Okay guys, I heard y'all are the ones to ask, I'm looking to buy a raider and I found this one. It's a v6, with like 176,000 miles, what issues should I expect? I've got the price down to 1400, is that a good deal or do you think he's trying to get rid of it because something is really wrong with it?
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3781764610.html
If you guys could check it out and let me know what you think that'd be amazing!
Thanks,
Mackinley

IMO, $1400 seems like a fair price. Being black, it looks really straight. Take the radiator cap off and look for any kind of additive. Figure on new crank bolt, check in the past threads for info.

Yes.

Looks pretty good to me.
Look on the bottom for rust ,but I recon if it's always been in Carolinas ---no road salt <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> if so , that's a good price for a straigh 4x4.
It does't have the headlight washers so it might not have the bouncy seats and rear LSD. But you can add axles and optional improvements like that pretty easy on Raiders ,if you like wrenching.

Hey, you made it! Good to see you here That one's got the fuel injected V6, so ignore anything we talked about on email about the carburetor- doesn't apply. Nice looking truck <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Looks super sharp. Some of us paid more for less. We're happy. As long as you're okay with turning a wrench or two, you should be happy with that thing.

Thanks for all the input! He said it smokes a little when it starts up, would that be valve seals? How tough is that to fix?

You also need to inquire about the timing belt. Has it been replaced and when? Look for the orange sticker on the drivers side door. Orange sticker would indicate limited slip differential. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I would imagine that with milage and age those valve seal are probably crispy if the heads have never been done(which is a good thing because they wouldn't have planed beyond specs). Except for engine that is low milage and barely broken in for diffs. and trans, esp. if it has the 5 speed.
Vavle seal will make it smoke for a minute on start up and then not smoke. The bottom end of these engines are tough so if it hasn't had abused I'd think any problem will be in the heads. Abuse = running engine super hot and or running with blown headgasket with an oil pan full of antifreeze,,,as stated above, check out the antifreeze and unnder oil fill cap for a thick goooy chocolate milk looking crud.
As stated above,,,1st part to buy is the improved Harmonic Balancer bolt and washer, in case that has not been done.
You should check the bolt for loseness and H.B. damage,,,but I'd grab that Raider at that price(without rust) even if the engine was toast.
Everything looks like it's there under the hood,,,there's a big red wire along the firewall,,guessing that's for an option owner added, and not a damaged wiring harness.

This is probably a dumb question but how do I make sure this thing doesn't have a blown head gasket?! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />