Is a truck that's been sitting for 7 years good to learn how to drive in

why do you need positive thoughts?

You already have your mind made up and a plan that you think will work.

The truck with 300k parked for 7 years is a parts truck at that point unless you know how to go through it and refurb it for the road. Then you may still need a good reserve to cover problems that you will encounter when it breaks down - and be at the mercy of the parts changers because real mechanics are now fading away.

 

Again, I do this for a living, I have had a lot of older trucks that were just sitting for a long time and most of them were not just a problem to get going but the risk of them breaking down was always a lot higher than one that was just pulled off the lot after being used for 750k or so.

It already has been mentioned about seals, air hoses and such drying out, but then there are electrical issues with mice and other critters, there are stuck rings and valves and so on. Then there is sediment in the cooling system, and other issues of the radiator/heater core(s) and so on. See a lot of it in my time in both trucks and cars.

But as I said, you have your mind made up, that's for sure so good luck.

 

I probably wouldn’t worry too much about air lines. I have multiple trucks that are late 80s and early 90s that generally haven’t had any problems with the nylon air lines. Even have a 1972 with mostly original nylon lines and honestly feel better about them than some newer trucks. One thing that does destroy them is sun so hopefully they’re protected or you will almost certainly need to replace them. The short rubber hoses that go between the brake valves and the chambers probably should at the least have a good look over although they’re relatively inexpensive to replace. Probably also would be wise to replace the spring brake chambers….likely only 2. I would probably run the rest of the chambers unless they look older than the hills. The brake shoes will probably have rust jacking problems and the ones with spring brakes probably will need replaced along with the drums due to rust from behind clamped to the drum for so long probably a good idea to drain the fuel and refill with fresh or at least add a lubricity additive if it smells half decent. Check all the oils for water and change the engine oil after a short run I would probably run a week or so before changing the trans and rear ends let any rust that might have occurred above the oil level rub off and hopefully all the grindings will leave with the oil. If you’re going to stay reasonably close to home I would probably stop there but figure on replacing the hub seals and pinion seals and probably crankshaft seals. They might weep a little and stop or might leak pretty good. In my experience it’s about 50/50. The biggest thing that could be a long term problem is mouse damage…look very carefully and pop the dash apart and check in there to. They can cause a tremendous amount of problems and make your truck smell like ###

 

Another thing is, it probably has 1,300,000 on it because of the age. Why was it parked 7 years ago is another question to ask.

 

Coolant is another issue.

It may not be the case today but yesterday's coolant as like acid when it sits. Not good for the radiator or heater core.

 

Mine has sit for basically 6 years . I start it every month or so and set it on high idle . I put on maybe 300 miles a year just exercising the truck. I live up north and truck was exposed to lots of salt and brine.

while most of what is said Is kinda true it might not be that bad. On mine I had to do all the brakes (rust jacked) . A couple of suspension pieces (frozen).
I would assume your not gonna pull loads with it at first . So just kinda ease into it and stay close to home. Till your sure of what you got…….

your gonna put wheel seals on it too