Make sure both axles have the same ratio or stuff will blow up, i.e. transfercase.

 

I've seen one or two "dirt cheap" trucks up here in NJ in decent shape, but honestly they aren't that common. Remember markets are different across the country as are income levels.

Here in NJ, the current trend is for people to buy shiny new crewcabs with a near-useless bed, drive it until the lease is up, and sell it.

In other parts of the country, trucks are sold and kept until they rot so far into the earth they are naturally recycled through sinking.

While you might not want to buy a truck on ebay, searching the site for older trucks in the vintage that you're interested in, with wide upon criteria (i.e. see more trucks) will give you at least a rough idea what's available.

You'd probably find most of the used trucks for sale in buffalo NY, or complete rustbuckets. Why? Because they bombed with snow almost daily in the winter, and they bomb themselves with an equal amount of road salt, then drive in it. Obviously it doesn't snow that much in North Carolina, and you might find cleaner trucks down there.

You have to shop, which takes effort.

Also, since axles tend to last longer than truck bodies, you could take your current truck down to the junkyard, and start hauling out all the parts you need to do the swap. Again, you have to do some shopping around for good pricing. For smaller things where it's not worth driving, I'll buy local out of convienence. For more pricy items, I'll put the mileage/time into driving from NJ to PA, to find reasonable parts at good prices, then haul them back for massive scrubbing.

I see you're in NJ... if you're not in a rush, come October, my favorite junkyard (in PA) has a "dollar day sale" on one particular Saturday. $20 cover charge to walk in whether you buy anything or not, and $1 for each part you take.

Transfer case $1
Transmission $1
Leaf Spring $1

They nickel and dime you though, which is still reasonable though annoying. A seat would be a buck, but the slides/tracks are also a buck. If you buy an engine which I would think is a buck, actually comes out to $14 bucks. Intake is a buck, heads are a buck each, valve covers are a buck, etc.

That's why after dollar day you'll find the yard completely littered with "toss-offs" - parts that people didn't want to pay a buck for because they wanted something attached to it.

I got a dually axle for my crewcab that way... it was lying on the ground because soemone wanted the leaf springs. I simpy rolled it across the yard to the pay-hear booth, and it was $11. Rear a buck, each drum a buck, each tire a buck, each wheel a buck. $11.

And I didn't even need a wrench!

 

Inhvae seen a bunch of nice ford 150 4x4s for cheap in south nj. I just bought one down here and it has almost no rust. Most of the trucks I see a round here dont. I have seen a lot on ebay too. I look everyday from the time I was like thirteen. You just got to look man.