1994 Kenworth T800?

There's a guy selling a T800 here locally about that age. Bare chassis and he wants to keep the rear hubs. Truck also had a hole punched through the grill and a cracked timing cover. Think he was asking about $5k Canadian. Overpriced IMO. You may as well try and get it cheap as possible because its going to have lots of problems, especially because its been sitting so long. Count on replacing the brake treadle valve, if its stuck, its toast and you'll be wasting time trying to free it up (been there, done that). Also count on all the tires being rotten as well as most of the airlines and wiring out the back end. Having a truck sitting outside and not running is harder on it than actual driving.

 

Just looked at the ad again. It was a '95 with similar miles and he was actually asking $5900 Canadian. I wouldn't go much more than $3.5k for that particular truck. The one you're looking at might be in better condition.

 

Was it sitting outdoors the whole time it sat?

 

Hi icex, I'd stay clear of that unit. A 20+ year old truck that's been sitting for 10 years may not be the best deal. Unless you can get it dirt cheap, there are plenty of trucks out there, that are still running. A truck sitting for years is the kiss of death and I'm sure you'll regret it. Air system, fuel lines, oil seals, cooling system. Best keep looking.

 

I would run, far away. I bought a 1980 W9 off a guy about a year and a half ago with the intent of restoring it for fun. Same story, truck worked up until '04 when he bought a new one. Truck sat and got moved around his yard a couple times and that was it. All the tires were rotten, all the braided air lines were dry rotted, wiring harnesses were rock hard, numerous oil leaks (except from the engine amazingly, gotta love CAT). Even the frame bolts were so corroded I slammed a sledgehammer into the frame rail while pulling the diffs and watched a bunch of bolt heads just pop off. I ended up having to take the truck right down to the rails and start fresh it was so bad.

 

Nonononononononono! You can get rigs with fresh dot inspections for that. Sitting is the worst thing you could do to a truck.

 

Good tips in this thread.