Been racking my brain about what kind of truck to buy.

Migzilla

Hay guys I need opinions on something I've been saving up to buy an inexpensive used 4x4 pickem up truck. I have about 4-7000 I could probably get to. It's been driving me nuts. Part of me feel like just buying an old J series pickup. You can find them for a reasonable price and they are tough and not to hard to work on but don't lack the modern amenities. I've also thought about buying a dodge ram pickup they have the modern amenities like extended cab, A/C, but usually are a pain to work on, not as tough, and tend to be more expensive. I don't know what to do. Frankly it's driving me 111!!!

BREK

It would be a standard cab, but for the dollar amount you're talking you could get a really nice early to mid possibly even a late eighties chevy.

Soylent_Green

My choice would be a 93-96 F-150. Millions of them on the road, "modern" things like AC, power, ec.. Engine options are good. High torque 4.9 I6, Cheap to build 5.0, 5.8, If you find a 3/4 ton or 1 ton the 7.5, or 7.3 diesel are possible. Parts for them are cheap and plentiful, and the aftermarket is almost as good as it is for jeeps. My choice would be a short box, std cab with the 4.9 or 5.0.

zero cool

Between Dodge and Jeep, I'd take a Jeep. I won't own another Dodge. Ever. If my choice expanded to any full size pickup, I'd probably take a Chevy. Everyone and their brother makes parts for the Chevy engines and transmissions. For $4-7K you can find a nice late 80's half or three quarter ton with solid axles, TBI engine and a 700R4 tranny. And that's a pretty solid drivetrain. It's easy to toss on a spring lift and upgrade the axles by bolting in a set from a one ton pickup or military surplus CUCV (K5 blazer with a diesel and 1 ton axles). Ford made a decent pickup in the 80's (i.e. what your price range can buy). There just aren't as many parts as there are for Chevy.

ol' school power

zero cool wrote
Between Dodge and Jeep, I'd take a Jeep. I won't own another Dodge. Ever.

Guess it's a draw. I'd never touch another Jeep ever. But depending on the year, both share the same driveline anyhow. Just depends on the preference of which name plate you'd rather lean over while fixing all the quality issues.

mrtazwrench

I like my J-trucks, if I want any of that fancy crap I'll pull it off of a wag. :mrgreen:

ol' school power

mrtazwrench wrote
I like my J-trucks, if I want any of that fancy crap I'll pull it off of a wag. :mrgreen:

I thought about those for a while. Problem for me was there weren't any left clean. I didn't need a project. There isn't any repop sheet metal. I wanted a clean runner that didn't go through fuel like there was a hole in the tank just to pull it's own weight. much less a trailer behind it.

mrtazwrench

ol' school power wrote
mrtazwrench wrote
I like my J-trucks, if I want any of that fancy crap I'll pull it off of a wag. :mrgreen:

I thought about those for a while. Problem for me was there weren't any left clean. I didn't need a project. There isn't any repop sheet metal. I wanted a clean runner that didn't go through fuel like there was a hole in the tank just to pull it's own weight. much less a trailer behind it.

my good J is not finished yet, I wanted one to restore. ZM jeeps has most of the sheetmetal, I got one floor pan from the guy that makes them... and does a darn good job on them. I have a second I picked up for a work/plow truck, it's not pretty I'd guess I have 1K invested give or take a little. It did a good job plowing this winter, and since I don't have the good truck out for the spring yet I towed my car trailer 200-300 miles this past weekend, half of that loaded, I don't have exact numbers on fuel mileage but ballparking it I think I got 10 or A little better, I'm happy with that especially since I'm still turning my belt driven plow pump and have a 7 blade solid fan that was nessary to avoid overheat on the road over the winter with the plow blade on. :mrgreen:

ol' school power

MPG
17 daily/20 hwy /18 towing my Ambassador to and from the track.

mrtazwrench

I buy my trucks cheap... and take out a loan for the fuel :mrgreen:

zero cool

ol' school power wrote
zero cool wrote
Between Dodge and Jeep, I'd take a Jeep. I won't own another Dodge. Ever.

Guess it's a draw. I'd never touch another Jeep ever. But depending on the year, both share the same driveline anyhow. Just depends on the preference of which name plate you'd rather lean over while fixing all the quality issues.

Hell, the only Chrysler corp product the Jeep used was the 727 tranny. Everything else was sourced from other vendors. The Jeep had an AMC engine, Dana or NP t-case, and Dana axles.

But I wasn't thinking of the driveline when I was typing my post. When you have a Dodge pickup that squeaks and rattles so you can hear it over a diesel engine with open 4" exhaust, you know the truck is a hunk of junk.

Do you know what they call all of that crap that gets bolted to a Cummins engine?

A Dodge.

ol' school power

mrtazwrench wrote
I buy my trucks cheap... and take out a loan for the fuel :mrgreen:

Hey, everyone drives something different. I've had beaters most of my life ( now 54). I figured it was time for a change.

ol' school power

zero cool wrote
ol' school power wrote
zero cool wrote
Between Dodge and Jeep, I'd take a Jeep. I won't own another Dodge. Ever.

Guess it's a draw. I'd never touch another Jeep ever. But depending on the year, both share the same driveline anyhow. Just depends on the preference of which name plate you'd rather lean over while fixing all the quality issues.

Hell, the only Chrysler corp product the Jeep used was the 727 tranny. Everything else was sourced from other vendors. The Jeep had an AMC engine, Dana or NP t-case, and Dana axles.

But I wasn't thinking of the driveline when I was typing my post. When you have a Dodge pickup that squeaks and rattles so you can hear it over a diesel engine with open 4" exhaust, you know the truck is a hunk of junk.

Do you know what they call all of that crap that gets bolted to a Cummins engine?

A Dodge.

The only rattle I have is the 300 horse Cummins. No squeaks and still rolls smooth as silk @ 124,000 miles.
My older son has my last Jeep.
98 Grand Cherokee 5.9 limited

73hornut

It's obvious. Buy the one that comes with a rack, for your brain. :?

mrtazwrench

ol' school power wrote
mrtazwrench wrote
I buy my trucks cheap... and take out a loan for the fuel :mrgreen:

Hey, everyone drives something different. I've had beaters most of my life ( now 54). I figured it was time for a change.

for me the Jtrucks are a bit of nostalga also from my earliest memories that's what my Dad had for trucks, and turning wrenches for a living makes me grow tired of this new junk. I've really come to appriciate something that is simple that I'm not afrad to scratch a few more times. But I suppose when I get my 87 resto done that will change. I'll still have the 82 to do all the dirty work. the 82 is the 6200 lb J20 with a 360/T18/208 my first 4spd in a FSJ, it was almost parted before I got it, and every time I drive it I always think what a waste if it had been parted.