fooger03

iTrader: (2)

My 2000 Mitsubishi Montero Sport has entered its golden years. It's been a fine SUV indeed, but I'm sick and tired of having to rent a truck every time I do any sort of home improvement project, I don't want a bloody carcass sitting inside the cabin during deer season, I make excuses not to drive the SUV in the winter because the Miata is a far better winter vehicle (this also means that I have used winter as an excuse to not go deer hunting, which is a conflict of interest, as it was never the cold that bothered me, always the vehicle situation), and I just really want a truck again (My first vehicle was a hand-me-down C/K 1500.)

I didn't see any pickup truck threads on the forum - which is somewhat confusing given the membership of the forum.

Here's what I am looking for:
Seating - 4 doors, full size crew cab - when I use this, I want the maximum utility possible. That means "seats 4+ full grown adults"...."Comfortably". This is something I'm not willing to give up when I ditch the SUV. Also, there will probably be kiddie seats in the next 2 years.

Drivetrain - 4x4. Do I need 4x4? Probably not, but traction is the second of two primary complaints that I have with the SUV. Even with snow tires, it's "one wheel drive" trying to get out of the subdivision. This doesn't leave much in the way of confidence. My wife is finishing up her first winter in an AWD car, and it handles like a dream. There is also a house upgrade planned in the next 5 years, with lots of land to run around and play on.

Fuel Efficiency: I don't give a **** about fuel efficiency. **** earth. (That's right, I didn't even capitalize it.) This is not a daily driver. This is a second vehicle for utility. For when I want to go to the **** ski slopes here in Ohio, or haul trailers, or for air cooling deer carcasses.

Bed: I would like something longer than 5.5', though an 8' bed is retarded long behind a crew cab. Does anyone have experience with lumber? How well does a 5.5' bed handle a 4x8 sheet of plywood? Are you afraid it's going to fall out? I am also open to bed extenders - you know, the little gates that rotate when you drop your tailgate so you can use your tailgate as a bed extension. Any experience with these fancy things?

Luxury: Since buying the 5-series with the wife, I'm a spoiled little bitch. I want heated leather seats and heated mirrors and a back up camera and all that ****. None of these things are deal killers. I'll live with crying myself to sleep at night knowing I don't have things like a heated steering wheel and built in nav.

Towing / Power : It's gotta be able to pull my tiny *** 8'x12' enclosed motorcycle trailer at 70mph without braking a sweat. While the Montero Sport is certainly capable of towing that trailer, loaded up, at 70mph, it absolutely cannot tow that trailer at 76mph (at least not on flat ground). I generally cruise the freeways at a brisk 55 when towing with the Montero. It might take longer to get there, but at least I'm never early! Anticipated trailering speed with a truck is still only 65, but I'd better be able to pass a semi while going up a low grade hill. Beyond that, It seems that crew cab models are generally fitted with larger engines - so there's probably no reason to be picky about this.

Mileage: My guts and prior car experience tell me that I should expect a truck to last to 200,000 miles. I sold the 1990 C/K 1500 at 206k, I blew up a 1991 conversion van at 201k, the Montero has 186k on it and probably has about 15k of service left before it starts throwing out crap, the Miata has 178k on it and the body is about to rust off of it. I see many trucks online in the target price range with well over 200k on them - am I wrong to expect to only get 200k on the odometer? Currently I'm favoring trucks with about 130k on the odometer (that should give me about 70k pain free miles i suppose?) If anyone says that these newer trucks get 300k easy, then maybe I don't need to worry so much?

Age: I'm looking for something in the 7-11 year old range. How well should I expect the body/mechanicals to age?

Extras: I don't want a jacked up truck. I don't want giant rock-crushing bumpers. I don't want all-terrain tires. I want a nice truck, easy to load/unload, don't need to climb a ladder to get in the thing, all-season road tires. I do like the look of the hidden winches though...

Price range: I want to spend ~$12k, but willing to go to ~$15k for the right stuff.

The competition (as I see them):

Front runner is the 04-08 Ford F150 Lariat Supercrew:

I've seen private party examples of these listed in the 11-12k range for under 150k miles.

Second place is the 06+ Chevy Silverado LTZ (I see only 1 of these for sale within 200 miles for under $15k with 162k miles on it) or an 05- Silverado LT? To be honest, I can't make any sense of the trim packages - LT used to be the top dog before 06, and then it became the middle dog? Should I even be looking at anything older than 06? I can't help but think that it looks like a losermobile:


At approximately 3rd is the 07+ Toyota Tundra Limited Crew Cab - I don't think these are available for under $15k though.


