What crew cab pickup for MPG's?

SVreX said:

Small trucks are just excuses for people who want to pretend they are getting good fuel economy.  It's astounding how much is compromised and how little is gained (or sometimes lost).

Look for an early ecoboost in the higher trim levels that has served a little time as a work truck (which will drop it's price tag). You will NOT regret it.

In december of '99 I traded my 93 fullsize ECSB 4.3 5-spd 3.08 rear for a new RCSB Sonoma 2.2 5-spd 3.42 rear. The 93 would consistently get 25mpg highway all day every day at 70+. The Sonoma could squeak out 27 if you kept the speed under 65 but normal driving it was 25-26mpg. Biggest mistake I ever made vehicle purchase-wise. The 93 was paid off, I had it almost the way I wanted (was going to lower it that spring) but I was 24 and wanted something new. 

I'll echo what many are saying here that a full size truck with a v8 will probably get similar milage as a smaller one, but be more comfortable (less white knuckle) towing.  I'm partial to the GM's and would recommend finding the nicest you can with the 4.8/5.3.  Not sure about up there, but down here, Tahoe's are usually cheaper than the trucks and Suburban's are cheaper than Tahoe's.  All the truck things except being able to wash out the bed or carry tall things in the back. 

Going a totally different direction, however, what about a Sprinter van?  It'll take some effort to find one with windows, but the diesel gets decent MPG's (like 22?) and tows well. 

Two window models in the Chicago area in your price range:

https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/cto/d/addison-2011-freightliner-sprinter/6914885835.html

https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/ctd/d/roselle-2006-dodge-sprinter-wb-diesel/6913002229.html

It's probably WAY out there for what you're thinking, but thought I'd throw it out there. 

-Rob

Nah, I want a truck for purely "I'm a man, by gawd, and men drive trucks" reasons. There is no real practial reason for me to have one other than I want one.

bobzilla said:

Vigo said:

If you want a unicorn find a 4.8/5spd quad cab GM 1500. Good luck...

Sadly that was never made. No CC 1500 was ever offered in a manual trans. 

Ok Dodge wins this round of weird combo trucks then. Because I've ridden in a similar configured  Dodge.

RevRico said:

bobzilla said:

iceracer said:

I always find that mpg and speed claims are overstated by about 10%.

Again, I've been called a liar for 13 years. Nothing new there. It's always the same argument: "I had a [insert completely different combo] and it never got over [insert low number]." Never changes. 

 

I've never gotten more than 22 highway out of an NA miata either. I think people claiming 25+ don't know how to math. 

I did 30 in Evan's turbo, going by mile markers and click to click.

mtn said:

Nah, I want a truck for purely "I'm a man, by gawd, and men drive trucks" reasons. There is no real practial reason for me to have one other than I want one.

Totally get that, just thought I'd throw out some options. 

-Rob