I posted this on my club site in May of this year...it turned out to be a very interesteing read....many responded from dirt cheap to high $$ stuff. Here is my story:
Someone on the OffroadOhio site mentioned the fact that I recently spent $800+ on front axles. It wasn't a cut, just a statement. I've never sat down and figured how much $$ I have spent of Buford....so I gave an attempt tonight. I have a good memory for the most part, but I'm certain that I did not include everything...without keeping every receipt, it is nearly impossible to do. I gave the best account that I could without looking at paperwork. The format that I used is generic and likely not very clean/concise when reading it....I plan to edit it tomorrow to make it look a little cleaner. however, here is what I came up with:
$800 May 2003. Bought Buford with 460, C6, 205, dual D60’s w/ 4.10 gears.
$1000 June 2003. New 38x13/R16’s & new wheels.
$100 June 2003. Painted it Charcoal Metallic in the driveway.
$50 June 2003. Had rear D60 welded.
$300 June 2003: Front lockright.
$100 June 2003. JC Whitney Tailgate
For less than $2400, I had a beefy trail rig that could take a hefty amount of abuse on a budget.
-$100 Sold the 750 or 850 CFM carb on ebay.
-$150 Sold 33” AT’s & “Hurricane” 16.5’s locally.
****Both of these items were on the truck for the $800 purchase price****
$2350 - $250 = $2100
Buford stayed pretty much the same until the late winter/early spring of 2004.
$500 C6 trans lost 2nd gear due to inhaling water (said trans guy). The $500 was parts, labor, etc to remove, rebuild, re-install the transmission.
Wheel bearing (on the drive home from a trail ride) caused me to have it towed home from Lancaster. This ruined a spindle, and melted the plastic dial on the lockout hub on the passenger side. Since I ruined something, I wanted to make it stronger.
$200 Spicer (GM) 35 spline D70 stubs cut down to fit the Ford.
$50 Ebay spindle.
$150 Drive flanges
$70 New U-joints while I was in there.
-$100 Sold (3) stock D60 stubs on ebay
-$50 Sold complete lockout hub and most of the melted one on ebay.
$2100+$970 = $3070- $150 = $2920.
Buford stayed pretty much the same for the remainder of the year. The last wheeling trip of the year (after Thanksgiving in KY) broke the passenger side door glass. The doors were trashed from 18 months of wheeling, and some upgrades were in order.
$100 Two clean free doors plus $75 worth of steel tubing and $25 labor to have it welded onto the doors. Definitely one of my best “ideas” for Buford…ugly but it works.
$600 (4) Brand new 42” TSL’s. That’s not a typo….it’s a long story but it turned out to be a good deal….likely never get a deal like that again.
$250 (4) new 15x8 w/ 2.75” backspacing.
$40 to mount tires on wheels.
$10 BB’s to balance.
$50 Repair/vulcanize/tube (1) new 42” tire after ripping a large hole in tread…less than 100 miles on it at the time.
-$450 Sold 38’s & wheels.
$2920+ $1050 = $3970 - $450 = $3520
$460 February 2005…Detroit Locker after the Lockright failed. Lockright was still under two year warranty. I received a brand new replacement.
-$300 Sold it on ebay for exactly $299. (I like round numbers).
$100 New “fat” inner short side front D60 axle to replace the stock neckdown inner. It never broke, but I wanted the truck at full strength before driving to Slade KY.
-$50 Sold used axle on ebay.
$3520 + $560 = $4080. $4080 – 350 = $3730
***Items have I had bought or added to this point that I did not calculate, and do not want to go back & change all the numbers to this point***
$200 Steering box from Advance Auto
$250 (3) 1410 & (1) 1350 pinion yokes
$100 (4) driveshaft U-joints for above yokes
$150 Both front & rear d-shafts…$125 for front, $25 for rear.
$0 Oil/Volt/Temp Gauges from previous vehicle
$0 CD player from previous vehicle
$0 205 T-case from previous vehicle replaced (replaced it & found it wasn’t the problem for the noise I was hearing…it was bad rear D60 pinion teeth
$250 Paid Lambert (at his shop) to replace the T-case…again, for no good reason we later found out….but $250 is $250.
$200 Rear D70-U from “guy down the road.”
$50 To have it welded…the weld let go.
$0 Lambert welded the sheet out of it for free, and it has been fine ever since.
$250 total $$ for rear disc brakes on both the D60, and the current D70
$3730 + $1450 = $5200
$550 Dedenbear Knuckles in August of 2005..broke a stock one. It sucked. “If it breaks, make it better.” It wasn’t cheap, but I did.
