Buying A Cummins I Can't Look At..
 

hey everyone just joined the site yesterday, im a 7.3 owner now but am "switching teams" because im sick of getting my ass kicked by my friend with a common rail. i have a good friend who just started a "1 ton and up" truck dealership out here and he is able to get trucks from auctions out in cali for cheap. so far i have him looking for a regular or extened cab 3500(dually) 96,97, or 98 12 Valve. withOUT EGR and with less than 180k miles. is there anything i should be more specific on when i order my truck, i cannot see the truck before i buy it but his guy in cali doesnt lie to him when he buys trucks... any help is really appreciated thank you.

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ah sorry im also getting the NV4500 with my truck not the auto. and im looking to eventually build it to 500hp/ 1000ft/lbs

Welcome to the board.
I think you have a good idea of what you want for the process of getting one.
Is there a specific color you want? Is there an amount of body damage that you can live with? etc.

the color i want is red or black. id love to be able to paint it peterbilt red. but having the money for that and not spending it on injectors or a turbo will be a challenege. my friend with the truck dealership is optimistic about finding a pretty clean truck. first thing im going to do after changing ALL the fluids is install EGT,boost, and possibly a fuel press gauge. i was thinking about grinding down my own fuel plate like a #5 posibly. i want to be able to tow heavy loads still with out having to change a bunch of parts out. possibly just sliding the fuel plate back. is it worth paying for a new fuel plate or can i just grind my own?

grinding your own is pretty simple. There are a number of pictures with the different tempplates. I don't have my copies since I am on the road. One of the other things you need to do first thing is check the killer dowel pin (kdp). In theory it might be good, but better to be safe then sorry. The kdp was used to assemble the front timing cover. It wiggles itself out and wrecks all the gears and can put a hole in the timing cover. Big deal if it happens. It takes a couple hours and a cheap piece of sheetmetal to stop it. If you are going to tow, I would recommend a tranny temp gauge over a fuel pressure gauge. FP isn't quite as big a deal with the 12V as it is the 24V.

ah alright well thats good i have a set of auto meter gauges (trans temp pyro and boost) out of my 7.3 so all i have to do is mount them when i get my truck (seems like its taking forever to find one. then i gotta wait a week for it to get here.... :ph: ) fuel press is kinda a big deal with the 7.3's but if its not with the 12v's thats always easier on the wallet. if i grind my own plate what would be the best for towing loads (up to and sometimes over 10k, with out egts over 12k) but still be able to simply change it to somethin to keep those rice burners in my mirrors (and coughing :choochoo: )

a #10 plate is a pretty good all around plate for towing and also a little showing off. Placed in the middle it works great towing the gooseneck, slid all the way forward you can black out the sun and shame a lot of ricers. Make sure you get 3200 rpm springs to go with the plate, they make all the difference in the world.

Heres a New Buyers Guide

Truck -----------------------------------Common Issues / Set Backs
1994
KDP, Paint / Primer Failure, 160 Pump, Throttle Cable, Fuel Shutoff Solenoid / Relay Failures, Fuel Lines
1995
KDP, Paint / Primer Failure, 160 Pump, Throttle Cable, Fuel Shutoff Solenoid / Relay Failures, Fuel Lines
1996
KDP, Paint / Primer Failure, ABS Sensor, Fuel Lines, Throttle Cable, Fuel Shutoff Solenoid / Relay Failures, Fuel Lines
1997
KDP, Paint / Primer Failure, Cruise Control Too Sensitive, Throttle Cable, Fuel Shutoff Solenoid / Relay Failures
1998 12 V
KDP, Throttle Cable, Fuel Shutoff Solenoid / Relay Failures
1998.5 24 V
Fuel Delivery Issues
1999
Fuel Delivery Issues, 53 Block
2000
Fuel Delivery Issues, 53 Block
2001
Fuel Delivery Issues, 53 Block, HY's On Auto
2002
Fuel Delivery Issues, HY's On Auto

thanks for all the help ill be at my friends shop with the laptop grinding down my fuel plate to a #10 after changing all the fluids and installing my gauges(any recomendations for manual trans fluid?? i was thinking amsoil)... for the 3200 rpm gsk i know the general idea of how they work but are they very hard to put in?(im mechanically inclined but im defiently not an expert)

mine was already outfitted with 3200 springs but I believe piers diesel has pretty good instructions ...
nevermind, I went ahead and found the link.

PDR Diesel Inc. The turbo diesel performance specialists! - 12V GSK