Thinking about switching trucks...

[00Crew]

Ok guys, I have a feeling I am going to ramble on a little on this one, so if you get bored easy, leave now

Ok, first off, a little background, as I have a little problem. I am 26, and have had a total of 11 different vehicles (including motorcycles):
In This Order
1989 Isuzu Trooper (POS)
1997 Honda Accord (Modded way too much)
2005 Kawasaki Ninja 500
1995 Ford F-150 (My Favorite)
2002 Kawasaki Ninja 600
2003 Kawasaki Ninja 250
1992 Jeep Wrangler
2006 Nissan Frontier Crew
2000 Grand Cherokee
2003 Toyota Tundra
2000 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab

Well, I like the Frontier, but it had really bad sludge which can be seen on another thread, and it is just hard to work on in general. Everything is so close and hard to get to in the engine bay. Also, it is rated for 5,000lbs towing, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable towing over 1,500lbs with it, as it is a compact truck. But being a compact truck, it only gets 15-16mpg driving easy. The engines are pigs, but are supposed to be good engines.

Ok, I loved my F150 and look for it weekly on Craigslist. I would buy it back in a heartbeat, but it was regular cab and a stick, which limited the towing capacity. Now, I don’t tow anything at the moment but will have a mid size bay boat in the future, and possibly a camper, but that will be down the road.

In my twisted mind, I want an older/bigger truck that I can keep and use for possibly forever. I have older Chevy Silverado 1500 Extended Cab 2wds on the brain. I have never owned one, but have several friends that have over 200,000 miles on theirs with hardly any maintenance. Now I know that engines/trannies will need to be redone in all vehicles eventually, and the popularity of the Silverados drivetrain makes it much cheaper to do than the Nissan.

I am thinking I could pick up an older 93-95 model for $2500 or so (fingers crossed), and sell my Nissan, and put the $2500 or so extra that I would make off of it right into the Silverado, such as all fluids, tires, coolant system, shocks and suspension, etc.

I think by doing that I could have a dependable older truck that should last me a while with good maintenance.

Biggest thing in my book will be ease of working on the engine, and having room to move around.

I hope all of that made sense. Everyone please chime in with your opinion, and just tell me I am crazy if you think so.

 

[silverrat]

You have no problems with rust so I guess if you get one with a good body and frame any older truck with upgrades and maintenance will be just as good as a newer one. Maybe it would be more rugged since it's an older design?

 

[00Crew]

This is my thinking. But sometimes I doubt myself.

 

[river_rat]

You would be crazy if you lived up north, as years old largely = no sides left from rust, and 2WD trucks are fairly rare in Iowa because of the deep snow.
But since you live in a better climate, maybe an older truck would be easier to fix and keep running.

 

[eljefino]

That's a great idea.

If you have automotive ADHD (and you have to look inside yourself to decide), you may as well drive stuff that's mostly depreciated already so you don't take a hit every time you trade.

And if you still have a bike to ride half the time you won't get bored of the truck as quickly.

 

[mrsilv04]

I had a boss who had a '96 Silverado Extended Cab 2 wheel drive with a 305 and a 5 speed manual transmission.

That would be just about perfect. They're out there...

 

[bullwinkle]

Being a diesel nut, I would look for an '89-'95 Dodge Ram, with the 12 valve mechanically injected motor, preferably a '94-'95 with the P-pump & the NV4500 5 speed. Barring that, a GM TBI 350 5-speed wouldn't be bad either-I would just try to get a decent transmission behind whatever I bought-too many newer light duty pickups have questionable manual transmissions behind them (the Getrag, the NV3500, even the ZF-5s can fail if abused)-I would tow more weight with a manual F-150 than ANY of the Japanese import trucks-they appear to have weak suspensions compared to the American trucks.

 

[JHZR2]

+1 on that truck or similar, 350 would likely be easier to find.

Key question is what size boat and camper? This drives specificatons.

One thing Ive noticed hanging around Auburn, AL is that there are a lot of garage queen diesel crew cab pickups out there. Maybe it is because there are lots of southern rich kids going there, I dont know... but a garage queen pickup from your area is what you want, IMO. Get one that a college kid got tired of, but that was fully maintained and never "used" a day in its life...

