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Cousin gave me a free truck - but 1600 miles away

D

denglish

Member
My cousin gave me a pretty nice truck, but it is in Massachusetts and I am in Kansas! It is a 1989 3500 1 ton dually with a 454. New radiator, all AC components, all ignition, new exhaust manifolds, belts hoses, etc. He bought it a year ago and just got a new job and new truck. I'm glad he thought of me. Looks like I'll be taking a trip east and coming back with a truck soon. Never owned a Chevy truck. Only a Ford and a Nissan.

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wow nice looking truck!! i have a 90 suburban w 454. great towing vehicle. dual exhaust really helps. there should be an aux oil cooler behind the bumper on the underside of the radiator support. looks kind of like an electric oven element. check it for leaks before you start the trip.
 

I'm assuming about 9 miles per gallon. So if gas prices hold, I might get it home for less than $500. Hopefully they don't go up to much as summer driving season approaches. I won't be able to get out there until the second week of May.
 
(quoted from post at 16:08:58 01/31/17) there should be an aux oil cooler behind the bumper on the underside of the radiator support. looks kind of like an electric oven element. check it for leaks before you start the trip.
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Will do. Thanks for the advice.
 
Are you sure that's an 89?I know the half tons chevys had the new body style in 87 or 88.looks
more like a 79
 
Got a buddy with one just like it, think his is a 90, don't forget to take gas money.
 
Be sure to transfer the title while you are there. Sometimes it gets sticky transferring title from one state to another. My mother when she decided she shouldn't drive anymore gave me her car. I went from Texas to Illinois and picked up the car and she signed the title over to me and when I got back to Texas it was no good. I had to go back to Illinois to transfer the title.
 
I kinda thought that also about the year. I am thinking the last year for the old body style was '87 in the half tons but not sure about the 3/4 and 1 tons. That definitely is the square style with the body , tail lights and door handles. I always liked their look but never owned one. Nice looking rig ! Wonder what gears it has in the rear. Could probably pull a house down !
 
I know a guy who owns one and he gets on a good day 8MPG and on a bad day 6MPG. Me I would figure to get 5MP that way you might be safe and have a few $$ left over
 
The one tons kept the 73-87 body style for some time after. The funny thing was that they updated the grill on the one tons with the 73-87 body type, but the new style was in place for all the pick up trucks. I worked next to a GMC dealer and sure as heck wanted the last '87 K10 step side with manual trans and hubs, had to look at it daily just over the fence.

In Mexico, the 73-87 style was still being produced in '91 as I recall, taking photos of one that was not a 1 ton, just a C10. Always liked the 73-87 type too. Suburbans and blazers went longer on the old style as well.
 
Nice truck. I had very powerful truck with big thirsty engine. Found a 3 speed Spicer, or some tags say brown, aux gear box in junk yard. Has str , one under, and one over gear ratio. Really improved the truck. str gear for pulling trailer. under drive when pulling mountain pass with trailer, over drive gear for cruising.
 
My 90 looked just like that one, except it was black. I would get 10.5-11 mpg empty. It was way cheaper to drive than my Duramax. The frame is a little less stiff than the new trucks and it won't pull the hills quite as fast as a new Diesel, but I wouldn't be afraid to load it to the same weight as any of the new trucks.
 
(quoted from post at 18:27:45 01/31/17) Be sure to transfer the title while you are there. Sometimes it gets sticky transferring title from one state to another. My mother when she decided she shouldn't drive anymore gave me her car. I went from Texas to Illinois and picked up the car and she signed the title over to me and when I got back to Texas it was no good. I had to go back to Illinois to transfer the title.
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You must be in a county that tells the tax collector how to run his office rather than like DMV says. I have transferred several from another state to TX with no problems.

