# Truck advice



## masterspark

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## Viking

I have a neighbor who's son has had a Dodge 1500 4X4 for a number of years and seems to have had no real problems, but as for me the only pickups I would buy anymore would be 3/4 ton or more, it seems like the manufacturers only want to make trucks that have plush interiors without a lot of concern for throwing anything in the pickup bed, if you haul firewood or heavy stuff I highly recommend installing a bed liner. If I didn't get one for my 89 truck, that bed would be a total mess by now, they just don't have thick enough sheet metal in them anymore. Years ago my step dad gave me a 1964 1/2 ton Ford and for all the firewood I hauled in it, the only thing that happened was some of the paint got chipped off, otherwise the bed never got dented to any degree. As to automatic transmission issues if you go that route, with the increase use of aluminum parts where steel was previously used, that could be an problem with heavy usage.


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## Tirediron

I drove a dodge 1500 2wd, with a v6, 
I have to say I was impressed, it was a lot solider and nicer driving truck than I was expecting, The last Dodge 1500 I drove was an 04,it was an SLT model, with a Hemi, that was one laughable truck.


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## AKPrepper

I have a friend with '91 cummings diesel 2500 that is still running strong. No problems with the trans, but the interior is shot. But what do you expect for a '91 that's been used hard. I owned a '88 1500 for a couple years before the kids started arriving and I needed something with four doors....so I bought an Isuzu Trooper. But for the two years I owned the Dodge, I had absolutly no problems with it, and now I have a 2014 2500 diesel and thus far....no issues. Over the years I've owned Fords, Chevys, and Dodges, so I'm not exactly what you'd call brand loyal. I guess I've been lucky because other than an accelerator problem with the '02 Ford I owned, I've had good luck with them all.


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## cnsper

With today's 1/2 ton trucks you would be better with an El Camino or Ranchero.... They are about the same usefulness.


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## gabbyj310

My son has a GMC,V8, 4wd(older model) and it goes and goes.I love my son but goodness he is a huge slob,so the inside is rough.He keeps the oil changed and does pretty good on maintenance.I was wanting and needing a pick-up (4wd) so I looked at Consumer Report write up.Being a Toyoto driver for years I was very surprised at their very low rating.Consumer Report raved over and over about Chevy and GMC truck,so between them and my son's thoughts,my choice is either the Chevy or GMC.Also they wouldn't even write anything good about a FORD at all!


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## jeff47041

My wife has a 2003 Dodge 2500 2 wheel drive hemi, short bed. *The good*: We've owned it for around 8 years and this year was the first money we've spent, except oil changes. We had to stick $1900 in new tires, new tie rod ends, and a control for the electric windows. ( it thought the child lock was on, so all windows had to be put up & down by driver). My mechanic looked up the tires. They were the original tires and have 133,000 miles on them. Weren't completely shot, but he owed me money..Time for a trade.
It gets decent mileage and I can haul a mini hoe on my trailer, and never squat the springs.
*The bad* The only real bad thing is that since it is short bed, you can't get traction, even with weight in the bed. It will get stuck on wet grass. Never pull it off of gravel or blacktop.


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## Tirediron

Shortbeds having poor traction is a myth, the rear axle has more engine weight than a long bed, due to lever length, poor tire selection is probably more of a factor.

Back to Mastersparks question, look on the RBauction sight, https://www.rbauction.com/heavy-equipment-auctions/, if you register an account,(the info can all be fictitious, except the email, if you don't plan to buy) you can look at past auction results, and get a good idea what trucks get sent to auction, you will see a lot of Ford trucks going cheap, has to be a reason.


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## Caribou

I had an '87 Dodge Dakota 4X4. I had the transmission rebuilt and dropped in a remanufactures engine. Wish I still had that truck. I see it around every once in a while.


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## Tirediron

rot is often combined with mileage, each of the big three could do a lot better job if they wanted.


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## sgtusmc98

If I had a choice and used the truck I won't get less than 3/4 ton.


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## sgtusmc98

If you don't want 3/4 ton I'd go Toyota 4x4


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## readytogo

If you have the money for a new one , get a good old American made truck with a carburetor engine ,this new ones today are made with beer can metal ,hell a p-38 can open one up in a jiffy


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## Tirediron

why does everybody want a "3/4" ton the tires cost more they burn more fuel, if you tow they eat tires, I have never owned a single rear wheel pickup since I got my first dually,


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## sgtusmc98

Tirediron said:


> why does everybody want a "3/4" ton the tires cost more they burn more fuel, if you tow they eat tires, I have never owned a single rear wheel pickup since I got my first dually,


I don't want a 3/4 ton I have a dually but do some they are a bit Mitch, the only reason I said at least a 3/4 ton was because I don't think most people know the difference between a 1/2 ton and a 3/4 ton, there is a lot more difference than 1/4 ton. Many 1/2 tons are only good for moving couches or tv's but if you put a real load on them they are stressed really bad.


