New To Board--Buying 87 4x4; Thoughts?

[WHelena01]

I am new to this board. I found it while searching the net trying to find info on 87 Silverado 4x4's. I may be purchasing one this coming week. It has a short box, red in color, with all options, and comes with a matching canopy. The body is straight with no rust. The asking price is $5,500. I will be moving soon and currently have a 2000 Ford Expedition, but I have two Great Danes and decided it would be easier to move them in a truck with a canopy. I looked at all of the new trucks and left each lot confused and a little sticker shocked. Finally I decided to buy a 87 4x4 since I always thought they had a really good look about them. My wife think I am a little crazy to buy a old truck that I will have to drive across the United States (CA to TN) to my next duty station while pulling her car. What are ya'll thoughts? What modifications should I do to make a 87 more of a comfortable ride and possibly increase it's gas mileage? BTW, what is the best one could expect form a fuel injected 350? I figure if I put an additional $10K in it I am still less than half of what the new ones are going for. I have been reading all of the posts, a lot of great info, and some really cool pictures!!! Hopefully if I did it right, the picture of the truck I am thinking of buying will post.

[74Pumpkin]

Welcome to the board from frozen Minnesota! Thats a good looking truck. If the rest of the truck is as nice as it looks in the picture, it not a bad price. As far as Fuel mileage while pulling a car... well.....How can you put a price on a great truck like that....

[Blue Beard]

Welcome from SW Washington State....

Looks like a good ride, cash should get could get you a better deal.

Have to agree, you could rebuild the entire truck and save money over the price of a new one.

[C-10volvo]

for better mileage change the air filter or go with a reuseable type, change all the driveline oils, and keep your foot off the gas pedal!!!

[kevinr1970]

I've looked at the truck twice, including yesterday on my way home from Kennewick. The first time I didn't realize that it was FI and pumped the gas a few times before I started it and it ran like crap and I walked away. Figured out later about the FI and went back yesterday and tried again. Ran much better this time.
I wasn't really impressed with it. The paint looks good in the picture, but the hood is real oxidized (whitish haze) which tells me it has probably been repainted and not very good. It HAS RUST on the passenger side in lower cab corner and below door (rocker panel) and possibly in pass. front fender. The fender might have been some texture added to the paint in that area though?
Black interior with some tears in the fabric of the seat. Not real bad, but not perfect either. Missing both pull straps on the doors.
White face gauges. Headliner is drooping almost completely and being held up by the visors.
I mentioned to the lady trying to sell it to me that they have had it for over a month at 5995 and what was the bottom line but they just kept saying make an offer.
I would have offered in the high 2's and maybe went up to the mid 3's, but the fact that they were originally asking over $8k put a bad taste in my mouth.
If your prepared to put $10k in to it, then it would probably be perfect for something like that. Its complete and seemed to run good. I did not drive after I saw the rust.
Go look for yourself, but remember that they have had that truck for getting close to 2 months now - they should be about ready to deal on it.

[kevinr1970]

P.S. You should put where your from in your profile so it shows up by where your post count is. From what I've seen on here, what a truck is worth varies quite a bit from region to region, all things considered.

[WHelena01]

Thanks for the additional info. I am in central CA and only going by the info the salesmen are giving me. I asked them about rust and they said "no". They didn't mention the headliner either. I was/am thinking of buying it unseen and having it shipped to me. Now I am a little worried about doing that. How bad is the rust? How did the motor and drivetrain seem? Thanks for the info and whatever else you can provide.
-Jerry

[WHelena01]

P.S. What does the inside of the bed look like?

[WHelena01]

Just got off the phone with the dealer and asked him again about the rust and headliner. He said he has to go out and look at it and would call me back. 20 mins later he called back and said there was some "bubbling" in the areas Kevinr1970 pointed out and confirmed the drooping headliner. However, he said they were firm on the $5995 price. He said it is beginning to snow there and being 4x4 it will sell quickly now. Maybe one will come up for sale in my area of central California where it never rains or snow. Is this a $6K truck or can I do better by waiting? Thanks again, you may have saved me a headache or two.

