Testing Driving Tips, Items to look for when purchasing

[mwildman]

Received some more pictures from the seller. What do you all think?
Left rear corner of the bed has a big rust hole. And that is daylight shining through the left tub, he confirmed that, first time he's noticed it???
He did say that the tail gate is pretty ate up so that's not news.

Thanks again for your help,

[mwildman]

Received some more pictures from the seller. What do you all think?
Left rear corner of the bed has a big rust hole. And that is daylight shining through the left tub, he confirmed that, first time he's noticed it???
He did say that the tail gate is pretty ate up so that's not news.

Thanks again for your help,

[Fatherflash]

Here is a test drive tip that was taught to me some time ago. Saved me quite a few headaches:

During the test drive, take the truck to an open area such as a unused, underused parking lot or a straight road with little to no traffic.

Drive the truck to a safe location in your test area and bring the truck to a complete stop. Place truck in park/neutral. Ensure the front wheels are straight, centered before completing the rest of this test. Make sure there are no ditches, poles, obstacles, people nearby. If you use a guide, get them out of the way before completing the rest of this. You'll understand in a minute.

Check behind you, use another person as a guide, checker if needed to verify you have a lot of clear area behind you.

Move gearshift from park/neutral to reverse and slowly accelerate the truck backward. Keep one or two hands on your steering wheel however, if the truck starts to sway, truck back end starts to come around wanting to replace the front end, or significant effort is needed to hold a straight line, this tells you the truck has suspension issues (bent A-arm, etc.) or frame anomalies. If the truck stays straight without significant inputs, the truck likely does not have significant frame or suspension issues.

You may see some slight "waddling" however this could be due to normal wear and tear of suspension parts. It could also indicate more serious issues however, it would then be a negotiation point between you and the seller.

Now keep in mind - if you do the above and you "punch" the gas and you do have a frame problem or other suspension issues, the nose/back end swap will happen very rapidly. Slow, methodical approach is strongly recommended.

Fatherflash
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[mwildman]

Thanks a lot Fatherflash! Hopefully I'll have a chance to do this. I don't think I drove forward in a truck until I got my license, always backing up trailers on the farm as a kid. I should be able to handle it, probably!

[mwildman]

Well, I just got back from checking out the C10. Didn't even drive it. Crawled underneath and the stiffener component under the front of the floor was completely rusted through. Major rust in the front bottom corners of the cab. That was the deal breaker, I cant deal with major body work like that.

It was a great learning experience, should of drove it just to experience whats what going forward.

Thanks for all your help, on to the next one.