BurbMan wrote:
...working on restoring a Lance 811 Truck Camper....at 3k lbs wet, I'm looking 1-ton 3500 SRW long bed crew cabs. Seems like the long bed is hard to find, and a lot of them have diesels. My $40k budget seems to put me in 2015-2017 territory.
I really don't want/need a diesel to haul around a TC, but I'm not opposed to the idea either if the truck is nice and the price is right. The diesels I've seen are higher mileage and past factory warranty (even though sold by a dealer) and I'm leery of getting one that's been chipped and abused. Is there a way to tell?
If you're looking at dealer vehicles then ask them to plug into the truck and show you a report. If the ECM has been flashed by a tuner the software version won't line up with the OEM revision and you'll know instantly. If that vehicle is out of warranty it wouldn't really matter, but at least you'd know.
I would imagine any dealer sold vehicle should have all the OEM emissions equipment in tact. On my Ram the DPF/SCR/DEF system has worked just fine, but I know some other users of all brands have had some issues.
Also, do a recall search on any vehicle you're researching:
NHTSA VIN Search You'll be able to see what recalls have been on the vehicle and if they've been completed. My truck had 16 different recalls, but to me it's not a big deal. I took it to the dealer, they did the repair for free, and I drove off happy.
KJ
