deal or no deal....early 99 psd

[ty91sho]

ok guys so i dont post much here just search alot. and i need some input on this truck that i found and went to look at tonight. heres the link.. 99 F250 Super Duty Super Cab Short Box

so i went to brainerd to test drive it and look her over really good. and well the motor is sound and seems fine to me. the rear exhaust manifold studs are still intact. he has a superchip on it. which scares me some cuz he doesnt have any gauges...at all. no egt. no tranny temp. nothin. he says he uses it as a daily driver. and he drove it from alaska a few months back pullin a 16ft trailer with no problems he said. soo then i took it for a test drive. starts up fine(mind you he drove it a few miles to meet me at a gas station so it is warm) no smoke. sounds good. nothing major. take it down the road and it goes through the gears just fine. turn around after a few miles to bring it back and just keeping the pedal stedy it seems to miss 3rd gear while accelerating. now my big question is how many gears does the 4r100 have. or should i say you would feel? is it three then the converter lock up?

so in the end the body is shot. needs new box, hail damage on hood and roof. fenders rusted. tires are newer. needs balljoints/idler pitman.possible wheelbearings, front brake rotors at least. abs light on. interior is very nice. motor has hardly any leaks. the valley is dry, just the drain plug itself that i can see has a leak. tranny fluid level fine. fluid looks and smells good. the tranny is what worries me? hmm he was originaly at 5500 bucks i got him down to 4grand now. but now i see he edited his ad to 4500. so i think i could get him lower now that the tranny is alittle sketchy, so what you guys think if i could get it for 3500ish? deal or no deal

oh and this truck seems to squrim alot goin down the road also. not like the front end seems like the rear end moves...idonno maybe the body mounts? i forgot to look at them
thanks much tyler

[Dieseltorkin]

The 4R100 has 4 Gears. The Trans shift prob could be caused by the superchips and/or the torque converter locking. If the trans is bad your Gonna be in the $2-3K depending on what route you go, so that would almost double the investment in the truck with just that. Sounds to me like your Lookin at havin 10K+ in this truck in order to return it to good condition with a new bed and fixing the rest of the body on it along with everything else you listed. Unless your looking for a project rig IMO i would stay away from it. Theres pleanty more of them out there in better shape

[korterman1]

Yep, keep looking, tell the seller thanx but no thanx, sounds like a money pit, also unless u r stuck on a extended cab, might think about a crew cab, alot more back seat room.

[GoFastPadre]

X3 look further down the road. You will find a much better truck worth the money you pay for it.

[ty91sho]

thanks for the input guys.
the bodywork is no problem as thats what i went to school for. i found a box for 600 bucks. and everything else would be fixable. just the tranny is bad. so i think i might go look at it again and take the chip out/off and see what the tranny does then. he said he put in a new tranny at 140k and i seen the receipt, so yes the new tranny could be on the last legs at 225k. we will see...

edit: oh and i noticed that the a/c does work but it just comes out of the defroster vents. so iam guessing it has a bad vacuum pump or a leak?

[Rob454]

. When i sold my last truck the guy tried to talk me down and I flat out told him. EVERYTHING on my truck works it needs NOTHING to make it 100%. The trucks youre showing me coudl have problems wrecked whatever. if you feel Im asking too much go buy someone elses.

Personally I would look for a better model. Youll probably pay more for one that has no problems. I rather pay more for a truck that has no problems than pay less for a truck that has problems. Unless youre willing to fix and repair all the problems that the truck has keep looking. if the guy is willing to let the truck go for less than 4500. 3500 he may say no but he might go for 4000 cash. The transmission could be anything so before you assume you need a whole new tranny find out what is actually wrong with it.