Either a very straight, local, '69 (little bit of surface rust, no structural) flare side longbed. 390, originally with a 3 on the tree switched to 4 on the floor. Not running, needs a lot BUT very cheap OR.........

2200 miles away, 1966, 250 Caribbean Turquoise, no rust, 352, 4 speed, untouched original for triple the price. Mmmmm

Oh boy, the horror...

 

Remember, first cost is not final cost. The best money you’ll ever spend, is the money you spend up front. You’ll be enjoying your truck years sooner. Save your pennies a bit longer.

 

Absolutely. The only reason I would go for the cheaper truck is the fact I want to tinker and fix stuff. Although, I don't want to experience the all to familiar "burnout" spending more time wrenching than enjoying. In the end, the goal is to drive and enjoy not to constantly fix and be frustrated. :-)

 

I always ask people, “Do you have more fun tinkering or driving?”. You’ve already answered that I believe. Go get yourself the original one. You’ll be driving it much sooner and can plan upgrades or small restorations in downtime.

 

Getting close to making an offer. It's a really cool, clean, original truck BUT its gonna cost about $2800 to ship. Ouch. That is the price of admission we have to pay in the South. Get a rusty POS or get a clean western truck. Buy once, cry once.

 

If it's a running and driving truck, take a few days off and drive it back home. It's the perfect opportunity to get to know your new ride and have some adventures and make memories on the way back home.

 

I'm totally with you but after doing the math, it doesn't make much sense numbers wise. On the adventure and experience side of the coin, it ranks right up there. Country driving at its best. The truck is located in Missoula, MT and it would take at least 5 days to make the 2300 mile trek to Georgia. I'm not afraid of doing such a thing but I feel there's too many factors that could make the trip a nightmare scenario. The owner of the truck told me once a deal is made, the truck can stay in its place until the weather is more favorable. Cool beans. Sometimes you have to say WTF, live a little, but I have to weigh all of my options before deciding. Driving the truck home would be, by far, an amazing experience. Slow and low. :-)

 

If you do move forward with driving it back to Georgia, you might want to wait until April at least, May would be better. I am not joking.

I am in North Central Montana. It is currently -17F, with about a foot of snow on the ground. Roads are slick as you can imagine. Missoula is 200 miles to the west of me. To get from there to here you need to go over at least one mountain pass depending on your route, and they can be gnarly this time of year. Roger's pass is what I go over when we head to Missoula and it holds the record for coldest recorded temperature in the lower 48 at -70*F.

Wait until May or June and it would be an absolutely beautiful drive over the mountains and I highly recommend.

That said, I am not sure I would want to make a 2300 mile trip in a new to me 59 year old vehicle. At least not without a chase vehicle and a good set of tools and spare parts.

 

Thanks a lot for this, I appreciate it. The plan as of now is to have the truck shipped sometime in April/May. I may change my mind and drive it home, who knows. All I know is that i's gonna considerable effort to get it here to Georgia no matter how it happens. High price of admission to own this truck for sure. You only live once --

 

$1500 for fuel and hotel maybe and that's probably max? The guys on motor trend do it all the time . Sounds like a grand fly and drive adventure.

 

Depending on route he takes, he'll be driving through some of the most beautiful parts this country has to offer.

If it were me...

Map out your route, I would avoid large metro areas and try to stick to two lane highways. Lower speed limits and lots of small towns along the way if you need anything. Make sure every couple hundred miles there is a u-haul or similar just in case you find the need to rent a pickup and trailer.

Before you leave for Montana acquire a stockpile of parts that might fail and leave you stranded and the tools needed to change all those parts. I am thinking u-joints, brake hoses, fan belts, radiator hoses, spark plugs, fuel filter, points, coil, tire plug kit, etc. Maybe a timing light, vacuum gauge and a tach. See if you can box those up and ship them to the guy you're buying the truck from. You could have everything shipped directly to current owner if you order online, but I would rather inspect the parts first and make sure I got the right ones.

Fly up here, get the pickup, head to the nearest sporting goods store grab yourself a tent, sleeping bag, cooler and whatever else you need to camp.

Head to grocery store to get some pork & beans, hot dogs and beer, unless you need to eat fancy or something

Head to parts store, grab every fluid the truck uses, any other parts you think you might need and some basic tools. You can almost take one of these trucks apart with a 1/2" 9/16" and 5/8" wrenches, toss in some pliers, hammer and a few screw drivers and that is almost a master mechanics set needed for these trucks

Find a quick lube shop that will allow you to keep an eye on them and do an oil change, check tire pressure, top off fluids, etc.

