looking for a 4-door truck

[leigha]

My dh and I have a 2-year old, 4-year old and a 6-year old. We would like to buy a used truck for under $5000 that has room for all of us, the three kids in the back, 2-year old in a car seat in the middle of the back seat. We're always having to drive my van for the kids and husband's little ranger for farm stuff. My dh's truck is on it's last leg anyway so we're considering something we could all use. We're not interested in anything slick and new, no payments. My question is what models should I be looking for? We've looked at older F250's (80s and early 90s). We don't want a dually. We want a real back seat, not an extended cab. What models have that in Chevrolet, GMC? What years did they first start making them? Ford Sportrac and Dodge quadcab would be great, but they're too new and expensive. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[SHELBY]

Where are you located ? Have a friend that has an 81 chevy 4 door

[leigha]

I'm in north Alabama, I guess that's a little too far from PA, but thanks for replying. What's the model of her truck? Maybe I could look those up around here.

[Blu3duk]

Ive got a '78 F350 crew cab bench seats front and back 4 doors, flat bed, 4 speed, 4x4 with a 351 Clevland ['74 merc stationwagon pull] that Ive had for a coule years that does retty well, and its not a dually as they are pretty useless on slick roads... I prefer single tires load range e and not all that wide either.

I traded '86 bronco for it str8 across, we had the bronco for 2 years, drove it quite alot, paid $2200 cash for it used, the fella wanted $3500 cash for the crummy, think i got a pretty good bargain out of it, but i needed a pickup instead of a car so it was a no brainer anyhow.

Been offered $2500 just for the 351 as is.

William

[fordy]

.......................For 5k$$ bucks you should beable to find an early 90's crewcab f250\350 ford truck with a 460 automatic that has been well taken care of. Chevy also makes crewcab 2500\3500 trucks with a medium sized gas engine(350). Either ford or chevy will be better than Dodge as dodge's had weak frontends UNLESS they were 4x4's as then they had a solid axle and were VERY sturdy trucks. The point HERE of looking at both Chevy and Ford trucks in the 90 to 95 model years is that both manufacturers had very well engineered fuel injection systems on their gas engines. Actually , i wouldn't look at anything any further back than about 92 if it was me. You should know that FI was only introduced in the 87-88 model years on 3/4 , 1 ton pickups. The FI systems means that the supply of fuel to the engine was was much more uniform and dependable and therefore the fuel MILAGE on these gas engines will tend to be much BETTER than on the 80 to 88 year model trucks that still used conventional carborators on them. Be patient and stick to your plan and you will find a truck in the 92 to 94- model years for the 5 k in your budget...fordy...

[agmantoo]

Leigha,
Just food for thought from here. I like low mileage vehicles for dependability. I am not overly concerned as to appearance but here they must pass inspection. To meet the farm and family needs I buy salvage vehicles from insurance auctions. Then I repair them myself. These vehicles can be very cheap as long as you stay away from what the mainstream ones. One needs to understand their capabilities or have someone who is mechanically minded to select the vehicle to bid on. You can get burned with the wrong choice. On the other hand, you can drive a late model dependable vehicle for cheap. Vehicles that I have bought and the prices paid
Pontiac Gran Prix 1 year old, 3000 + miles, theft recovery, major cosmetic damage $3000, repair was seats from salvage yard and repaint
International 4900 dt466 big truck 1 year old, 23000 miles, wrecked in front, $8000, cost me nearly $3000 to repair
Ford F150 2 years old, 31000 miles....hole in crankcase after mishap, $5300, repair , $1100 with a 11000 mile engine
Ford F150 1 yr old, 13000 miles $4300, hard hit right rear, repair minimal cost, mostly body filler and paint, straightened frame, tires do NOT wear excesssively.
The vehicles all have salvage titles but I will run my value from them and I am unconcerned as to their resale value.