I stopped and looked at 1986 F600 with an asking price of $3500. It has a 429 engine with the smog pump disconnected and manifolds plugged, brand new Holley 750. The odometer has 231K miles showing and the owner bought the truck in 1996, says he thinks that mileage is correct and that the engine is original and hasn't been replaced. Built 10/85 with 28K lb GVWR.

Overall the body looks solid, little rust in the cab corners, but the doors and hood work fine, seat need new foam and a cover. Engine started a little rough with a manual choke, he said it hadn't been started in a few months. It warmed up and idled fine but sounded like the carb probably hadn't been adjusted properly. I live at 7400 feet and this truck is at about 6K feet so most carbs need to be rejetted to work around here.

Tires show some checking, fronts are BF Goodrich ST234 11R 22.5 LRH and the rears are recapped Bridgestone V-Steel M LX 11R22.5 load range G. He said one of the brake cans n the rear had been replaced and the pads looked good on the front discs.

Is this a good model to buy? What do I need to look out for? I haven't owned anything bigger than a one ton before so this is a bit out of my league. It will only need to go 10 miles round trip to pick up as much water as it can carry. I'll post some pictures next.

 

 

 

Not crazy about the way the bed is done, but it has worked that way for some time so not a deal killer I suppose.

28,000 GVWR will require a CDL unless this is farm work--your farm.

Brakes are likely Lucas Girling. Good brakes but expensive to work on.

That carb probably needs some work. Is it vacuum secondaries? (should be)

It will eat gas. But you knew that. One common complaint in an older truck like that is cracked exhaust manifolds. If those are good, that's a + mark on it.

You can search for similar trucks via google--tons show up off truck trader and other sources.

 

Thanks...I don't need a CDL for a truck that size here in WYO unless it is used for commercial hauling. For my ranch work I can drive/haul up to 39K without getting a "Z" endorsement for farm/ranch work. The Z endorsement allows me to go over the 39K level.

Right now I have an '87 1 ton dually flat bed and a 16ft 14K trailer. So I think I can haul just as much hay or water on that combo as I can with that F600. It would be nicer to just load it all on that F600, but cheaper if I keep the trailer.

I think I'll be better off to just use the money as needed to fix up my old one ton as needed. It only has a stock small block Cheby 350, that's probably one of those with about 180 Hp. Maybe it will get a stroker kit when it needs a rebuild. Right now I would be expecting that 429 to need an overhaul and to add about $3K for tires, together that adds about $6 to the price doing the work myself.

Thanks again for your input!