jrussell

Hi,

I'm buying a tow rig to haul around 5-6k lbs and have been looking at the 92-93 CTD's. I recently found a 93 Club Cab 4x4 Auto with 108,000 miles that belonged to a 70yo guy who bought it brand new (1 owner). He only towed light loads occasionally (under 5k) and had it serviced at the local Dodge dealership regularly. I have called the dealership and verified all the records and that no major repairs have been done. Mechanically, it only needs a steering shaft or shaft rebuild and a new hitch (at least as far as I can tell). Cosmetically, it is in fair shape with only 1 decent sized dent, a few scratches, and the usual paint problem on the hood. The interior is not that great (a little dirty and beat up), but all switches and stuff work. It also has a nice matching shell.

They were asking $7k and seem pretty firm on $6k. I have offered them $5,500 due to the steering shaft and hitch problems. Is this a pretty good deal for one of these trucks in a location where 3/4 ton diesels with low mileage are extremely hard to find?

jrussell

Anyone?

JD730

Well, I'll give you an idea. A friend of mine just bought one. 92 reg cab, 5 speed, 4x4, 180,000 miles, with a snow plow. He paid 6500. If he would have taken me with him he wouldn't have paid more than 5000. Steering joint is completely junk, needs front pads, has some rust above the wheels on the bed. Other than that its fairly solid.

wannadiesel

$6k doesn't sound too bad to me, if it was me I'd pay it before somebody else does.

The steering shaft is minor ($10 in parts from Dodge if you don't mind rebuilding it every couple years, or $200 for a Borgeson), and so is the hitch. A suitable hitch will run you about $150.

jrussell

Ok, thanks a lot for the input guys! Hopefully I will be back here asking some more annoying newbie questions very soon.

MoparMarv

Sounds about right. anything under 6k for that truck would be about what they are selling for. I just pay 6500 for my 93 club cab 4x4 5spd with a plow and cap 162,000 miles. The only rust on mine was on the rockers on the club cab section. I felt I payed a little more than I should have but I only had to drive 60 miles for a truck i would drive anywhere in the country for so that has to worth something.

jrussell

Well, I got the truck for $6k and I think it's worth it. The steering issue that I thought was the shaft/coupler seems to be something else wrong. The coupler is slightly loose, but when i grab the shaft under the wheelwell I can rotate it a lot. The odd thing is that the whole shaft/joint rotates too, but the pitman arm/draglink don't move. This leads me to believe the problem must be inside the steering gear box. Has anyone had their steering gear box wear out like this?

P.S. - I checked for a crack in the mount but couldn't find one (plus the box does not move at all).

lovemysan

Steering box issues can be pretty common. I'd check that center link on both sides mine was pretty well shot. When you get the box off you might want to check for frame cracks or just go ahead and shore it up(cheap insurance).

jrussell

Wow...the radiator just sprung a leak on me from the tranny cooler lines rubbing a hole in it. What a edit design that is.