Opinions on trucks

[woodlandfarms]

I have a 6 cylinder F-150 that is around 18MPG as a mixed use (Highway and town) driving.

 

[pitt_md]

might wanna consider a Ford Ranger(unless youll be towing your tractor).

I second the Ford Ranger suggestion. I have owned three. Get one with the 6 cyl. engine. They work a lot less than does a 4 cyl. and end up getting about the same milage. If fuel economy is important to you stay away from the diesels. I have a new 2008 F250 with the 6.4 PSD. It's a great truck and does not get bad milage on the highway compared with a half ton V8. When you start driving around town forget about fuel milage. It's so bad you will not even want to check it. With a combination of back road and a little in town I will get right around 14 - 15.

Are you thinking new or used?

 

[canoetrpr]

Great comments so far. Keep them coming. I'm open to both new and used.

I'm not quite convinced on a having an extra vehicle - we already have two - one for my wife one for me.

She's currently driving a 99 Honda Accord. It does not get much use as she's a stay at home mom - so taking the kids here and there, groceries etc. It's got about 300000 km on it and is the one that will eventually need to be replaced by something.

I'm driving a 2005 Honda Odyssey van which is what she really should be driving. I drive it because the Accord is 5 speed and the clutch is like a ton of bricks. I have a bad back and the clutch bothers my back quite a bit. I love manual but its auto only for me unfortunately now.

I guess I could buy a 4 or so year old 1/2 ton gas pickup for her use and keep driving the Odyssey myself but really the mom needs the van more than I do!

Not sure on having a third vehicle hanging around with the cost of insurance and repairs. I've found that my vehicles tend to do best when I am actually driving them.

Sounds like a new 1/2 ton truck might not be a bad bet for my regular driver. 17 mpg is not far from what I am getting in the van right now. I get about 21 mpg on my commute on country roads - 50mph - maybe 23 if I go pure highway.

A real sipper FWD vehicle is out for me. If its not the truck then it will be a Subaru or something that is AWD. I've decided that there is no point not having the option of AWD with our weather in the winter. Does not sound like a 1/2 ton is that far from what I would get in a Subaru. I think that the Subarus are probably equivalent to my van in mielage.

 

[canoetrpr]

I've pondered the Ford Ranger and Nissan Frontier but I figure that if I am going to get a truck, I might as well get a 1/2 ton. It didn't seem to me like they used enough less fuel to make them worth while. Not sure though - I will keep an open mind.

 

[WH401]

In my diesel's I can do about 16 - 18 in 60 hwy/40 city and 20 all hwy driving in the 92', & 15 - 16 in 60 city/40 hwy and 17 - 18 all hwy driving in the 06. That said if it were me, I would stick with a 3/4 or above diesel until the 1/2 tons make it out. All the diesel's I have ever driven have outlasted and out-mpg'd any 1/2 ton gasser I've ever driven and I will never buy anything else other than the diesel option. But, for the uses that you state and the need of not really needing a pickup, a 1/2 ton gasser would probably work just fine for you.

 

[Dmace]

You can get a V8 4.7l (310hp) in the Ram 1500 that has been flex fuel ready (E85) since 2005 and it gets 18mpg highway. It still has over 1300lbs of payload and tow capacity of 6,000-7,100 depending on rear axle ratio.

On a side note, my 2003 Ram 1500 Quad Cab HEMI (75,000 miles) has been getting 15mpg average (50/50 city/highway) with a highway average of 16.7-17.0 mpg and towing average of 12.5-14.0 with snowmobiles and trailer (2100lbs +/-) and 9.5-11.0 with my tractor and trailer (7600lbs).



I had a Dakota before which is a great truck for someone who needs a bigger truck than a Ranger/S10 but does not need a full-size truck. It had a great V6 engine, 900lb payload and 4800lbs towing capacity (6100 with a V8). I believe the new Chevy Colorado is also a "mid-sized" truck also.

 

[Bird]

I've pondered the Ford Ranger and Nissan Frontier but I figure that if I am going to get a truck, I might as well get a 1/2 ton. It didn't seem to me like they used enough less fuel to make them worth while. Not sure though - I will keep an open mind.

