1984 Chevy Silverado ,............ long post

[HY_Moose]

I have a 1995 1/2 ton Dodge extended cab for town use and camping trips. I also have a 1990 3/4 ton dodge that shows 157,000 miles but the odometer quit well over 10 years ago. I have used it for a wood hauler/farm truck/ hunting truck and it shows.
I was not in the market for a new truck but a neighbor stopped and said his father in law was selling his truck, the 1984 chevy heavy duty 3/4 ton. His father in law lives just a half mile from me also. He is 83 and is very picky with his equipment. I talked to my wife and called them and said we would take it( we got a price reduction that I thought was fair). My friends say I stole it. This truck is in mint condition other than the inside the bed because they used a slide in camper. It has No rust because it was always sheded and kept clean. The first day I had the truck I rolled it over to 49,000 miles(and that is original miles).
We will sell the 1995 half ton and use the new truck for a town truck and to deliver fire wood. The 1990 dodge would be used to go to the woods and bring home the wood. I put 3 loads of wood in my trailer and 1 on my truck and deliver it some 75 miles away.
The problem is I work with some Chevy nuts, I like dodge. They say that this is a collectors truck and that I am nuts to use it for firewood delivery or any work.
What is the value of this truck and Do you think I should just use it or try and sell/ trade it for something more modern. The thing is if I sell this truck for even 5 times what I paid for it but then I need to spend another chunk of money to get a truck just as trustworthy what have I gained?
As a Side note this truck has a turbo 350 trany, I was told for a 84 chey that had to be ordered from the factory is this true? It also has the standard 350 4 barrel motor.

 

[ericlb]

speaking as the owner of a '83 chevy ive had since new, i would keep that truck, i too have and like dodges, i own a '94 diesel, but i will not ever buy a newer one of any brand, the quality and reliability is gone from the new ones, my dodge is great, dont get me wrong with 220,000 miles ive had few problems with it, but the "83 just keeps working, mine is a c-30 with a 12 foot flatbed, with dump too also has a rolling tailboard, it works everyday, got over 100,000 on it and nothings wrong, never spent a day in the shop as i can do all the work on it here, [ 2 clutches 3 u'joints, and a brake job] your 84 is not a "collectors item" as such it is a remarkably well preserved vehicle and deserves to belong to someone who will keep it up and enjoy it, that should be you, while it doesnt have all the cheap plastic cup holders and gps system like a newer one with time you'll find the over all reliability is much better and its costs less to operate because you dont have to fix it every other week, it will use more gas, but when you think of it without a truck payment on it, its still cheaper overall to run than a new one

 

[Anonymous-0]

I drive my trucks. Having said that, a 50k 84 would be worth quite a bit depending on option content and condition. If the bed is scraped but not dented that's not that big a deal.

Depending on what you paid for it, you can either sell it and make $$ or drive the heck out of it. Depending on how it has been stored, a complete fluid change (~$100 trans, filter, coolant, diff fluid, oil, filter), good brake check and lube (including new fluid), may be all you need. If you're going to tow heavily often a trans cooler and definatly replace the U-joints with HD units.
TH350 is the base trans in that year, 700R4 optional in small block half tons and TH400 was available.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/ and look the forums, many nice people (and a few others, just like here!) and a wealth of knowledge.