Looking at 1981 1 ton dually!
 

Gonna go look at a 1981 1 ton dually 2wd with 454/4spd. Truck is really clean and well cared for according to AD. What kind of power is this truck capable of? Is there anything specific I should look for, rust, worn out items etc.. I am not too familiar with chevys, the only one I have worked on is my sisters 69 GMC. TIA

who cares what shape its in, just buy it and replace everything eventually.. if it is well cared for then there shouldnt be any or very tiny rust spots, listen for the usual pinging and clicks and noises. soemtimes it helps to take it to a mechanic that is familiar with carbureted vehicles so he can check things over. i had the problem of most local repair shops not familiar with carbureted vehicles so alot of the stuff they werent sure of how its supposed to run/look. i guess fuel injection has been around long enough that alot of shops dont care about carbureted vehicles.

I have to care what shape it is in, because I may be trading my reliable daily driver for it. I would hate to get it, have something go wrong, and then hear a mechanic say "these truck are notorious for this sort of thing" I am also curious about the power output, I do a lot of hauling with a flatbed, and need to know if this thing should be capable of hauling a fullsize truck at freeway speeds for extended periods of time. My current truck does good around town and up to speeds of 50mph, but totally dogs on the freeway.

Just got done using my 87 454 Dually to haul my 3200lb car, trailer, tools, generator etc. 1600 miles in hilly country (southern MO and west KY). It did fine, was able to keep up fine going up the hills and on the interstates. The only issue was gas mileage, 8mpg was about the norm.

Burtn exhaust valves worn cam . Rot under the doors

Rot behind running boards(if present). Rot at cab mounts, fender wells and lowers, rocker panels, floors, lower doors (as previously mentioned). Leaking windshield gasket. Besides mechanical condition, I would bring a maget for large traces of bondo. Definately crawl under it and look around.

There's is no other po'd feeling, like accidentally pushing a screw driver through the "bondo over masking tape" rocker panel, of your recently acquired truck. Yes... the previous owner of my truck, (West Virginia Dept. of Transportation) did this to parts of the floor and rocker panels.

John

Post pics.

John