Buying a truck. I need your input!

[coke_and_stuff]

a buddy had a '99 S10 with a 5 speed. He like it for about a month. Its payload sucked, pulled trailers like crap. Mechanically it was a good truck but for actual work it was about worthless.

Josh if your going to buy a truck. Buy a fullsize with the amount of machines you will be buying and selling it will be a wise move. Dont buy a 6cyl fullsize, and dont buy the biggest V8 fullsize available.

I have a '03 Silverado 1500 Z71 with the 5.3L I have put 48k miles on it in the last year. It averages 22 MPG on the highway. It is extended cab with plenty of room. Overall I have had good luck with it. One thing that I do not like is the front suspension has been making a moaning noise other than that I have had zero problems with it. Cheap to work on, Cheap to maintain, Cheap to Insure and gets good gas mileage for a full size truck.

I have had seven machines in the back of the truck at one time and it still handled well. I have pulled a 3500 Dodge Ram Long wheel base crewcab on a car trailer. It pulled it well but you could defenatly feel that it was back there. I have taken this truck through the test!!!

Joey

[collecture]

There is no weight over the rear wheels and will slide all over in the snow.

Put a soda machine in there! 

[SIGNGUY]

I have to agree with Joey, I once had a Ford Ranger, nice little runner, but terrible at pulling and hauling .. I recently got a F150 super crew, even though it's only a 6 foot bed, the power is amazing and you can stil put alot in it without even knowing you got a full load.. I just hauled 5 coolers and a Gas pump back from Chicago with it and it was great having a larger truck. but get what you want and can afford too..

[loman4ec]

I agree with everyone however I am on a huge budget. I am so broke with this move that my Mom is loaning me the money. I have been overseas for 4 years and have no usable credit so loans are impossible and I don't want to have to pay for full coverage insurance. I know these suck in the winter. I had an 82 S10 as my first vehicle and my last truck was a standard cab 6cyl dodge Ram. I know that this truck will not haul a lot but the springs can always be beefed up and if I need a big hauler I can always use my Brother-in-laws Ford Excursion and flat bed car trailer. I figure this has the hauling power if not more than my second choice of an HHR or Dodge Magnum. If I take care of it I should be able to get back out of it pretty easy in a year or so when I can afford something better and I chose this truck with this motor because the 4.3 V6 is really a 350 block that is missing two cylinders. If the engine blows putting in a 350 is just about plug and play. Then I can either supe it up and sell it or have a fun toy to play with. Also the 4.3 V6 is a bigger motor than was in my full size Dodge so it will have plenty of power. The bggest thing I plan on pulling may be a 4x8 utility trailer and this can easily do it. And as was said earlier this is easier to get machines in and out of. With my bad hip I will need all the help I can get.

Thanks guys for letting me bounce ideas off of you all. I really appreciate all of the opinions.

[bubba]

You'll be good with the 4.3 for hauling stuff. Good luck with it.. so whats the final countdown anyway?

[loman4ec]

35 Days and I will be home!!!!!!! I will be flat broke for a while but my Brother-in-law wants to start building machines with me so he already has a good paint gun, a great compressor and a nice pole barn to use. I have also rented a 15' X 25' shop/storage for working on machines for only $60/ month. Its small but it is a start. It also has 110 and 220 outlets that I can use to run tools and lights. I can't wait!

[dr galaga]

I just got rid of (junkyard) my '91 S-10.  It was the best vehicle that I ever had.  It had around 280,000 miles on it (new engine and rebuilt the transmission around 150,000 miles).  My body mounts rusted away, so the ride got to be real rough.  I hauled a number of Coke machines and video games in it and it worked out better than my '04 Dakota (since it is a quadcab, the bed is not as deep!).  Sounds like you'll be getting home just in time for the snow.  My S-10 was 2-wheel drive and it didn't drive too well in the snow (even with sand bags over the rear axel).

[halehouse]

35 Days and I will be home!!!!!!! I will be flat broke for a while but my Brother-in-law wants to start building machines with me so he already has a good paint gun, a great compressor and a nice pole barn to use. I have also rented a 15' X 25' shop/storage for working on machines for only $60/ month. Its small but it is a start. It also has 110 and 220 outlets that I can use to run tools and lights. I can't wait!

Wow. A 15' x 25' shop for $60 a month? Good for you! I could use that for my car, but couldn't touch anything like that for that price.     I was trying to find winter storage options for my car and even those 20' x 10' units in the self storage places was running from the mid $200-low $300 range. 

[RC kid]

If you watch your pennies the dollars will take care of themselves.

I just made the same budget minded decisions concerning the replacement motor for my 1972 chevy Cheyenne. I wanted a 383 sbc but I found a nice used 400 ci sbc for a lot less, so i got it instead.

What I really wanted was only a few dollars more, but in the end I bought what I could afford.

I bet your your little truck works out just fine. And you may even keep it a little longer then you plan too.

Having a truck in our hobby is the most important thing, what kind of truck is not as important as just having one.

[loman4ec]

Pat,

yep its a heck of a deal. I have used him several times storing coke machines and other things. In fact every time i call him when I tell him who is calling hi shouts "The Coke Machine Guy!" he's a cool guy to work with. I already have two 10'X10' units with him storing my stuff I left behind before and now I will have this big unit. There is a catch to the cheap price. The door was damaged when someone backed into it so I am going to frame it in and put a normal house double door on it. He doesn't care what I do as long as it looks OK. He built a new facility down the road and he is going to tear this one down in about two years so he doesn't care.

Here is a pic of the place. this is an old unit I had. My new one will be two doors down from this