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Should I sell my newer ram for an old K30?

keep the dodge. i love mine! but i drive it every day 25k to 30k per year. kinda off topic but, do you have a diffrent bumper on in the first pic than you do the second. and 2nd, if you sell your truck, trade me those rims!

my truck.jpg

my truck 1.jpg
 
USSkoval said:
Why limit yourself to the '87-'91? FI is very easy to add in place of a carb.
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My biggest reasoning is that I am already familiar with TBI systems and have parts for it laying around, having 2 vehicles with the same/similar setups makes maintenance simpler. I do not want to deal with converting an earlier model to FI because of the hassle of smogging it in CA, it can be done, but I don't want the head ache. Sign the check, drive away.

Another plus is the later years are more likely to be in better condition and have more options... my dad's 78 was loaded for it's time and came with an 8track player and manual windows/locks :pimp:.

AJMBLAZER: the dodge was paid off the day I bought it so I'm not trying to get out from under a payment, I just think the value of it could be better put to use elsewhere. Kinda like how I sold 12 (yes 12) of my motorcycles in the last 2 years and now have 3 that will do the same job. Cost aside, it just made more sense to get rid of the things that weren't being put to use. No sense in having the shiniest _____ on the block if all it does is collect dust.

After bugging my friends for reassurance that this is a good idea, I am coming more to grips with selling the dodge. Now I need to clean it up and put an ad in the truck trader and see if I get any bites! If I found my dream K30 right now it wouldn't do me any good as I won't be able to buy it until after I sell the dodge so we'll start there. I won't be in a huge hurry for the K30 after the dodge is sold being that I haven't been using the truck recently anyway, I'm just trying to get an idea of what's out there... anyone find any new links?
 
73redblaze said:
kinda off topic but, do you have a diffrent bumper on in the first pic than you do the second. and 2nd, if you sell your truck, trade me those rims!
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Nope, same everything in both pictures with the exception of the hub conversion and my custom 5500 door emblems that are covered with slush in the second pic. I'll give you the rims for free if you buy the rest of the truck :D
 
I am mixed on this,

On one hand I love my buddies crew cab, the interior was amazing, no rust and its paint still has some shine. There are nice ones out there, now after he added the 12 valve ...me really likes it:)

But.. it was a huge project, I find the newer trucks pretty damn easy to work on, the ac rocks, seats are comfy, stock paint is well enough..rubber is not rotted and the plastic and carpet is still nice.

P5313768.jpg


I also have the opinion they are very reliable and have plenty of benefits though shine through the problems. Everything from overdrives, disk brakes, higher amp alternators, more power, ect.

I have had plenty of the 73-91s and I like em, I just feel to get a it really nice.. you are in newer truck territory $$ but you have plenty of things to work on.


To me a nice compromise with a not to hard of a truck to work on but plenty of the newer plus's is a 96-99 crew cab like avery is rockin.


99crew2.jpg


This with a would be nice with a simple solid axle swap using off road designs new kit or off road direct and 37's
 
sixb said:
Actually I say keep the Dodge since it's paid for anf probably far more reliablw than that old Chevy will ever be:whistle:
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I can argue with this one. Both of my Burbs and my little C10 get driven all of the time and the Burbs go on out of state trips on a regular basis... and they are old. They are every bit as reliable as my buddies with their newer trucks. Besides, newer vehicles are built with cheaper materials (I can say this for sure since I make my living off of them), so in a few short years my old trucks will be more reliable and much cheaper to repair than these current "newer" trucks.
 
USSkoval said:
I can argue with this one. Both of my Burbs and my little C10 get driven all of the time and the Burbs go on out of state trips on a regular basis... and they are old. They are every bit as reliable as my buddies with their newer trucks. Besides, newer vehicles are built with cheaper materials (I can say this for sure since I make my living off of them), so in a few short years my old trucks will be more reliable and much cheaper to repair than these current "newer" trucks.
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Eh, I pretty much disagree. The reliability of a new vehicle is hard to beat, an older vehicle has one heck of a challenge on it's hands to out do a new vehicle in that category.

Where I would agree, is that newer stuff gets older, much quicker than old cars did when they were new. Meaning, that the simplicity and use of quality components is what helps out 73-91 GM trucks still stay on the road with a decent amount of reliability today, at 20-35 years of age. Compared, to the later 88+ newer body style trucks with more wiring, more complex systems, means more problems after age starts to take effect. Will some of these 2000 era vehicles with these complicated fuel and computer systems be fairly reliable and worth not crushing when they are 25 years old? I say those vehicles will meet the crusher much earlier in life than the 70's-80's era of simplicity trucks.
 
