Craigslist Toy Truck

[pmccumber]

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/1547400287.html

One of my friends lives up in Coal Creek Canyon and has a 16 year old that he needs to get a car. I went with him and looked at this thing. The phenomenon he spoke of in the ad didn't happen but when I locked the hubs and put it in 4WD drive, it sounded bad, real bad when we turned. Clicking more than grinding. CVs, Diff?

Ballpark, what does it cost to rebuild the front end for something like this? What type of an effort is this?

The thing actually looked pretty good otherwise. He indicated his best offer is $2400 right now. My friend would be thrilled to get into the thing with it fixed up for sub $4000.

Paul

 

[DaveInDenver]

Was it for sure only in 4WD? There is a common issue with IFS truck making horrendous noise when steering because of the steering stops being completely free of grease. It'll be when the wheel is at full lock and the front wheel bounces a little. It sounds like your front is being torn off but is solved by taking 30 seconds to smear grease on the four steering stop bolts. Might also check that he's not getting shock-to-axle interference because of oversized shocks or something.

If it is 4WD, then yeah, first guess is sounds like a bad CV. Rebuilt axles are cheap from Autozone or Checker. Toyota also sells a kit to repack them if they are not yet dead and just dry. That kit is like $30 per axle alone (but the boots and grease are generally better quality than the cheap-o aftermarket rebuilt units). Assume two rebuilt CV axles would be about $200 or so.

You can find a replacement diff cheap, if it happens to be in there. His would be a 4.10/7.5 IFS. There's only like 10 million of those around. I would not pay much for one, $50, $100 maybe. Could be a bad bearing, people tend to forget to check fluid levels and occasionally engage 4WD in part time systems to keep things lubed... With the hubs unlocked you should be able to turn the pinion and/or the half shafts and get a sense whether something is badly broken in it.

It might also be as simple as needing a front end service and the seals at the back of the spindles have gone, which has caused the brass bushing in the hub to dry out, so the axles are making noise where they pass through. Or a bent dust shield.

For reference, I once bought a whole front end from 1987 pickup from a guy doing a SAS for a case of Coors Light. That was control arms, axles, diff, spindles, everything wheel-to-wheel. So it does not have to be an expensive rebuild. For $500 you should be able to collect a decent level of used and rebuilt parts for a refresh normal wear or abuse.

 

[Red_Chili]

116K miles... sheesh. Grab it.

 

[pmccumber]

I really appreciate the feedback guys. Thanks.

 

[Shark Bait]

$2400? I'd buy it for that.

 

[pmccumber]

My friend had Robbie look at it so they got a pretty good bead on it. Glad he's back in town!

 

[Ron Helmuth]

listing says $3400-if you can get it for $2400 it is a no brainer almost. Barely broken in.

Listen for timing chain noise up front. Not that expensive a maintenance item though.

Thank goodness it is not the 3slow V6

 

[powderpig]

The timing chain guide was broken, it has a bad rear diff. One CV boot on each side has some problem or are dry. Drive line is OK, Brakes Fair.
Anyhow these are the problems I found in the time I was with it.
Bench seats are the rule here. lock out hubs, nice red paint and a topper.
Robbie

 

[corsair23]

The timing chain guide was broken, it has a bad rear diff. One CV boot on each side has some problem or are dry. Drive line is OK, Brakes Fair.
Anyhow these are the problems I found in the time I was with it.
Bench seats are the rule here. lock out hubs, nice red paint and a topper.
Robbie

So...an offer of $2500 to the seller, a $1000 to Robbie to make it right, and your friend has what appears to be a real nice truck for under his $4k limit?

 

[DaveInDenver]

And being red, I know where an OK seat of red sport buckets could be added for not much...

http://www.risingsun4x4club.org/forum2/showthread.php?t=11815

 

[pmccumber]

Seller took $2500. So Brett has a Mini Truck. And Robbie has a Mini Truck in the queue. Brett said that when he called the seller the guy literally said, "Will you still give me the $2500 you offered me last night?"

Thanks for looking at it Robbie. I'll be spending time in that little rig once it is running right.

 

[pmccumber]

So...an offer of $2500 to the seller, a $1000 to Robbie to make it right, and your friend has what appears to be a real nice truck for under his $4k limit?

Exactly! Better than working on a RAV4 from what I hear Tell you what, I'd have been pretty happy if my pops bought me that little truck. I got an LTD. Although it did have nice bench back seats

 

[powderpig]

One of the things I did was to show the seller what the problems were, When I pulled the valve cover and showed him the guide broken it is a bit more convicing then just telling the guy.
As for the rear diff, I offer to move the axle around for him as well. He did not want to crawl under the truck. I think he was done trying to fix things. He came off like if he did not get what he wants, he would have some friends fix it for him.
Funny how life works.

 

[pmccumber]

One of the things I did was to show the seller what the problems were, When I pulled the valve cover and showed him the guide broken it is a bit more convicing then just telling the guy.
As for the rear diff, I offer to move the axle around for him as well. He did not want to crawl under the truck. I think he was done trying to fix things. He came off like if he did not get what he wants, he would have some friends fix it for him.
Funny how life works.

Oh there is no question that tipped the scales. Brett said he sounded "defeated" and in the context of taking the much lower price he mentioned that you had showed him around the vehicle. So yeah.

 

[corsair23]

That all right makes me - Good folks helping out good folks

Everyday you realize there is a lot more to belonging to a club like Rising Sun than just getting out and wheeling from time to time.

 

[Rock Dog]

Chock another one up for Robbie! he really helped me get my Rig in Tip Top shape. Cannot say enough !! always does a great job!