Tow/service rig feature priorities

In the market for a truck to use as a tow/service rig for rally in addition to some around the house stuff. This will not be a daily driver but might fill in if my daily is having work done.

I'm looking for used, and relatively cheap. <$7k

I think my ideal rig would be a diesel, manual, 4x4 van but I don't think such a thing exists. So, given what I have seen for sale around me, I have to prioritize the features of my ideal rig and pick one that comes close. I have never owned a truck and have no experience towing so I need some input on what is really important.

If you had to prioritize, what order would you put the following sets of features in?

Diesel vs gas
Manual vs auto (I hear of a lot of failures in Dodge and Ford autos, if auto, I might feel forced to go GM) (Haven't found a manual van)
4x4 vs 2wd
Van vs pickup vs utililty body
Extended/quad/king/whatever cab vs 2 seater

Also note, I'd love an ambulance or box truck but I can't have dual rear wheels. More than 4 wheels is automatically a commercial vehicle which is more money to register, insure, inspect, and pay taxes on. Recomendations on another state to move to will also be considered.

Tim.

Any quad cab pickup should work with a gas motor as long as you keep the towing weight down. By quad cab, I mean 4 full sized doors. The extra cabin space has untold advantages when it comes to rallying. I never plan on sleeping in a truck, but it happens to me at least once every year.

Diesel makes no sense unless you are putting the miles on to recoup costs. Your price range is low enough that diesel resale doesn't come into play, especially if you are keeping it for a while.

If you go 1/2 ton, any of the brands will need a rebuilt transmission. Budget $2k or less to get someone else to do it and rebuilt with parts meant for towing, and it'll last you forever.

My favourite would probably be a 96-98 gm/chev 2500 4x4 quad cab if I didn't care too much about mpg (5.7L vortec or 6.5L turbo diesel doesn't matter). Do you have snow/ice regular in or around MA? (I honestly have no clue). I would never own a 2wd pickup, but half of my rallies are in the winter and there is snow on the ground 6 months of the year. If you don't get snow, I'd say you can get away with 2wd.

Also, $7k buys you a REALLY NICE older gas truck from the late 90's/early millenium. Which is a good thing.

I also like pickups with toppers vs vans as they are more useful when it comes to many things, whereas a van could be considered as being better for strictly rally.

For rally, the car is a GC8 and I plan on an open trailer so not too much weight. Even if I tow my Chevelle somewhere or drag a new toy home, I don't see going over 6000#or so.

I like diesel in an older truck because I am looking at turn of the millenium vehicles and 200K miles on a gasser seems like end of life to me where as the same 200K on a diesel is early to mid-life. I do see some expensive repairs on the older diesels, though.

Not too concerned with mileage since it won't be daily driven but of course it'd be nice to save as much money as I could towing to events. I don't intend to cross the country, though.

Vans seems to be almost half the price of a pickup so I can get a much younger van for the money, that was a factor.

Yes, we get snow.

Tim.

I know you said no ambulance, but sometimes they are just so cheap you can make up that cost with the higher cost of registration. A 1995 Ford E350 ambulance that I bought, with a 7.3L Turbodiesel and dualies cost me $2000. So far I have just fixed a small oil leak (oil cooler tube), new batteries, and new front tires. Otherwise I use it for home depot trips and moving things. Works out great. I was intially in search for an older diesel truck, but prices on those are just... outrageous.

Crew cab is what Adam was trying to say regarding back doors being full size.
I've rallied with extended cab and crew cab. Extended cabs suck! Crew cab is comfortable. Crew cabs accomodate baby seats also.

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Grant Hughes

don't do the manual, I know a few who thought it would be cool but ended up trading in for autos.


how far will you be towing? over big mountains?

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NoCoast
Crew cabs accomodate baby seats also.

Two thumbs up Five stars *****

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Kirk Coughlin
Woodbury, MN and River Falls, WI

Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est.

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darkknight9

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NoCoast
Crew cabs accomodate baby seats also.

Two thumbs up Five stars *****

What kind of rallying are you guys doing with babies?

Furthest tow would probably be West Virginia, ~700 miles and I don't think the mountains are too bad.

