Looking at buying a deuce!

[69GTOby]

My parents have a vacation house, and every time I would go down there I would pass this old cool looking army truck sitting in a field. A for sale sign appeared on it, and it has been there for a few months now. My buddy and I had to stop and look at it. We loved it. The next day we met the owner and he told us about the truck. He said it's a '71 Jeep semi with a multifuel diesel. He let us drive it around the field and WOW, too cool! I had an enormous smile the entire time! He said he bought it for $3000 and put some money into it and wants $3500. He said his brother is a mechanic and he changed all the fuel filters and some fluids. I don't know exactly. He used it on his land for hauling wood and just needs the money.

It started up after several turns - he said it had been sitting for a while. The seats have no fabric basically, just springs. The windshields are all cracked. There was a vacuum leak right across the top of the windshield - for vacuum wipers?? There were some rust spots and rust holes, but it seemed pretty solid overall. The placard on the engine said something along the lines of, "White Engines Inc. 134 HP @ 2600 RPM... Multifuel...." It sounded awesome and ran well. The turbo noise was quite noticeable - "whistler" turbo?? It had a couple tires that were worn all funky and bald on one side. I don't know if they were in the front and it has an alignment issue or what, but it will need a few tires.

So, does it sound worth $3000? We are in love with the truck and want to take it home and drive it around. We plan to split it 50/50. We are both auto mechanics and want to fix it up some too. Any input would be great! I have no experience with these trucks, or with diesels, I just know that I want one!

 

[3dAngus]

About average but you must consider if you want to fix/repair you're talking another couple $thousand just based on what you mention here. You can save doing the work yourself and buying from other SS members.

 

[onegmjack]

We need pictures.Welcome to the site.

 

[Jimma]

Keep looking. Check the classifieds on here.

 

[Rambling Wreck]

'

So, does it sound worth $3000? We are in love with the truck and want to take it home and drive it around. We plan to split it 50/50. We are both auto mechanics and want to fix it up some too. Any input would be great! I have no experience with these trucks, or with diesels, I just know that I want one!

As I read that I could practically hear Bob Barker say "Come on down .... The Price is Right"

Honestly, it sounds like a pretty fair price (Edit: At $3,000) for what you have described. You can do some price comparison by looking through the classifieds on this site.

 

[wreckerman893]

Welcome to the Green Iron Laughing Accademy.

Since you have the fever I'd lowball him at 2500 bucks and see if he bites....flash some 100 bills.

If it had a winch, hardtop, decent tires and interior I'd say it was a 3500 hundred dollar truck....the one you described is about a 2500 truck.

I just sold my last deuce for 2800 bucks and it had some issues but had a hardtop and almost new tires all the way around.

If you plan to drive that one on the highway you are looking at some serious money to make that happen.

 

[BadMastard]

Wreckerman has it right

That's not a $3500 deuce. Might be a $2500 deuce, but if it's got all that wrong with it that's visible, I might wonder what's not so visible. You should wonder too! I'd say flash him the $2000, and go up to $2500. A $2500 dollar deuce is hard to go wrong with.

 

[Sephirothq]

a $2500 duece is hard to find as well.

 

[Blendmaster2002]

Hello 69GTO, you should also find out if its titled, registered, if so if it’s current or has back tags etc. You mention he used it on his land so it’s probably not titled, If not find out if he has any of the paperwork to get it titled. This is important if you want to drive it on the road, good luck also as others have said check the classifieds here on the site.

 

[RAYZER]

You said it is a "jeep semi", is this a 5ton truck? Or maybe a m275 2.5 ton tractor, kinda rare!

 

[gungearz]

Welcome to steel soldiers, its worth around that but it sounds like its going to take quite a bit to get it back into shape. I'm sure you can find something a lot better for a little bit more. You can usually buy a drive home truck with few minor issues for around $4500/$5500 or you can buy that one and put close to $1000 or so into it by doing all the work yourself. Either way, in the end, you would have spent about the same amount. Just depends on how much you know and how much your willing to do...

 

[hndrsonj]

You said it is a "jeep semi", is this a 5ton truck? Or maybe a m275 2.5 ton tractor, kinda rare!

The M275 is what I was thinking too. 3K is a decent price. We need pics.

 

[Flyingvan911]

The wipers run on compressed air.

