i agree w/ that 100%, i think it's badass to have something no one else has, but most of those people have the money to build their rigs and have tow rigs and all, for someone to say they won't spend the $1000 on a solid axle, but will drop $9500 on a used truck, well that doesn't make sense, i would prefer to see the solid axle mazda, even if it ain't lifted/locked and all the other bs we all do, rather than a stock mazda w/ another rattlin fallin apart truck on the road
if your worrying about the mazda breaking, why not just buy a little jap car that will run forever than buying a big diesel truck? so you can tow someone now? whoopie. you said you can do more work with this diesel? such as? seriously, you going to start doing some heavy hauling now? i dont see the point in spending 9000$ on a tow rig, when you really have absolutly no need for that big a truck for another 5 years at least.
If you are going to have this big tow rig to pull other people around then you will have to spend another $1500 on trailer. Alot of people want to be towed but not to many people without a tow rig happen to have a trailer sitting there for you to tow them on. I agree with crawlingno5 get a little car to drive around until you graduate. Mark bought the golden bubble and drove that every where instead of the jeep. I also will tell you it sucks leaving school in debt.
'50 F-1 (some day might be a 4x4)
'10 Expedition EL
'09 F150 Supercrew
What happened to the Cressida (sp?), why not drive that and spend money on the Mazda? You wouldn't even have to be payin a truck note. And just for thought, what if you don't get the $60,000/year job you think you will, what happens if you can't find a job right away, Riverside Campus till you do?
As for the Jap car. Hell no. I will never be without a truck. I will never buy a car unless it is a V8 Mustang AND I have a truck. Have you seen the Ford Landon? Is it a POS? Why don't you go to Mr. Gatti's and have a look for yourself.
How many times will you people miss the point. I can't risk doing the swap and being without a daily driver. I can't risk off roading and breaking something on my daily driver. You don't play with your daily driver. My dad has told me this 1000 times, and the more I think about it the more I understand.
I can do the swap for $1000, but how many corners will I cut and how long will I be without a vehicle?
In a little less crucial of a situation...
I offered $7800 which is in the middle of retail and trade in. What I get is a truck that I can use for years to come that gets THE SAME mileage as mine. I do pull stuff. I do haul stuff. I do not do it on a daily basis, but I do it. I don't NEED a diesel, but it gets better mileage than a gas motor. Not only that, but...
I set myself up for a drivetrain if I ever have a trail rig. Even if the truck blows up 5 years from now and I decide I hate off roading I still have $1000 in axles. How much will that save me if I do decide to build a rig and I already have D60s? Time? Money?
I have 2 choices:
Don't get the truck - If the crack gets worse in mine, be without vehicle until I can afford a $2-3000 motor. Drive a rattling POS around for the next 5 years. NO AXLE SWAP.
Do get the truck - I have a truck that is 3 years newer and a hell of a lot nicer. I can pull my screwed up JAP CAR home. I can tow my roommates wrecked TEMPO to the junk yard. I can tow my roommates CHEVY to SA when he blows the motor instead of having his uncles make a special trip. I can fit 2x as much firewood in the back of the truck in trips from SA to CS. I can go more than 4 days/200 miles without filling up. I have D60s (future investment). I can haul more crap when I move from college and when my grandparents move 1 hr from where they live (few years from now) Have a chance of doing the swap cheaply. Will a diesel do more work for me than my Mazda? Hmmmmm
well what then was the reason for this post, you haul soo much stuff and need a heavy duty truck, so you can bring more firewood home, ***, and you obviously have your mind made up, and i did drive by and see the truck, so just ahead and buy it, because no matter what anyone of us says your goin to do it, live and learn, die and forget it all
Edit: I said there are several openings that start at $55,000/year that I would have a good chance gettin, you said everyone needs a computer science major
The Cressida has piston slap. Further driving may cause serious problems. If I don't buy a diesel 4x4, I won't buy anything.
I NEVER, EVER, EVER said I was going to make $60,000 out of college. You said you would make that much. If the economy still sucks I have a GUARANTEED job with ESL. I may not make more than $35-40k to start, but that is more than enough to pay back the 2-3k I have left on a truck note.
As far as a trailer goes. I won't ever feel obligated to have a trailer to tow people just because I have a diesel. It is the person who wants to be towed's problem to find a trailer. I won't become the TAMOR towing service. If I want to go on a trip and someone wants to be towed and has a trailor I can do it. I am not buying this truck to tow TAMOR rigs.
I started this thread to get input on MAJOR mechanical failures in Powerstrokes. I didn't want people's opinons on what I should do with my truck or what vehicle I should buy as a daily driver. That is my choice and no one else's. Thanks to Doug and James for speaking from experience.
EDIT - What is my major? I don't even remember saying that, but whatever.
Last edited by Chadnutz; 11-07-2002 at 03:29 PM.
5 years from now when the truck is maybe dead I do not think you will have 2 dana 60 to use. I thought that truck came with a sterling 10.25 in the rear and the front is a d60 but I think after '92 they changed from kingpin knuckles to ball joints which is less desirable.
I understand the want for the second vehicle and if they except the price you offered then you will be getting a great deal and wont be in debt for that long. Just make sure you get it checked out.
