Well, I had made numerous posts here and decided on a Mustang..but now it looks like I need to get a truck.
Basically I need something that can tow a 2500 pop-up trailor several times a year. So what trucks are out there that I should look into? I'd like something that can tow the trailor but also have performance stuff available. I know the S10's with the 4.3 have quite a few things available to them, but I don't know what else is out there.
I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone here, so any help would be appreciated.
Will race for food
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silverado SS. sexy trucks with power
I'd like to get something pre 2000, don't want to spend an arm and a leg on a 2nd car. I'd say I probably have about 5-8K to spend on a vehicle..that's just an estimate...not really sure what the wife wants to allow me to spend.
Will race for food
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I think the only real choice for out of the box performance is a Ford Lightening. Otherwise, get a Chevy V8 and get to modding.
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What Augustin said. Although, I like the Chevrolet 454SS, it's geared completely wrong and you can get more power out of a vacuum cleaner, but you have 454 cubic inches to play with. So it'll pull ANYTHING and it can be made very fast.
Still though, the problem remains that a truck's a truck and they all handle as good as a drunken fat guy fu*ks. Straight line perfomance is no problem, just don't expect it to enjoy the curves as much.
But if you just want something you can mod, stay with the 1990-96 Ford F150 the 5.0 V8 or the GM's Silverado/Sierras from any year with the 305/350. Can't go wrong with either of those. They're tough as hell and have massive aftermarket support. That's for big trucks. For smaller trucks the Ranger and S10/Sonoma are great choices. You can Turbo the Ranger's 4 banger so if you're looking for the cheapest way to go fast, that could be an idea. However, for my own money the S10/Sonoma with the 4.3 is probably the best bet for an all-around vehicle. Stay away from Dodge, never had any good experiences with them.
One good truck is the Toyota Tacoma 4x4. It'll never be fast, but you won't care about that as you watch your odometer go past 400,000 miles. It's awesome offroad, sorta decent on gas and you just can't go wrong with a vehicle that the marines drop BOMBS on but still works after a new battery is put in.
Since you want a performance truck ... either the Lightning or the Ram SRT-10
If not any of those, I'd say go with the F-250 turbo diesel
dan
Thanks again for the advice guys. I forgot to mention it has to have a backseat..carseat in there occassionally. I know a truck is going to always be a truck : / But at this point I'm willing to give it a try. It has to be standard..I have to have that.
Knoxfire, are the 5.0's from the F150's the same as the ones in the stangs? If so I know what I'm getting.
I want this to be as much like a car as I can get it..airbags would probably be something I'd have to go with...can't tow stuff when you're lowered right?
I'd like to get a smaller truck because I'm not a fan of anything fullsized, but I don't think either a Ranger or S/10 has the space for a carseat.
Mileage will not be an issue for me. I put like 8K miles a year on my primary vehicle a year..so splitting that up on two cars will be even less driving. The trips we'll take with the trailor won't be far, staying in Tx more than likely...it's a big state though.
Will race for food
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Dodge Ram Power Wagon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
maybe no one has seen a syclone before. Fastest production truck ever built from the factory, even called a Ferrari killer. Consistently could out run the same year model Ferrari 348ts in the 1/4 mile back in the early 90's. Average of 13.3-13.9 1/4 mile stock, 5 second 0-60. Easily modified and even better, still faster than the 2001 model Lightning by half a second and its 10 years later in production!
mmm speed
and another
stock vs lightning
0-100 in 8 sec, yes that is mph
hits the brakes..gotta love bracket racing for 10's
If you can't tell already I have a thing for Syclones
if it weren't for the fact that they came in limited production I'd have one in the Garage already. There's always wishful thinking..usually go for 8-18k.
With only 5-8k funds and low miles, plan on getting an s10 or a ranger like you originally thought.
I think my SS can tow 6600 pounds AWD and I consider it a sport truck , well Sport SUV...
if u where a true syclone fan u would know that the max payload is 500 pounds, cant take it off road, CAN NOT TOW WITH IT PERIOD! thing was made to go in a straight line
im thinking a ext cab 99 silverado. 4.8 is a nice engine. handles mods well. 4.8 5.3 and 6.0 are all the same, so it will bolt right up if u get a 4.8.
Hellion179 wrote:
Knoxfire, are the 5.0's from the F150's the same as the ones in the stangs? If so I know what I'm getting.
It's the same overall engine and can be modded to 5.0 specs. It makes about 170hp instead of 225.
Well, my next couple days off I'm going to go to a few dealers and look around. I'm buying outright and like I said, I'll have about 5-8K to spend..less I spend on the truck, more I have to put into it. For right now I'm going to look for either a 90-96 F150, or any Silverado with a 350 in it. Anything else I should be looking for? I don't want to buy a diesel atm, so that's out of the question : /
I work the next three days so I have some time to think about this. I just hope I can find something with a manual tranny in it.
I have to tell you guys I'm having a lot of trouble coming to terms with this. I became a car fan back with my first car in 2000...and I told my dad I'd never drive a truck..he's always had a truck as long as I can remember..To this day I remember him saying..Just wait until you're grown up, working 40 hours a week, with kids, etc. You'll be driving a truck then too...Grr, if I have to have one I will refuse to let it be slow....I'm barely 23 and I feel like I'm already getting old.