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## Viking

sgtusmc98 said:


> If you don't want 3/4 ton I'd go Toyota 4x4


Probably the most popular around here in Southern Oregon is the older solid front axle models, highly desirable for serious off roaders, those that do rock climbing and mudders, two things that don't appeal to me due to the constant wreckage of expensive parts. One thing about the Toyota pickups that is really a plus for owning, they are built to last, I've seen many that have rolled the odometer over the 100K mark more than once. We are in the process of buying a friends 91 two wheel drive Toyota that has over 168K on the odometer and it's in excellent condition. I go along with what readytogo said, he's right, even my 89 F-250 seems to be made with beer can metal, the 64 Ford pickup that my step dad gave us seemed to have body metal twice as thick, if I had thrown firewood in the unlined bed of the 89 like we did with the 64 it would be like a crumpled beer can by now.


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## sgtusmc98

One of my biggest problems with most newer trucks is the independent suspension. In places where there is a lot of off road use, like daily, they generally try and buy solid axle like the Toyota Land Cruiser. Independent doesn't hold up very well and you loose wheel travel but if your just on the road all the time it doesn't matter I guess. I had an 88 Toyota 4x4 and it had independent suspension in the front, good truck and generally did well off road but not much wheel travel in the front and hard to keep aligned.


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## Viking

sgtusmc98 said:


> One of my biggest problems with most newer trucks is the independent suspension. In places where there is a lot of off road use, like daily, they generally try and buy solid axle like the Toyota Land Cruiser. Independent doesn't hold up very well and you loose wheel travel but if your just on the road all the time it doesn't matter I guess. I had an 88 Toyota 4x4 and it had independent suspension in the front, good truck and generally did well off road but not much wheel travel in the front and hard to keep aligned.


I have never liked independent suspension for FWD, I always say, if I wanted a smooth ride I'd get a Caddy or Lincoln, if I want a less rough ride in our F-250 I can drop a 1,000 lbs. of building supplies, gravel, sand or firewood in the bed and things calm down a bit, at least it helps make my wife enjoy riding in it a bit better.


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## sgtusmc98

I have driven 1 tons that beat you to death but my 2002 f350 isn't bad but I've always driven trucks, my wife and I took it to Thanksgiving at my parents and before leaving filled it with fire wood and made the comment about making it a smoother ride back and she didn't think it was bad before, I expected her to think it rough since she always had cars, but not the case


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## cnsper

You want a 4x4 with fuel mileage, buy a Subaru. Want a truck get a Ford Highboy.


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## Tirediron

cnsper said:


> You want a 4x4 with fuel mileage, buy a Subaru. Want a truck get a Ford Highboy.


why so some guy with a GMC can come rescue you when the ignition module fails for the 3000th time???

Oh we are so far from the dodge 1500 topic that we can't even see the rail anymore


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## LincTex

Tirediron said:


> why so some guy with a GMC can come rescue you when the ignition module fails for the 3000th time???


Believe it or not..... 
When I did my Cummins swap in 2007, my '79 was still running the factory original "blue grommet" DuraSpark box with about 160K on it.

As a matter of fact... I have NEVER changed a module from anything OTHER than a GM vehicle (not necessarily a V8 version of HEI, but similar).



Tirediron said:


> Oh we are so far from the dodge 1500 topic that we can't even see the rail anymore


I hate everything about all new vehicles. So there, we are back on the rails again.

I will say the new Long Horn Edition Laramie Dodge trucks are super nice inside, and nice to drive. 
A guy I know just bought a 2015 diesel (800 lb ft torque?) F350 King Ranch Lariat and it is NICE - - but not $64,000 nice.

But it doesn't matter, because I think all new vehicles are total and complete S H I T


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## TheLazyL

While we're off topic a bit. I can not understand paying a premium price for a vehicle (buying new) just to lose money by driving it off the lot (depreciation). And if it financed paying interest on top of the premium price.

That's and awful amount of wasted money (IMHO) that could've gone towards life's other necessities.


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## Viking

LincTex said:


> Believe it or not.....
> When I did my Cummins swap in 2007, my '79 was still running the factory original "blue grommet" DuraSpark box with about 160K on it.
> 
> As a matter of fact... I have NEVER changed a module from anything OTHER than a GM vehicle (not necessarily a V8 version of HEI, but similar).
> 
> I hate everything about all new vehicles. So there, we are back on the rails again.
> 
> I will say the new Long Horn Edition Laramie Dodge trucks are super nice inside, and nice to drive.
> A guy I know just bought a 2015 diesel (800 lb ft torque?) F350 King Ranch Lariat and it is NICE - - but not $64,000 nice.
> 
> But it doesn't matter, because I think all new vehicles are total and complete S H I T


I still have memories of pickups that were in the lower half of a four digit cost, but in those days if you spent $100 in a grocery store you would have to carry the purchase out to the vehicle in a cart, nowdays it would be in one bag and maybe that wouldn't be half full. My dad used to say, "The price hasn't gone up it's just the devaluation of the dollar." Not only that but I totally agree with your last statement.