 

[69GTOby]

Well, we read all the replies here and did our research and decided to go for it. It ran great down at the lake house where we bought in in southern VA. We topped off the oil and coolant, tested it out on the road, and decided to try to drive it home about 250 miles. I took the first shift in the deuce, got about 50 miles then filled it up and switched off.

Back on the road, I was following my buddy who was driving the deuce now, when all the sudden I noticed the tires looked really wet and shinny, then a spray of fluid hit my windshield and I couldn't see anything. I started calling him right away, it rang maybe twice and he was already pulling off. The engine stalled and he drifted it to the shoulder. Turns out that somehow the oil drain plug fell out! We got a drain plug and 4 gallons of oil at a truck stop, put it in and it wouldn't start, it barely even cranked. We thought the motor was locked up but it was just really weak. We went back to the truck stop and got 2 new batteries and it fired right up. The alternator was not charging, which we were suspicious of, but didn't plan on having to shut it off at all, and it always started fine before.

We drove it to the truck stop, a mile up the road. It ran fine, but had a bit of a misfire/hesitation at part throttle and made a loud whining noise sometimes. We checked the oil and coolant and the turbo for play, all looked well but we noticed the air pump belt was loose. We figured the belt was slipping with all the oil everywhere from the drain plug incident. We hit the road again and it was my turn to drive the deuce. We went maybe 3 miles, then my friend texted me saying, "smoking a lot." Soon after, we were climbing a hill in a road work area and it started pouring white smoke, I pulled off as soon as I could. It seems to run fine but smokes terribly once it warms up for a few minutes.

Anyway, turns out the fluke oil starvation incident took out the engine from what we can tell. Now it sits at a shop in VA where we can let it sit for a few days until we decide what to do with it. What are our options? We love the truck, but we're not sure if we have the money or equipment to swap the engine. A friend of ours has a big rig shop and he could help us with whatever we decide to do. Basically, we love the truck but just want to do whatever makes the most sense financially. We have almost $4k in it so far, so we're in pretty deep. Any ideas or suggestions?

According to the placard on the dash, it's a 1971 M35A2. It has heat, defrost, air assist brakes, and a White multi fuel turbo diesel rated at 134 HP @ 2600 RPMs.

 

[rchalmers3]

Ahhh, dude, sorry to hear your adventure started out like that. I hope you find a solution and continue in this hobby. These trucks really are pretty fun once the kinks are worked out.

Rick

 

[gungearz]

Before I would make the call for any engine repair at all. I would first change all the filters, check and top off all of the fluids, make sure the batteries are topped off and see how it runs from there. Hesitation could be from the filters and same with extensive smoke. It is supposed to smoke... Running bad does not Mean a new engine. Just needs to be fixed... We are here to help as much as we can.

 

[Motorcar]

White smoke is a lean condition, fuel starvation or air bubbles (sucking air) in the line. If the fuel filters were changed and oil change done by who knows who, and the oil pan plug was left loose, then other things in the fuel system may be as well. Verify everything before you decide the motor is junk. Used multifuel running takouts can be had for a reasonable price if that ends up being the case. Sorry you got off to a bad start.

 

[3dAngus]

That's horrible news. When I said it would cost you $thousands more, I never exected it to be in the first day.

100dollarman out in California had some deuce engines for sale for $400 I believe. You should be able to get one from a person scrapping his due to a bad transmission or for the parts count, and that would be cheaper than an engine rebuild. If the oil went out, it probably cracked the block. You'll have to take a good look at it, and check the radiator, fuel, and block for any signs of abnormalities and fluid mixtures that are not suposed to be present. If you see them, it's probably even more serious, and you should just get another running engine and swap it out, keeping yours for parts. It would be easier and probably cheaper.

 

[Rambling Wreck]

Bummer dude. I'm pulling for you guys and I sure hope it is nothing too major and or expensive.

 

[25thIDAirAssault]

Cheaper not always better?

Qoute from GUNZGEARS:

I'm sure you can find something a lot better for a little bit more. You can usually buy a drive home truck with few minor issues for around $4500/$5500 or you can buy that one and put close to $1000 or so into it by doing all the work yourself. Either way, in the end, you would have spent about the same amount. Just depends on how much you know and how much your willing to do...

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hear this kind of thing happening a lot lately. Makes me wonder, sometimes the cheaper truck isn't always the way to go. If you can afford to buy a slightly nicer truck that maybe is a little more money, go for it. Because after something like this happens, you end up spending more money anyway! Just my two cents. Hope things do work out for you in the end.

John