Why buy a larger pickup instead of a smaller pickup

Most folks buy vehicles by what load they need to carry and how many passengers. A 4 door pickup with a full sized bed to fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood for the small contractor and crew idea.

They buy drivetrains for the weather and terrain, so if you just want a truck for the clearance and 4x4, then I would think Jeep, just because I own them and like them and they can go pretty much anywhere right out of the box.

A Jeep TJ Wrangler for instance is a 1/4 ton pickup with the back seat out while fitting 2 adults and 2 kids. If your 'kids' are older and larger, it comes in a 4 door now and even 2 wheel drive (shudder) if 4x4 isn't needed.

If you are cruising out to rural properties, it has a convertible top option for nice days.

Just my $0.02,

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:

Not enough info to be much help. So far it sounds like your truck is just a mobile real-estate office, so a car would do just as well.

Do you need to tow anything? If not, then get a half-ton midsize truck with a v6 or very small v8 engine at the largest (eg, a Dodge Dakota).

Do you need to haul a lot of weight in the bed? If so, then you might need a 3/4 ton truck.

Do you need to haul something longer than 8 feet in the bed of the truck? If not, then you can consider a short-bed truck with a full

4-door cab.

Do your kids (how many?) need to ride in the back seat of the truck frequently or for long periods, or just across town occasionally? If the latter, you can get a long-bed truck with a "club" cab instead of a full 4-door "quad" cab.

Dont forget Vans.Vans are rated as trucks, 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton vans.I can (and have) put fourteen feet long boards in my 1978 Dodge van and closed the rear doors.With a van, you can lock up whatever you have in a van out of sight and you don't have to worry about things (electronics, tv sets, furniture, tools, things that shouldn't get wet, ect) getting wet from the rain during transport.I like big vans. cuhulin

I'd like to get a pickup truck. Do you guys have any feedback on what features are essential or what features would you like to see inside of your pickup

Visit the pickup truck dealerships in your area.Look them over and test drive them.That will help you decide. cuhulin

Child seats. I looked at a couple of trucks to replace my regular cab, and the only ones that offered decent room for child seats were full size ones.

To me, a Dakota is too small inside to be used as a car, and too small outside to be used as a truck.

In the end, we bought a Subaru wagon for the family, and kept my old given to me farm truck for truck duty.

Ray

ps - compare insurance costs. IIRC, the Dodge was 25% more than an equivalent Chevy. That kinda surprised me.

My ideal truck... is the one I have.

No carpet, just rubber flooring. No AC. Manual windows. Nothing to break. A 350 and a 5 speed, and 4wd. It's big, ugly, old, and was cheap. I wish the odometer still worked. My father-in-law used it as a farm truck for 15 years before giving it to us. Goes to Home Depot, the dump, and tows my race car.

I wish it had more power when towing. Those new 360hp 6.2L trucks sure look nice...

But, what are YOU looking for in a truck? :)

On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:58:56 GMT, Ray wrote:

Ray, You don't say what your model your old Chevy is. But in the past, I have seen quite a few with accelerated camshaft lobe wear. they seem to run okay. However, the camshaft is worn to the point that the engine is low owned power. it has been several years since I've replace one of these. crane cams has a couple which should help these engines, particularly in the mid range. I do not recall the exact amount left out over the duration that I generally look for is the 268 range and in what's called a dual pattern grind. This is where the intake and exhaust have different durations, an effort to maximize the torque while allowing the engine to breath in the higher RPM range. The last one in which we replaced the camshaft went from being unable to pull the camper trailer. Only interstate highway without frequently using third gear. This was in a 1977 Chevy 4x4 with the granny transmission.although the truck had over 70,000 miles at the time. We only did the work necessary to replace the camshaft., the power improve dramatically to the point that all in one stretch of highway where we had consistently had to downshift with the same camper in the same load to third gear and drop well below 45 mph. The truck was able to remain in fourth gear without ever dropping below 65 mph. it went from being a gutless fuel hog at 4.7 miles per gallon to a respectably strong engine with approximately 11 miles per gallon in normal driving without towing.when towing the camper fuel mileage remained in the 7.5 - 8 mile per gallon range. the improvement in power alone was enough to make the camshaft replacement successful. The improved fuel economy was a definite bonus. If I owned one of these, I wouldn't give a second thought to just going ahead and replacing the camshaft with a better item.

Lugnut

You need to define to yourself just what you want to use the truck for. Consider if you will be using it for work carrying tools, passengers or what? What kind of parking limitations do you have. Few of us have the space for a 1 ton truck with crew cab and 8 foot with dualies.

I'm not aware of any automotive option that can make life easier. Some feature can make certain aspects easier. Which aspects of your life were you looking to improve.

What is real estate work. Do you carry a lot of tools around? Consider a small van-like vehicle with seats instead.

