Hunting down a 1st gen

[VicR]

After a few months of looking, I may have actually found a good used 1st generation at a reasonable price. Its a 90 4x4 regular cab, 121,000 miles. Body straight with a few dings, although I think it was rear-ended at one time as it has had some body work in the back and the tailgate/ bumper are replacements. The interior is worn, but doesn't look abused. The dealer was closed today (fine with me, I got to look it over without any hassle) I am going to head over for a test drive tomorrow.



Its an automatic, which is fine with me. Is that the 727? If so, anything in particular to look for?



On the positive side, it didn't have any evidence of leaks underneath. Either everything is tight or it had already leaked out...



Its got a little higher miles than I was looking for, but if I can get it at the right price I don't mind doing some minor things to it.



Any advice on things to look at is appreciated! Its basically going to be a second vehicle for us when the wife has the 99 or when we want to go play around in the hills.



Thanks,



-Vic

 

[Hutchew]

Look for cracks........

when you open the doors, look for the infamous "cowl cracks". If it is affected, cowl cracks are fairly easy to fix, if you can find the right repair brackets. Look at the rearmost cab mounts for either broken frame mounts or the bottom of the cab itself being broken out. Don't think these were too much of a concern on regular cabs, but I've seen quite a few club cabs with problems here. Other areas to look are around the steering box, it mounts to a plate, and the plate mounts to the frame. It is an area where some have had problems. Look at the core support where it mounts, also, it has been known to break out on occasion. None of these problems are hard to fix if you are mechanically inclined and have the time to fix them, but they may give you some barganing power on the seller.

I personally wouldn't buy that year of truck, they are too limited on power, no intercooler, no OD, etc, but if you are just looking for a beater, might make a decent rig... ..... Good luck.

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

A BEATER !! . . now I KNOW I need to find my stick... .





bob.

 

[Deezul Fumes]

Steering

Make sure you have a good test drive and watch for steering wander. Or if it pulls left or right. With that kind of mileage the front-end could be suspect.

Rick

 

[BCaldwell]

Bush never mind the stick get out the CLUB bill

 

[DieselBuzz]

:-laf This is why I voted for Bush!:-laf

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Thanks DB,, I didn't even know there was a vote. .





Vic, the 727 is a good transmission. Like most things it needs service and attention from time to time.

You can do some basics yourself like ...

1) pull the transmission pan off and drain the oil out

2) Loosen the VB bolts I believe there are 10 or 11 of them (correct me if I'm wrong) and let the rest of the oil drain out.

3) Re-tighten the bolts in sequence

4) Make adjustment to the line pressure allen screw (stock is about 52psi from factory, and you can go to about 56/7/8 or so but not more than 60 psi or you can bulge/damage seal(s).

5) Carefully inspect pan for shavings

6) Adjust band

7) New gasket, fill with oil

8) Adjust external band adjustment

9) Start while IN DRIVE and let warm up and top up fluid as needed.



This transmission is pretty durable if well cared for. In fact it is still used for racing today. .



For more details on the above items there are a number of posts in here... just do a search for things like line pressure adjustments, or pressure adjustment, or band adjustments etc.

If you need more help, say the word we'll jump in to help.

In the mean time you can check out this site for some pics/tips on your pressure adjustments...

http://www.dieseltrans.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=68

If you need really serious help call them, they are first class and will help just about anyone, customer or not.

OBTW, if you can't afford to put on a high end transmission pan like Mag-Hytec then get yourself a pan off a 97 or 98 I think. It holds about 1 litre more oil and that is a good thing. You should be able to lay your hands on one for $10 bucks or less.



bob.