What is a good small 4x4 pickup?

[Renze]

A front wheel drive family car usually gets better traction in mud than an (unloaded) 2wd pickup because most of the pickups weight is on the non-drive front axle. It gets better gas mileage because of lower wind resistance, etcetera.

Thats the only way it would make sense to me to own two vehicles. The two pickups arent that different from each other.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Well it seems TBN folk have saved me from a bad decsion AGAIN!

I am going to go back to my original plan.

I WILL go find a 7.3 PSD F-350 4x4, but I will give up on the small truck as it has no real gain. It would take me forever to amortize the 2-3 MPG gain to cover the addition cost of purchase.

When the weather is nice I will ride my Harley's, and when the weather is not, I will do something else. I may need to buy a small commuter car (but I will try very hard not to, so I can save that money for attachmens or the ranch)

A small truck is now off the list. I might even look for an older shortbed F-150 4x4 for my oldest daughter when she is 16.5 and can drive instead of a Ranger/Tacoma...

Thanks again for all of the great advice.
Be well,
David

 

[scoutcub]

:thumbsup:

Well it seems TBN folk have saved me from a bad decsion AGAIN!

I am going to go back to my original plan.

I WILL go find a 7.3 PSD F-350 4x4, but I will give up on the small truck as it has no real gain. It would take me forever to amortize the 2-3 MPG gain to cover the addition cost of purchase.

When the weather is nice I will ride my Harley's, and when the weather is not, I will do something else. I may need to buy a small commuter car (but I will try very hard not to, so I can save that money for attachmens or the ranch)

A small truck is now off the list. I might even look for an older shortbed F-150 4x4 for my oldest daughter when she is 16.5 and can drive instead of a Ranger/Tacoma...

Thanks again for all of the great advice.
Be well,
David

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[MossflowerWoods]

:thumbsup:

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

About time you showed up Frank...

You still CONUS?

I vol'd to go to A-Stan for a ~2 month hitch, but they picked the younger guy.

Be well,
David

 

[Turbys_1700]

IMHO, go out and find you a 10 year old Buick Lesabre with the 3.8L V6...
I bought a 2001 3 years ago with 102K miles on it...
Now it has 155K miles on it...
Driven daily with a 35 mile round trip commute it gets 23 mpg and 28 on the highway...
They can be had cheap and are bulletproof...

 

[raptor749]

David , I would stick with a full sided like you currently have , just look for a 4x4 with 5.4 my 01' was a 2wd like your's , w/ tow package & 5.4 2wd , averaged 18 to 22 on hi-way , but better than my 88' 4x4 4cy. toyota at 15 to 17 mpg , man we miss that super crew!

 

[MarkV]

Just my .02 cents but with a newly licensed driver coming along I would look at what will hurt your insurance the least. They sure do pile on the premiums for 16 year olds depending on what they will be driving.

MarkV

 

[Diamondpilot]

I just did the opposite of what you are thinking. I traded a 2001 dodge Dakota 4.7 liter 3.92 rear end 2wd in on a new f150 3.5 liter ecoboost crew 3.73 rear end 2wd. I had excellent service from the Dakota but the gas mileage was terrible.
I do miss the ease of parking and maneuvering. You mentioned kids and mine appreciate the new large space.

I track mileage with a phone app. Attached are screen shots showing differences with mostly city driving. I get about 3mpg better with the full sized truck for similar driving.

What app is that? I love it.... Do they have it for Android or just IPhone?

Chris

 

[radioman]

What app is that? I love it.... Do they have it for Android or just IPhone?

Chris

looks like gas cubby is iphone only. mileage from android market is simalar to it.

 

[capt_met]

I had been running 3 trucks in my business. Using a '94 F350 diesel for most of my running around. With diesel prices the way they are I started looking for an older 4wd mini truck. Cae across and bought a '90 Mazda B2600i. It had a cracked head that I was able to repair for $300.00. I am now driving it primarily and saving around 40-50 a week in fuel expense. It's not the most comfortable but is good enough. Very easy to moove around in traffic and parking. The truck always has a load of tools and sometimes aux. fuel for machinery. When it is all said and done I should have around $2000 in it. Last week I towed a micro excavator with it. No problem towing or stopping the load. Couldn't be happier. It is one of the pre-ford mazda's.