Adam, bailing on your current truck is only a suggestion, and really, your truck is only a truck. The wife/truck analogy was just for fun and has nothing to do with anything... except that either can make your life a living hell if you get hooked up with the wrong one... Oops, Here we go again!
Anyway, from my perspective, for what you spend on replacement panels and body shop labor, you could EASILY pay to have a rust free truck in better shape shipped to you from a dry climate. The end difference is that a patched up piece of crap will always be just that. Likewise for a solid original. If you factor in all the headaches and substantial downtime of going with the lesser vehicle, the decision is easy. Trust me, you are not going to miss anything by starting with a better truck.
