What trucks you like best?

The ford , dodges and chevy that I have paid off and running of course.

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"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"

Since I just shoveled nearly 2 tons of sand out of my 93 chevy 4x4 half ton I wont complain about it at all. 4.3 litre, automatic trans, 154,000 miles and no problems since the trans was replaced at the 200 mile mark.
Much better than the Ford Ranger that it replaced. 2.9 litre, 5 speed trans that was rebuilt at the 80,000 mile mark that came out of my pocket. I still need somebody to explain to me what causes an overdrive gear to break when the truck wasnt worked hard. No towing, nothing!

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"Humankind has not woven the web of life, We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect"
~Chief Seattle

First choice?
Toyota

Second choice?
Toyota

ummm
third?
Toyota

fourth?
Volkwagon beetles

Had a toyota all my life
never had one that failed me.
First was a toyota Corolla Corina. As a teenager I really trashed it. Replaced the clutch every 6 months it seems. owned it for lots of years. way past it's prime.
next was an 84 4x4. I really rode that one hard. never left me stranded and took it offroad hundreds of times. I was usually the one assisting the fords and chevy's :haha:
My current one is a 90 4x4, owned it since 91 and have only replaced the radiator and expect another 100K out of it.


Gimpy

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** Support Bacteria - It's the only culture some people have. **

I like Chevys. I have a 1990 K-2500 extend cab, long box that I dearly love-not horrible on gas, good ride, great to haul with. It's starting to look it's age but the engine runs great. If you've going to haul anything of any weight skip the 1/2 tons completely and go to a 3/4 ton. I won't have another 1/2 ton after hauling with the 3/4.

Stacy in NY

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People say I can't multi-task. Well, I can tick you off and amuse myself at the same time.

I currently have 2 trucks....out of an assortment of Chevy, Nissan, and Dodge. My favorite is my '02 Dodge 3500 Dually 4x4. It is rock solid, never given me any grief, and get OUTSTANDING gas milage with the 6-cyl Cummins Turbo Diesel. I have a friend who has a Ford F350 single rear, and I have a MUCH tighter turning radius....

The other truck DW drives, '96 Nissan.... OMG this is a little reliable workhorse. My BIL has an '88 that has 300+ THOUSAND miles!!! He has changed the transmission, at 280,000, and replaced the engine at 240,000.... pretty good track record for a little truck!

Incidentally, my Dodge is an automatic, the Nissan standard, and they get similar gas mileage on the highway... in town, it is a bit different! :haha:

I retired three years ago after 25+ years on a 45K RR and my experience was just the opposite. I drove an 2X4 S10 club cab pickup for well over 100,00 with very little trouble while the carrier on the other route went though several Rangers and Broncos. We both went to the RHD Jeeps when they came out, I was tired of sitting in the middle and reaching and she was tired of all the trouble she was having, we both loved the Jeeps.

I had a 95 Dodge 4X4 as my backup and snow/ice days vehicle and I hated it, it was a gas hog, had numerous recalls, something always wrong. A lot of it was nit picky stuff, all of the plastic seemed to break, radio knobs, heater controls, sun visor retainer clips, etc. minor but annoying . And it would sometimes just die and refuse to start until it had set for an hour or so, then it might not do it for 2-3 months, I had it back to the dealer at least 6 times for that alone and they never did find out what that was all about. They were very glad when the waranty expired.

After I retired we sold our rental properties in town and I treated myself to a new pickup. A 3/4 ton HD 4X4 Chevy Silverado, Duramax diesel, Allison tranny, with all the bells and whistles, had running boards put on so DW could get in and out easier, and added a camper shell. It quickly became our favorite vehicle. Our "family car" and farm workhorse all in one, very comfy to ride in, and better than decent mileage, we soon sold the Grand Cherokee. It easily does everything we ask of it, hauling flatbed trailer loads of hay, the stock trailer full of Dexters, or toting us to church in style. It was expensive, but well worth it. I hope it is the last one we ever have to buy.

Toyota one ton! That poor truck sure has been through alot[ should have seen it hauling our 19 foot boot, it was smaller then the boat].Its a 86 and just keeps on ticking. And now with gas so high I leave the newer dodge at home and take it instead.

if its not a class 7 or 8 its a toy truck aka. pickup/4wlr ,. a truck is just a workhorse i used to run 150,000 miles a yr, did pms at 15,000 miles and got great fuel milage 7-8 mpg. under a full load. 80,000# gross, how much wt do you pull??? just wondering. as i said used to run, been off work 2 plus yrs due to a serius accident that was not my fault.

I like those Mini Toyota Trucks from the 80's, can't find anyone that will sell one to me.

Hi Folks,,

Along with all the info all of you have given me, I went and did some research...
Depending on how things go... would prefer to go with the Toyota Trucks.
As I need a very, very reliable older one. (I would love to buy a New Tundra, but they are pretty spendy, to spendy for me right now. But I can dream. )

I just need it to get around, be able to bring a ton of hay home, or animal feed.. fence posts and the like. Not super heavy work,, but just light Farm stuff.
Maybe if things get better,, get a light trailer to take my miniatures or Icelandic horse to the local trails.

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Shari

No one has mentioned the GMC- though now they are about the same as a Chevy. My partner has purchased GMC trucks for our 13 years together. The latest one- 2003 Sierra 4x4 has been mostly my truck but it has been the worst one of all of them. Every little cosmetics problem a truck could have- it has had. Plus the new tires wore out on front due to an alignment problem that wasn't covered on the warranty and the electronic 4 wheel drive malfunctioned when we needed 4 wheels the most. It seems it would be a very beautiful truck to have around town but we bought it with a large engine (don't ask me I have no idea what it is) to drive these rough roads. It ain't too bad on gas at least. Our 99 GMC Sierra was the best truck of all of them. If I had my own new truck, bought with my own money, no one could talk me out of a Ford Heritage edition 4 x 4. If I had to buy a used truck I would go to the Toyota. They last forever with proper care.

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

Bought our first 6-cyl pickup recently, and we chose a '96 Toyota T-100 4x4 (w/automatic trans). I highly recommend you look for one of these. The extended cab has a MUCH more comfortable/usable back seat than the mid-90's Tacoma. Also the 6-cyl is great if you live in a hilly area, as we do. Used T-100's are a little hard to find, but we think it was worth the wait.

Had a 4-cyl mini Toyota previously, that thing ran forever, it was the energizer bunny of trucks. Still ran great when I sold it, though the body was a rusted mess (Michigan roads will do that).

Also owned a GMC Sonoma (4 cyl), that one was not too good and needed work often. Can't say I miss it.

-Blue

I have a little 1988 Toyota pick up. Bought it used in 1992. People said "Oh don't buy used, you're just buying someone elses problems" Two years ago at 14 years old we put in new clutch, battery, starter and distributer cap. Oh a new set of tires once. It needs new tires.Other than regular oils changes and some brake pads that's all we've ever had to do to it! We've hauled rocks, BIG load of rocks! Hay all the time. Pulled out stumps. Once I built a chicken house when hubby was overseas. Had no help to move from the garage to the place I wanted it so I put it on sled like skids and hooked it to the back of the truck with a chain. Pulled it to where I needed it. This truck's like the Duracel bunny. Right now a friend's using it to haul mulch and rock for her landscaping business. Probably going on for 180,000 miles on it now.

We just bought the new 2004 Ford F150. Nice! But I don't have the same warm fuzzies driving it as when I drive that old Toyota!

