Another thing to consider - with a small truck comes a small bed. Can make hauling 2x4's or a sheet of plywood an adventure!Originally Posted by onething
Chevy
Dodge
Ford
Other???
If it's anything like Onething's current Molester Van it will set in the driveway and go out on the street once in a blue moon.Originally Posted by rx7gslse
Another thing to consider - with a small truck comes a small bed. Can make hauling 2x4's or a sheet of plywood an adventure!Originally Posted by onething
How about one of these?
http://www.qv500.com/lamborghinilmp6.php
Oh heck no... I wouldn't suggest a suburban for commuting.. That's just insane! I got it for hauling half a dozen peopel and a boat to the lake.. But since he's replacing a van, I figured it's a valid suggestion.. And it gets about 11/14mpg thank youOriginally Posted by altiain
Still waiting to hear what the use for his truck is... Daily driving with some hauling, or sitting and occaisionally haulin' when needed...
1984 GSL-SE - Its ALIVE!
1989 Suburban 4x4 - 4" Pro-Comp Lift 33" BFGs etc... DRUNK TANK!
2002 Protege5 - Lucky the drunk wagon SOLD
'04 MazdaSpeed Mx-5 Wheeee! Turbos are fun
How can I be so thirsty this morning, When I drank so much last night??
I'm with Altiain on this one... the best Toyoter ya can afford. As a [distant] second choice, I'd pick up a Ford.
"That which does not kill us, just makes us madder"
Cletus Nietzsche (Friedrich's half-brother on his sister's side)
You could go with a domestic but probably nickel and dime yourself on repairs in the long run...
Kids - kids - kids! No, that is not what I plan to haul, I'm just getting your attention.
What do most folks in the Metromess use a pickup for? To make people think they live in the country and need a truck! :grin:
- Third vehicle for commutes when needed
- Haulin antiques for mrsthang
- Hauling dirt, fertilizer, and yard stuff to the house
- Hauling dirt, tree limbs, old tires, etc. to Altiain's house
- Occassionally dragging a small trailer if the pile of tree limbs is too big to fit in the truck - trailer not yet spec'ed
Realistically, it will sit for long periods and not get much attention. The Molester Van gets 9 mpg and does OK. Just not handy for hauling trash, and the trailer I used to borrow is still in Athens.
Well, I actually bought the truck to pull a horse trailer and other country pursuits...Originally Posted by onething
Dodge 2500 with the 6-speed manual and the Cummins 5.9L Turbo Diesel.
While it's probably more truck than you really want, the 20+mpg I get driving around unloaded is very very nice...
--
Dave"Opinions are like ..."
Oh yea, that tranny starts acting up get ready to throw another $2500 at it. I attempted the TCB route, ended up spending $2,000 on it, and had the same darn issue it had to begin with, then they told me it was the computer and it would cost another $700. I sold it! When it was all said and done, I should have let the dealer do it, they quoted me $2500 installed. What really sucked was all it was doing was shifting really hard, so I wanted to get it fixed prior to pulling a sailboat to Arkansas, cause I didn't need a failure up in them hills (hey boss lemme do it, I always wanted to work on a transmission).Originally Posted by rx7gslse
BTW, on my trip the damn torque converter blew a seal , so I bought a couple of gallons of Tranny Fluid and drove home, stopping and re-filling every 50 miles. Man did it take a lot of cleaner to get that crap off my boat. The shop tried to get out of replacing the torque converter, as they said I drove on it too far. After some very HEATED words, they decided to cough up and pay for the new converter.
Granted some of my problem was with my shop, but at 50k miles a 1/2 ton truck should be able to pull a 2500# boat and not break!
'08 Copper Red GT PRHT, '06 Accord EXL, '05 Dodge Magnum R/T, '01 V8 Dakota for pulling 2135 Chaparral.
- 84 1/2 ton Suburban - tranny @ 75k
- 99 1/2 ton Suburban - tranny @ 60k and ready for another at 100k
- 04 1/2 ton Suburban - tranny shot at 17k
Is there a pattern here?
