Posted: 3/22/2012 7:33:09 AM EDT
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I've seen this truck sitting in a guys yard for the past several years and it hadn't appeared to have been moved in all that time so a week and a half ago I happened to be driving by & caught the owner out in the yard so I got out & talked to him & let him know that I would be happy haul this thing away for him.
We chatted for a while & I left him my number in case he decided he wanted to get rid of it. Fast forward to a few days later and I get a call from him with an amount so we set up a day for to come out & look it over. I went over on 3/13/12 and looked it over & took it for a drive. An hour or so later, it followed me home. 
The only thing I've had to do to it is put in an ignition switch, new alternator, and I'll be getting the front & rear AC up & running this weekend. The 5.7 runs good & doesn't smoke although it is a bit underpowered for my taste. A buddy who owns a towing company is giving me a 454 out of an old RV so the power issue should be cured within the year. 
It currently has a set of 35x12.50x16 TRXUS tires with about 30% tread left, but I don't really care for them and they have a bit of a reputation for blowing out so I ordered a set of Treadwright Guard Dog tires in 315x75R16 (35X12.50X16 for those of us still stuck on imperial measurements  ).
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Congrats. Handsome rig. What year? Is the interior in good shape? 1991 and the interior is in great shape. The seats were re-covered a while back in a coarse weave "horse blanket" kinda material. The dash isn't cracked at all, it has vinyl floor covering instead of carpet, and the door panels are all in good shape. The guy I bought it from said it was an old border patrol truck and the .gov green paint under the dark green indicated that it was at least a .gov truck of some kind. For having a quarter of a million miles on it, it appears to have been well maintained. 
As you can see on the dash mat, it came with a name. The previous owner called it "The Toad" which I find kinda fitting since it's big, green, and hops going down the road with the tires that are on it.
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Sweet BOV. All that's missing is a gun turret and maybe a cow tosser. I like that idea. I bet I could make that work if I could find a surplus HMMV turret........ (goes off to search gov surplus sites...)
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The lack of power may be more of a gearing problem than an engine problem. A 2500 shouldn't have anything taller than 3.42s, which work well with stock size tires but with those 35s will make it kind of doggy. a TBI 5.7l is more than enough to get that truck moving smartly down the road with proper gearing. 4.10s or 4.56s would be much better. A front Dana 60 & rear 10.5" full-floater 14-bolt (or SRW Dana 70) would make it bulletproof, the 9.5" semi-floater 14-bolt rear is pretty darn strong but it's still a C-clip axle. The front 10-bolt is living on borrowed time with 35s. Check the frame under the steering gearbox for cracks. BTW, great truck. Simple, rugged, and reliable. |
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The lack of power may be more of a gearing problem than an engine problem. A 2500 shouldn't have anything taller than 3.42s, which work well with stock size tires but with those 35s will make it kind of doggy. a TBI 5.7l is more than enough to get that truck moving smartly down the road with proper gearing. 4.10s or 4.56s would be much better. A front Dana 60 & rear 10.5" full-floater 14-bolt (or SRW Dana 70) would make it bulletproof, the 9.5" semi-floater 14-bolt rear is pretty darn strong but it's still a C-clip axle. The front 10-bolt is living on borrowed time with 35s. Check the frame under the steering gearbox for cracks. BTW, great truck. Simple, rugged, and reliable. I had thought the same about the gears, but I've always been one to want extra HP in reserve. {insert Tim Allen grunt here} The previous owner said it had 3.73's and that seems about right without pulling the covers. 4.56's should wake it up some & will most likely be one of the first upgrades once I get any bugs shook out. I don't plan on doing a lot of wheeling with it so the front end should hold up fine, but I will definitely keep my eyes open for something better. I'll check out the frame for any cracks tomorrow, (I didn't know about that issue), and I'll have a buddy who owns THE 4x4 shop in the area give it a good once over for any potential issues. He's been building and breaking 4x4's for close to 40 years now and has never give me bad advice. Thanks for the info! |
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are those tires retreads? they have the MTr look and one of the other sets they have listed look like BFG AT's. Yep! They're retreads. I haven't done anything but drive down the highway with them yet, but they ride smooth and only have a little bit of a whine as speed increases. |