Hit the road to the nearest national forest (you will pass by a lot just in Montana alone). Find a nice place to pull over for the night to set up for camping. Structured National Forest and BLM camp sites with outhouses and potable water might cost $10-20 a night, usually paid on the honor system. Or you can head up many of the old logging roads around here, find a flatish piece of dirt with a fire ring and spend the night for free. Might want to grab bear spray at the sporting goods store or bring with you whatever protective measures you think you might want if there is a chance bear encounter. The following day pull into the nearest truck stop and grab a shower and some fuel and trek on to the next camp site. If you're a backpacker/hunter invest in OnX GPS and it will show you if you're on BLM, National Forest, private property, etc. It's a backpacker/hunter GPS and the company is located in Missoula, much better than Google Maps and actually works, accurately. once you get off the pavement. If not, get some decent maps for the area you'll be driving through, BLM map would be better than a standard highway map you see at gas stations.

In Montana, Wyoming, Dakotas, Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, etc...there are numerous chunks of national forest & BLM land that offer cheap or no cost camping. There are other paid campgrounds such as KOA along the way too, but those places are getting expensive. There is a u-haul in most larger towns around here so worst case scenario you rent a pickup and trailer and haul your new ride the rest of the way home.

If you have any friends that actually rode their bikes to Sturgis for the rally ask them what they carried, found out they didn't need and where they stayed along the route. They would have covered a significant chunk of the same trip you would be.

If you want to have an adventure/experience and enjoy what the western states have to offer, that's the way I would do it. A trip such as that I would wait until very late May, early June. Still not a guarantee you won't get snowed or rained on or that logging roads will be passable, but your chances are much greater that the weather will be pleasant. It will also before wildfires get going for the season, in most cases, so you don't have to worry about thick smoke that comes with them.

Things will break, there will be frustrations, but you will get to learn a whole lot about your new truck on the way and I bet end up with some great stories to share when you get home.

 

I like what mterickson wrote, but will add a few thoughts too...

I bought my '66 last April/May out in Oregon and had it shipped from Klamath Falls, to Madison, Virginia. Both remote areas and it cost me a lot of uncertainty (it was my first time) and $2500.00 with a generous tip when the truck finally showed up. The shipping process can be very stressful. First you look for bids, and they don't always honour the bid they agree too. This happened to me twice in the same process. The first agent, I thanked and tried again, the second agent was much better about communication, but at the end of the day they too are only an agent and subject to the quirks of the independent drivers. That said, if I had to do it over again, I would like to have flown out and driven my truck back. Hindsight, I would have had to have a day and a few hundred extra dollars to sort some of the things that I needed to do to make it road worthy. Know the age of your tires and at least have them balanced. Truth is, after I got my truck inspected and registered in VA, I drove it somewhere around 7K wonderful miles over the next 7 months. I had a smile on my face every mile.

One last thought, check out a thread first posted July 15 2024 by MP&C titled "New Shop Truck". If you read this one and still doubt if you want to make the drive yourself... Anyway, it was after I read this post, that I really wish I had made the trip. Better yet, made the trip with my son.

 

Fantastic posts gentlemen, thank you very much for this. Pretty much has made me decide on what I'd like to. Since the truck I'm pursuing is in Montana, a part of the country I've never been to, an 8 to 10 day road trip to bring her home is a stellar idea.

I've shipped a truck only once. The cost was $1800 from Spearfish, SD to Atlanta, GA. The trip took the driver approximately two days. Handed him the cash upon arrival, unloaded the truck and off I drove 45 minutes back home in a '69 F250. It went quite smoothly although the thought of having to do it again gives me anxiety. Too many possible failure points of shipping a vehicle across the country.

Driving the truck home would also be a great opportunity to hone in on my beginner photography skills.

The plan as of now is to get the deal done, explain to the current owner what my plans are and then patiently wait until Spring. This will give me plenty of time to prepare.

This is looking pretty good. Hope things work out on this one....

 

I hope it works out for you too. It will be a fun trip.

Another thought popped into my head, you might hit up the state chapter section of this site for all the states you're traveling through, might be some forum members willing to help if you need it it along the way and provide local guidance for good places to stay and eat during your travels.

 

P51P28, I too hope all your plans come together. What a great opportunity!! If I were anywhere on your route, I would offer you a cup of coffee and or a place to stay. Maybe others that you can connect with in the meantime can offer some other suggestions on sites to see along your route.

Two more things, one...keep us all informed with how things go, always fun to read what is going on with these old trucks and their owners.

Two, get a good set of ear buds that cancel out ambient noise. Chances are, it will be a noisy drive, but being able to listen to some music and mask some of the noise can be a blessing.