I was shocked that when I saw this this thread Jay. Your dodge works awesome. However, I'm planning the same set up for a tow vehicle (80 crew cab with a cummins swap). It is hard to for me to justify having car payments when I just got done paying off one car.
 
rjfguitar said:
Eh, I pretty much disagree. The reliability of a new vehicle is hard to beat, an older vehicle has one heck of a challenge on it's hands to out do a new vehicle in that category.

Where I would agree, is that newer stuff gets older, much quicker than old cars did when they were new. Meaning, that the simplicity and use of quality components is what helps out 73-91 GM trucks still stay on the road with a decent amount of reliability today, at 20-35 years of age. Compared, to the later 88+ newer body style trucks with more wiring, more complex systems, means more problems after age starts to take effect. Will some of these 2000 era vehicles with these complicated fuel and computer systems be fairly reliable and worth not crushing when they are 25 years old? I say those vehicles will meet the crusher much earlier in life than the 70's-80's era of simplicity trucks.
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I was going to jump in and disagree but decided to finish reading and I agree... the only thing is that with the newer trucks with a bunch of electronics and the GREAT quality control these days, there is more of a chance of failiures out of the blue that could get you stranded with no warning, that doesn't happen with older technology, it gives a warning with degraded output till it fails.
 
imiceman44 said:
I was going to jump in and disagree but decided to finish reading and I agree... the only thing is that with the newer trucks with a bunch of electronics and the GREAT quality control these days, there is more of a chance of failiures out of the blue that could get you stranded with no warning, that doesn't happen with older technology, it gives a warning with degraded output till it fails.
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Yes, and those newer (notice I didn't say new) vehicles in a few short years will no longer be able to be trusted to get you home. Sure, they usually will, but I wouldn't want to put my money on it.

Let's say they truck in question is 5 years old (I don't remember the actual year), in 5 more years it will be just another old truck... and one that has dropped considerably in value. But say an '87 K30, five years from now will be just as reliable as it is now and the value will stay the same or even be higher than it is now.
 
I've agonized over all of this and I think (fwiw) that you're on the right track. The big thing to me is that you're not going to drive it a lot of miles. Just put up with a little bit of "old truck" for $5K a year in short trips and you'll be fine.

When I went through this process I had the requirement of spending lots of miles in the truck at one time, like single trips that eat up 3K. I started with the idea of dropping a 6bt in a '82 crew that I had. Then I drove the truck a bit and decided I didn't want to tie into 1000 mile drive through the night in that truck. Next thought was start with nice truck, a '97-99 crew and put a 6bt in it and maybe solid axle. It didn't take long to see that I could drop $17-20K on that system (I also wanted 300-ish hp since we tow stupid sometimes). I ended up buying my '03 dually with a bunch of extras and haven't looked back. A typical trip for us was this last UA trip rolling at around 20K total and leaving at 9pm to drive 900 miles. I was pretty happy with the dually for that.

Different needs for me, yours seem to line up well with moving to an older truck.
 
I agree and disagree at the same time. You get a lot with new:

ABS braking, dynamic stability control. dynamic trailer controls, better crash ratings. That a lone is something to think about.

Then there's the wear factor: 30 year old springs, bushings, etc.There's also been a lot of improvements in design (like computer aided design, etc) that have optimized handling and efficiency.

New supportive seats, better sound proofing, nicer speaker system.. it really makes a 1200 mile trip comfortable.

But, its money. And its a fading amount- to a point anyhow. There's more to go wrong- more wiring, more gremlins to chase down. Soemtimes cars just won't start for a simple 3 dollar part, and no way to bypass. I got stranded once because a mass airflow meter went kaput on me, and no limp mode.

Then again, modern manufacturing has some great perks.

Fuel injection, for one. TBI was a great leap, but still allowed cylinder wash, and fuel dilution of oil. TPI elminates most of that (why most cars have 5000-7000 mile oil change intervals instead of 3000) and a big part of why new cars dont have to have new motors ever 100k anymore. Modern motor oil is also better.

Then there's larger brakes, less rust, etc.

But old trucks maintained well, run as good as any other well maintained truck. They will never surpass what they were new.

I would like a new seat for my k5, and a new seat for my subaru- both have high mileage and a worn spot for my butt.
 
Well I found my replacement truck:

frankk30-1.jpg


1988 K30 CC SRW TBI454/TH400/NP205/gear vendor OD, 60f/14ff w/4.10. It has a rancho 2.5" lift which will suffice for awhile along with the near new 33" bfg at's on 16.5 wheels (yuck!) Power windows/locks that actually work and the ac sorta blows cool. Has a huge aluminum radiator and tranny cooler with electric fans. The interior is clean for a 23 year old truck and the body is rust free and straight, but is currently in primer (clear coat was peeling so they sanded it and half assed shot it in primer... Maaco ambassador special here I come!) He is holding it for me for a few weeks while I get my dodge outta here, so hopefully I can get it gone soon without completely dropping my shorts on the deal.
 
Nice. Sounds like it has some good potential.
 
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