Fix old(er) or buy new(er)??

That could be a good price, depending on what he does and what he replaces. I would make sure to get a new oil pump and water pump. I have heard of some who don't replace them and have a failure not long after an over haul. That price is on the lower end of what I have been quoted by a CAT shop to rebuild my 3606E. The down side to using non CAT parts and a non CAT garage is that if you have a problem with the engine it could be a problem getting it repaired on the road. On the other hand, if I was confident in the mechanic, I would probably let him do it. As long as you are not leaking coolant into the oil it should not cause any damage. Coolant in the oil can play havoc on your bearings.

 

Rite so its decided, u keeping it! Good on you! It shouldn't do any harm running it as it is but the problem I have with that is, if Mr Driver checks the oil let's say in the morning when leaving and the stop leak stuff gives in 100miles down the road then how long would he run b4 realising there is coolant getting into the oil?

I don't know but if it was I and I had the money I would do the rebuild asap!
You have commited to this truck now for the long haul, put the money in asap before it costs you more.

Great decision, good luck.

 

9 grand I'd do it. "Kevin Rutherford special" lol

 

I would do it at that price. And agree that if it needs to be done, sooner rather than later. Just a tow bill alone can eat up a chunk of change.

 

Fix the current truck. When buying a used truck, you are just mainly buying someone else's problems and have no clue about the truck or previous maintance. Trust me, this is coming from someone with MUCH used truck experience and woes!!!

If it's only gonna run you $9k for a rebuild, then I say go for it as well. Plan a week down and have it done ASAP. AsBill said, a $1,000 tow bill will ruin that estimate quickly!!!!

Plus the FLD is probably one of the best model trucks ever made, and you got it on a good year 98-99 I feel were the best as I have owned 3 of them

 

While I understand the point you're trying to make, my situation really isn't normal.

For the record, I got the rig at 50% of its market value and 90% of the repairs and modifications I did were voluntary and not 'required' to be made road-ready....
While it is true that the Stealership did take a good amount of money from me, that leeaching is over.....

I planned to take about a year to restore this rig and have essentially completed it - within that time frame...
She looks GREAT for a 1999 too....I get a lot of compliments. Even from the scale house I was in last week in IL:

"Good lookin' rig there son..."

 

I got the same thing last week when the IL DOT pulled me over and did a roadside inspection. First thing he said was "Beautiful truck", which then I replied "It can be yours for a low low monthly payment"

 

I think image carries a good deal with these guys.
If you and your truck are PRESENTABLE and there aren't Fritos/Doritos bags and crap all over the dash....
they know that a driver that keeps his truck and person tidy, likely keeps things legal and corrected.

 

Good words of advice. I would never have thought of that but its probably true like anything else appearance matters. If you look professional and keep a tidy truck they may not be so observant when doing the inspection.

 

Before you toss out someones name here you ought to have some sort f clue about the situation that you're speaking about.
Hanadarko's truck was more than roadworthy when he bought it and 90% of the work he has done or had done was elective because he is a bit of a perfectionist and therefore did many things that were not necessary for the operation of the truck and rather were done because he wanted to.

I have driven his truck and it runs and drives like a new one, as does mine which has 1.6 million miles on the clock.
To make a blanket statement that a truck is worn out and worthless or a "money pit" after 1 million miles is simply not true...It is related more to how well the truck was engineered/built and maintained than to how many miles are on it.

A well maintained Freightliner is gonna be a better truck than a poorly maintained PACCAR product but a well maintained PACCAR product is gonna outlast anything else out there...with the possible exception of the T-2000/T700 and it's Peterbilt cousins that are essentially poorly engineered fleet junk!