Truck's been sitting for a year

outside inside? can you clean the fuel system? are the tires dry rotted? they will probably be bad just from rims sitting on them. cheap needs to include how much to make it run. if it takes another $1000, is it still cheap?

Change the tires and pour in a bottle of Heet. Should be fine. I would be wary about the tires being rotted even if there is still tread on them. I had a blow out on my old, lightly used Land Cruiser because I used it so rarely that the same tires were on it for like eight years.

Count on a new battery and new tires.. If it runs when you put a new battery in, also count on hetting the fuel injection system cleaned. You might not need to, but consider it a strong likelihood. Do you have emission testing in your area? You might want to make the purchace contingent on passing the E-test (before you spend a lot of money on it) You may quite possibly need to do some brake work as well - rotors may be pitted from sitting, and check the rubber hoses.

Only a year? Just air up the tires and jump start it!

Personally, I'd just put a new battery in, put a couple bottles of good fuel injector cleaner along with 1 bottle of octane booster and 1 bottle of methanol to remove any water that may have condensed in the gas tank, then fill up with premium gas. Air up the tires and take it to the tire shop for new ones, as if the tires went flat and sat for awhile, they're likely to have developed flat spots in them. I'd also change the oil and transmission fluid just to be on the safe side, and check all the belts and hoses for dry rot, wear and tension.

You did not indicate where you live. Look for rust on the frame. 98's (and others around that year) are notorious for rusting. Of course with the crap they put on the roads back in the NE it is no surprise. If you live in a dry climate that will not be an issue. I have a 98 4X with 153M on it and it's been very good to me.

not a truck, but i have an 86 1/2 supra with zero rust anywhere. sunburn, yeah, a little, but no rust. dry is the way..... i had an 85 pu in boston and it was a wind chime. any way the wind blew...

it's pretty much a Tacoma only problem. so much that Toyota has extended the warranty on corrosion.

An '85 ANYTHING in Beantown is more likely to be a sand sifter. Bad enough up here in Ontario - and we don't have salt in the SUMMER.

My '53 dodge wagon was from California and was rusted through the roof where a roof rack had been installed. The rubber pad helr the salt spray and it was just like a hole saw.

why are they different? tn made cars or japan made or both, just crap mild steel? my pu was the basic 2/4 5 speed 22r motor.

they don't really salt in the summer. after mid july it even washes away. i rode a rat bike one winter and it lost bits every ride. but the motor always ran and the wheels stayed on. it aged 20 years that winter. it was so ugly and so ratty looking a guy had to have it. now it's a pussy summer bike and doesn't age. if you don't know bikes, you can't even tell the maker.

I wasn't saying they salt the roads - it's the salt in the AIR from the Atlantic Fog. Gets into and onto EVERYTHING.

that's a fact sometimes. it wasn't so bad in boston because of the wind. cold air often blew out to sea. they also didn't salt heavily in poor neighborhoods, so you could avoid some of the rot. the worst was seeing the plow/spreaders throwing chunks of salt onto your car. the shlubs in back bay/beacon hill got it bad.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I replaced the battery and the truck started and seemed to run fine. I plan to replace the tires, and will keep the advice about cleaning the fuel system in mind for the future should it turn out to be needed but I have my fingers crossed.

It was ONLY 1 year!

Get the Oil changed!