Daily Driver

[MossRoad]

Why not just buy a 2000s or newer one? Sure it値l cost more but youæ±*e looking at several grand of work. I had a 1990s half ton suburban with no motor and no rust that I sold for $600. Here you go. Who wouldn稚 want a gas guzzling pass anything but a gas station 8.1 suburban? View attachment 594260

Because I like the 1993 body style over the next generation.

 

[fried1765]

First - I'd like to think that us TBN'er are a lot alike. Honest, hard workers with a habit of doing and building things on their own. We are also a little obsessed with trucks, equipment and the like. So I'd like some honest opinions about my replacement commuter ideas. I'm torn and not sure which direction I'm going to go yet:

Last year I changed jobs and began commuting some distance and also turned in my company truck. I bought an older Honda CRV with 130K miles and its been great. Very reliable and overall nearly the perfect commuter and work vehicle. But I'm averaging about 50K miles a year, some of it paid and most not paid. I travel all over the northeast for project work and have driven as far out as Indiana this year. This puts it at nearly 300K miles two years from now. That is probably a good replacement goal.

Only a few drawbacks to the CRV:
- Comfort. I'm a big guy and it need at least 2 more inches of leg room.
- I'd like to carry some tools and a few more things in it without the droopy back end and cluttered feel.

So I have been contemplating replacements. One I like is the new GMC Canyon with a Duramax diesel. Looks sweet, has the needed tech (I need hands free calling, have upgrade the CRV with that), has plenty of passenger space and I can haul some tools and light equipment when needed (struggle with that now). But $45K is a lot. The hauling and towing capability are two items that would be notable benefits and the diesel offers those benefits without a loss in efficiency. Price tag, reliability and repair costs are all major drawbacks.

The Ridgeline is a very ugly second choice. Has most of the benefits of the Duramax without the high repair costs. Reliability is likely rock solid too. Price for the low end is reasonable, but fuel efficiency is not really great. Towing is not really there and it is just hideous to look at. And even though its cheap for a new 4 door truck, $30K is still not cheap.

I have been car payment free for long enough that a $500/month payment (for example) is shocking and absurd. According to statistics, its not for most Americans, nor is being behind 3 payments. No thanks.

So I have been obsessed with older square body trucks all of my life and lately have contemplating a Blazer/Jimmy build. And have been thinking about this as daily driver. What would you guys think about a LS swapped Blazer, modern drive train, old school looks and easy repair-ability? I started thinking about a diesel swap and also think with a 4.8 or 5.3L engine, 4L60E and reasonable gears, it would do fairly well on fuel (20ish). The 6.2L diesels can be found in blazers (rare), but were never great on fuel in comparison to the low power and abysmal reliability. This would be a stock-like resto-mod, not a jacked up off roader.

I would love to justify the Blazer build, but common sense says that its unlikely to get power, reliability and efficiency out of a former rust bucket built in my garage. All under the cost of a new rig.

Would love to hear some opinions and feel free to throw out suggestions.
Leo

"abysmal reliability"?
I had a GMC Jimmy diesel 6.2L.
It was a 1986. Bought it in 1990. Sold it in 2015 with 180,000 miles
Paid $8000 used, sold it for $8200 on E-bay (buyer had it shipped out of the USA).
Only money spent was for routine maintenance.
It had been painted twice, and was in excellent condition.

 

[fried1765]

Our 2009 ford explorer daily driver and our weekend drivers.Bought the explorer used 11/24/19 with 82,000 miles original old fart owners for $7,500 bucks.Not great gas mileage V-6 engine around 19 mpg hwy. and 16 city.Easy to get in and out of.

How did you do that?
"Bought the explorer used 11/24/19".... ????

 

[MossRoad]

How did you do that?
"Bought the explorer used 11/24/19".... ????

rolled back the odometer....

 

[3930dave]

How did you do that?
"Bought the explorer used 11/24/19".... ????

Obviously, he has a working Flux Capacitor !

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Because I like the 1993 body style over the next generation.

Me too.

And.... the later gen has the ABS block in a retarded location (won't mean anything to non-rust-belt wrench-spinners....).

Rgds, D.

 

[Tractorable]

With the amount of high mileage you’re driving I’d go with a naturally aspirated Honda or Toyota for their exceptional reliability. Slight edge to Toyota because they have Aisin transmissions which are more reliable than Honda transmissions.

The Ridgeline has a lot of interior room due to its unibody construction so it’s comfortable for larger guys and it has a lot of dry lockable storage. The Toyota Avalon is a very spacious, comfortable, reliable, and powerful car that gets 30mpg highway for the V6 and in the 40’s if you choose the hybrid.

 

[dalola]

When the new aluminum body F150 came out in 2015, my employer gave me a supercrew Lariat 4x4 for the weekend to put some miles on it. It had the new 2.7L Ecoboost engine. At first, I thought it was some kind of joke, a small V6 in a big 4x4 pickup. Holy Cr@p did that truck ever blow my mind. I was literally dumbfounded at the level of performance coming out of that tiny V6. And when not pumping 20psi of boost, 23-24 mpg was a reality. Wow. I went out and bought my own the following week. Currently on my second aluminum body F150 2.7EB, and still think it's the best all-around half ton out there. It's really the swiss army knife of vehicles, IMO. Does everything, and does it well. I'll be driving one of these until something better comes along...

 

[farm boy00]

Another option, find a good condition single cab long box with topper 2.3l maunal 2wd ranger?

Get 20+ mpg, and have a decent looking truck with a decent bed and could tow a small utility trailer. Extrememly reliable. Also are decent all weather vehicles if you have good tires and a little weight in back

Problems would be that the Cabs are not very big and the 2.3l are gutless motors but extremely reliable.


I also owned a 1997 f150 2wd ext cab short box v6 maunal. Got good gas mileage and did decent when I had it in a wet sandy jobsite. Had lots of cab space and still looked decent as a work truck.

Here would be a cool idea for storage if you had a little time to fabricate

 

[MossRoad]

When the new aluminum body F150 came out in 2015, my employer gave me a supercrew Lariat 4x4 for the weekend to put some miles on it. It had the new 2.7L Ecoboost engine. At first, I thought it was some kind of joke, a small V6 in a big 4x4 pickup. Holy Cr@p did that truck ever blow my mind. I was literally dumbfounded at the level of performance coming out of that tiny V6. And when not pumping 20psi of boost, 23-24 mpg was a reality. Wow. I went out and bought my own the following week. Currently on my second aluminum body F150 2.7EB, and still think it's the best all-around half ton out there. It's really the swiss army knife of vehicles, IMO. Does everything, and does it well. I'll be driving one of these until something better comes along...

I have to ask, why are you on your 2nd one in 4 years?