Somewhere around fourth is the 04-06 Nissan Titan LE Crew. Not as plentiful as the others, and not sure how I feel about the look, but maybe it's a badass?


Finally I heard that Dodge has an offering. 02-08 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Quad Cab. Found private party sellers willing to let the earlier ones go for a good bit under $15k. Nobody knows what they look like from the side though. Every single goddamn picture on the internet is a front 3/4 view with one of the bug-eye headlights dead center. Every picture except for this one, that is:


I'm definitely leaning toward the F150 - and it looks like there were something like 7 billion F150s sold between 2004-2008, so they'll be well supported for some time - at the same time though, I'm still at the very sway-able stage of the game. Truck guys, what are your recommendations?

uavjeep

iTrader: (1)

on the fords. the triton engines had spark plug issues and timing chain issues. easy to fix if caught early but can easily lead to full engine rebuilds.

shooterschmidty

Would you consider a first generation Tundra? The 05-06's with the 5 speed auto and the updated 4.7 are pretty nice trucks that will do everything you want and be cheaper/easier to park than the 07+. The Titans only have a Dana 44 in the rear, but that won't be a big deal if you don't offroad much and are only pulling the small trailer.

williams805

iTrader: (2)

Triton V8's need cam phasers and steel oil pump plates. Also spark plugs like to fall out.

Silverado 4.8's are too small. Go for a 5.3 or 6.0. Although pulling a trailer with any half ton is not exactly ideal. Any hills and you're in low gear revving to the moon. You can get a silverado HD 1500 with a 6.0 leather and heated seats.

Dodge has tranny issues from what I hear. No first hand experiance with these except 4.7. Those like to drop valve seats. You don't want that engine anyhow. I also know some of the early hemi's with cylinder deactivation have lifter problems. If you can swing a diesel, do it. But they still have tranny problems.

Nissan's all need power distribution modules. I don't like how plasticky there are inside either. Then again don't really like it on the pre '09 sliverado's either.

Toyota I would consider but I don't know much about them. And those super short beds I do not dig.

We have an 06 Duramax and Alison. Thing is a beast. I love the tranny and torque. Hauls our 30' toy hauler without issue. If you can find an 06-07 (with LBZ) in your price range, do it. Injectors may fail but they are on top so less labor to change. Also GM replaced many under warranty.

Stay away from powerstroke 6.0 unless you have deep pockets. They can stretch head studs with a flash tune. If arb head studs are used and you get a decent aftermarket EGR cooler or delete, they are a lot better off. You must remove the cab however to install head studs. Also injectors are finiky due to them being engine oil operated at high pressure (500 psi?).

Don't know much about ecoboost.

My recommendation is to go 3/4 ton or better if towing with any frequency. Or F-150 and plan to have cam phasers and oil pump replaced.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

15k should get you into an LLY/LBZ Duramax or a 5.9 Cummins. If you can tolerate the ride quality of a 3/4 ton pickup, do that.

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

5.9 Cummins with the stick shift will be in prime condition for 15k. And the motor will last forever.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

What makes you think you need a full size to tow a small trailer? I have a V6 Tacoma, and it has no problem pulling my 2800# camping trailer. The Jeep Liberty had trouble maintaining speed over the hills in the Finger Lakes region, but the Toyota barely even notices. That's hauling the 4 wheeler and the family as well.

Double cab, so plenty of seating. Short box holds my 4 wheeler, but I have to have the tailgate down. I just strap it in. Those bed extenders are cheap; I wouldn't trust them to hold much of anything. If you gotta strap it in anyway, why have the thing in the first place?

Mileage in the summer is a solid 21-22. Drops off to 18-19 in winter (winter gas, more idling to warm up). Not sure about options like leather, heated seats, etc. as I never considered it. It's a truck. Just about everything has a nanny backup camera these days.

No idea what prices are for older models, as I never look more than a couple years back due to rust around here.

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

Its a truck, bigger is always better.

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

Okay, so I've been looking at the 3/4 ton trucks (the 03-07 RAM cummins 5.9s, and the 07+ Silverado duramax 6.6s), and although there are a few of these available between 12k and 15k, it's definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel. Seems to be all abused work trucks with 270k+ on the clock. It looks like I'll be at 19-22k private party before I arrive at something that begins to fill my "wants" list with the 3/4s.

