Why would you tempt me with a vehicle that pretty much fit my initial criteria located 2-3 miles away from me? The only things I'm not too fond of is the long bed (although probably better for towing) and lack of a tailgate. If the bench seat is good underneath the towel, I would keep it, otherwise I'd figure out a way to adapt the buckets that were in my Dart. But, I can't get it right now as I don't have a place to put it and I am awaiting the arrival of my Dart.

The thing about the old trucks, after learning from my Dart, is that I'd want to go through it completely before putting it to road work. So knowing me I'd want to replace/fix almost everything. Rotors/drums, pads/shoes, bearings, bushings, ball joints, shocks, springs, radiator, wheels and tires, steering box, etc. So, what was a $3k truck just now became an $8k investment. Although that truck would have probably ended up with the top end (ported J heads, M1 intake, 750 blow thru carb, and Paxton Supercharger) from the 360 I bought since I decided to stroke it.

$3k is a bit for a long bed needing a bit of stuff still...

For $3k you can buy a late model Suburban or pickup (in a Chevy) that you can pretty much jump into a tow or use and not worry about. Will need to be smogged but they go through pretty much with no probs anyways.

I have bought and chopped up a ton of big block late model Sub's even...all been pretty nice things and paid less then $1500 for all of them. Even bought a ton of dually's too and paid less than $3k for them, usually closer to $2k and that is with alcoa's (etc) on them. Suburbans are cheaper for the what you get for the money and how clean they are... but hard to beat them or Chevy trucks for bang for the buck around here IMO.

(assuming you just want something to use that is and not necessarily another project) and if you did want a project I think a short bed early truck would be the way to go..at least for chance of getting your money back out of it in the long run, or something unique like a crew cab,etc)

Good luck in whatever you find. Before you buy a truck look a full time four wheel drive power wagon. Nothing like driving a 7000 lb 3/4 ton truck that pulls and pushes you thru the corner. It was so much fun driving that truck in high school the four speed was a plus too.

I think I found you one...

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/5382683801.html


Not in Calif. but close by...

http://kpr.craigslist.org/cto/5383335442.html

79 needs to be smogged...probably much much better off with either a pre 1975 or a late model injected thing IMO...

If the lack of tailgate and bench seat condition is a deal killer, I have a spare tailgate I'd let go and a set of bucket seat bases that need a home. Plus I'm leaving for Utah so a spot in my driveway just opened up for a bit.

Where there's a will, there's a way!

Newer trucks don't always ride better. My daily driver is a 4wd with an offroad package and has a very stiff ride. The Sweptline 2wd trucks I've driven, with the front I-beam axle and leaf springs, didn't seem bad and maybe better in comparison. I'm sure the 72-93 2wd IFS trucks have an even better ride.

I was a passenger in someone's 2000s Nissan 2wd truck and it felt like riding in a luxury car compared to my truck.

What are your guy's thoughts on the newer Rams or Durangos with the Pentastar V6 and 8-speed transmission? Do you think that would be up to do the task or would a 5.7L Hemi be better? There are quite a bit of pre-owned Ram 1500's on the dealer lots. The only problem with the newer trucks is I'm going to have to trade in my daily driver (currently getting 24-25 mpg combined - rated at 26 combined) so I'll be losing about 5-6 mpg using the truck as a daily driver. If gas gets to $4/gallon like it did a couple of years ago, I'll be miserable and will probably have to buy a Dodge Neon to replace it for daily driver duties. Lol.

Here's an example of one. 5.7L hemi and 8-speed Quad Cab with 22, 000 miles on the clock.

http://www.glendorachryslerjeepdodge.com/used/Ram/2014-Ram-1500-2a5658ef0a0e0adf1b5616a03d9d8081.htm

Bringing this back from the dead... Again. So, thinking back on this and actually looking at the market the past couple weeks, my mind started pointing to Dakotas. I looked at first Gen's because they're cheap and light and then I started looking at 2nd Gen's and didn't really see anything that caught my eye.

Now I'm starting to look at Ram 1500's. I'm looking more at the 94-01 era and maybe into the early 2000's, but I don't want to spend too much money. Most of what I'm looking for is a truck in the $4k or less range. This vehicle will not be my primary mode of transportation, but a backup vehicle that I can use to haul parts or tow the Dart when needed be. I don't figure I'd put more than 2-3k miles a year on it. I think now, what would be a good combo is a 4x4 Extended Cab, short bed, with a 5.9L. If I do go this route, sometime in the future I would like to do some slight modifications to it so that I can take it on some trails out here in California. Maybe a 2-3" lift with bigger tires. Nothing crazy like a trailing arm kit. What are your thoughts?

