Purchase Advice Ford LTL 9000

[Therapydoc]

Looking at purchasing a dump truck to use mostly to haul rock around the farm. There’s a local construction guy that has a couple LTL 9000 for sale. Well he actually has them sitting back against the woods and I had to stop and talk to him about them. He states they ran when they were parked about three or four years ago and they just upgraded trucks. He does have a pretty large business.

They are 1982 ltl9000 and 1977 ltl9000 both have double frames. Detroit motors and 13 speed tranny. Beds are in decent condition with 1982 in a little better shape. Tires appear to hold air. Said the fronts have disc brakes and rear is air. He said he will have them running for me to inspect next week. Asking 3500-4000. Cabs don’t look too rust. Little door sill rust but I don’t think mounts are compromised.

Questions are:1. Is the price on the high side? I’m leaning towards he’s on the higher side.

2. What are the major inspection items on a truck this old other than running and shifting operation? Any major issues with these trucks?

3. How expensive are the disc brakes to replace? He said that’s all he thinks it would need to run up and down the road safely.

 

[mowingman]

If you have to pass a DOT safety inspection to run them on the road, then they will be money pits.
Look at the tires if you do make an offer. You can easily put a couple of grand into tires alone. Other than tires, who knows what is/could go wrong. Always taking a chance buying "ran when parked" vehicles.

 

[Old Doug]

Disc brakes ? I would bet there alot more rustyer than you think. Find a mechanic and pay him to look at them it will be the best money you can spend. Trucks like them are best bought for just above scrap iron price.

 

[Shimmy1]

How competent are you with trucks? We can all speculate and give you a mile long list of what you should check, what you could check, what could possibly be wrong, and how long the truck will last. The truth is, it really doesn't matter if you pay someone $500 to do an inspection, or show up and drive one home. Either one could run for 10 years, or not make the drive home.

Where I would start: Be there when he starts them cold. How do they start? Pull the oil filler cap. Is there a lot of blowby? Get in and push the clutch in. Does the clutch brake work? How long did it take for the air dryer to purge? Pump the brakes until air pressure down under 90. Did the compressor kick in? Release the brakes and hold down on the brake pedal. Is air holding or bleeding down? This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Fact of the matter is if you aren't familiar with heavy trucks beyond checking oil and tire pressure, this could be an expensive education. I'm not at all trying to discourage you from getting a truck, just that you could ask 1000 questions and none of them might be the right one. Good luck.

 

[Old Doug]

How competent are you with trucks? We can all speculate and give you a mile long list of what you should check, what you could check, what could possibly be wrong, and how long the truck will last. The truth is, it really doesn't matter if you pay someone $500 to do an inspection, or show up and drive one home. Either one could run for 10 years, or not make the drive home.
[/QUOTE No mechanic has a crystal ball but he can tell if it has a problem down the road if it will be worth fixing.I could retire today if i had the money that poeple i have seen that bought rigs thinking they were fixer upers that were not worth fixing and ended up junked money thrown away.

 

[Birken Vogt]

Strictly economic outlook on it. Around here trucks that old are worth nothing in commerce. Engine parts are getting scarce and Ford proprietary parts even worse since they abandoned heavy trucks in 1997. If you start using one heavy, tires are gonna pop. So figure that into your calculation.

I agree that scrap value is what they are worth. Because if you buy one and start using it, you have to assume that some major component is going to break and leave you with a hunk of iron in the yard. At least you can sell it and get the money back.

If it doesn't break, then you are money ahead. But for minor breakdowns, you are going to have to keep a lot of big tools around, such as changing tires.

I have a question. Disc brakes in front? I would have thought no brakes in front on a truck that age. If they are disc brakes they may be an orphan system hard to take care of. Of course for farm use that may not matter.

 

[Shimmy1]

I have a question. Disc brakes in front? I would have thought no brakes in front on a truck that age. If they are disc brakes they may be an orphan system hard to take care of. Of course for farm use that may not matter.

A little too new not to have front brakes. They are required on all trucks newer than 1974 I believe.

 

[Junkyard]

What part of MO are you in?