To denglish: If you transfer that title to you name in MA you still have a MA title that will need to be changed to TX when you go to register in TX, more expense. I don't know the GVW of that truck but you may have to get it weighed to title in TX. My suggestion is go to county tax office and ask them before you go to get the truck. If they give you hassle like above then contact DMV in Austin and find what they say.
 
The custom harvester I worked for had a 94 (I think) 3/4 ton with a 454. It had 320,000 hard miles when they hauled it away because of a bad tranny but the 454 was still running untouched except for a handful of water pumps and starters. I replaced a starter in front of the pink Flamingo motel in Garden City at 3:00 in the morning. I replaced the fuel pump in the parking lot of the Yellowstone truck stop parking lot south of Idaho Falls. Plug wires in Cordell OK. That's enough stories!!

I've never seen an engine run that hot for that many times and still hang in there.
 
no wonder he gave it away... nobody can afford to drive that gas burner. fill your pockets with gas money.
 
I had a 1977 one ton crewcab with a 454 and a 4 speed, was an ex DOT truck, she got 8 miles to the gallon loaded, empty, or idling.
When I bought it it had a single 17 gallon tank, didn't take any trips in it! Added an in bed tank after almost running out of gas more than once. That engine,and the 4.11 front and rear ends would pull anything you could hook to it. Miss that ole girl, but boy that yellow paint got old!
 
1600 mi x 10 mi. per gallon = 160 gallon x $2.50 / gallon = $400 = CHEAP TRUCK!! You got any cousins you want to share? Congratulations----Tee
 
Not likely. Someone above calculated $400 for gas, and you'll need a $200 bus ticket. I don't think anyone would haul it for less than $1,600 ($1 per loaded mile), and it would probably be more. And you get a road trip, to boot! What's not to like?
 
I had a GMC 454 with a built to pull engine with an RV cam and such it got around 10 MPG on the open road where it'd kill me on mileage was driving around short trips and stop and go.
It did pull my 30 ft trailer real well.
 
What ever you do don't wait to long to go
get it. A few years ago I was given a nice
truck that had been parked in a barn for a
year. I took my sweet time and they gave it
to someone else.

Lesson learned hard is a lesson learned
well.
 
Fly thee red eye for about the same or less than a bus ticket,not wore out,visit with the cous' that gave you the truck a little and hit the road home.
I bought my last truck in Ok.,flew out on Sunday and was back home Monday with a whole lot less driving
 
My 79 Power Wagon with a 360 and 4:10 finals gets 7.5 to 7.75 MPG so the 454 isn't the only thirsty one around.
 
(quoted from post at 22:19:55 01/31/17) Why would he title it in Texas. He's in Kansas.
Click to expand...

OK, MY bad. It was the other guy that mother gave car to that was from TX.

[color=red:faee046c0e]Be sure to transfer the title while you are there. Sometimes it gets sticky transferring title from one state to another. My mother when she decided she shouldn't drive anymore gave me her car. I went from Texas to Illinois and picked up the car and she signed the title over to me and when I got back to Texas it was no good. I had to go back to Illinois to transfer the title.[/color:faee046c0e]

Anyway my suggestion to jenglish still goes. Go to his DMV and get the lowdown, could save grief
 
Check with your home state as to what
they require to transfer an out of
state vehicle. Laws on that vary.
Could be as simple as taking needed
papers with you: having title and
transfer papers signed and notary
stamp and signature: come home and
have vin # verified and done. (That is
general procedure in Kentucky) .
 
Have cousin send you the signed title
before you go. Than regester it in
your home state and get insurance,
plates to take with you when you go to
get it.
 
Great truck, should be able to tow/haul anything.
Maybe someone needs something delivered from
that part of the country, could help pay for the trip.
Years ago did something similar, bought a '67 M100
Mercury pickup in Utah but I live in Maryland. Found
someone needed their car driven to within a few
miles of the truck in SLC, all expenses paid.
Worked out great.
 
If MA is like New York, you would need insurance in hand to have it registered there. And they won't give you the
title right away, it will come by mail. And you will have to pay sales tax on the spot. Since it is so old, they might
accept some lower amount than actual value.

