LMM: 09 3500HD 269k Duramax work truck Diamond in the rough

[pitbull14218]

New guy might buya 269k Duramax truck, diesel virgin and dumb

Hi, my name is John. I found a 2009 Silverado crew cab long bed 4x4 LTZ truck with 269k miles. The truck is priced pretty cheap because of the cosmetic problems, it was a work truck for a company and people jack knifed the trailer into the bed and bumper probably more than a few times. The bed is super rough, so it needs a new bed, tailgate, bumper and tail lights just to begin with when it comes to looks....

It needs tires too, which either the tires are causing a humming rotational vibration type noise or maybe its wheel bearings or possible worse?

So the looks although aren't good, don't bother me too much, because a bed swap shouldn't be that hard to do. surpringly the truck isn't rotted bad, just a little rust on a couple of the rockers. Plenty of chips in the paint being a work truck, but I don't mind that.

What worrys me is they claim its all OEM, original transmission and injectors, no major work has ever been done to the truck. It runs great besides maybe an pulley making noise, it has alot of power for sure, the transmission fluid wasn't burn't and it shifted normally although very smoothly, not sure if it should be shifting harder, but it didn't seem like it was shifting bad.

So Injectors, and transmission are what scare me since I believe those to be the most expensive repairs, any other things I should worry about? Any one have an idea how much a stock rebuild on one of these transmissions are? Injectors I know are like 3k to do them yourself.


How is it working under the hood on these LMM motors, I was almost going to go with a cummins, but after driving this, I feel like I'm in a strip club and can't help what I want lol

ALSO it has I believe around 3300hrs on the dash, with it having 269k miles, does that seem right?

 

[WVRigrat05]

Not bad to work on, obviously extra work compared to the old ones but not enough to whine about, 269k company truck could be a ragged out turd depending on how long it idled daily and how often it was serviced:woott:

 

[pitbull14218]

Not bad to work on, obviously extra work compared to the old ones but not enough to whine about, 269k company truck could be a ragged out turd depending on how long it idled daily and how often it was serviced:woott:

Yeah honestly it makes me a bit nervous thinking about that, I agree. It felt good power wise, the inside was pretty clean, and for some reason I remember it saying around 3300 hours on the dash, does that make sense with the mileage?

I didn't pull the oil fill cap off to check for blow by, do people do that on these duramaxs?

 

[Hambone]

Yeah honestly it makes me a bit nervous thinking about that, I agree. It felt good power wise, the inside was pretty clean, and for some reason I remember it saying around 3300 hours on the dash, does that make sense with the mileage?

I didn't pull the oil fill cap off to check for blow by, do people do that on these duramaxs?

Simple math says he averaged 81mph which doesn’t make sense lol
But I know my Lly resets the hour meter all the time for so random reason :dontknow:
Company trucks are generally hogged out... ever work truck we have gets beat on like a mule and even though I do my best to keep mine nice the other guys junk it up
Good luck though
If the price is right go for it

 

[pitbull14218]

Simple math says he averaged 81mph which doesn’t make sense lol
But I know my Lly resets the hour meter all the time for so random reason :dontknow:
Company trucks are generally hogged out... ever work truck we have gets beat on like a mule and even though I do my best to keep mine nice the other guys junk it up
Good luck though
If the price is right go for it

probably able to get it for under 7k, but even then I'm worried because if anything major happens... ouch.

 

[joshd472]

So I took 269k and divided it by the 3300 hours. The came out to 81 miles per hour of running. Something is off there.

Honestly unless yours getting for stupid cheap I wouldn’t fool with it. I bought a loaded out LLY that needed injectors and all to front suspension components for 6k. The body body was in great shape and new $1500 toyo rt tires.

 

[pitbull14218]

So I took 269k and divided it by the 3300 hours. The came out to 81 miles per hour of running. Something is off there.

Honestly unless yours getting for stupid cheap I wouldn’t fool with it. I bought a loaded out LLY that needed injectors and all to front suspension components for 6k. The body body was in great shape and new $1500 toyo rt tires.

Yeah I did that math too and it seemed way off

that truck you bought did it not run right?