$5200 + $550 = $5750
-$20 Sold non-broken D60 knuckle on ebay…after two attempts…the first guy did not pay, I blasted him on ebay, and he left me my only negative feedback…****er.
$5750 - $20 = $5730
$1000 Engine rebuild in fall of 2005. 1969 heads, L&L headers, comp cams (later removed for stock cam) stock cam reinstalled, defective comp cam warrantied…still still sitting in box in basement.
$5730 + $1000 = $6730
***Other things I have thought of & don’t want to change existing figures already posted***
$100 2x6x1/4” boxed tubing front bumper
$600 Milemarker 12K winch
$100 for miscellaneous D-rings/shackles, etc.
$6730 + $800 = $7530
$505 Yukon 4340 Alloy D60 inner & outer axle shafts
$330 Longfield D60 SuperJoints
$7530 + $835 = $8365
***Other things I thought of***
$300 Rear Pro-Comp springs
$150 Skyjacker shocks
$150 Replacement/beefed front leaf springs (broke the main leaf on driver side…military wrap kept it driveable).
$8365 + $600 = $8965
I’m not counting maintenance items such as wheel bearings, etc, but I’ve included everything I can think of at the moment….I’m sure there are other things that I have left out….but I believe it would be minor items.
Keep in mind that this vehicle has also been wheeled hard for three full years. On one end of the spectrum:
A). Some people spend $10 grand on mods all at once, wheel it a few times, and decide that they don’t like the hobby.
B). Some people recycle junk vehicles for a trail ride or two, then get another cheap rig to use for a ride or two.
1. I bought three ’78-’79 F-250’s for $1500. Two had D60 front/rear axles. All three vehicles were gone in less than 36 hours (keeps my wife happy), and I turned a $1500 profit in less than 10 days.
If one honestly considers how much $$ they have in their trail rig, their eyebrows may raise a bit.
Buford isn’t the cheapest, isn’t the fanciest, isn’t the most capable rig around but when the three previously mentioned aspects are considered, I’m satisfied with the net results.
Roy
Someone on the OffroadOhio site mentioned the fact that I recently spent $800+ on front axles. It wasn't a cut, just a statement. I've never sat down and figured how much $$ I have spent of Buford....so I gave an attempt tonight. I have a good memory for the most part, but I'm certain that I did not include everything...without keeping every receipt, it is nearly impossible to do. I gave the best account that I could without looking at paperwork. The format that I used is generic and likely not very clean/concise when reading it....I plan to edit it tomorrow to make it look a little cleaner. however, here is what I came up with:
$800 May 2003. Bought Buford with 460, C6, 205, dual D60’s w/ 4.10 gears.
$1000 June 2003. New 38x13/R16’s & new wheels.
$100 June 2003. Painted it Charcoal Metallic in the driveway.
$50 June 2003. Had rear D60 welded.
$300 June 2003: Front lockright.
$100 June 2003. JC Whitney Tailgate
For less than $2400, I had a beefy trail rig that could take a hefty amount of abuse on a budget.
-$100 Sold the 750 or 850 CFM carb on ebay.
-$150 Sold 33” AT’s & “Hurricane” 16.5’s locally.
****Both of these items were on the truck for the $800 purchase price****
$2350 - $250 = $2100
Buford stayed pretty much the same until the late winter/early spring of 2004.
$500 C6 trans lost 2nd gear due to inhaling water (said trans guy). The $500 was parts, labor, etc to remove, rebuild, re-install the transmission.
Wheel bearing (on the drive home from a trail ride) caused me to have it towed home from Lancaster. This ruined a spindle, and melted the plastic dial on the lockout hub on the passenger side. Since I ruined something, I wanted to make it stronger.
$200 Spicer (GM) 35 spline D70 stubs cut down to fit the Ford.
$50 Ebay spindle.
$150 Drive flanges
$70 New U-joints while I was in there.
-$100 Sold (3) stock D60 stubs on ebay
-$50 Sold complete lockout hub and most of the melted one on ebay.
$2100+$970 = $3070- $150 = $2920.
Buford stayed pretty much the same for the remainder of the year. The last wheeling trip of the year (after Thanksgiving in KY) broke the passenger side door glass. The doors were trashed from 18 months of wheeling, and some upgrades were in order.
$100 Two clean free doors plus $75 worth of steel tubing and $25 labor to have it welded onto the doors. Definitely one of my best “ideas” for Buford…ugly but it works.
$600 (4) Brand new 42” TSL’s. That’s not a typo….it’s a long story but it turned out to be a good deal….likely never get a deal like that again.