I say have him mail you the signed title and register it in Kansas. Take the plates with you and pick it up. If they
give you a hoop to jump through, go ahead and fix it.
 
I guess if you drive it that far you will know how good it is or isn't by the end of the trip !
 
I wouldn't use 9 to figure mileage, several people I have known who have had 454's that old all claimed 9 AT BEST! From what they always said 6-9. So just to make sure you don't run short plan on 6 and if you do get 9 you'll have a little jingle in yer jeans when you get home.

Rick
 
I think the advice you got of having your cousin send you the signed over title, and some sort of receipt, then you can register it in your home state, and purchase insurance before you go. Then you will have your new title, registration, insurance binder and a new license plate (s) in hand ready for installation for when you arrive out east...
 
Nice truck! Check into having it shipped by a car transport company, probably around $1,000 if you can be patient. By the time you add up motels (four to six nights), 1,600 miles of fuel and wear on the truck, 3,200 miles of fuel and wear on your other vehicle, and two people's time for six days of driving, you will be well over $1,000 to retrieve the truck. Renting a car trailer and towing the extra vehicle for the return trip would eliminate the need for a second driver and will cost less than driving both vehicles home (about $250 for a car trailer one way?).

Can you make some stops on the way to break up the trip and turn it into a vacation? There should be a lot to see and do along the way.
 
That looks like a nice truck, I don't see any rust showing on it. Be suspicious though, they use a LOT of salt here. I am in R.I. and I don't think MA is much different
in the amount of salt used. Maybe in more rural western MA they use less. Maybe he didn't use in the salt. I hope it is as good as it looks for you.
 
Take a train or bus, don't complicate it with two rigs and 2 people and all that extra expense.

And why all this handwringing over where to title it, etc., etc. Only sure thing is that if you title it in MA, then in KS, you'll pay double fees. I like that the guys on this site are willing to give advice, and I'm sure everyone is doing it in good faith- but laws everywhere are different, and the rules in KS are the only ones that matter. Go to your local licensing place, tell them what's going on (including the fact that its a gift- some states impose use tax based on fair market value unless you submit the proper paperwork to the contrary). Believe it or not, this won't be the first such transaction they've seen (probably not even the first one today), and they will tell you exactly what you need to do.
 
(quoted from post at 17:27:11 01/31/17) Might be less expensive to have it shipped.
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Yes. I wondered about that. I think I'll drive though, because part of the fun will be going to see cousins and having a mini family reunion. Already planning a pig roast.
 
(quoted from post at 17:34:06 01/31/17) I take it they don't use salt in Massachusetts?
Nice truck.
Click to expand...

It's only been in Mass. a year or so. He drove it up from NC in 2015, I think.
 
(quoted from post at 18:12:44 01/31/17)
(quoted from post at 18:27:45 01/31/17)
To denglish: If you transfer that title to you name in MA you still have a MA title that will need to be changed to TX when you go to register in TX, more expense. I don't know the GVW of that truck but you may have to get it weighed to title in TX. My suggestion is go to county tax office and ask them before you go to get the truck. If they give you hassle like above then contact DMV in Austin and find what they say.
Click to expand...

I'm in KS, south of Wichita. I'll look into this before I go out to get the truck in May. Thanks for all the good points. We don't have emission inspection here. We do have inspection for title when you bring in a used vehicle from out of state. When buying and in-state used vehicle, all they look at is the title. If I recall correctly. Been some 10 years since purchasing anything that goes on the road.
Click to expand...
 

Great stories Fixerupper. I once moved my whole household (wife and two kids) with a station wagon (this was around 1989, station wagon was a 78 Ford LTD. I loved that car. I think that was the last year before the variable venturi carb and then fuel injection). When we finished the move, I put the car in the new garage and swapped the tranny with a rebuilt. It was the middle of summer and I think I lost 5-10 pounds that day. Started at sunrise, finished after midnight. The station wagon was my daily driver and the tranny had been going for a while.
 
Just a note of caution. Somehow things that are free alway's end up costing me more than if I had bought it new! Hope your experience is better.
 
(quoted from post at 18:40:51 01/31/17) 1600 mi x 10 mi. per gallon = 160 gallon x $2.50 / gallon = $400 = CHEAP TRUCK!! You got any cousins you want to share? Congratulations----Tee
Click to expand...

Yes. That was my calculation. Hope gas stays this cheap.
 
(quoted from post at 06:45:22 02/01/17) I think the advice you got of having your cousin send you the signed over title, and some sort of receipt, then you can register it in your home state, and purchase insurance before you go. Then you will have your new title, registration, insurance binder and a new license plate (s) in hand ready for installation for when you arrive out east...
Click to expand...

I agree. Will look into this option.
 
(quoted from post at 08:53:54 02/01/17) Just a note of caution. Somehow things that are free alway's end up costing me more than if I had bought it new! Hope your experience is better.
Click to expand...

Yeah. A few years ago my Uncle in NC gave me a Super A that has been in the family longer than me. It wasn't running. I hauled it back to Kansas. I think I have around $3,000 in it now. I doubt I could get $1500 for it. Ha. It did come with cultivators and a single point fast hitch disk. I've gotten good use out of it and its fun to think that it was once my grandfather's everyday work tractor. I paid a pretty high nostalgia tax on that old tractor.
 
Assuming the title is clear, the only thing you will need in KS is to have a Highway Patrol man come out and check the title against the serial numbers and he will write you up the paperwork to get your title transferred. Obviously you know all you need to do is get it insured, and if needed go to a tag office, dealership, etc and get a 30 day tag. If your relative will leave it tagged, just get it insured and head this way. Good luck - Bob
 
Just a thought, but I know a guy that needs to go to PA to pick up a skid loader he bought and would probably give you a heck of a price to put it on as well and bring it back to Manhattan, KS. Just a thought. Email me if interested, no problem if not. Bob
 
(quoted from post at 09:43:29 02/01/17) Just a thought, but I know a guy that needs to go to PA to pick up a skid loader he bought and would probably give you a heck of a price to put it on as well and bring it back to Manhattan, KS. Just a thought. Email me if interested, no problem if not. Bob
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Thanks for the offer, but I'm a little leery of loading something that big and valuable on this, for me, un-tested truck.
 
All came back to MI from CA costing nothing more than a plane ticket and gas and only had one flat tire. If you have a use for it, I would go for it.
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Every state has different rules on title transfers.
We checked with our local license office to see what was needed when we bought the wifes pickup in NJ about six years ago, we talked to our insurance company and where informed that if we made the deal the truck would be automatically covered under our policy till we got it home.
We decided to fly there and if the deal fell thru we'd rent a car and drive back.
We made the deal, they signed the title and removed the tag, NJ tag goes to the owner, they transfer it to the next vehicle they get.
With the signed title in hand we headed back to Ky stopping at Hershey,Pa, Gettysburg and a few other places along the way making a mini vacation out of the trip.

Congrats on getting the truck, I'd make that trip for a free truck like that one.
After we got back our local sheriff inspected the vin and we completed the transfer.

Check with your local licensing branch and insurance company on what you need. Since you are getting the truck give your insurance company the vin so they can go ahead and insure it, then take a copy of the insurance with you.
I don't think you can transfer it in Ma because you don't live there, we can only transfer out of state vehicles here after the vin's been inspected by our local sheriff.
 
Beautiful truck. That is my dream truck right there, I have wanted to restore, and repower that exact truck with a Duramax Diesel for a few years now. I just LOVE that body style.... Take care of it! Value on them is going up. Those 3+3 Models are getting hard to find in that good of condition. Bryce
 
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