lol i was offered THIS...

Ya, don't forget the little hula girl on the dash either.

 

So....What does the Star have for an engine/Transmission? Any idea what the mileage is on the thing or on the engine/transmission?? Rear ends?
How are the brakes? Tires?


Nothing will break you quicker than a "cheap" truck and the inability to fix it yourself!
You'll be amazed by the sheer number of things that can go wrong on that truck in the first year of use.
How about the radiator, Air to air shocks, air bags? Have you looked closely at the frame for cracks? Cross members? What kind of shape is the wiring in?

These are all things that you need to look carefully at when you're considering buying a truck and even more so on a truck that age.

I would not be afraid of the truck but I can fix anything that goes wrong with it myself if need be and I have pretty good cash reserves on hand as well.
For a guy with limited resources that's just starting out, It might be another matter!

Sometimes the cheapest route into a truck can get very expensive, Very fast...Be careful!

 

This is a great post. Drivers that drive older equiptment have a huge advantage if they have mechanical skills.

Any driver with mechanical skills has an advantage no matter the age of his truck.

 

Huge red flag right there!

Mechanical skills are a plus...And TOOLS! Lot'n lots of TOOLS!

I have three HUGE rollaways at home and a couple'a small tool boxes that I carry on the truck and I have friends that I can borrow the tool that I don't have from!


Don't be afraid to buy MORE TOOLS because there are never enough tools!

 

I've drove trucks like that cabover. I hear guys complaining about the ride on their modern freightliners and whatnot. Those same guys would die in an old truck like that. And a 6v71 with a 9 speed will make you the most underpowered truck on the road. Those things have very little torque and what they do have is way up there near the governer. You have to wrap it up for every shift and even then you will have a hard time getting out of your own way. Those motors also get like half the fuel mileage that more modern ones do.

 

my first truck was just like that now im 6ft 3in tall about cramped never never again. my W900L has me spoiled.

 

lol....I've got one of them. I'll have to find it to put it in the truck. Found it in my grandpa's house after he passed...I guess he always had it on the dash in his trucks...

 

My great grandfather has pictures of a truck like that the he ran when I was a toddler. He had netting screwed to the ceiling of the sleeper for storage. Kept lots of his stuff hanging right over him while he slept.