I'm looking for a long bed 4x4 truck. I'd use it mainly for firewood and pulling a trailer. I'm looking at the early to mid 90's vintage trucks, because the price is right on most of them. I'm looking at the 2500/F250 weight range.
Could someone tell me the good and or bad of those trucks, I have always driven a car and don't know alot about what engines suck and which tranny's break, and so on and so forth, lol.
Andrew
3/4 tons come in 2 flavors from most companys, light and heavy. You want a heavy. Look for 8 lugs wheels and you're good to go. Add a bigger trans cooler to keep it happy under big loads. 95 and newer GM trucks have more power than the earlier ones. 3/4 ton also brings in the option of diesel power. Unless you're in deep snow/ mud country, 4x4 may not be needed. Good tires and a locking axle will go far, and save you a ton of money on maint, insurance, fuel, and purchase price.
I would avoid the dodge and go either ford or chevy. Where i worked in the late 90s we bought 13 full size v8 dodge trucks, in less than 1 year 8 of them needed serious front end work, and 4 of them transmissions, and they were just driven in town, with the heaviest loads being a 6 foot ladder and 1 tool bag. Then 2 other friends of mine had dodges and theyboth replaced transmissions in less than 3 years, but they towed a trailer with theirs. Those are the only experiences with dodge trucks i ever had, but all ive ever been around, more than 50% had major problems early on. It seems ford and chevy are about the same, just depends on preference.
Gearheadotaku wrote: 95 and newer GM trucks have more power than the earlier ones.
The Vortec V8s actually came out in '96. Both the TBI ('87-95) and Vortecs are known for intake manifold gasket problems, and the Vortecs have an issue with the spider fuel injection system. The TBIs are very simple, pretty reliable, and have good low-end torque. The Vortecs have far better heads and have more power and torque, but it's a little higher in the RPM range than the TBIs.
'95 had a redesigned interior and I believe 4 wheel anti-lock brakes. '94 was the first year of the 4L60E and had side impact beams added to the doors.
Honestly, all the '88-98 Chevy/GMC trucks are pretty good. My parents had an '89 C2500 (light 3/4 ton) and that thing was a beast.
Watch out for rust, it's common in the rear lower cab corners and above the rear wheelwells. They supposedly addressed the cab corner issue in the later trucks, but I'm not convinced.
Basically, it is which ever one is in the best condition for the best price. After working in a couple of GM dealerships, I have never owned a GM vehicle.
Regarding dodge trucks...
I have seen WAY WAY more chevy's come in with no 2nd gear and no revers (broken sun gear shell in 4l60) than ive seen broken dodges.
The front end's are a weak point on the dodge 2500 and up 4wd because the track bars fail like crazy.. or at least they used to. In all fairness the only death wobble ive ever experienced was in a 90s dodge 4wd.
But imo the 518 is a FAR superior tranny reliability wise than the 4l60 if both are behind gas motors.
And ive never seen much issue with the dodge magnum v8s other than people not changing the oil for 90k on them.
If i was gonna get a 90s chevy id get a later 90s chevy that had a WAY nicer interior.. i think that started in maybe 96? i think the body style changed (massive step forward) in 98.
As far as the fords.. i like super duties ok. but i only like f-150s in work-truck guise with the 4.2. I hate the lame 4.6 and 5.4 motors. The 4r70 trans in the 150s is a good one. the 4r100 in the bigger stuff is also generally good but they have a very weak 4th gear.. dont tow in 4th.
I was leaning towards a Ford F250, and since posting this, I'm leaning harder towards one. The only reason I added dodge is because I figured I would like to know the problems of the major truck makers. My parents have a 97 chevy 1500, but they only use it once a month or so to get hay in.
The reason I need a 4x4 is because if I drive on soft or wet grass with a full load of wood, I'll completely screw up the grass and I'd prefer not to do so.
Thanks everyone for your input, I really do appreciate it.
Andrew
Every one of the 3 trucks have issuses.. the main problem with the dodge is the track bar and theres updated ones to fix that. the ford has a crappy front end in the twin traction beam that once it starts going bad get expencive, there's a bunch of bushings and ujoints up front that go bad. The Chevys front end is IFS and dont hold up aswell as a soild axle setup. motor wise they are all decent and trans wise i think the dodge is the better of them. the main reason I would go with a chevy is if you could get e decent deal on the 6.5 turbo, they don't get the respect they should get for how well they hold up and how long they can last.
Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel.
If you can't afford it, get a Chevy with the Vortec 350 or 6.5 Turbo Diesel.
/thread.
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