I bought my truck Christmas.I had been looking for a 12 Valve quad cab for about 8 months and found 1 but it was regular cab and I had to have at least extended cab so I started looking for quad cabs 4x4 24 Valve I found a few but they where either beat up badly or had a lot of miles(Over 300K)and didn't look like they where taken very good care of.My Uncle is a farmer and he had a friend who had show horses and said he had just bought a new truck and thought he might sell his old 1.I bought it first time I seen it.1998 SLT 24 valve 4x4 extended cab 5-speed Longbed.199,000 miles Bone Stock,everything works,NO CRACKED DASH.he was 2nd owner it hAd 140K when he bought in 2004.He had wrote down oil&fuel filter changes and had done those every 6,000 miles and when I bought it the oil&fuel filters had not been changed in over a year.I changed oil and it still looked good(not real black) and fuel filter also looked good(not gummed up)and the older man(who knew my uncle seemed honest)said the only BIG things he had done to the truck was Clutch(I don't know what kind but it does squeak some when pressing on)and he also said he DID replace the dreaded Lift Pump(I also don't know what kind he replaced it with)Body is Very Good(clear coat coming off in a couple of places)This is my first Diesel and any help or suggestions would be appreciated.Do I need to adjust the Valves?Or do anything else Maintenance wise Truck also came with CarFax.I have a cousin with same truck&year model as mine buy his is shortbed quad cab(he bought 6 months ago with 126,000 on it& he paid about $6000 more for his)that his lift pump just went out on and then injector pump now and he is having fixed at $2700.I don't have that kind of$ to spend on mine so any suggestions on this would help.

 

So,,,,How much $$$ did you pay for that '98' 24 valve' 200k miles ?



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Id start looking into a fuel pressure gauge and if you can afford it I'd do a exhaust temp gauge and boost. Fuel pressure is the first thing to worry about with 98.5-02 vp44 dodge trucks. I have a 99 and currently doing a head gasket and rebuilding the 5 speed in it. Absolutely love the truck and hope you do as well!

 

X2. I wanna know how much you paid. I got my 98.5 3500 4x4 auto for 9, hopefully you didn't pay to much more.

 

I got mine for $9,000 and I have been trying to upload pictures& can't get them to upload? As I said this truck is Mint and was ordered new from a family friend and has been kept inside and been taken care of.I looked for 8 months and could've bought a 2003 Super cab 4x4 F-350 with 6.0 with 98,000 for the same $.I also could have bought a 3500 4x4(179,000 miles)for $7500 but it had some dings and was a Auto&I wanted Manual.Yes mine is a 98' 24 Valve Manufactured 04/1998 the only downfall of this truck is it has the Dreaded 53 Block but it has 203,000 on it now and the warmest I have seen it was 190 and that was LOADED!Devon 527 as you said I Love the truck and it's a blast to drive&as soon as it warms up I'm putting on a fuel Pressure Gauge!Thanks

 

Glad to hear it! I got my 99 for 7,000 its a extended cab short bed with the 5 speed behind it and I bought it with 224,xxx miles. The guy needed to buy a mini van because he was having twins and it needed a clutch, tires, and the syncros in the tranny were starting to grind.

 

Open a photobucket account, upload the pictures there. Then copy the "IMG" code on the right side of the screen and paste it here in the forum. Easy Peasy.

 

Here it is.