1986 Dodge D150 Pickup

DODGE TRUCK LISTING

OKAY BEFORE I BEGIN LET ME FIRST STATE THE FOLLOWING.

THIS IS AN ALMOST 33 YEAR OLD TRUCK. OTHER THAN A PAINT JOB A FEW YEARS AGO IT HAS NOT BEEN RESTORED BUT IT DOES APPEAR THAT THE ORIGINAL OWNER DID KEEP UP WITH MAINTENANCE ON IT. IT IS ABSOLUTELY AS IS. I WILL DO MY BEST TO TRY AND ACCURATELY DESCRIBE ITS CONDITION.

With that cleared up here we have a 1986 Dodge D150 Sweptline Standard Cab Pickup. It has the venerable 225 Slant Six engine matched with an A904 Torque flight Automatic transmission, power steering and power brakes and factory air conditioning, something that I personally have never seen in a slant six engine truck, although 99% of the six cylinder equipped trucks that I have driven were in the military. It is an original Virginia truck purchased in Richmond in 1986 and it is only a 3-4 owner vehicle. It is currently registered as an Antique Vehicle so it has been exempt from State inspection since 2016. The previous owner last had it inspected in 2015, which it passed, which expired in August 2016.

This truck belonged to the Son of a friend of mine, shortly after he and my friend’s boyfriend painted it he hit a parked car just down the street from his house. Having liability only on it my friend didn’t want to repair it so she let it sit in the driveway for a couple of months.

Now I enter into the picture. My friend just wanted to have it hauled off but I had another friend, a Buddhist Monk, who was looking for a truck for the Temple, especially as they were in the middle of building an addition to the Temple, so I talked her in to donating it to the Temple and of course I committed myself to repairing it, little did I know that I would end up married to it. So after about 2 and ½ months I had it completed and delivered it to the Temple for the Monk to use, which he did for about a year.

However one day about almost a year ago he started it up and backed it out and when he put it in drive it died on him and he could not get it to restart. I had just undergone back surgery so I was in no position to do anything with the truck until this past April. I never could get a good indication from him what was wrong or what the truck had done prior to it quitting on him and when I asked him all he could tell me that it didn’t run.

So when I could finally work on it the first thing I checked was to see if the motor had locked up on him but it turned freely so I ruled that out. So I suspected that it was either fuel or ignition related. I made sure that the battery had a full charge on it as between him attempting to restart it and the vehicle sitting for about 7 months it had gone dead. I attempted to start the vehicle and it just clicked so I replaced the starter relay and same thing so now I figured that as it was the original starter that he had fried it attempting to start it when it quit. So I ordered a new starter as well as the fuel pump as it was the original one as well and at this point I am pretty sure that it had failed which is why the vehicle stopped in the first place, and indeed I confirmed that it had failed after I removed it. Once I had those parts in place and after I replaced the old gas with fresh gas it started right up but didn’t run very well and I could hear an air leak when I gave it gas so I suspected that the carb needed to be rebuilt or replaced as it was original as well, and it didn’t run that smoothly to begin with when I first brought it home. So I ordered a rebuilt carb and installed it and it now runs much better and I was able to drive it from the Temple to my house, about 5 miles, with no problems.

Now since it quit last year another person has donated another newer truck to the Temple and the Monk doesn’t trust this one so he just wants to get rid of it.

Here is a list of the parts that were replaced, some to repair the collision damage and others for maintenance to insure that it would operate properly.

PARTS REPLACED

1. Front bumper and brackets used.

2. Front valance used.

3. Radiator support used

4. Grille surround used

5. Grille used

6. Right headlight door LKQ

7. Right fender and apron used

8. Drivers and passenger side rear view mirrors used, upgraded from 88 Ram Charger.

9. Positive battery cable

10. Diehard Battery

11. Bosch Starter

12. Starter relay

13. Carter Fuel pump

14. Rebuilt Carburetor

15. Iridium Spark plugs

16. Plug wires

17. Cap and rotor

18. Ignition coil

19. Voltage regulator

20. Air Cleaner filter

21. Oil filter

22. PCV Valve

23. Breather filter

24. Gabriel Shocks front and rear

25. Walker Exhaust system with hangers from catalytic converter back

26. Head light buckets

27. Head light adjusters

28. New Turn signal switch

29. Gear selector indicator.

30. Right front body molding

31. Side marker assembly

32. License plate lights NOS

33. Used Hood hinges

34. Used Wiper arms

35. New Wiper blades

36. New Heat Riser tube

The alternator was replaced by the previous owner. The Air Conditioning Compressor has been replaced with a rebuilt unit at some point but I don’t know when nor if it was converted over to the new Freon, it does work but could use a recharge. At some time in its life the windshield was replaced with an LKQ version, it has some road rash but overall is very clear. The brakes function very well and it is unknown if or when they have ever been serviced. The transmission shifts fine but it does go into reverse and drive with an initial clunk, I doubt that other than fluid and filter changes it has ever been serviced and it is unknown when the last time it was serviced. The engine and transmission both have fluid leaks as you would expect on a vehicle this old that isn’t driven enough to keep the seals lubricated. The previous owner also put in a rolled on bed liner after the truck was painted. Everything functions on it with the exception of the windshield washers, haven’t determined if it is the pump or the switch but it did work when I first put the truck back together so I suspect it is the pump. Also the factory AM/FM radio does not work either, the clock does however. The other issue is the speedometer cable. I pulled it out and lubricated

it but the needle still fluctuates at low speed but steadies down at about 45mph. It may function better after it has been driven some but I suspect that it ultimately will need to be replaced and it is available through Rockauto and Amazon.

The other issue at least for me are the tires. They still have significant tread on the but they were manufactured in 2012 so for me personally I would replace them, especially the right front as it shows evidence of having rubbed the sheet metal after the accident, but depending on what the prospective buyer has in mind they might be fine for another year or so.

If it had the 318 or the 360 I would consider keeping it myself, but I have never been a fan of 6 cylinders in full size trucks plus I already have one truck.

So there you have it. This truck would make a good parts getter or a going to the dump vehicle or a farm truck, which according to the previous owner is what the person he bought if from was using it for.