Replace or Rebuild?

[Scarecrow]

Hi guys, the time has come to make the major decision whether to  put a good amount of money into the old girl (1998 3500), or just sell her and get a newer truck. Here's what I come up with as far as the pros and cons of each.

 

1998

Pros   Paid for, New injectors, new tires, Quadzilla, NO emissions, 

Cons   Rust, needs patch panels/bed or flat bed, will need clutch, rebuild or replace turbo, starting to have electrical issues, 370,000 miles

 

2014-2018

Pros    200,000 less miles, body/bed in good condition, updated features, 

Cons    Payments, EMISSIONS, probably stuck with automatic, unknown probs/issues

 

Any comments, thoughts, or ideas are welcome, and will be appreciated.

 

Mark

          

 

[Tractorman]

The rust issue would encourage me to replace.  I have similar miles (394,000), but no rust, so I continue to invest in mine.

 

- John

[Mopar1973Man]

Just consider this con... Every 100k miles on common rail engines you must replace 3200 dollars of injectors. Then like Thor is my problem child and having issues holding prime long. Grid heater light popping on. Then another con is common rail engine will not last 1 million miles. Typical life locally is 250k to 350k miles the engine is wasted and blowing oil everywhere.

 

Great example 220k miles and needs over $8000 of engine work.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTY7bk7sL/

Edited January 2 by Mopar1973Man

[Scarecrow]

 

Well, those are a couple of major problem/ issues. These are the things I need to hear.

 

Mark

[Doubletrouble]

 I have an '01 3500, she has some rust in the typical areas like rockers, floor boards and door bottoms. Truck has 194k roughly. I plan to fix the rust and keep her going. I prefer the look of my 2nd gen over the newer body styles, that's my preference though. I also love that I don't deal with emissions at all. It's also a 5speed, I have rebuilt the trans once myself. Another factor there is that I can and have done it. If needed, I'll do it again.

 I love my truck and will do what I can to keep her as long as I can. There is a lot of life left in the drive train, just need to keep the rust at bay.