At 16, my father gave me the 1968 Chevy pickup. That was in 1976. Color black and white. Three speed on the column. It was a tractor disguised as a truck. It would pull anything. After I wrecked it, I had a green chevy "VEGA" for about eight months. I would haul fence post in the back to repair fence. Across the pasture I would go. CB's were big back then, I had an eight foot whip antenna on this thing. I traded it for my first new pickup, a 1978 GMC, with automatic trans, a/c. I still miss that truck. I turned it over in 1982. Next was a 1982 long bed chevy, NO a/c, with a straight six, three speed on the column. No gas milage at all. I then bought my father-in-laws 1976 3/4 ton truck, chevy long bed, automatic trans, still no a/c. Must have got a deal to buy it. I live in LOUISIANA, you got to be crazy not to have a/c. Sold it and bought a new 1988 Chevy with a/c, five speed with a V-6. You could load the bed down and it seemed to never go down. Kept it till I gave it to my son. then bought me a 1995 chevy with V-6, auto trans, a/c. I still own that truck. I have only changed the alternator/battery and regular maint. I have been waiting on the water pump to go out. I has just over 150,000 miles on this truck. Knock on wood, everything works fine on this truck. I do need to change the pinon seal in the rear-end, it is leaking. The only ford I had was one my wife bought while we were split for a year. After the 1500 dollar transmission rebuild, it got traded in on a chevy caprice. When my youngest daughter started to drive, I bought her a dodge neon, used. After it was put on the wreaker for the third time, for a fuel pump, she got a chevy 2000 cavilier. I guess my whole family is chevy people, including my dad, and brothers. The best thing about my truck though, IT IS PAID FOR

I had an '86 GMC Sierra Classic with 310,000 miles on it. It was only 2WD, but it went forever. Not much good on anything but tar, though. I traded it to the junkyard guy for new tires and rims for my new baby, a '76 3/4 ton K2500 with full time 4WD and a 4 barrel carb. It's a true workhorse, and eats enough gas to prove it, but it's extremely reliable. Only 47,000 miles, too.

Funny, how faithful people can be about these things. I come from a big Ford family (I have an aunt who works for Ford). I think I’d rather have to go home and tell my folks that I decided to change my religion then tell them that I bought a Chevy.

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-Gypsy

FORD- fix or repair daily

Chevy's the way to go!

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Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it - Henry David Thoreau

FORD
-found on road dead
-frequently overhauled, rarely driven
-first on recall day
-fast only rolling downhill
-fancy oil recycling device
-forked over repair dough

And backwards:
-driver returns on foot

Chevy/GMC's with 350 ci (5.7L) engines....that's the way to go for a problem free 250,000 miles....assuming you regularly change the oil.

Stay away from Toyota and Nissans if you live in the country. Parts are expensive and take several days to be delivered.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

If you have internet access and UPS can get to your place, you have car parts. A place called expressautoparts.com will have them to you in short order if its not something really rare. Even a cam for ancient Volvo engine only took couple weeks and it was on backorder. Autozone.com and Napaonline.com also will ups you parts. Just check around for best price.

I know people said Chevy 350's greatly improved in '80s, but that dud I owned ('73 pickup) was enough for me. Gashog, oil eater/leaker and overall POS. On other hand the gasoline Olds 350 engine was a great and durable engine. In an engine hall of fame it deserves a place up beside Chrysler slant six, Ford 300, and old Volvo B engines. Not all small block chevies were as bad. 307 version from late 60's and early 70's was fairly decent engine. Even lasted good because of higher nickel content in castings. Most small block Chevies had low nickel content and wore fast. I used to have a book on how to find by number the highest nickle content Chevy small block castings to use for rebuilding purposes. I've taken heads off old 283s, and they always had cylinder ridges you wouldnt believe. 305s & 350's also. As I said supposedly they improved in '80s when small block chevy took over for discontinued Buick and Pontiac V8s, but I gave them a wide berth and never took any apart to see about improvements in durability. Worked on some but would never own one. By way the old 292 Chevy straight six was good although not as good as Dodge slant six or Ford 300. Big block Chevies 366 to 454 were my favorite of Chevy engines. I preferred the Chevy big block over the Ford big block. 366 big blocks werent offered in pickup (used in medium trucks), but they make good pickup engines as does the Olds 350.