I tell ya what, though; I love me some $30,000 trucks. Not gonna happen, but they sure are pretty.

After looking at the 3/4 tons and coming back to the 1/2 tons, the $ per shiny factor drops considerably.

As far as the smaller trucks,

Thanks for the advice, everyone! Keep it coming if you've got more.

I'm looking at the Tacoma trucks circa 2006. Rear leg room is 32"? How do you live with yourself?

Full size mostly because leg room:
Tundra: 37.5"
F150: 39.0"
Silverado: 38.7"
Ram: 36.7"
Titan: 40.4"

If I'm going to get a pickup with a back seat that makes American Airlines look like a superstar, then I might as well get a 2 door pickup.

lexintexan

I have a 2007 Tundra double cab (not crew max like the one pictured). The back seat is bigger than the landcruiser I had prior. I love love love this truck and will probably keep it forever. 385hp / 380 tq... Oh and BTW it can pull a space shuttle! You should be able to find one in the 15-20k range depending on mileage / how good of a deal you can find. The new model just came out in 2014, so the prices should be dropping. Just make sure you get the 5.7L

Toyota holds its value much better than the domestics (at least here in CO) So you might need to spend a little more or go with a 1st gen. I had chevys and fords when I was a kid and thought they were reliable. Then I got a toyota and realized I didn't know what "reliable" meant.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

My dad bought an 09 extended cab 5.3 silverado. Rear seats have MORE than enough room. I couldn't imagine what the crew cab is like. Plus the 5.3 has an insane amount of power. Seriously, any modern truck will have way more power than you'll ever need, especially with what you're towing. Plus you're in Ohio, there is no such thing as a hill where you live.

Don't get diesel, for god sake... Isn't the price of diesel double that of gas right now? Trend looks to be sticking too.

Get the F150 or Silverado and be done with it. My dad paid 18k for an 09 silverado with 30k miles on it, cap on the back too. The picture of the one you linked to is a 99-05. I can't see why you wouldn't be able to find an 06-13 for your price range.

Just don't get a truck with only TOWALLTHETHINGS in mind. For your little trailer, and how often you're towing there is no need to get more than a half ton.

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

Too much logic in this thread, but the biggest baddest diesel truck you can find and go blow black smoke on priuses.

Sometimes my redneck side comes out too early.

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

EDIT: holy crap late post ignore everything i've just typed below.


^what they said. You'll need to do your research on which ones to get but those are solid recommendations.

If you insist on a high-mile half ton, find a clean Tundra. It'll have high miles though.

the Chevys are solid.

The 1/2 ton Dodge is CHEAP. Shop around for a minute and you'll see what I'm talking about. CHEAP.

B6Tfastiva

iTrader: (1)

Get a Toyota. I see way more chevys in the shop for issues. Toyotas mostly only come in for regular maintenance. (I work at a gm/Toyota dealership) I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a high miles one either as long as it's been properly maintained. We have a bunch of 200k-300k mile toyotas come through the shop.( Highest is a 4 runner with 500k+) If you get a tundra see if you can get a trd supercharger kit. I installed one on a 2015 and that truck would move. Supposed to be around 500hp.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

Stupid argument.

#of chevys on the road > #of toyotas on the road

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

Good thing all of the reliability data and resale value also support his argument

Erat

iTrader: (5)

Maybe where you live.
People can't give away a toyota around here.

Again, the numbers are skewed because of the numbers of the vehicles on the road.

B6Tfastiva

iTrader: (1)

All I know is I'm am constantly fixing gm products for timing chains, oil consumption, and many other issues. I may replace the air pumps on a Toyota every once and a while but other than that it's all oil changes and regular maintenance. There are a bunch of recalls but nowhere near as bad as gm. (There's 8 on the 2014 silverado)

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

Reliability data is per 100,000 sold. In certain areas of the country made in america carries more weight than reliability

Erat

iTrader: (5)

Recalls just mean a company takes action on problem items.
IE. Ignition switches on 10+ year old vehicles...

Again, who cares what you fix and how much of it you fix. What's the mileage on these vehicles, what's its life like, what's its maintenance history? You say Toyotas only come in for maintenance, have you ever thought that maybe they're just taken care of better?