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## HamiltonFelix

Sometimes it's good that I'm too broke to consider a new rig, it relieves me of that decision. As I head toward retirement (hopefully), it's more and more going to be old rigs that I pretty much take care of myself. 

My employer seems to have gone with a Ford fleet lately. And, since they put bureaucratic morons in charge of fleets, who never listen to the actual end users, they have decided that anything F250 and heavier must be diesel, regardless of whether it is used entirely for short hops. BTW, I've temporarily escaped the horrible POS 2009 Escape Hydbrid they stuck us with, and am driving a 2006 F250 Super Duty 4x4 at work. The gas V8 is fine. It rides a lot worse than my own 1986 F250 SuperCab 4x4, but that's the solid axle for you. I can life with that if the rig gets he job done. 

You can do a lot of personal customizing and a lot of careful maintaining to a used rig before your costs approach that of a new rig. I do have respect for the 6BT Cummins, but as a prepper who looks to the long term I think I'd favor the older pre-electronics version, despite the lower horsepower and torque ratings.


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## Viking

HamiltonFelix said:


> You can do a lot of personal customizing and a lot of careful maintaining to a used rig before your costs approach that of a new rig. I do have respect for the 6BT Cummins, but as a prepper who looks to the long term I think I'd favor the older pre-electronics version, despite the lower horsepower and torque ratings.


I like the older pre-electronics stuff as well, our 1995 motor home has the 12 valve 230 Cummins in it, the big difference between it and the Dodge Cummins is the Bosch injector pump, the engine is rated over 500 ft.lbs. torque, the great thing with these engines, as I understand it, they can get more hp by upsizing the turbo and probably tweeking the injector settings. Even though we own a 1989 F-250 7.3 diesel, I'd like to have an older Dodge with the pre-electrics diesel just to have on hand. Thing is with buying and old friends 91 Toyota pickup, I don't have much parking space left, it's beginning to look like a used car lot, but it does give us choices of BOV, in case that's needed.


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## Tirediron

6bt 12 valve usually come in the old leaf sprung '76 carry over body dodge trucks and their inherent crappy wiring etc. the later inline pump 12 valves were very reliable and could have the power bumped up a bit easily. Some of the new electronic trucks have fairly creative ratings.


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## zombieresponder

Several years ago I was looking at buying a late model 4wd truck and asked a mechanic I trust what his opinion was. He told me:

Chevy to drive up and down the road
Ford if you're going to work it hard towing/hauling
Dodges are ok, but have had various problems, and at that time it was rear ends.

Here is what I know myself. Ford has been producing trucks with better frames for a long time. I'm not a Dodge/chrysler fan, but I own two jeep cherokees('91 and '00). Chrysler tends to cheap out in a lot of places they shouldn't and you'll know it after driving one for a few thousand miles. Other times chrysler just does stupid things, as is the case with the front axle in the Jeep Rubicon. Instead of using the existing Dana 44 axle with minor modifications, they bastardized it with smaller(weaker) Dana 30 outers and matching Dana 30 stub shafts from the standard jeep wrangler 4x4. Chevy has their own feats of epic stupidity, but most of their products will go many miles before giving up.

I would not buy a _new_ vehicle. There's no reason I can think of pay "x" dollars for a vehicle that, as soon as it's driven off the lot, is worth roughly 20% less than you paid. You may as well just be tossing a few grand in a trash can. If you can pay cash for it, then do so and drive it until the wheels fall off. If not, figure that you're going to have to pay a few hundred a month and consider how that could affect you in the event of a job loss or other unforeseen hardship. My wife and I have both experienced layoffs, amongst other things. Having our vehicles paid off or having low payments during those times has been a nice bit of financial forethought.


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## LincTex

HamiltonFelix said:


> I do have respect for the 6BT Cummins, but as a prepper who looks to the long term I think I'd favor the older pre-electronics version, despite the lower horsepower and torque ratings.


Even the '88-'93 engines with Bosch-VE pumps can be made to make PLENTY of power... if you want to burn the fuel.

But there's no need to get crazy - there are 3 or 4 main adjustments to make to a VE pump, and each one needs only about 1/4-1/2 turn of the screw to make a significant difference. The early 6BT engines regularly go to 500,000 miles without issues. The biggest change needed is the turbo - they are generally too small. I have a Holset HE351 turbo on my 4-cyl Cummins, and it's "just right" for that engine.


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