I do like the late 1990s C/K pickups from Chevy. An older F150 with the I6 would also be a great keeper.

 

[XCELERATIONRULES]

If you want an American Truck,buy the Chevy.

 

[Ben99GT]

If you're looking for a 93-95 era model truck, I would look for a 351 powered F150 with the E4OD that's in good shape/repair.

That setup is hard to kill.

 

[ekpolk]

00crew:

More to the point, I think you need to change your screen name to something like, "FleetManager". . .

Good Heavens above -- where do you keep all that rolling stock?

 

[saberz]

What the Nissan Frontier and the VG33E engine lack in balls to the wall power that you want to feel, they make up for with torque. Those engines can pull 5klbs, go through [censored] and back. Sure without the power and finesse of a domestic engine but they are rugged and take abuse when called for it.

I found the VG33E to be easy to work on, except changing the #6 plug lol.

 

[00Crew]

Originally Posted By: Anies
What the Nissan Frontier and the VG33E engine lack in balls to the wall power that you want to feel, they make up for with torque. Those engines can pull 5klbs, go through [censored] and back. Sure without the power and finesse of a domestic engine but they are rugged and take abuse when called for it.

I found the VG33E to be easy to work on, except changing the #6 plug lol.


Yes, well the #6 plug wasn't too bad, as I had the plenum off to change valve cover gaskets. That is when I discovered the sludge and cleaned out what I could. Now the IAC is bad, so I have to take the plenum off again, and it is a PAIN!!!

 

[01rangerxl]

Have some more confidence in the Nissan. I tow well over 1500 lbs. with my 154 HP 3.0 Ranger without a second thought. I try to keep the weight under 3000 lbs., but only because I'm only using a ball bolted to the bumper for now. It does fine, even on the highway.

You can't really go wrong with a well cared for Ford or GM truck from the 90s. You can go very wrong buying one that has been beat like a stray dog all its life.

 

[super20dan]

why did you get rid of the 03 tundra?

 

[Schmoe]

Just about any K series from late 90's would do the trick. Find one with a 350 and auto. GM trannies are dang near bullet proof and the 350 is a legend. Parts are easily available and cheap. That set up will out last you. You may have some other problems here and there, as with ANY truck, but the engine/tranny combo has been proven time and time again. There's plenty of room to work on the engine and that includes maintenance items like plugs, belts, compressors, radiator, etc. etc. I got a 01 supercrew that I pretty much got from my father when he died. It's been great and like you, I planned on keeping it until I die. Then, I got to reading on the mysterious blowing spark plug problem and as soon as my wife gets back to work, I'm selling it.

 

[addyguy]

If I was buying a much older truck, I have to say I would get an F-150 with the 300 I-6. They don't get much tougher or simpler than that.

PM member 'TallPaul' and ask him about I-6 F-150's...he's had a few.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Just about any K series from late 90's would do the trick. Find one with a 350 and auto. GM trannies are dang near bullet proof and the 350 is a legend. Parts are easily available and cheap. That set up will out last you. You may have some other problems here and there, as with ANY truck, but the engine/tranny combo has been proven time and time again. There's plenty of room to work on the engine and that includes maintenance items like plugs, belts, compressors, radiator, etc. etc. I got a 01 supercrew that I pretty much got from my father when he died. It's been great and like you, I planned on keeping it until I die. Then, I got to reading on the mysterious blowing spark plug problem and as soon as my wife gets back to work, I'm selling it.


It's not mysterious. And there's a permanent fix for it that will cost a few hundred dollars to have done by a good independent.

http://fulltorque.com/pdf/Ford Triton Instructions.pdf

Is one example of a the product. There are others on the market.

 

[ffracer]

Botht the Chevy and the Ford with the 5-speed manual will easily pull a boat. They cut the rating down to cover those who can shift well from claiming warranty repairs.

 

[MNgopher]

And people like me love buying trucks off of people like Schmoe who are afraid of "mysterious" gremlins that are less of a problem than they have convinced themselves. Not saying it doesn't happen (it does and there are fixes for it) but to sell a truck because of that is paranoia, in my opinion. Works out well for the buyer though...