Around here a 94-2001 means rotted out door bottoms, box sides above the wheels, and junk front fenders. You probably won't experience the rust issues where you live. Then a cracked dash board, tore driver side seat, and wore out front suspension about every 3 years (pretty much all the suspension parts) are standard equipment. The trans issues the early trucks had have probably been addressed by now. Then, plugged or broken cats and loud exhaust is expected. Past that, most seem to run pretty well, deliver decent ride comfort, and seem capable of pulling down 16-18 mpg on the highway, 10 mpg in town.
97 to about 2004 seem to be slightly better trucks, but I'd be weary of 2006 or 2007 or newer trucks. The 97-2004 1500 seems to be a pretty good bang for your bucks. The 2500s have higher maintenance costs, and most 3500 are over priced. Of course, this is all my opinion. Gene

I haven't seen the any rot on any of the trucks out here, but torn seats are in almost every ad with the occasional cracked dash. I found a couple trucks in the area that loom decent, but each has their pros and cons.

https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/5503838308.html

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/5509288460.html

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/5517628504.html

I found this one a few weeks ago...


1998 Ram

I'm kind of at an internal struggle at what to look at. The blue '01 has all of the options I like but has the most miles. The '02 has most the options I want, but seem to be a little weathered on the outside and priced a little more than what I want to spend at the moment. The Regular Cab is the cleanest out of the 3, but doesn't have 4x4, extra room in the back seats, or a 5.9L.

If it were me, there would be NO WAY I would consider a newer truck to 'tinker on'.

Here's some older ones that look OK.

http://bakersfield.craigslist.org/cto/5517735630.html

http://bakersfield.craigslist.org/cto/5510856091.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/5484754162.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/5506463993.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/cto/5491693395.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/cto/5460160189.html

One in your town.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/cto/5442949519.html

You're forgetting that any car newer than '75 has to go through a routine smog check every 2 years and cannot have any modifications unless it has a CARB tag on it. Usually the most you can do is a set of headers, a cat back, and maybe a cold air intake. Besides that, everything must be stock. The other half older than '75 are about out of my price range right now.

I already talked to the guy in my town. That car has been listed for 2-3 months at that price. There's a reason why it hasn't sold yet. It's definitely a $1500 truck.

All you guys that can buy clean 70's dodge trucks and are allowed to be picky need a slap...just the jealousy coming out that's all

Oh well.

I love California and I'd live there if I could but there are some unfortunate rules in regards to cars.

Guess that's one nice thing about NY, older cars only require a safety inspection.

Still, if you have a decent budget, find a cheaper one from '72-'75 and put some bucks into it. The newer ones are boring!

I'm a little gunshy of '02's.

Back in '05 I bought an '02 with about 40K miles on it.

Four years later I was calling the finance company to come repo the dang thing.



At the time that pic was teken, the truck still had less than 100K on it, but, it needed at least $4K of repairs. The truck was basically spitting parts faster than I could pay off the note.

Mine was a 2 wheel drive with the 4.7. Oddly, for all the horror stories you read about now on the 4.7, that was the one thing that wasn't giving me issues. Everything else was crapping out.

In all honesty, my current '93 Dakota with almost 164K miles on it has needed and does need less work that that truck.

If you kind of read between the lines in regards to the smog testing, I'm thinking that "they" don't want you driving around in a a poorly tuned junker or a race car with open headers. There are millions of cars built between 1976 and the OBDII cars, NONE of them are allowed to have any modifications to perform better?

So, do they start looking at engine block numbers? Like say you put a 360 in place of the 318 in your 1976 D100 they fail you? Or if you put a Performer intake with a Holley carb on said lo-po 318 they say no dice? What if you spend the time and effort to tune it well enough to pass, what then?

With my truck, I am kind of doing what "they" want for my own benefit. I'm getting rid of the 'performance mods' the P.O. did - huge cam, hi-rise intake etc. I drive the thing regularly on longer trips (110 miles+) so fuel economy is somewhat important. I bought a milder cam and a low-rise intake to replace the overkill Ricky racer stuff in hopes of seeing double-digit mileage.

I also got an A/F gauge to monitor how rich the thing was. When you tune your junk correctly I would guess the added benefit is reduced emissions. (to a point) I have no idea how my truck would look on a sniffer test in California but I'm guessing it would fail miserably. I suppose that's the issue...

Regardless, there's really none of that critical thinking involved with a newer truck, it's just replacing stuff that doesn't work if you can't do any 'modifications'. Have fun messing with EVAP and EGR codes.

Correct...you need to keep all of the original emissions related items on the engine. The smog test is not only a dyno type tail pipe test but also a visual inspection of the engine, evap system, etc, etc.

Going to a 360 from a 318 wouldn't be an issue most likely, but you would have to keep all of the original smog/emissions related devices the 318 used.

You can upgrade as long as the replacement parts have a C.A.R.B. (CA air resources board) number for them.

That is why most people here don't try and mess with performance upgrades on anything from the late 70's and 80's era. Better off to go with a pre-1975 or something later model that there is easy to get smog legal bolt ons for (exhaust, tuners, etc)

At least our stuff doesn't rust.