92 3500 or 90 350

[Soundguy]

I'm still stumping for a cheap 1-ton just to haul a trailer / hay for my farm use.. not a daily driver.

have come across a 92 chevy 3500 96k miles, 6.5td standard cab that I can probably snag for 3500$ has been well cared for sat a couple years after 'grampa' died.. inheritor/ new owner has driven it for about a year and wants to get rid of it for something cheaper / easier to drive.

I'm not thrilled about gm.. or the standard cab.. but.. heck.. it's not a daily driver.. and would be cheap enough.

other one I found down the road is a 90 350 with the 7.3d has a topper I'll need to set off. also good condition.. odom's flipped so it's got either a lil over 100K or a lil over 200K.. truck looks more like 100k.. etc. has crew cab pretty sure 5500$ will sell her.

both have auto trans, air / radio.. etc., etc.

I'm more preferable to ford.. though it is older.. etc.

I assume neither of these trucks will be setup with the nice adapter plug for e-brakes.

f350 has a 4 wire trailer plug int he back meaning I'd need to run the ebrake power, plus a fused power line for a 6 or 7 pin plug.. I think same setup on the chevy.

Question onthe brake line sense wire .. on the brake switch.. I remember reading that some vehicles have an odd setup that you have to be carefull about.

anyone up to date on that? I've never had to tap a brake switch.. have always been lucky and had an option plug on my 98+ trucks.

just wanting to know what I'm getting into either way, or if I should be looking out for a problem on the wireing.

any comments?

soundguy

 

[Dmace]

Personally, I wouldn't tell my enemies to buy an old GM 6.5l diesel let alone my friends. They must be the least reliable diesel engine ever made. I am sure a handful of people on here will chime in that they have never had a problem with the GM 6.5l but that is a select few compared to the hundreds of thousands of happy Ford 7.3l owners. That non-turbo Ford 7.3l IDI engine was not very powerful but was incredibly reliable and you could add a little more power with a turn of the allen head screw on the fuel pump. Their auto trannys are weak in that time frame so plan on a rebuild or upgrade for towing.

The weird brake wiring system is the one with a "positive ground", there is an extra module you need before plugging in a brake controller or you will fry it.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I would stay away from the 6.5 and personally GM all together. My uncle has a 6.5 in a 3/4 ton Suburban and while its ok its expensive to fix. He has had the injector pump go out a few times and its $3500 or atleast that is what he has told me. The issue for him is he only drives it 4-5K a year and the truck has less than 80K on it plus its paid for so he keeps it.

I would take a 7.3 with 3 times the miles for twice the money any day of the week. They are very common and plenty of good aftermarket and oem parts for them. Like Dmace said they have a weak tranny as did all trucks from that era but a fluid change, larger pan, and a larger cooler will be $400 well spent to extend the life of it.

Chris

 

[Soundguy]

good comments to hear, as i was leaning toward the f350 anyway.

as for the brake controller wireing.

is that f350 one of the weird ones that needs the extra module or standard that you can tap into one side of the switch?

thanks

soundguy

 

[Diamondpilot]

good comments to hear, as i was leaning toward the f350 anyway.

as for the brake controller wireing.

is that f350 one of the weird ones that needs the extra module or standard that you can tap into one side of the switch?

thanks

soundguy

Its not a big deal. Any good trailer dealer or ETRAILER.COM can give you what you need in the way of wiring and a controller module. I would not let that sway your decision.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Soundguy

Here is a video I had book marked for the older Fords. It says F-150 but its mislabeled because its a diesel so it has to be a F-250 or F-350. Anyway it shows you all that is needed for the install.

etrailer.com | Brake Controller Installation - 1990 Ford F-150 Video

Chris

 

[tractorsanmore]

Should be same as my 1989 f250 , just tap into brake light switch .
You'll like the 7.3 as far as simple to work on , pretty much the same as your diesel farm tractors with a few more cylinders of course .

 

[Soundguy]

thanks for the link.. can't waint till I get home from work to check it out.

all the comments are much appreciated.

I'm pulling a long double.. working till 4am tonight!

on break now..

soundguy

 

[Dmace]

I don't think they have made a "positive ground" vehicle since the 50's so you should be all right. To check the vehicle your looking at just look at the battery cables. If the red "positive" cable goes to the alternator and fuse box then it's negative ground. If that red "positive" cable goes to a ground on the truck frame then it's a "positive ground".

 

[crashz]

Go with the Ford. This is from a GM guy.

1st, you won't really be able to tell the difference in power, both will be pretty tame compared to a modern diesel. But the 7.3L is hands down a more reliable engine.

The 6.5 is plagued with boost control issues, weak castings for the blocks and heads, cooling issues that make the casting issues worse, weak cranks, glow plug issues and in later models fueling issue.

The only issue I know of with the 7.3L is cavitation problems in the coolant passages. Ford has an additive that should be used to avoid these issues.

I think that Ford may have still used the C6 transmission in 1990, so if its got D, 2, 1 on the column you may be lucky. That C6 was a wonderful transmission.