There are tricks in the trade to verify mileage....maybe do a little googling. One I remember is checking the wear on the rubber brake pad. High wear would indicate 148k or 248k. No wear would indicate it was replaced (easy to do) and probably was also at least 148k. The best scenario is if it has very slight wear...indicating 48k.
It sure is a nice looking truck, but it seems like a guy who keeps his truck and has it set up for trailering would put some heavy miles on it. Driving it is also an excellent clue.
Overall I think you just may have a winner!

 

I'll second that fabric insert on the door panel thing. My 86 Lariat has them too. I thought it was strange that I couldn't find any aftermarket replacements.

 

Nice looking truck. PLEASE don't ruin the classic looks with those big hole MT wheels. Just keep looking for the Factory Alcoas from the 94-97 trucks.

You are going to restore it and make it a nice weather driver right, not drive it into the ground?

 

The MT's II aren't a bad looking wheel at all. I'm kind of fond of them. Looking forward to seeing more of the truck op.

 

M/T IIs are NOT M?T IIIs

On top of they are known to crack on heavier trucks

 

Same look, but different center cap and the III's are supposed to have a higher load rating.

 

That's more or less the plan. I did buy it so we could use it as a truck for getting gas for the mower/snow blower, and hauling wood and all the other fun stuff for around the house, but I do take EXTREME care of my vehicles and posessions. Always have, ever since I was a kid with my Tonka trucks. Those suckers are still in great shape, barely any scrapes! lol

I will be taking the bed off, and sandblasting the underside, frame and suspension before winter hits, because if I don't...that sucker will rot through in no time with these MN winters. Then i'll focus on getting the front done after that.

As far as the alcoas go...not really too big of a fan of those. They look good on the 92-97's, but on an 86 I don't think they match up well. At least that's what i'm mentally projecting.

 

Thanks, i'll be getting some more pictures up here soon. I plan to steam clean the engine bay, and the underside this weekend.

 

Well guys, I did it and it's back safely.



Picked it up on Saturday and got it home and immediately started working on it.

The good:
- It has one of the rare aluminum insert tailgates
Similar to what diesel_brad posted a while ago
- It is in great shape
- Dash pad is 99% perfect
- The cruise actually works!
- The motor is very strong and sounds very healthy
- Took the running boards off and luckily there's no bad rust surprises waiting for me underneath them

The bad:
- Passenger side window motor is out, i'll be replacing that this weekend
- The PO drilled through the roof to mount his visor, so those bolts are rusting and need to be removed and welded shut before it gets any worse.
- The frame has surface rust beginning, I plan to take off the bed first and sandblast it, then Rhino-line the inside and underside of the bed, then POR-15 the frame and suspension before that gets any worse.
- Since the PO used it for hauling a camper, he had made a custom overkill bumper that i'll be replacing with an original soon, I also need to find the tailgate mounting hardware because he took it off to fit the camper and it wasn't given to me when I bought the truck.
- I figured since this is a Lariat, it MUST HAVE overdrive....nope . So I need to find a nice auto 4 speed for it.
- Coolant temp gauge doesn't report anything on the cluster.
- It bounces REALLY bad going down the road, like VERY bad. My dad says, "it'll do that if you don't have weight in the back"...while i'm very familiar with his 2500 Ram V10 not being the most comfortable to drive down the road, it still rides better than my new truck, so I need to figure out what's going on with that.
- I'm thinking the dual smog pumps need to go.
- Old bad gas needs to get drained and refreshed.
- Carburetor needs to be rebuilt after having run all the old nasty gas through it.

I'll be posting some more pictures tonight once I get home.

 

Can't wait to see the progress, suscribed!

 

Thanks

 

Just a FYI. The visor did NOT cause the rust. The lack of a sealant did.

I have had visors on my trucks for the past 20+ years. Not one has rust issue

 

My F250 was the same; & it was also set up from new with Heavy Tow & Camper packages.
Removing the sway bars makes a big difference on rougher roads.......with them on, the suspension is pretty rigid.

But, as your Dad says, some weight in the back helps too.

 

It's also a lack of intelligence when the PO installed it.

 

I took it out last night and got some fresh non-oxy gas in the rear tank. Carb definitely needs to be gone through. Died on me a few times, but once it's warm, it runs fine. Can't mash the throttle otherwise it falls flat on its face and dies.

It also rode MUCH smoother last night, wasn't bouncing or jumping all over the place at all. Also, the 3 speed was MUCH smoother and more fun to drive than before. I took it out on it's first drive in 10 years on Sunday, and that's when all these problems seemed to arise. Now they all seem to have gone away and everything is normal. Maybe it just needed to get used to being driven again?

No need for a 4 speed auto, looks like the C6 will suit me just fine. I also discovered that as long as you keep your foot out of it, it gets acceptable mileage.