Truck Advice

Originally Posted by t00nces2

I am probably going to buy a full size truck and camper. Reasonable price is a must, so I am loking at higher mileage/older trucks. I grew up in an era where American cars were a bit sketchy, and the distrust continues to this day. That said, I have had my confidence boosted on Ford F-150 (do they make an F-150 3/4 or 1 ton?) and Chevy/GMC by the sheer numbers of them out there. Dodge, not so much. I have seen too many K cars and Caravans that smoke like street side BBQ shacks, but there are a ton of them out there (and they are usually cheaper than Ford or Chevy).

So, what are your thoughts on truck makers? What are your experiences? Any definite "buys" or definite "do not buys"? I am not interested in a dually or diesel.

I've been a ford guy for a long time. It's not so much that i'm brand loyal. It's been more about what's available to buy used. Also ..... maybe it's about the devil you know ??? They all have their faults no matter which brand you buy. It's nice to have some idea of what kind of problems to expect before you buy.

IMO ... chevy is about on par with with ford. They're both good trucks. Back in the day, chevy was the preferred choice in this area because they were about 1,000.00$ cheaper to buy new.

GMC is the same company as chevy but those trucks seem to be built a bit better. They're an upgrade in quality. GMC isn't blowing smoke when they say they're "professional grade". There's a bit of truth to that.

I don't much care for Dodge. I had one ages ago. It was "good enough" but the motor eventually failed under normal use. That's the only vehicle that i've had where the motor gave out. Since then ... i've seen quite a few Dodges for sale by the side of the road with transmission problems. That's a devil i don't want to get to know unless there's no other choice to buy used.

Don't really have an opinion on the imports like Toyota & Nissan. They're probably okay for the most part. They're consumer grade cars seem to be a fair amount of better then chevy or ford. It might be the same with their trucks.

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If you step back away from specific brands it will be less confusing. They're all good and they all suck depending on who you talk to.

Just some general recommendations on buying used:

1: Take her out for a test drive. See if you like the feel of the motor and transmission.

2: Twenty years is about the life expectancy of a truck. You're apt to run into hard to fix electrical problems anytime after that.

3: Keep it simple sam. Avoid all of the fancy extras like power this and power that. It's just one more thing to go wrong with an old truck.

4: Go with a standard cab and 8' bed. Trucks with things like extra cab and crew cab have a longer wheelbase. That means a longer frame and more things to possibly go wrong. Truck frames suffer metal fatigue that eventually develop into stress cracks.

5: Take a really close look at any truck that has tubular cross members on the frame. They're a bit*h to fix. I've seen them fail in as little as three years on the road. ( Chevy & Toyota ) The problem is that sand gets into the tube and holds moisture. Cross tubes can rust out pretty quickly unless you're very careful about hosing them out a couple of times a year.

6: Steer away from trucks that have been altered from factory spec. Things like aftermarket upgrades and fancy exhaust systems. That's a whole nuther set of problems to deal with when you're repairing an older truck.

7: See if you can find out who owned the truck before it came to you. Young guys seem to be harder on gear than the old timers that are more settled.

8: The days of the shade tree mechanic are slowly drawing to a close. There are a lot of really good nuts n bolts guys that are completely at a loss when it comes to the sophisticated electronics that are built into just about every truck these days. You might as well figure that you're going to have to hire out a lot of the repair work that needs to be done. There are some repairs than can ONLY be done at the dealership now.



9: See if you can find something on the 80 - 130,000 mile range. That seems to be the sweet spot. You get some repairs, but nothing too serious like motor and tranny.

10: Avoid trucks with dual fuel tanks. They seemed like a good idea at the time but ..... ??? A single tank that you can afford to fill up on a regular basis is better for local driving. It keeps the fuel fresh.

11: You could probably get a " soccer mom van " for a lot less than a truck but the motors and trannies are undersized and overworked.That would be especially so in the Florida heat. You might think of them as consumer grade cars ? Fifteen years or 180,00 miles and it's time to take it out of service ?

~ Just my two cents. ~