Input on Possible Purchase

[taweste]

I am going to look at a 1995 F350 powerstroke tomorrow. It has about 80k on it, and was primarily used as a plow/salt/sand truck throughout its life. It has a plow and a dump body. The body is rough, and the rocker panels, cab corners, and a small amount of the floor is rusted out. The dump has some surface rust. It also has the original auto tran, which has a small leak which seems to come from a rusted line. The oil pan is also original. The frame looks solid. He is asking $4k for it. What do you think? I am comfortable taking care of the body work, but the orginal tran and oil pan scares me a bit. However, I feel like it is priced reasonably at $4k. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[erics diesel]

i would be skeptical of that auto trans on a plow truck. lots of shifting forward to reverse and not always easy on it and a new one is alot of cash. if it was me id offer him alot less for it. btw

[95redrifle]

Id stay away from it if you dont want to rebuild a trans. I bought mine with 85k and it belonged to a fire department for the same thing. My trans ended up going out 15k later

[BR'sCrewCab]

A couple k more and you could save yourself a ton of work. Those are some very hard miles

[kctyphoon]

i would walk.. i found my 95 ext cab dually with 112k on it and got it for $4,300 like 4 or 5 years ago. what your going to look at is a work truck that nobody really cared about taking care of. as long as it drove, it was out working.

things to beware of - plows will put alot of extra stress and wear on front end parts, esp if its not a factory option which most likely it wasnt. the transmission has definately seen alot of work, which is a $4,000 item to replace in itself if its an automatic, not sure about manuals. if its a dually there is prob no 4wd, so at least there is no front diff , locking hubs, or transfer case to worry about.

look under the truck for rust. the number 1 place to look is at the rear hangers for the leaf springs and shackles. if they are rusted, or have holes in them they will also need to be relaced. factory ones are rivited in, if they were ever replaced they will have bolts. this in itself is not something that would turn someone away, but its one more thing to add on the list of problems.. theres no sense in getting a good deal on a used truck if you gonna have to spend more than you paid to have it all fixed.

honestly after having a truck like this for a while now i would probably not consder a rusty plow truck as a buy. the plow and the dump kit are probably worth about half of what they are asking for the truck alone, and im sure there is good reason for that. these trucks are getting cheaper to buy, buy are still expensive to fix sometimes. so you can pay now, and pay later too - or just find something better. one option not to overlook is finding one a little further away from where you are. the right truck is worth driving a few hours to look at, and having shipped home if need be. i think i paid $350 to have s truck shipped from Mass to NJ.
do you NEED the plow? do you NEED the dump? ( although that might be fun). is this going into a fleet to work or just going to be a daily driver?

search youtube and there is a video or two on how to buy a used powerstroke. good luck