'50 F-1 (some day might be a 4x4)
'10 Expedition EL
'09 F150 Supercrew
yeah good luck swapping that sterling into anything... damn it sucks... and that ball jointed D60... blow a U-joint and tell me how much you like it... it'll be like having a D44...you'll lose your tire/rim and be a pissed mofo.
ANyway...buy it...sell it... I didn't think the poor could be as picky as you are about what they drive. I'll only get such and such, blah, V8 mustang, blah, Diesel, blah... I swear if you're so forkin' poor you should be driving a damn ricer shat box and enjoying not walking.
Who says I'm poor? I said I can't afford the swap and it isn't a good idea. Sigh.
You people are never satisified. A Dana 60 isn't good enough now? What will you not complain about? And how is a Sterling 10.25" any harder than the axle sitting next to it to swap in the rear?
That isn't that great of a deal. And I'll put a little list of what's went wrong with the powerstrokes my family has owned.
94 F-350: My dads first one. Everything on the motor besides the actual block and heads. The dealer put $17500 (yes) of parts into it including injection pump, turbo, camshaft, every electrical part, 3 sets of injectors ($260 each and the most problematic part on the truck) and it still never ran right. The list of parts was 11 pages long.
94 F-350: My first one. Glow plug system $3200 of parts, water pump.
94 F-350 4x4: My second one. Glow plug controller, flywheel. This one was mine and it was out of warranty. Flywheel is $1200 new I bought a used one for $250. It likes to got out alot too.
95 F-350 4x4: My older brother's first one. Automatic locking hub. He only kept this truck 3 weeks.
97 F-250 4x4: My older brother's second one. It never had the power that it should have and the dealer wouldn't do anything about it. Flywheel went out.
99 F-250 4x4: My older brother's third one. Computer, glow plug system, 1 injector, currently in the shop for glow plug system again and is for sale.
2000 F-350 4x4: My dad's second one. Best one yet.
2000 Excursion: Nothing with the motor.
99 F-250 4x4: My little brother's first. Nothing. Just got it 2 months ago.
2002 F-350 4x4: My older brother's fourth. Nothing. Just got it Tuesday.
I do know of a 94 with 270k on it with no major problems, but I also know of a lot more of them that did give problems.
Mileage on the powerstrokes seems to range from 10-20mpg and there is nothing you can do to change it. Most get about 17.
Do you really want a truck like this when its out of warranty? If you want a diesel that won't give you problems, get a cummins or a non-turbo ford. Or a gm 6.2.
I had to put this one in too.
98.5 Ram 2500 cummins 4x4: $54 thermostat.
It cost you $2000 - $3000 for a motor for the Mazda? Get a low mileaged one from a junkyard. More like $500. But you probably only have a problem with the heads or head gasket if it's just leaking water into the motor. It could be the block, but the heads are a more common problem.
Edit: I forgot to mention all the starters. About $260 each to buy a rebuilt but only $120 to get it rebuilt. And batteries never last.
Last edited by eight; 08-04-2003 at 11:42 PM.
otu of the mouths of babes come the ultimate in truth...couldn't have put it better myself there eight.
Why keep buying them if you keep on having problems?? It seems to me that there are plenty out there not having problems, but hell, who knows.
Seth
off all the problems that 'eight' just listed, all but two were from First Year Motors. and are you posative that all the 94's were powerstroke? are all of them standards?
Nutz,
it seems to me that you have already made your mind up about the truck. Go ahead and get it. I kno if i could have a 9000 truck id sure as hell want the same exact thing. They are a bitch to work on, but all diesles and foreign cars are. i would think if you took care of it and did regular maintenece on it you would be happy. as for the axles making a good wapp. the reason a sterling 10.25 sucks is not its strength is its lack of gearing options(4.56:1 is the deepest you can get) but it is MASSIVE. t will lsat forever if not abused. Doug can be the first to tell you that his truck as been put throughmajor hell. Just dont ragg on it all the time. Only problem is, why do you want a diesel if your not gonna drive it hard?
Steven W
02 Dodge 2500
82 CJ-7 - sitting in a field...
"....Your theory is f*cked up like a football bat...."
All the 94s were powerstrokes and standards. My 94 F-350 4x4 had a 96 motor in it. Air box problems killed the first motor before I got it. I never found a difference in the year models besides the ecm programming. My dad's first one had a 95 motor in it but I'm not sure of the reason. I just know it was put in at 30k miles. The only auto was the 95 that we kept for 3 weeks for that reason. I could list problems from friends trucks too. Both of my 94s were starting to get tranny (5-spd) problems too. But I don't think anyone else had manual tranny problems.
Why buy them? Ford has good warranties, chevy's not worth having (don't say it), dodge has no crew cab and is a bitch about warranty work. I have a dodge now. All the old powerstrokes are gone too.
You can get 7.17 gears for the 10.25" But nothing in between 4.56 and 7.17. It's stronger than a 14 bolt too.
If you buy it, when that flywheel spits out the springs and starts rattling the truck to pieces, I've got some good ones you can have. Just remember that, it'll save you a lot of money later. Don't leave the truck idleing, that's the worst thing for the flywheel.
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