Pick up truck question

Ok. Im listening. So what sort of diesel vehicle can I buy for $5k and under thats reliable and gets good mileage and would be suitable for my needs?

Gunner

"Abortion is self defense" Bob Kolker

I was getting about 22 on the hiway, with a load of tools and whatnot.

Rust? Whats that? But I thank you deeply for the offer. The B4000 is a nice truck and would be easy to fix up.

4 bangers simply arnt on my radar screen.

Gunner

"Abortion is self defense" Bob Kolker

Ideally...Id love to have either one of these rigs

Gunner

"Abortion is self defense" Bob Kolker

Gunner wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

One of my best friends with a Dodge 2500 4x4 with the Cummins gets 19 pulling a 5th wheel camper across the mountains (5 speed). He says he gets about 22 around town. These motors will go half a million miles easily. Don't know about getting one for 5k though.

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:47:23 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:

I'd suggest a truck, Gunner. That's what sort of diesel vehicle would suit your needs. For that price, it'd likely have to be a used truck. Any more questions?

Wait a minute, under $5k AND reliable? Hmmm...

OK, try

1381 choices starting at $1.00. Whittle down from there. whittled down to 23.

is a possible. Fly out and drive back. Is this your color?

- Metaphors Be With You -

One that's about 10 years old and has been stored in the back yard with the travel trailer more than it's been driven.

Dunno about your area, but I have seen several sub-$5K range diesel Dodge Power Ram trucks around (Cummins) for less than the engine is worth.

Guys retire, and think they will get use out of a RV, then either don't find the time, or find a life that does not include travelling. Or they just up and die off, leaving the stuff to sit in the yard.

A 10 year old truck is not worth much to a dealer, low miles or not.

A diesel is cheap to run until it breaks, then the money you saved on gas gets spent fairly quick. If it breaks. Religious routine maintenance and generally taking decent care of it will allow it to run for a loooong time.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Hey Gunner, go with your heart and your gut feeling - lets face it, the cost of fuel is going to rise so dramatically in the next few years that you wont be able to afford to run a Honda 90 Ag Bike any distance - so, enjoy the dinosaurs while you can for a few years...oh, and start looking for a job where you dont have to do much mileage.......

Andrew VK3BFA.

Kinda' like looking for a $20 virgin hooker!

Look around for a late 91 to 93 Dodge. Old body style so it won't bring much money. As a general rule these older trucks got better mileage than some of the later ones. Expect at least 14-16mpg in town and 20+ on the highway (better if you take it easy). It can pull anything as fast as you want to go.

Not a lot to go wrong with the engine if taken care of. As for transmission don't even consider a automatic. Get the manual. The manual is known for being weak when used for pulling heavy loads long distances (like hot shot drivers) but is really a pretty good transmission if not overloaded. I just had to go through mine and I must say that the fit and finish in there is several steps above the American made transmissions (it's made in Germany).

I have an 89 Nissan Patrol running Bridgestone Desert Duellers, the spare was about 95% worn and I had to use it when one of my tyres was staked. I think the spare must have been an original from new, anyway, I used it and after a few days noticed a thumping noise, went to use it in the morning and it was flat, the centre of the tread had blown out. I was fortunate that it happened at night while stationary, not while driving as it was on the front. I was hoping to get 100k km out of the 4, staked one was 90k, fronts now 95k with another 10k left, rears are off son's scrapped Jackaroo, about 1/2 worn and the old rear is now the spare at 90+k. I think that the comment about increased failure rate of old tyres is correct as this spare had not been used for at least 8 years Alan, in Gosnells, Western Oz. VK6 YAB VKS 737 - W 6174

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 08:41:33 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Tom Gardner" quickly quoth:

Hey, meester! Djou wan to fock my seester? She eez a virgin! Only $2. Stand in line over there.

I have a 97 F-150 that I bought about 2 years ago for the same money you're talking about. Mines a full 8 foot bed and extend cab. The

4.6L engine (while not a monster in terms of power) manages to haul stuff that I need to haul and get about 23MPG on the highway minimally loaded down.

I had a 91 ranger similar to the above, but I needed the extra cab space. The 3rd door and the seats that fold out to present a metal back are nice too.

Sounds like you must know my ex!

Harold

I drive a '94 Dodge 3/4 ton with the Cummins engine. Gets 22 mpg.

Last Wednesday we finally poured the floor in the garage. The local concrete guru, one hell of a nice guy, owns a '90 Dodge with the Cummins engine. He said he has well over 700,000 miles on the engine and hasn't touched it. He alluded to hitting 1,000,000 miles!

I'm well pleased with the Cummins engine------although it may not be easy buying one within your budget.

My other truck, Dodge, a '99 1 ton, Cummins engine with 24 valves, doesn't get anywhere near the same mileage. Only about 15. Seems the early engines are far more economical to operate. Not nuts about the mileage, but I really like the truck.

Harold

1986, Pusan, Texas St, the London Bar. near Gate 7. Cost $30 the next week though, don't know why.

Mark Rand RTFM

I searched on Craigslist in the Seattle car and truck section with a max $ of 5k. Got a good many to choose from. To me the best one was a Toyota Diesel for $4k.

Dan

Ive seen more than one around here for less than 5 K. You want to get a cummins engine since they are bullet proof. The one thing that I would do is an oil analysis for wear. Costs about 20 bucks but well worth it if you interested in making sure you get a good engine. All you have to do with a diesel is to keep your fuel clean and don't get any water in it. I wouldn't worry so much about the looks of the truck as how it was maintained. I bought my diesel box truck at a machinery auction. Stole it for 3 grand

24 ft box 23,999 gross.It was a ryder truck at one time. I have had it for four years and no problems to speak of except a brake disc wearing uneven. I run about a month on a tank of fuel 35 gal. All local deliveries but usually near gross weight and going up big hills. I never have figured out the milage but each delivery is about 20 miles and I do an average of three a week.

You take the time to get a good diesel you will never be sorry. Its all in having a good engine and tranny.

John

I almost snagged on a Cummins engine. Knew the guy for over a decade, he finally started raking in $ and bought a nice truck and two weeks later totaled the thing by Tbone or something and was bitchen that they dropped it so low as $1,200 buy back. I jumped and he wanted to know what I was going to do with it , so I told him. For the engine it's worth $10,000, and then he told me that he wouldn't take $1,500 from me to buy it from the insurance company cause his religion would be bad 'karma' that the insurance company got screwed by me.