I bought the truck 2/05 w/ 69k on it. I've only put 2k miles on it. From what I understand it was owned by a liitle old man from Quebec. The truck didn't have any signs of being a work truck or the usual "off road guy" stuff (lights, M/T tires, winch,) It does not appear that a plow frame was ever mounted on it. It really did look like it was owned by a little old man. The only thing I noticed was that the undercarrige was showing a fair amount of rust on frame, suspension, ect. Average to slighty above average for snow/salt belt trucks 5 yrs old.

What prompted me to bring it in the firstplace was the truck dying last week. The bad alt never threw the battery light, then when the batt wore down it stalled. tried jump starting it and wouldnt stay running. Replaced the battery just to get home. Thats when the COP died. The A/C was working intermittently before that as well. I brought in the for the charging system, suspected bad cop, and the AC. While they had it they found these other items.

The ESOF was working prefectly when I bought it. Stopped working this spring. I replaced the vac hoses and barbs on the hub, Pulled both hubs and hublocks and replaced the hub and hublock seals. Cleaned a lubed the hublocks and needle bearings. Thats when I found that the big axle seal on one side was blown. The other hub held vacuum as per specs.

I replaced the alt last night but the battery light is still on. Mayby cause the battery was worn down from getting it home from the dealer? Haven't had a chance to get the volt meter on it yet. The new alt was bench tested at Autozone while I watched. I'm running out of options at this point. I may have to take it to the little shop down the road to get the alt thing straigtened out.

 

Take the battery and the alt to an Advance auto store and have them both tested. I'm a manager in one of these stores in the Milwaukee area and if the stores around your area are as honest as ours you'll get the truth on both items in under an hour. Take them into the store though, I'm not to keen on the "in car" testing.

As far as dealers go.......... around here I wouldn't trust any one of them. Small shops are doing the right thing around here. The dealers are just taking advantage of people with price and a false reputation.

 

most dealers like to slam people up the behind.



i bet half the things on that list are questionable at best.

 

Bottom line for me is I need my truck for work! Sifon mentioned looking for a reputable small shop and found none? Same here! I've fixed cars and trucks all my life and won't do it anymore because of time restraints. I don't have time to shop for parts and fix it myself and have to rely on the dealer's prices for labor and parts. Behind the 8 ball? Sort of? All I have to say is the dealer is fair to me. Don't shop price every truck and stay at one place buying, you'd be surprised at the service you'll get? My dealer has 2 250SD's just for loaners complete with tool boxes and ladder racks for commercial truck users and I always get get a loaner with every service(even oil changes) and they make a special effort to service comm use trucks on a Sat for those who work with their trucks everyday. I'm ripe for the picking at the dealer I guess? 18 years at the same dealer dealing with the same sales person and being able to show up with no appointment with a problem at 7:30am when they open and a ride home and getting my truck back the same day. Precious! trimman

 

[QUOTE=rwilimo]Any reputable shop should warranty their work, I own a small shop and we certainly warranty our work. Find a good quality small shop and build a reputation with them, you will be much happier in the long run.

I agree. It was hard to find and took me a long time but I found a guy that does great work, good prices and warranties his work.