Hello all, some time this week I'm going to be looking at a 1989 Dodge cummins W250 auto 4x4 pickup. The price is very good from what I've seen them going for.

Truck itself has about 370k miles on it. Previous owner told him the engine in it was swapped with one that has about 70k on it. Bed and fenders are rusty, new trans cooler, new brake lines, starts and runs great any temperature. I don't know the mileage on the transmission, he believes it to be swapped considering the truck's mileage. Said it shifts fine, no issues. Has typical slow rear main leak.

What are some things I should put extra attention into when checking it out or should ask?

 

how much?

 

2700 but he said he'd take less

 

Sound like a good price on it.

 

Disappointing

Front spring hanger is cracked in 2 places, couldn't tell if the crack went through the frame. Rear main dripped every 5-8 seconds after shutting it off, sounded like an idler pulley was starting to go bad, front cab mounts were both shot. He did a lot of brake work but now you have to stand on the pedal to get any sort of stopping power. Drivers side manual hub doesn't feel right, real sloppy and wobbles around when you turn it.
Bunch of small stupid stuff like no taillights, the ignition is messed up sometimes the key won't turn unless you play with it, glow plug indicator light doesn't work, rusted bed sides, rusted fenders, smells like mold as it hasn't been on the road since 05. Also not able to test drive it more than 25mph down his short road since it's not registered. Front end is sloppy, drives worse than my toyota pickup on 40's. Does have a fisher plow in the bed, he came down to 2500 for the truck/plow. Maybe if this thing was 1500 and I had time for another project I might go for it. I think I'll save my money and go for one 1500-2000 more without a plow in much better condition...

It did start right up and run pretty good though.