Thats the thing with this one, is no check engine light, and it seems to run nicely, and power, well it feels pretty damn peppy, even part throttle it just goes.

 

[Burn Down]

Need to ck injector balance rates and flow rates with a scan tool. Ask for the service history. Jack the thing up and ck ball joints, wheel bearings, any wear in the steering components, leaks etc. etc.

If your unsure of what your looking at take it to a shop that knows what's up and pay them to do an inspection. If it's mechanically solid go for it, body parts are easy enough to replace.

My dads 08' had 295K on it when he bought it. I literally wouldn't have guessed more the 75K the truck was spotless. Ex hot shot truck meticulously cleaned and maintained.

 

[Dallas S]

Depends on location, 7000usd with 269k miles is 9000canadian and 433k km. Not worth it at all up here. Unless it’s a rare exception.

If it’s clean, it can still be a good truck with lots of life left


*edit, wrong units

 

[joshd472]

Yeah I did that math too and it seemed way off

that truck you bought did it not run right?


Thats the thing with this one, is no check engine light, and it seems to run nicely, and power, well it feels pretty damn peppy, even part throttle it just goes.

The trans was acting up. I got extremely lucky and it was a $50 fix but I still had to pull the trans to fix it. The injectors went south quick after I bought it. It’ was a southern truck. Never seen salt and had every option but sun roof.

With out seeing the truck in person it’s hard to say. I can tell you this. I sold my truck and made some money off it but if I had it to do over again I would have just spent money and got nice one to start with.

 

[clrussell]

If you’re wanting a higher mileage truck I’ve got exactly what you need. 2007 Classic gmc crew long, loaded leather truck.

Far from 7k though

 

[ikeG]

Hour meters on these trucks frequently are wrong or reset. No explanation either.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[pitbull14218]

The truck engine/transmission seems to run great, I'm gonna look at it again to check for blow by, but overall the truck felt very sporty. Its an LTZ so interior is nice, needs to be cleaned up though.

My main concern is if its gonna break down on me, there is no check engine light on, and it runs pretty good.

 

[joshd472]

See post #8

 

[WVRigrat05]

The truck engine/transmission seems to run great, I'm gonna look at it again to check for blow by, but overall the truck felt very sporty. Its an LTZ so interior is nice, needs to be cleaned up though.

My main concern is if its gonna break down on me, there is no check engine light on, and it runs pretty good.

If you can get it for 5 grand I’d get it and drive it til something major dies and slap a low mileage used long block back in it

 

[JoshH]

The mileage wouldn't scare me if I knew it had been well maintained and not abused. Being a company truck, it may or may not have been well maintained depending on the company, but people driving company trucks usually don't take care of them unless it is the owner driving it. I would ask for service records; most companies keep track of that stuff for tax purposes. Other than the bed, bumper, and tailgate, is there any other major body damage? All that being said, I agree with Reger; $5,000 is more in line with what I would expect to pay for that truck.

 

[pitbull14218]

Well I'm a sucker, I shook down the front end, I checked for codes again after the drive, I checked for blow by after the drive, I checked for black smoke upon initial start, and while punching the gas - NONE.

I guess its gonna be a huge gamble that I just commited to, but at least I have the good people of this forum to help me if need be.


I was hoping to get it for like 6k or less, but I paid 6.5k

The bed I might try to re-skin the sides, or pound out the dents and weld it back up, luckily I have a welder, and a spray set-up I can probably spray everything myeself, which the truck is white which shouldnt be hard or expensive.

 

[pitbull14218]

So this is probably one of the dumbest things i bought, but only time will tell. 269k miles, was a work truck for probably the last 6 years of its life. Engine and tranny run good. It needs tires, has some rotational humms/vibrations which really seem tire related so hopefully thats all it is.

Its not rotted it just has surface rust in areas paint chipped off.


https://i.imgur.com/z6puncR.jpg





https://i.imgur.com/MnYIvPn.jpg




https://i.imgur.com/zLvTIj3.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/D8QBea8.jpg

 

[down_hiller]

nothing a little bondo cant fix. I like those kind of projects then you can build it how you want it.

 

[Hambone]

Flat bed time!