Anything different with 4X4's? Do I need to worry about anything different? I will use the 4 wheel drive at least 10 times a year, for sure. So it'd be nice to have. Not a necessity, but it'd be nice.
Will race for food
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a 2500 pound trailer? you could damn near pull that with a J. soooooo, I 'm thinkin' go with the Mustang anyway, or, if you want a truck, just about any compact truck besides a mitsu. the dodge (dakota) is more of a mid-size truck than a compact, but the 5.9 R/T is kinda tantalizing: a small pickup with a 360cid v-8 mmmm.
LD9 F23 FTW!!
I know i could....but I also have a boat that will need to be launched from a ramp..that will be very hard to do for a car....I hate to say it but I think I have to get a truck...the boat was my idea, but the pop up is something the wife has really wanted to do. Since we had our son we haven't done anything and we're hoping this will give us some more outdoor time.
The size of the backseat has to be able to fit a carseat. The motor has to be supported by aftermarket. The truck has to be standard. I'd like it to be four wheel drive, but it doesn't have to be. Everything else I don't care about, lol. As long as I can mod it, it can pull a trailor, and I can fit the family in it, I'm set.
Will race for food
..check out my miscellanous mods
Just get a 2001+ GM 1/2 ton extended cab, short box, with either a 4.8 or the 5.3.
Good mileage, good towing, great brakes, excellent backseat w/ the four doors.
You can't really go wrong with either a Ford or a GM. Try to get the newest possible vehicle with the least mileage. Personally, and I know this sucks to say, it'll be worth more in the long run to spend a bit more on the thing and have it work well than buy some piece of junk and regret the say you set foot on the dealer's lot.
Also, about trucks being fast, you gotta be realistic. A 1996 4x4 Ford F150 with an extended cab (for example) weighs about 4500lbs and the 5.0 V8 makes 185hp (the 5.8 makes 210 in case you were wondering) Well, with the weight you got on that thing you would have to make 335hp just to EQUAL the power/weight ratio of a 5.0 Mustang. (Heck man, you'd need 200hp just to equal the power/weight ratio of a BASE 115hp Sunfire/Cavalier) That's not even taking into consideration the enormous drag on the driveline that the HD clutch and 4WD system will do. I've owned manual trucks and it's not sporty by any means. It's like driving a dump truck. There's a reason why every single sport truck like the Dakota Shelby or Ford Lighting or Chevrolet 454SS was an automatic, it's because the manual trannies are crap when it comes to driving fast and the automatics were so vastly superior that it wasn't even funny.
Sportiest truck in your price range, seriously? The Toyota Tacoma with a manual tranny and the 190hp V6. It's lighter than the big Fords and GM's, it makes more power, it's more reliable and the gear shift lever doesn't feel like it's connected to a cement mixer. Not just that but it's car-
like to drive. The only drawback is that parts aren't cheap and there isn't a whole lot you can do to mod it.
I say try a couple out before you decide on anything and remember how much weight you're towing and how much power you'd need to make to even begin being sporty. As for problem areas in trucks, I don't know about GM's but Fords have massive automatic tranny problems (don't buy a Ford auto, ever) and the electrical systems aren't top notch (bad grounds and alternators conking out mostly) . There's also some leaking gasket issues and they rust a lot. However, besides that they're insanely reliable. The engine will chug along wayyyyyyyyyyy past the 300,000 mile mark without a peep.
Knoxfire, thank you for putting things in perspective. I hate to admit it but you're very right. I'm going to be stuck driving a tank for a little while. I'll let you guys know what I pick up. I've always been a chevy fan, my dad drove Z71's for years and years, plus I think they look better than a lot of the mid 90's F150's. I think I'll just do some basic stuff to make it more driveable, but overall leave it alone.
Is the backseat of a Tacoma pretty big? I've never been in one so I really don't have any idea. My first thought for a truck was S10 sized vehicle...but that would not work...Tacoma would be perfect though.
Will race for food
..check out my miscellanous mods
Avoid Dodge...at ALL costs.
DCX straight out makes disposible cars in pretty wrappers.
"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net
I believe the Tacoma has a big rear seat in the extended cab version, but I'm not 100% sure. If in doubt, just go with your gut and get a Chevy/GMC, you can't go wrong with those trucks either and they make slighly more power than Ford and are slightly superior in quality IMO (This coming from a die-hard Ford guy). One other thing to check out is the steering on trucks. For some reason EVERY single large truck over ten years old has loose steering. A little bit of loose isn't so bad, but you can do almost half a turn on some before the wheels even begin to move. Make sure the truck doesn't do that. It's kind of annoying in emergency maneuvers hehe.
I know what you're talking about Knox. Is there anything that can correct that? Say I find something perfect, low price, low miles, etc..but steering is loose? There's nothing I hate worse than play there. I can't even stand a little.
Will race for food
..check out my miscellanous mods
More often than not the two things that have gone wrong is that either the bushings in the front end are completely worn to hell, or that the power steering is dying. If it's not making a squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee sound when you turn it's just a bunch of bushings and shouldn't be TOO expensive.