First couple thoughts that come to mind are disc up front seems strange to me.....

Ford proprietary parts are getting hard to find. We have a mid 90’s L9000 and struggle at times. That being said at 3500-4000 if you throw tires on them and get a few years out of them that’s not bad. Part them out. To me it’s a question of how competent you are with trucks. Which Detroit motor is in them?

Pics are worth a million words in this case.

 

[Shimmy1]

Purely speculation, but I'm going to guess they have 6-92s in them, possibly the 77 has an 8-71. Or, maybe they're both dogs and have 238's, lol. Covered all my bases

 

[colson04]

First couple thoughts that come to mind are disc up front seems strange to me.....
.

My Grandpa's 1985 L9000 had a 6v92 Detroit and hydraulic disc brakes on the front. All heavy spec truck, double frame, 8LL, hendrickson suspension, etc. It turned into a money pit: rebuilt trans, overhauled engine, rebuilt spring packs (both fronts) and the final nail was when we broke the right rear spring pack on the hendickson. The frame is rust jacked really badly to the point of splitting the corner of the rail.

He stripped the box and wet kit off it and transferred them to a newer chassis (Volvo...) and then sold what was left to a local guy for $2500. The guy that bought it wanted the major parts: fresh overhauled Detroit, fresh trans, rears and is scrapping whats left because it is junk.

 

[crane operator]

I'm going to guess that the newer one is 6-92, and the older one a 6-71. I'm not afraid to be wrong.

There are some members from mo. on here, and if you let us know where you're at, we can probably point you in the direction of someone who could go look at them with you for a little advice.

As far as the 9000 series fords, the all steel cabs can tend to get a little rust on the back of the cab and the sills. I always liked their visibility for jobsite work. We're going to want to know a few things about them, engine (just "detroit" engine isn't enough), trans, rear ratio, bed size, tire size, and the pictures would really help. Most of the stuff that can go wrong with them, isn't ford specific, and there's a lot of them out there, so doors, hoods, etc, are around in used form.

You say just around the farm moving rocks, but then you mention road worthy, that's going to be a important thing. Do you want them to just run and drive? Or do you want them to be able to go through a scale/ roadside inspection? That can easily be a $5,000 difference, if you need the work done at a shop, and depending how bad they are. There's a reason they got parked in the weeds.

Are you sure they are both LTL's? The ltl's are the big square nose over the road hoods? and usually the dump truck /vocational ones are L's, LT's, LTA's etc.

First pic is a ltl, second pic is a more common L, the lta's are set back front axle. I can only see them having some form of discs up front if they are 8000's or 7000's. But I haven't seen everything, or even most things.

 

[Truck Shop]

Front Brakes were not required until June of 1979.

The most important thing to check on a test drive is how well it exits turn two at W.O.T. and enters turn three. You might have to stagger some weight depending on track conditions.
Depending on wheel base it might try to haze the left side drive tires.

Truck Shop

 

[Junkyard]

Front Brakes were not required until June of 1979.

The most important thing to check on a test drive is how well it exits turn two at W.O.T. and enters turn three. You might have to stagger some weight depending on track conditions.
Depending on wheel base it might try to haze the left side drive tires.

Truck Shop

Aren’t you ornery tonight!

 

[Truck Shop]

I knew you would be the first one to the keyboard

Truck Shop

 

[Truck Shop]

Being we are on a guessing game on the power plants-I will say 8V92 and 8V71 or 8V92 and 8V92.

Truck Shop

 

[repowerguy]

It'll have an odd air over hydraulic front brake system, common to see them disconnected.

 

[Shimmy1]

Being we are on a guessing game on the power plants-I will say 8V92 and 8V71 or 8V92 and 8V92.

Truck Shop

Awfully optimistic aren't we?

 

[petepilot]

I got a gmc with an 8v82

 

[petepilot]

both of those trucks look decent enough to give them a thorough look over

 

[Junkyard]

Anything powered by a green leaker is worth a look to me. To beat Truck Shop to the punch since he’s on a roll tonight....yeah I know I’m not right in the head. My love for the 2 stroke isn’t even the half of it!!