I used to have a '99 F150 supercab with the 4.3L six cylinder. I only kept it about a year and a half and only put a little over 12k miles on it during that time (it had nearly 50k on it when I bought it). But since I keep spreadsheets and complete records on my vehicles, I know that it averaged 18.114 mpg with a mix of city and highway driving, and I do believe in using the air-conditioner.

I now have an '01 Ranger supercab with the 4.0L six cylinder (for those who don't already know it, the Ranger comes with a 4 cylinder engine, a 3.0L six and the 4.0L six). I bought it with 36k on it and it just now rolled over 60k. All power and air and automatic, 2WD, and by far mostly city driving now, and it has averaged 18.554 mpg (slightly better than the F150). I do have the load distributing hitch platform and I made a few 65 mile round trips with a 17' aluminum bass boat with a 50hp engine and I made a few 30 mile round trips with a 4' x 8' trailer with a little ZTR mower on it. I think it's only rated to pull 5,500 pounds.

So . . ., as I see it,
1) the F150 will pull a heavier trailer, if you need that,
2) the Ranger will get a little better gas mileage,
3) the Ranger is just the right height for me to sit down or stand up from the driver's seat, while I had to step up a bit to get into the F150,
4) the Ranger, being smaller, takes less space in the garage and is perhaps a little handier parking in parking lots, and
5) the F150 rides a little smoother. The Ranger has a good suspension for hauling a pretty good load, but that makes it a little rough riding. I have hauled all the limbs I could pile on, even standing on a ladder, to the landfill after pruning trees and that was only enough load to make the ride smoother. But when I hauled over 1,300 pounds of concrete stepping stones, that was actually a little too much. I didn't have any problems with it, but it lowered the back end considerably, and I only had to go about 10 miles at 35 mph in town.

 

[NuBota]

I have tried all the methods mentioned thus far...

I always liked having a spare vehicle in the event one goes down or is in the shop. Granted it is a luxury, but since it is a truck it has its uses. I always buy a used truck cause I use it like a truck. I drive it till it dies, fix it and let it die again. Don't wash it, don't vacuum it, drive it in the woods with branches scratching it. Since I have to dress up a bit for work and occasionally cart co-workers around, I use the car. But when not commuting, it's all truck time. Stay at home mom has the SUV. With three of the kids in sports and me coaching, I could haul all the gear and the dirty kids without trashing the other vehicles - plus I could leave the gear in it

Since it is an extra vehicle, it is a full size, quad cab (have 4 kids), 8' bed. My current one is a 3/4 ton diesel, and avg 17 - 20 mpg. But even if it was pretty enough to take to work, rolling around downtown in it would be cumbersome. I still have my old '95 F350 (gas) - this is what the teenagers drive . Just can't bring myself to get rid of it - and two trucks comes in handy more than I ever expected.

So it really depends on how you intend to use it - and you will probably find, like with your tractor, that you will use it more and for more things than you originally thought.

If you decide to go with just the two vehicles definitely go quad cab, otherwise you will miss your car's trunk and back seat. Diesel will give you the ability to get a "real" truck with good gas mileage - but take into account that not all stations carry diesel (possible issue on commute route) and those that do are pretty messy around the pump - so if you're a shirt/tie guy going to work, might get messy

Hey DMACE, what's my truck doing hooked to your tractor?

 

[Dmace]

Hey DMACE, what's my truck doing hooked to your tractor?

Ha Ha, sometimes I wish I had a diesel and 8ft bed. Guess what, I have an old red Ford F350 too! Nice choice of trucks!


1994 F-350 IDI Diesel (non-turbo, non-powerstroke), 59,000 2 owner miles and 4 speed with OD tranny. I love that diesel, it pushes my 9ft plow around like a toy.

 

[canoetrpr]

Nubota - what year is your Dodge 2500? Have you been happy with it vis. a vis. reliability? I have heard good things about the Cummins engine but then not so good things about chrysler transmissions.

Then again a buddy of mine has a 1500 which has been great for 250k km now.

I think that so far the responses are telling me that if I really want to get a diesel, it might as well be one that is a few years old.