Hi there,

I'm looking at buying a 1987/88 F250 plow/yard truck from a friend of mine who owns his own garage. The body is beat up, but mechanically he says it's good. What makes this truck unique is it has only 9800 miles on it. It has a 351 auto and all the smog controls were removed and an Edelbrock carb installed. I can verify the miles too since I have known him from 1991 and he only used this rig for plowing his lot and some of his woods???? That would explain why the headlights and cab lights are all smashed!!!

I don't have any pics yet, but just thought I would toss this question out there, would this be a good buy considering the low miles on it??

Thanks
Daryl

www.nascarillustrated.com

 

Snow plowing is HARD miles. Who can say it is a good deal if we don't know the price?

A beater body and all the smog controls removed usually means the owner didn't take care of things, so even with low miles the truck may be iffy.

Also that low miles is not necessarilly a good thing. A truck needs to be driven regularly to keep things lubricated, etc. An engine with that low miles might have sat in the drive way all year except for a few HARD runs pushing snow while the engine was ice cold. Not good. How often was the oil changed? Years??

If you do buy this, buy it cheap and inspect the engine and tranny for excess wear etc.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

I agree with Jim. The mileage isn't a good factor here, that means the truck was driven less then 500 miles a year over the last 25 years. I wouldn't pay much for the truck maybe 1200-1500. Think of everything you'll have to replace/fix to make it a reliable everyday truck.

 

I know he drove the truck occasionally during other months as well, but it probably sat more often than not. He's asking $1800 for it. He said the plow alone is worth $1500. You always hear of low mileage vehicles being desireable, but it sounds like in this case it might not be. I'm going to try to go back tomorrow and get some pics, but if not I'm gonna check it out a little further this weekend.
Thanks

 

Low mileage is good, but you also want to make sure the truck was used and didn't sit for extended periods of time. Sounds like it was rode hard and put away wet all its life. The plow may be worth 1500 to him, but do you need/want the plow? If not, let him keep it and get the truck for 500-800.

 

Definitely want the plow too. I don't exactly have the $$$ right now, but can't see anyone buying this tank any time soon. Also, he's a good guy and if he thinks I'm actually interested in it, he'll give me the straight dope too, he won't try to screw me. I've given him all my business since 1990 except for the last few years since I have a much newer car and the wife wants it all dealer handled for maintanence. So that works in my favor here.
Really nice site here too.....................

Keys are in the truck too. Hmmmm, no no.

 

Those 98k miles of plowing are probably more than 400k of road miles.......

 

I would say its worth 1800 easy. Unless its a total piece o junk the plow should be worth 1k, and the truck alone should be worth 1800. The smog stuff being gone shouldn't be a big deal on a truck that old. Could make your money back in a good snowstorm or 2. Any 4*4 250 around here goes for 2k or more, long as it runs & drives.

 

Tell him you'll give him $1,500 for the plow and he can throw the truck in to sweeten the deal. At least that way, if the truck proves to be junk, you can get your money back by selling the plow.

Just the fact that it has a carb conversion is enough to make me want to run the other way. Be careful with this one.

HTH. YMMV. Void where prohibited. Only one coupon per visit. Must be 18 to play.

Ray

 

My other concern certainly is I want it road ready and I'd probably be looking at a grand plus to make her seaworthy for sure.

Here are a couple pics, turns out she's a seventh gen. Ford, not an 87-88 like he said. More likely an '85-'86. At least the rear fenders have been done over.

Looks like he has new tires on it too. Lots of cosmetics will need addressing too. My brother and I are going to check it out this weekend and see what's toast, rubber and stuff dried out, the usual stuff.

 

Only 9,800 miles so maybe 40K road? Still not too bad for a mid -80's.

 

If you don't need the plow, offer to buy the truck for $500 and let him sell the plow/mount/hydraulics for the $1500 he said it's worth.

That will give you a $500 truck AND him a total sale of $2000 instead of $1500.

Either way, I'd scrutinize the truck pretty thoroughly - oil pressure test, compression test, test drives locally and on highway, check steering for tightness, brakes for useful life left, et al.

 

That truck looks fine, from your earlier description you made it sound like it rusted through and beat to hell.

Def take a look but 1500I sounds pretty decent assuming everything else is in order.

Funny thing is I just asked about an 84-86 F150 that had a plow here and the joker wanted 3000 for it and it needed a new carb, tires and lockouts.......

 

OH! 9800 miles, I taught I saw 98,000 miles lol. My bad.


Wow ok, that changes things abit

 

That brings back some memories, looks just like my old 85 plow truck. I'd probably give $1500 for it. That Fisher is one hell of a plow, best part is it appears it has the engine driven hydraulics rather than electric.

Also, I think that truck would have had a carb from the factory so it's not converted.