Hi there,
I've got 3 kids, twin boys that are 4, and a 9 year old daughter. I've had thoughts of converting a Suburban to a 5.9. While on vacation I spent a few hours talking to a guy in Florida who specializes in Dodge Diesel sales. He pointed out the rare 98 12V Quadcab. I found one which is relatively clean for what I think is a fair price. The only thing is I don't think the maintenance history is all that great. I'm going to run a carfax. $4,800 for 1998 Quadcab, 4X4, 255K, Automatic Dually 3500. Its about a 1,200 mile drive for me, $140 for flight and about $160ish for fuel. It has 4.10 gears, think I could get 18 mpg on the highway?


More pictures here http://asnowsquall.smugmug.com/galle...05255126_SHRxc

Not to rusty actually.

 

i just bought a 99 2500 that they converted to a 1 ton. dually hubs up front, dana 80 with 4.10s. reg cab though. mine looks about the same condition as yours but i have a flat bed and 2wd. mines got a new clutch and some other motor stuff. i ended up getting it for 4200. so yours with 4x and bed and auto doesnt seem so bad. but then again i just got into the diesel thing, just figured id give you something to reference

 

The key here is that from what I'm told its rather rare being a 12V and Quadcab.

 

Looks like a rust bucket. All the doors are rotted out on the bottom. No cheap fix for that. That little line of rust is actually much worse and is a problem which works its way from the inside of the doors out.

Why aren't there any pictures of the engine?

With 255k miles you can plan on spending a ton of time and money fixing that thing. If it's the original auto tranny, it's probably on its last legs. Got 4k or 5k more to put a new one in?

I've seen some low mileage southern trucks going for very cheap prices lately. If you're already willing to travel, I'd seriously try to find one that lived it's life outside of the snow belt.

Good luck.

 

The frame is pretty clean for my area of the country. I agree that the bottom of the doors are a PIA to repair. You in Fairfax VA? Bet there are clean trucks there.

 

You're going to want more room in the back if you plan on having kids in there alot. I thought a quad would be plenty for me, but now that I have kids I wish had bought something with a crew cab.

 

With kids, the quad cab will get old real quick, and If the trans is original I'd pass on it.

 

I asked for the VIN, he got nervous a little and decided to try and sell locally. I understand this as its tricky selling things anymore. I got to thinking about it more and think I'm going back to the plan of converting my Suburban. Plenty of room inside. Give the kids some room so they don't tear each others heads off and drive the driver any crazier than he already is.

So, that said I purchased a 1998 2500 Cummins with a NV4500 4x4 with 3.54 axles. 106K hard miles, but it was only $2000. Front axle is shot. Going to be a long project but should be a little fun in there. I drove it around the yard 1, 2nd, maybe 3 rd, and can say its fun to shift with that sound and power.

Wish me luck.
Dave