[cochino12]

Originally Posted by WHelena01

Is this a $6K truck or can I do better by waiting? .

There is "ALWAYS" a better deal, it just depends on how long you can wait. For $6k you could buy a very nice completely rust free truck here in Denver. Good luck

[Greenlee]

Originally Posted by WHelena01

I looked at all of the new trucks and left each lot confused and a little sticker shocked. Finally I decided to buy a 87 4x4 since I always thought they had a really good look about them. My wife think I am a little crazy to buy a old truck that I will have to drive across the United States (CA to TN) to my next duty station while pulling her car. What are ya'll thoughts?

I am in the same boat you are in! I sold my 2000 Xterra to the dismay of my wife and bought a 76' chevy pickup. I owned several of these trucks when they were new and decided to go back to them. Having no payments is great.

The 87's are may favorite year also. I ended up with the 76' because it had a new drive train and I knew the previous owner had taken care of it. With respect to gas milage, I get 14 in the city and around 15 on the higway. I know people with new trucks that don't get much better milage than I do.

In my opinion, $5,500 isn't unreasonable for that truck assuming the rust is minimal and it has a good drive train. I have about that much in mine with a new paint job and other minor stuff I have done. I don't know that I would pay 6k unless it was in really nice condition. Buying it without seeing it in person might be a little risky since they have alread mislead you about the rust. I worry about things you can't see, like the transmission and engine.

[STEVE A WILBURN]

Welcome From North Alabama What Part Of Tenn Are You Moving To ??

[WHelena01]

I am moving to Arnold AFB which is close to Tullahoma TN. My home state is Arkansas and it will be nice to be close to home once again. I know there are a lot of older trucks back home but most were driven hard and put up wet, especially the farm trucks.

[kevinr1970]

IMO, I would not risk it. It seems like you could find a rust free truck in CA a lot closer to where your at. That way you could look it over and form your own opinion. There are rust free trucks around here so that is why I am turned off by this particular truck, especially considering its an '87.
If your prepared to dump a lot of coin into the rig, why not find the worst running rust free rig you can and then spend your saved money on engine/transmission. Then spend the money you were planning to spend anyways on the good stuff like suspension, paint, interior, etc.
Just my opinion though....

For comparison, when I was in Kennewick (eastern WA) we went to walk off the turkey belly bulge after dinner and I walked by a '85-'87 (at least the grill) lifted swb 4x4 that pretty much looked the same as the one your looking at but was white and it was $3500. The quick "look discreetly as possible as you walk by to not alert your girlfriend your looking at something else" didn't show any rust. I was going to go take a closer look at it, but got tied up installing a 4-link/9" in my girlfriends dads '57 Ranch wagon. Some vacation! If you'd like, I could ask her dad to write down the phone # and maybe you could call on this one?

[N2TRUX]

My experience has always ben buy as much truck as you can afford to start with. It always sounds good to "save money" and buy a cheap truck to fix up. The reality is it usually becomes a pain in the butt, cost much more than expected and breakd at the worst possible time leaving you regretting your decision.

This comes from years of personal experience....

BTW-Welcome to the forum

[yfs200p]

Hey welcome from out east... LONG ISLAND, NY
I bought an 86 Silverado from a dealer that looks almost identical to that one... being in NY, most trucks here are like swiss cheese with all the rust. You should look around at the trucks in your area to see what kind of rust they have on them, and then you have a gauge. I found my truck and it was advertised for $8K and i went and looked at it, drove it, offered him $6K and he accepted. Havent had a major problem with my truck yet. SO basically my point is, if you think its worth less, offer them that, and chances are they will come down. My guess with that truck is they'd come to $5000 for ya if its a dealer. I would definitley go see it and drive it first, you never know what kind of headache could show up on your front porch without you seeing it.

PS - I have 3.08 gears and 33' tires and get 20 mpg highway cruisin at 75mph not really into the throttle that much.... u should check and find out what gears that truck has if you can, because if it has something like 4.10's then you'll be stopping every 50 miles for gas