Having moved a few kilotons of cargo with a Dakota club-cab over the past 16 years, I beg to differ. Yes, its too small inside to be used as a 5-passenger car on a *routine* basis, but its plenty big to take the kids to school a couple of days a week. And it can carry as much in the bed as any half-ton, except it can't be as bulky in some dimensions. IMO, its just about the perfect truck for anyone not using the truck directly as a part of a construction, farming, or ranching business. Today's full-size half-tons have grown to ridiculous proportions, so much so that they're a pain in the ass (well, back to be more accurate) to actually use. Have you stood beside a modern F-150 and thought about lifting something over the rail of the bed lately? And the Tundra is a stinking obscenity of excess mass.

It's a 90. The odometer broke like 5 years ago at 193,000 km, so it's probably 240,000 km. It gives the odd puff of blue at startup, but it'll lay rubber if you give it enough gas - it's got 265/75-16's, so I don't think the cam is worn. It probably needs new plugs though.

I like it because it was cheap, and it's simple to work on. Not quite sure what the long term plan is, because it leaks a bit everywhere - replaced both axle seals in the back and the xfer case seal. It still seeps coolant around the , well, everywhere, the gearbox seeps around the shifter, the front axle seeps around the carrier (that looks like a lot of work to change) the oil cooler seeps, pretty much everything but the windshield washer leaks.

I've thought about a rebuild on the motor eventually, but apparently the heads are weak (pre-Vortec) and it's TBI, so if I want more power I'm either doing an intake and carb swap, or a later model Vortec swap.

It has plenty of power until you add one race Camaro, one trailer, and

1000 pounds of gear in the back, and then it's a slug.

the back window is plexiglass because we broke it loading stuff.

Maybe I'll just wait 15 more years and buy my father-in-law's 2005 he bought to replace this one.

Ray

My coworker has a Dakota and loves it.

I have two kids. Ever tried a reverse facing seat in a Dakota? Notgonnahappen.com. Only full size trucks need apply - not even a quad cab Dakota. (I was looking to possibly replace a car and a truck with one vehicle.)

Apart from parking it, a long box pickup is the only way to go if you have to haul drywall on a regular basis.

I have a race car. With trailer, I'm needing to tow 5000+ pounds. You can tow that with something like a Pathfinder, but it's much nicer to tow with a bigger vehicle.

Today's 1/2 tons are like 20 year old 3/4 tons - they're simply way more powerful than they used to be. My truck has 200hp. I don't think you can even buy a 2008 Silverado with that little power.

At least a new F150 has a flat box - I chuckle every time I see the slant on a Honda Ridgeline's box. I guess I'm the only one that actually uses the tie downs on their truck.

And let's not even talk truck pricing. Wow. That's nuts.

Ray

I have owned a few pickup trucks before, second hand/used pickup trucks.1967 Ford pickup truck, 1968 Chevrolet pickup truck, and a 1948 Chevrolet pickup truck.My 1948 Chevrolet Pickup truck was my favorite truck, but for size, I liked my 1967 Ford long wheelbase pickup one seat/bench seat truck.I think if Ford and Dodge and GMC would start building pickup trucks of that size again, (1967 Ford pickup truck, one seat, plenty of hauling capacity) they could sell all they could build. cuhulin

Since you really don't know what you will use your pickup for, beside a convenient rolling box, I suggest you get something very economical so that it won't cost you much to operate. If you find you need something bigger, it will make a good trade or be easy to resell.

Like a regular cab Ranger or Mazda or similar with a small 4 cyl engine and manual trans

I'd suggest also getting some kind of locking or limited slip differential so that you will have good traction without having to pay the price for 4x4.

Pete

Canyonero!

12 yards long, 2 lanes wide, 65 tons of American Pride!

Canyonero! Canyonero!

Top of the line in utility sports, Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts!

Canyonero! Canyonero! (Yah!)

She blinds everybody with her super high beams, She's a squirrel crushing, deer smacking, driving machine!

I'd be using the truck to carry around my tools, but I'd also like it to be big enough to take my kids to their baseball games. I don't have any parking size limitation

I find that it is pretty difficult to do any type of paperwork or writing inside the vehicle. I know it seems like a small problem, but billing people on a consistent basis gets annoying writing stuff out on the side of my truck or on the steering wheel. Besides a clipboard, are there other solutions out there?

Dodge Rams. The center console folds down flat for holding a laptop or whatever.

Ray

On any vehicle you will not have much room for a writing table because the steering wheel, shift lever and all sorts of other controls occupy needed space. A truck will not provide any more writing room than a good sized sedan, van, wagon or SUV. The passenger or rear seat will be a much roomier location to write bills in. Just use a clipboard or similar device to write on. I'm still unclear as to how or if you plan to use the hauling capacity of a truck. If you don't need that capacity then save your self a lot of money by getting a vehicle more suited to the purpose.

If you have ever watched the Goldfinger movie before, where the guy is sitting in the back seat of that Rolls Royce car and he flips down a little writing desk which is built into the back of the front seat so he can write that check for James Bond.It would be good if cars/pickup trucks/vans that are sold in America had a feature like that. cuhulin