Alright, so I've been thinking about buying a 97 12 valve my boss offered to sell me. the problem is, my parents aren't really on board about getting rid of my toyota 4 banger and getting this cummins but they're gonna give me a chance to sell them on it. now before you say a high school kid doesn't need this much truck, you should know that I go to quite a few rodeos, I work on a cattle outfit, and I also raise my own calves as well. The thing is I need to prove to them that it will be better to drive a cummins full time than a ford 460 maybe 25-30% of the time. so I need advice on what to tell them to persuade them to let me buy this truck. Its a 1997 12 valve 5 speed 4x4 extended cab with 240000 miles for $6500
So really ANY advice you might have will be handy. Thanks.

 

First things first if you buy will you have money left over? If not k wouldn't recommend it for younger person. Everything is twice as much on a diesel pickup..oil,fuel,filters,front end rebuilds,transmissions,tires,insurance. But that being said if taken care of properly they can last for a good 1 million miles. Typically you can get better mpg. If you buy it have the killer dowel pin fixed if not already this pin can back itself out and damage timing cover costing some mulaahhh. You'll need gauges tp monitor everything. Everything that's 100 bucks to fix on your Toyota is 200 or more for a diesel. If you don't have any mechanical experience it'll cost to have someone fix break downs and do standard maintenance. An oil change is easily 60-100 dollars. Front end rebuilds are 1800 if you do it yourself, transmission rebuilds if its an auto can cost upwards of 3k and that's a basically a stock rebuild. A 4-600 HP trans is anywhere from 4-6k
Get my point yet? IM NOT TRYING TO CHANGE YOUR MIND! I'm giving real life facts. Good luck keep us posted.

Sent from my DROID RAZR

 

Thanks, like I said I do a lot of hauling so i'm not looking to be one of those kids who just wants to roll coal everywhere they go. I've taken pretty much all the fuel and basic maintainence into account already so fuel and oil changes aren't scaring me especially compared to the fords single digit mpgs with a trailer on. the guy selling also happens to do pretty much all the maintainence on the ranch owners semis and tractors and he's pretty thorough so I think he takes really good care of it. oh and yeah, I probably won't have a ton left over but I do have a good job that I will probably last through high school plus I will be selling some calves next spring so getting money isn't much of an issue for me.

 

I would do it...P7100 12v is a damn reliable motor! and with a 5spd, bulletproof!

start modding it and that will increase maintenance costs and risks of breaking stuff, but keep her stock or close to it and she'll treat you good for a nice long while...

just be aware that dodge front ends are junk..

steering assemblies are crap, track bars are crap, ball joints don't last too long, steering box is barely supported and usually craps out. steering columns tend to go bad in the bottom and make creaking and popping noises...

I've got a lot of money just in front end fixes with converting to 4th gen steering and 3rd gen track bar, moog ball joints, etc...

far as the motor and trans goes...should be a good decent truck. just keep in mind that the front end and the rest of the truck are likely going to put a drain on your wallet with maintenance.

 

yeah thats what i'm worried about but maybe pulling a gooseneck will help take some pressure off the front end. I don't really know. but mostly I need advice about how to talk my parents into it.

 

Tell dad that your Toyota is getting 14 mpg and the Dodge will get you around 20!! That ought to pop his bubble.

 

I use to own a ford with the 460, it was a good motor and truck. But when it came to fuel milage, it couldn't pass a gas station. And it was starting to cost me money to keep it going. So when I bought my 12valve it was stock and got good milage compared the 460. And since I've modded it some, I have seen the milage go up a little. The 12valve your looking at would pull your trailer fine in stock form. But if you do get it, I would get the killer dowel pin dealt with asap if it hasn't been dealt with. And then get an egt gauge installed.

 

I'll leave it stock except for maybe a straight pipe tow mirrors and 3rd gen rims