1981 Dodge W250

[Black Dog]

This is for sale locally:

318ci, 4 speed manual
Dana 44 and Dana 60 (not sure of pinion gear ratio)
66,000 original miles
extended cab
minimal rust

I'm looking to use it primarily for cutting fire wood and for pulling a 31' Airstream weighing in at 8000 pounds. I'm not sure how much it costs and when I talked to the guy selling it I kind of got the idea that he didn't really want to sell it but he would because he rarely drives it. Its a beautiful truck, is there any common problems with that truck that I should be aware of?

 

[bftank]

that 318 is going to be pretty gutless pulling that camper. cummins swap:victory:

 

[justdoit]

Dodge W-250

I have had several of these early 80's Dodges. I have also been service manager at a small Dodge and Chrysler Dealer in NM. during that time period.
In the early 80's none of the Chrysler engines produced alot of horsepower, but the 318-360 engines were reliable, easy to maintain, and parts are everywhere. Most of them seem to come with at least a 4.10 gear ratio. I have had great sucess with the np435 4spd which is most likley what is in it. Mine was a simular small-block 4spd club cab. I turned it into a crew cab short bed stepside after sveral years. It should tow 8,000# without to much problem. Hope this helps. :costumed-smiley-007



68 Power Wagon
80 W-400 with a search and rescue body
74 Rokon
other GMC 4x van project



P.S. With that low of miles, and if has been maintained, it should be good for another 100,000 miles.

 

[Black Dog]

The guy selling it said he has pulled an airstream with it before and it did plenty well. I'm not expecting it to do 75+ mph over 10,000 foot mountain passes or anything. And if it is lacking in power at all I could always try a bigger carb or something.

I was a little disappointed that it didn't have the cummins. I think that instead of doing an engine swap I'd rather find one with the engine I want because I'm kind of looking for something that won't need a whole heck of a lot of work just to make it daily driver worthy. The 318 sounds like it ought to be good enough, and the truck is in amazing condition, so I think this week I'm going to call the guy and see what his price might be.

 

[93BLAZER]

pass

 

[lstzephyr]

We had a truck like that at work(well it was beat to hell and regular cab but an 87 3/4t 318 4 spd with about 50k miles on it) GREAT truck! It put the brand new f250s(I regularly chose it over our 08 ford) and chevys to shame offroad, would drive up anything(reasonable), was great for hauling building supplies, had no problems towing snowmobiles offroad and up big passes(12k+). It was slow and hardly had 65 mph topend with the gearing, sucked fuel pretty good, and it had a rough ride. The 4 spd was fun as it had a granny first so it was more a 3spd, hardly had to shift it just ride the torque. Tires were hard to find. I loved the thing though and its why I bought my current cummins w250.

 

[Black Dog]

pass

Pass, as in pass on buying it or it is a good truck and it passes?

 

[bftank]

i am going to say pass on buying.

i had a 95 1/2ton gmc with 5.7l that i pulled my 3000# car hauler trailer, with my 74 chevy rock crawler on it that weighed about 5-5500#. i wish i had just bought the cummins to begin with. it was really slow, hard to slow down, bottomed out the suspension, and was hard on the motor. it might work for short little 2hr trips but if you're planning on travelling with this thing get a diesel, the first time. cummins started getting put in dodges in 1989.

something else to think about is how sure are you that there are only 66,000 miles on it? some of the old odometeres only went to 99999. according to my odometer my 1989 suburban only has 256 miles on it:sombrero:

 

[redthies]

We had that exact truck when I was about 14. It was only a year or two old and I remember it was more tractor than truck, even when that new. If you are going to pull a 31 I would go diesel. I just bought a 94 2500 with a 5spd and am planning on replacing it with a Cummins truck in the fall when my shiny new 30' Airstream arrives!:sombrero: (I couldn't wait any longer to buy the diesel now as the ten speed wasn't cutting it!)

 

[Black Dog]

Thanks for your advice, I think I'll hold out for the diesel. I'm getting a little frustrated because almost all of the trucks for sale around here in our price range are pieces of crap, lots of rust and really beat up. So when I saw that W250 I got kind of excited and thought that it may be the one.

 

[Metcalf]

Dodge bodies are generally not the best for rust. Parts are easy to find though, the same basic body style was used for like 20 years.

I'd wait for a diesel one. Great trucks. Look down in the southwest, it would be worth the drive to get one that was nice and dry with no rust. I was very surprised on mine that I have still not found any rust.

The 3/4 ton W250 from 1991.5-1993 is a GREAT truck. There is little to no difference between it and a 1-ton. Dana 60 front, taller frame, etc.

Mine wasn't pretty, and it needed some work...but I got it for like $2200 or something. The deals are out there, you just have to have cash in hand and be able to jump.

Good luck!

 

[lstzephyr]

Yeah I just stumbled on mine after looking for awhile. It was right down the street! The trucks are out there, but the fact is they are fairly rare compared to everything else out there. My truck is also amazingly rust free. Just be patient.

I live around tucson, and honestly if somebody found a truck in the southwest I would be happy to toss my bike in the back and drive it to them for a couple of bucks.:bike_rider: I've got some time on my hands between classes.

 

[redthies]

Yeah I just stumbled on mine after looking for awhile. It was right down the street! The trucks are out there, but the fact is they are fairly rare compared to everything else out there. My truck is also amazingly rust free. Just be patient.

I live around tucson, and honestly if somebody found a truck in the southwest I would be happy to toss my bike in the back and drive it to them for a couple of bucks.:bike_rider: I've got some time on my hands between classes.

NOW you offer! I just gave up and bought a 94 gasser since I couldn't find a good diesel within two days drive! I will continue to shop for a diesel though.
I think for towing the 31 you will want the diesel too kc0tma!

 

[lstzephyr]

:sombrero: My bad, I didn't even think to offer in your thread. I've actually been all over the place, mexico(twice!), cayman islands, back and forth across the country a couple times so I wouldn't have been able to. But I'll be in Tucson in two weeks and from then on out I'd be happy to relocate a couple trucks to help the masses.

 

[redthies]

Never bad, just possibly poor timing on my part!:sombrero: