I'm not confident in my abilities or tools to pull of this type of repair myself.

Any idea what it would cost to get a shop to do this work?

Don't let that stop you. I didn't know SQUAT about any serious mechanical/engine work when I bought my SR. Thanks to this forum, and some local guys in the AZ crew, I know my way around this engine quite well now. Granted that was due to unknowingly buying a truck with a junk engine, but I was determined to get it back on the road. A crank bolt change is not hard at all. As long as you catch it before it breaks, that is.

Rob, where in GA are you?

I'm in Athens fasteddy, you down near Perry?

Thanks for the replies guys. One of the things I look forward to with the vehicle I get is learning how to work on it, and the process of modding and maintaining it myself.

I haven't pulled the trigger on this truck yet so I'm taking this repair into consideration before making an offer. From what I can tell, the last timing belt change was done at an independent repair shop, which may or may not have replaced the crank bolt.

Sounds like if I buy this truck it should be one of the first things I do.

Should I replace the timing belt at the same time? Just to get it done and know its done?

The seller also says that in 4 Lo, the CV axle on drivers side makes a clicking noise. he doesn't know if it just needs a boot replaced or ??...He doesn't drive it much in 4 Lo any more. Any thoughts?

That truck isn't due for a timing belt for another 30k miles, and the timing belt replacement on this engine is a pretty significant endeavor (there's a very thorough write-up about it in the how-to section of this forum), so you don't really want to dive into that if it's not necessary. Changing the crankshaft bolt is pretty simple really, removing a few items for access and finding a way to prevent the crankshaft from turning when you torque the new bolt to spec would be the only challenges - assuming you have the proper tools it could be done in less than 30 minutes. I'd give it a 3 on a 1-10 difficulty scale.

Maintenance is key. I have 205k on my 99. If it was serviced properly, then I wouldn't worry. Good luck