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I'm going to look at an 88 this Sunday and was wondering if you guys/girls could give me any pointers on what to look out for(frame rot, anything they were known for, ect) I had an 89 years ago and beat the piss out of it and never payed much attention to it, other than patching up a bit of frame and replacing what i broke. Miss that truck!
Thanks in advance!
Notorious for blowing head gaskets. Definitely do the normal checks(oil stick for milky substance, radiator for the same and all other fluids) I bought a 88 mighty max a few weeks ago and I bought it knowing it had a blown head gasket. Low and behold the individual who done previous head work on it left the valve adjustment screws loose and one found its way under the cam and ruined the head. Luckily I found a donor 87 ram 50 (totaled) but good motor. But in my area they are hit/miss on good used parts(I live in Upstate South Carolina) but I got lucky on mine. A little off point but just be sure to give it a good check over expecally engine compartment area and under the truck for leaks. And like always, go with your gut feelings on it. But these trucks are great lil beaters and when they are well maintained they provide years and many many miles of use. Good luck!
Good luck with your inspection. Hope you find a solid buy or something that won't break you while fixing it. Treat it like any used purchase. If it's running and reg'd take it for a drive. The biggest issue with these are the timing belt on 4G63/64's (people think they can go for 250,000 miles and then the belt blows), bad heads (as a result of not replacing the timing belt and changing coolant), tired carbs and on FI'd trucks blown caps in the ECU's. If it's got good clean coolant in it, the cooling system will healthy (fingers crossed). Remember you are buying a near 30 year old work horse and it'll need repairs (bushes and suspension, major brake o/haul, steering links etc). And unfortunately you may be discovering some ugly hatchet job repairs performed in its life by previous owners.