which beater truck

[schmism]

ya there are a lot of options out there in that price and age range (which is why i chose it)

the question is what is good and what is bad.

and why do all the chevy's have the most gawd awfull cloth red interior man ever came up with?

i mean seriously... someone actually like this enough to buy it brand new!
1993 Chevy 1 ton diesel 4x4 auto (whats wrong with those people!)

 

[chh]

and why do all the chevy's have the most gawd awfull cloth red interior man ever came up with?

i mean seriously... someone actually like this enough to buy it brand new!
1993 Chevy 1 ton diesel 4x4 auto (whats wrong with those people!)

That may be part of the reason I haven't owned a Chevy since 1979.

 

[RobS]

That may be part of the reason I haven't owned a Chevy since 1979.

I had a '78, red w/ red interior. It was all the rage back then but it does seem like they carried that trend a bit too long. In that same time period, you could get a puke green Chevy truck with a lovely green interior as well. Not sure why I remember that...

 

[wushaw]

I would go for the 3/4 350 manual tranny.

 

[Builder]

ya there are a lot of options out there in that price and age range (which is why i chose it)

the question is what is good and what is bad.

and why do all the chevy's have the most gawd awfull cloth red interior man ever came up with?

i mean seriously... someone actually like this enough to buy it brand new!
1993 Chevy 1 ton diesel 4x4 auto (whats wrong with those people!)

Ford's blue interior in the early '99 Superduty wasn't far behind in terms of ugly and a heck of a lot more recent.

 

[sandman2234]

I have a red interior in a 91 out in the driveway with a couple hundred thousand miles on it. I also have a spare interior out in the garage, if you happen to buy one with out enough red in it.
David from jax

 

[ohioboy]

IMO I'd look for a 93-97 Ford F250 4x4 w/ 351ci and the 5 spd (ZF). Parts are dirt cheap (tune up, brakes, body stuff, etc), drivetrain is strong and even if you had to eventually replace an engine, low mileage replacements are cheap too.

I've got one (and had others) and routinely tow 7-8k w/o issue. I've seen decent ones as cheap as $2k-3k.

 

[Builder]

IMO I'd look for a 93-97 Ford F250 4x4 w/ 351ci and the 5 spd (ZF). Parts are dirt cheap (tune up, brakes, body stuff, etc), drivetrain is strong and even if you had to eventually replace an engine, low mileage replacements are cheap too.

I've got one (and had others) and routinely tow 7-8k w/o issue. I've seen decent ones as cheap as $2k-3k.

The problem with them is the Ford IFS (twin trac front suspension) which was a real tire eating front end.
I also really disliked the ZF-5 tranny.

460 would be better than 351, too.

 

[ohioboy]

The problem with them is the Ford IFS (twin trac front suspension) which was a real tire eating front end.
I also really disliked the ZF-5 tranny.

460 would be better than 351, too.

I've had no issues with the IFS's and tire wear on the 4wd's (first truck 110k, other 190k), but I don't run snow plows on them either. Besides, it's not so much the camber that causes a lot of this wear, but rather the toe change (bump steer).

On a similar note, my almost new Suburban (with double wishbone front suspension) is doing a nice job of eating inside shoulders with perfect alignment. I personally witnessed the front wheels to have less static camber and toe than the rear wheels at the solid rear axle on a Hunter alignment rack.

The ZF is one **** of trans for towing and is found on behind diesels on much bigger trucks (450,550, rollbacks, wreckers, dump trucks, etc.), too. So far so good, no problems with them. I have changed out the slave (annular) cylinder/throwout bearing assemblies due to leaks.

Yeah, 460ci would be nice once in a while (and so would an '03 Ford 7.3l PSD w/ 6spd 4x4 F-350), but if you're not towing all the time the cost would kill you.

You know what too, I'd also seriously consider a '94 or earlier Ford with the Navistar 6.9/7.3 IDI (Indirect Injection) diesel. These engines are beautifully simple (virtually no wires, sensors, etc.) and last a long time. It's as close to most of these tractors as you'd get. Just my $.02.

 

[Ryan03]

I think it will be tough to find a decent fullsize 4x4 for 2500 bucks, tough but not impossible. In my experience, and I have quite a bit, the chevy trucks have a more reliable drivetrain overall in the 1988 to 1995 year range than comparable makes, parts are usualy cheap and plentiful. That being said, the front suspension parts do not last nearly as long as a ford or mopar, plan on replacing lots of idler arms and ball joints on the chevy, Also many rear axles on chevy pickups with high mileage seem to regularly have a ton of backlash, causing an annoying bang when shifting into gear with an automatic trans. Ford trucks of the same year seem to be plauged with rust issues, which includes the egr tubes [real pita] exhaust manifold rot and cracking [real real pita] oil pans, heat sheilds etc. The 5.8 seems to be more prone to this than other engines in the lineup, that being said, it is not uncommom to see one go for 180k. They do also eat some frontend parts, balljoints [F150 250 ttb] radius arm bushings [F 150] steering boxes [all]. The ford is however in my opinion the more heavy duty of the two for commercial type work. The chevy throttle body v8 is more back yard mech freindly to diagnose than the more complex ford multi port efi as well, not saying better , just simpler. In a perfect world I would choose a 78 or 79 rust free ford f 250 or 350 with the dana 60 front axle, T 18 four speed with granny gear, 205 gear driven transfer case, 4 10 gears and a 300 6 cylinder for the ultimate bullet proof combination. Good luck finding that