I know lots of people who say the Suburban eats trannies, but not the pickups ??:
I can so see mrsthing driving your 2500 with the 6-speed...Originally Posted by Dave04
Maybe 4 wheels aren't so bad after all... wickett.org
It only goes to show when people can no longer discriminate on the grounds of race, religion, or sexual orientation, they can improvise and still find someone to hate. - Dave Moulton
Heck, my 99 AWD GMC SLT Surburban went 68K before I traded it in, and the only expense other than regular service was a Power Steering pump. The sucker was easy to drive on trips, got up to 20mpg, and the heated seats were a delight to my aging back. I averabed between 14 and 16 mpg in town. I loved the damn thing, and although it would pull my enclosed trailer, it struggled a bit. That was the big reason for trading it for the duramax. But as used trucks go, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Chevy/GMC with Vortech. I had always been a Dodge truck owner, and only switched to GM vehicles because working with GM car and truck engineers through a SCCA Corporate training program, I just felt guilty driving up in a Dodge, so I bought GM... Never had a Dodge leave me stranded, and I have owned at least three new Dodge trucks. Always pulled a trailer, the primary purpose of buying a truck to begin with, for me anyway, and never experienced tranny problems that so many complain about... So, that said, I could reccommend either of these two purely by my own experience....You could probably find a previous gen. Dodge, 94 to 97 or so in the price range you are looking for...
OzCop
MSM
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood!"
that's odd.. I know some have had issues with the 700R4 and heavy towing, but that seems a *bit* extreme.. I find it hard to believe that GM would regularly have to replace tranmissions on a 2004 at 17,00 miles.. How did this guy kill them so fast??Originally Posted by onething
Mine has 172k and its still on it's 1st tranny.. a little slow to shift on cold mornings, but that's nothing..
Growing up we had a 79 suburban, an 86 suburban and a 91 suburban... All saw regular ski boat towing duty every summer and all lasted well over 100k (ok, well teh trannies did... the 91 didn't fare so well when my sister drive it ~40 miles after the waterpump went..)
I guess we've just had really good luck?
1984 GSL-SE - Its ALIVE!
1989 Suburban 4x4 - 4" Pro-Comp Lift 33" BFGs etc... DRUNK TANK!
2002 Protege5 - Lucky the drunk wagon SOLD
'04 MazdaSpeed Mx-5 Wheeee! Turbos are fun
How can I be so thirsty this morning, When I drank so much last night??
Wonder if all the Suburbans that Onething killed transmissions on all pulled the "training" trailer, it's a big pig??Originally Posted by rx7gslse
There is a late model Mazda extended cab down the street from me with a "For Sale" sign on it. Want me to get more info???????
92 Sunny 214k, 95 Dimples, 93 James Bondo, 92 SM (Speedie Jr )
Shelley, Apex, Tigger, Max, Baby(cats), Fluffy, Spot, and Peanut (mini horses), Cinnamon & Bitsy(dawgs)
MSR #1001, SCCA #208822 Let's go racin'
Only pulled the "training" trailer with the new one. We have 3 company suburbans (leased) and the 99's all had tranny issues with no towing. One was on it's 3rd replacement. The 04's all have less than 30k and two have had issues.Originally Posted by POS Racing
Well, I have yet to see any local Miata have tranny probs because of towing a race trailer... so here's the solution - pick up a stout NB and a nice flat bed trailer, and whammo, two birds with one stone.Originally Posted by onething
man, that sucks...Originally Posted by onething
Ok, that's it.. I'm keeping my old truck.
Anyway, I've yoinked this thread too far out of the way... Enough about GM trannies. Toyota makes good trucks, no doubt, but they're so expen$ive... I've had several friends in college with older Mazda ickups that ran forever and every with no issues as well, and for a *lot* cheaper than Toyotas... Although, they're the same as a Ranger, so take that with a grain of salt?
1984 GSL-SE - Its ALIVE!
1989 Suburban 4x4 - 4" Pro-Comp Lift 33" BFGs etc... DRUNK TANK!
2002 Protege5 - Lucky the drunk wagon SOLD
'04 MazdaSpeed Mx-5 Wheeee! Turbos are fun
How can I be so thirsty this morning, When I drank so much last night??
Could depend on whether they were towing in overdrive or not. I worked a corner with a guy at the last PCA event who was towing his track car with a 1/2-ton Chevy extended cab, and he also made the comment that the tranny was the weak link on those trucks, and that towing in overdrive just accellerated the problem.Originally Posted by POS Racing
Iain
"We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw