What do you check before deciding to buy a used truck?

Ok, ya.. I just know how to operate them, sry

 

Overspray, non-matching paint, will tell you if it has been wrecked.

 

Putting it on a dyno, which is the best way to check out an engine, would show you blowby as well. That is why I like putting it on a dyno.... you can cover all the bases.

 

You don't get any idea of blowby on a engine at idle, look at detroits they always smoke. The engine needs to be under full boost under a load (dyno) to detrmine this. It will also tell all about the truck, I never buy one without it.

 

so to put a truck on dyno do you just find one and take it there and wait in line.. or is there a drawn out process.. i'm thinking bout buying a used truck (think it's a repo) and it's really cheap so i dont mind putting work into it, but the whole dyno thing is throwing me off.... oh yeah.. dont forget to check the air bags.. i blew one hooking up to a load in the grove.. man... that #### was scary!!!!!

 

If you want to put it on a dyno, in major metros, you can usually find one at a Freightliner dealer. Just makes some phone calls.

 

Well you have to have this and that and you may be hard pressed tofind an exact match for the price you want. 379's are going to be pricier simply because of the model, nothing else. You could easily find a 386 or 387 in better shape, better all the way around actually for your price range, so my question to you is what are you really after, quality, reliability, overall cost of doing business or what looks good? As far as a seat, you can buy a new one much more comfortable than the stock for about a grand, second when looking, look to see if the truck was an O/O truck or a fleet truck. I have yet to see a good fleet truck (compared to what I call good) as to a good used O/O truck. You can also tell a lot about how a truck was cared for by its general appearence inside an out. If it is clean and really no damage other than typical wear and tear of getting in and out etc,under the hood is clean etc. you can see if the previous owner cared enough to keep it maintained regularly. Definitely get an ECM printout and read it. You can also get a warranty history on it as well. If the oil hasn't been changed get an oil analysis, you can do this even if it ha been changed, just make them run it at a high idle for about an hour and a half, any major wear problems will show up if they are present such as a leaking head gasket etc. Have them pull the magnetic plugs out of the diff's and see what is on it, grab the shifter, see how loose it is, 2 to 3ook miles with an o/o the thing should be almost as firm as a new one, if it is real loose, leave it as it had a gear jammer, not a driver behind the wheel. These are things I looked for in buying my 3 trucks, I have 2 387's and 1 379. My best money makers are the 387's and they have the most room. The 379 was bought to have a 379, and that mistake will not happen again. Looking cool does not pay the bills, help win more freight or help with the fuel economy....

 

Also you need to know what company had a truck before also need to know if they used synthetic oil because going from synthetic to mineral (which most of the O/O using) may be futile for the engine

 

lock in the diff and pull foward and then back.. then unlock it and do the same thing, but after backing up do a really sharp turn .... the first time i ever locked a diff i didn't let the wheels stop spinning and it jammed and we didn't realize it until my dad started to turn onto the highway out of the orange grove.. i'm jus thinking of all of the stuff i jacked up when i was young and throwing them out there as things to look for.