you want small 4wd thats iorn tough and pretty simple to keep running well, get a nissan, and avoid the fuel injected Z24 engines if you can, they all have Z24's but the carberated models can be stripped down and better carbs and stuff bolted on, the fuel injected version sare computer controled ignition and fuel delivery min short a pain in the tookas. For a farmin truck, a lil early 80's nissan 720 pickup rocks. and they are so cheap, if you keep your eyes opn you can always pick up another for parts.. or 2. I have had a few and my present one i have clocked over 225k on it and besides the fact the cab is rotting away its a mule... frame is solid, everything is A1. those damn sheep tim boodies rot first, as they all do. if your not real fussy, spray the frame and everything uner it with transmission fliud or light motor oil once a year, it helps keep the rust away. mine was already on its way to rot when I got it so the oil would have made any welding I had planned to do impossible... now I think I should have sprayed it anyhow, i never did have to weld the body up and now its so shot I need a new cab...BUT as an example, i found an 864wd some kid has and he destroyed the top end of the engine by not checking his oil, So his perfect body and drivetrain and my rebuilt engine and new clutch will drop right in, and whala I got a new truck!!
well my mom does, I needed a bigger one so i'm finishing my old 65 ford 250 up.
Ive had and know peeople who own toyota pU's from the 80'S and i have worked on them a lot, besides being complicated fuel injected computer controled, they are amazingly long wearing and tough... much tougher than the nissans, the drivetrains are better, but the nissansd are easier to work on.. its a trade off.
I dont like lil ford rangers, they are underpowered and have weak suspensions if its stock, but you can beef them up.
others I havent had nor worked on save a few mazdas and I would pay you good money for any otf them... mitsubisi's my sister had, they engine s are junk.. touchy junk. Im not crazy about the s-10 chevys engines, they dont take being overheated at all well, and once is enough to warp the whole damn engine, seen THAT one to many times. Older chevy V 8's are good and solid but thats a full size truck engine.
and the toyotas and nissans get excellet MPG's when tuned right. my 86 nissan gets 27MPG when its freshly tuned up. the toyotas get a little less, they are geared lower, and they have live axles in front that cause a bit of a drag... unless you find one with lock outs, then thats better.
Ive decided i will trade the MPG's for solid power and siple cheap repair costs, thus my 65 ford is getting a new lease on its life. it has a piggy 390, but its easier to fix than my garden tractors.... its a "real" truck.
still, I find it tought to part with my nissan... it nevr ever fails to run, even if it runs badly sometimes it can be kicked ot tweaked to get running smooth with a minimum of $$.
if you get one first thing to do is trash that stock carb and get an aftermarket holly or weber carb. THEn you can rip ALL the computer driven crap out of it, (well you have to relace the ignition system, minor surgery)
BUT dont let that scare ya, the stock stuff on it will serve ya for a log time with a minimum of bother...