$250 (4) new 15x8 w/ 2.75” backspacing.
$40 to mount tires on wheels.
$10 BB’s to balance.
$50 Repair/vulcanize/tube (1) new 42” tire after ripping a large hole in tread…less than 100 miles on it at the time.
-$450 Sold 38’s & wheels.
$2920+ $1050 = $3970 - $450 = $3520
$460 February 2005…Detroit Locker after the Lockright failed. Lockright was still under two year warranty. I received a brand new replacement.
-$300 Sold it on ebay for exactly $299. (I like round numbers).
$100 New “fat” inner short side front D60 axle to replace the stock neckdown inner. It never broke, but I wanted the truck at full strength before driving to Slade KY.
-$50 Sold used axle on ebay.
$3520 + $560 = $4080. $4080 – 350 = $3730
***Items have I had bought or added to this point that I did not calculate, and do not want to go back & change all the numbers to this point***
$200 Steering box from Advance Auto
$250 (3) 1410 & (1) 1350 pinion yokes
$100 (4) driveshaft U-joints for above yokes
$150 Both front & rear d-shafts…$125 for front, $25 for rear.
$0 Oil/Volt/Temp Gauges from previous vehicle
$0 CD player from previous vehicle
$0 205 T-case from previous vehicle replaced (replaced it & found it wasn’t the problem for the noise I was hearing…it was bad rear D60 pinion teeth
$250 Paid Lambert (at his shop) to replace the T-case…again, for no good reason we later found out….but $250 is $250.
$200 Rear D70-U from “guy down the road.”
$50 To have it welded…the weld let go.
$0 Lambert welded the sheet out of it for free, and it has been fine ever since.
$250 total $$ for rear disc brakes on both the D60, and the current D70
$3730 + $1450 = $5200
$550 Dedenbear Knuckles in August of 2005..broke a stock one. It sucked. “If it breaks, make it better.” It wasn’t cheap, but I did.
$5200 + $550 = $5750
-$20 Sold non-broken D60 knuckle on ebay…after two attempts…the first guy did not pay, I blasted him on ebay, and he left me my only negative feedback…****er.
$5750 - $20 = $5730
$1000 Engine rebuild in fall of 2005. 1969 heads, L&L headers, comp cams (later removed for stock cam) stock cam reinstalled, defective comp cam warrantied…still still sitting in box in basement.
$5730 + $1000 = $6730
***Other things I have thought of & don’t want to change existing figures already posted***
$100 2x6x1/4” boxed tubing front bumper
$600 Milemarker 12K winch
$100 for miscellaneous D-rings/shackles, etc.
$6730 + $800 = $7530
$505 Yukon 4340 Alloy D60 inner & outer axle shafts
$330 Longfield D60 SuperJoints
$7530 + $835 = $8365
***Other things I thought of***
$300 Rear Pro-Comp springs
$150 Skyjacker shocks
$150 Replacement/beefed front leaf springs (broke the main leaf on driver side…military wrap kept it driveable).
$8365 + $600 = $8965
I’m not counting maintenance items such as wheel bearings, etc, but I’ve included everything I can think of at the moment….I’m sure there are other things that I have left out….but I believe it would be minor items.
Keep in mind that this vehicle has also been wheeled hard for three full years. On one end of the spectrum:
A). Some people spend $10 grand on mods all at once, wheel it a few times, and decide that they don’t like the hobby.
B). Some people recycle junk vehicles for a trail ride or two, then get another cheap rig to use for a ride or two.
- I’m somewhere in the middle of those two camps.
1. I bought three ’78-’79 F-250’s for $1500. Two had D60 front/rear axles. All three vehicles were gone in less than 36 hours (keeps my wife happy), and I turned a $1500 profit in less than 10 days.
- One junkyard front D60 for $500. Sold it for $800.
- One junkyard front D60 for $250. Sold it for $925.
- Scads of spare mechanical parts for Buford, should a replacement become necessary in the future: 205 T-case, two C6’s, extra 460 with all parts paid for, extra steering box, tie rod, drag link, D-shafts, etc, etc…
- Likely $1000 profit from buying wheels/tires for cheap and reselling them on ebay or in the local Merchandiser. The $1000 estimate would be over the past two years or so.
If one honestly considers how much $$ they have in their trail rig, their eyebrows may raise a bit.
Buford isn’t the cheapest, isn’t the fanciest, isn’t the most capable rig around but when the three previously mentioned aspects are considered, I’m satisfied with the net results.
Roy
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