels in the bed, goofy dash vents is odd places, ya gotta see the throttle linkage to believe it.

I admire the attempt
The inner wheel tubs in the bed have been slicked out. Looks like a standard Mexico truck with the foot pump for the windshield washer. Haven't seen any with SE trim, only base trim. I'd say that they had a U.S. parts truck or two

Yeah that's kind of a funny subject.
Most folks don't believe my phone is still hanging on the wall in the other room. I only have three rooms. Bed room, bath room, and the other room. Takes three rings for me to get to the other room.
If it rings three times, I didn't get to it.
Folks who know me call back a couple times.
I am living in the past, and I like it here.
If it weren't for the grand kids, I would not be able to access the web. at all.

The trucks I see are on the side of the road with a 4 sale sign.
Taking pics for me means remembering to bring the digital camera along on my travels. I will try 2 remember 2 bring it, as I do get around the state often enough. I will post what I find.
Currently I only know of a rough '70's Chevy-pick-up with a shop name on the door and a price of $1500. I am hoping to talk him down as I have a 64 Impala that needs a drive train. He's being stubborn but that is part of the game we play.
I haven't seen a Dodge for a couple years now.
Will post anything I see.

^If I could I'd be without a cell I'd be without one too!!!! I don't blame you one bit!

Right now we use them so much at work to communicate off radio.

As much as I like having one, I dislike it more.

Good for you!