I know someone who has a 1986 F350 crew cab dually flatbed. It has a 6.9 turbo diesel and 4 speed manual. Is the turbo factory or an add on? Is there anything I need to know when looking at this truck? I have never owned a diesel but my family has several diesel mechanics. This is my dream truck minus the flatbed. He is asking $2,500 but said he will take $1,800. What do you think?

 

If its your dream truck go for it. I assume its 2wd? The turbo, if there is one on it, is not factory. Mileage and maintenance would be good to know. 1800 seems like a really fair deal on a dually, but it depends on condition i guess.

 

If it's what you want I'd say go for it. I almost bought an 85 F350 2wd auto 6.9 dually for $1450. It only had 97k on the clock. Truck was beautiful but I wanted something manual with 4wd so I passed and ended up with the 86 F250 I have now. Turbo is not factory. Mileage and maintenance like stated above would be good to know.

 

100% rust free and the only damage is the front bumper. It's a little bent. It does not have any clear coat anymore. It just looks like its primer gray. I don't know the mileage or maintenance. I can ask that tomorrow. It is a 2wd truck.

 

I would love 4wd but that won't stop me. I passed on an 86 crew cab dually gasser and I'm still kicking myself over that one. I love diesel trucks and to find a crew cab dually diesel with a manual around here for under $4,000 is almost impossible. I love the body style of the 86. I hate the next body style but then love them again once you hit the 92 model.

 

Ah dont hate on the bricknose man... lol. Coulda bought the gasser and swapped a 6.9/ ZF-5 into it! Anywho, best of luck with whatever you decide. "fixing" the 2wd problem isnt all that hard anyway, and if youre lucky you might snag a zf5 to go with it.

 

Thanks I was planning to swap it to a 4x4 but that project will wait until summer. I also plan to get a regular bed and some 4 inch mitre cut stacks. That's about the extent of my major modifications. I think I will go test drive it and crawl under it. If all is good ill probably bring it home.

 

(depending on the flatbed and condition of it) you might be able to sell the bed and get enough out of it to pay for half if not better for the change over

 

It's pretty nice. I will try to get pictures on here later.

 

I have a want for a flat bed....

 

If you have a nice regular style dually bed we will be talking if I buy this truck.

 

Sorry but these are the best pictures I have.

 

that truck is mean the way it sits! go for it!!!!!

 

Snag that thing or I will and put the D44 from the 84 under it lol....

 

it "looks" like she's worth $1800 all easy to me too.
no 6.9l came from the factory with a turbo.

fyi,
when ford offered the factory turbo on the IDI,it was never offered standard,but always optional (standard equipped turbo engines didn't happen until after the idi.)
when ford did offer the optional turbo,it wasn't until model year 1993,which where the bored out 6.9l's (with some other upgrades) - the 7.3l idi.the factory optional turbo was also offered in 94, expect for the 7.3l psd's - an entirely different platform,which all had turbos which was introduced the same year,'94.
this turbo was made by ATS and the model # was 093 (even though many folks didn't know it at the time.ford did a great job keeping it under the radar as far as i can tell.most likely of course in the attempt to get people, to go to them, for their turbo repairs.) this company made 3 different turbo's for this truck,all of which are no longer in production.if i understand correctly,they built their first two non wastegated turbo's and sold them aftermarket,before ford had them build them the 093 kits,which they then sold aftermarket as well.

anyway,so as not to bore you anymore.
looks like a nice truck.the turbo on this motor,could be many different ones.along with banks,ats,hypermax,there where also a few other kits back in the day that most didn't know about (including myself.iv no idea of the brand names nor model #'s)
so you'll have to look it over good to find out what it is.as a rule of thumb,it doesn't matter a whole lot,because any turbo is better than no turbo.

remember though,when buying an older truck (pre- overdrive) the initial cost is only one concern.operating cost differs significantly when buying a direct drive to an over drive transmission today due to current fuel prices,which we know are only headed one direction.planning/budgeting in an OD trans swap for a regularly driven, direct driven truck is a wise idea and investment really.which is also why its important to compare this final cost,to a truck which already has the OD too,if one has the means to pay the extra for the newer truck up front of course.