I really would dig an ambulance. The registration isn't a killer, but we're talking $150+ a year (actually depends on weight) versus $25 for a personal vehicle. And there is also annual inspection and insurance.

Tim.

Saw this yesterday.
1991 Ford AmBlanz



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2013 06:17PM by MrToad.

Diesel if you plan on holding on to it...Adam evidently doesn't understand holding on to things for any time.. He's 20 something, a year is a long time.

Manual....You know if you're smash gearchanges and roating the clutch.. You can stick a clutch in yourself, with autotragique you're at the mercy of some coke-head troglodyte loser that seem to infest the whole scam filled automatic trans rebuild world and you have no idea or warning if the POS thing is going to puke it's guts up at 0130 on the stretch of Mass Pike just short of the NY border where the Commonwealth save some wealth and did't put in ANY shoulders and have Masshole State Police moron show up and loss what few marbles he was born with....
precisely 420 miles after you paid the meth or crack head for a rebuild .

And miss STPR, and have a dead van with a trailer loaded with your car and full of parts and tools in that part of the state that resembles West Virginia, only without the interesting people..and you have to get all that stuff home and after you do and see Meth-boys car in the lot at the Autotragique repair shop Lucco says that Rocko duddn't wurk here anymore , he got a job in Fuckin Revere.

Just as an example.

4x4---fat lotta good that does if they're both open diffs....Get a good tight LSD in the back and go anywhere you need towing.

Personally when I had a autotragic in my gas van when I was stuck in Boston, I hated with a passion how the thing wanted to shift up then down constantly when I was just wanting the drive steady or feather thottle.. Hated the split second delay when apexing on skinny roads in hills..

Except with EXTREMELY expensive Krautski 5-6 speed things in Bee Ems and Mercedes autotragic costs a LOT of fuel...
My 6.2 diesel van with 4 speed (overdrive 4th) when empty gets a red c**t hair over 20 mph cruising 75 cross country. A friend with same van (88 3/4 ton) with whatever junk auto shit gets about 14 on long trips--also empty..

Loaded to the bumpstops---like when I finally could eascape from MA---and pulling a roller Sierra also carefully filled with parts, a total for the rig of around 14,000 lbs---including "scenic alternate routes" thru the East appraoch to Yellowstone with a 10,000 ft pass---got a smidge over 14 mpg

And the injector cracking pressure is wrong so it needs a heavier foot cause its a dog.


Turbo---abso- fawkin--lutely a combo made in --well Earth but God did descend and show people that diesel and turbo was thought up in heaven even if made here...

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

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TronDD

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darkknight9

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NoCoast
Crew cabs accomodate baby seats also.

Two thumbs up Five stars *****

What kind of rallying are you guys doing with babies?


Tim.

Patty D and i took his 3 month old with us on recce at mt hood. gotta do what you gotta do to go rallying!

My thought behind a manual trans was for the reliability and simplicty.

Diesel for the extra low end grunt to get off the line with a manual. And more longevity. I do tend to keep my vehicles forever (...mostly. I have room for a truck now because I am getting rid of a car because the auto trans failed, the only automatic I own). But step one is finding the right vehicle.

4x4 was more in mind for pulling the rally car out of a ditch or pond or whathaveyou.


Kinda considering an ambulance and just converting it to single rear wheel.

Tim.

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TronDD
My thought behind a manual trans was for the reliability and simplicty.

Diesel for the extra low end grunt to get off the line with a manual. And more longevity. I do tend to keep my vehicles forever (...mostly. I have room for a truck now because I am getting rid of a car because the auto trans failed, the only automatic I own). But step one is finding the right vehicle.

4x4 was more in mind for pulling the rally car out of a ditch or pond or whathaveyou.


Kinda considering an ambulance and just converting it to single rear wheel.

Tim.

I stink yawl'll find 90% are autos, seems they are expexcted to save lives and stay calm but a clutch and a gearshift must baffle 'em..

You better see what wheel/tire will take the load..

I think if you do really hold on to sumpin, then the thing to do is build what you want..ratio load range, single etc...

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Quote
TronDD
Furthest tow would probably be West Virginia, ~700 miles and I don't think the mountains are too bad.

.

Then you didn't think hard.... Getting to Rally WV is quite tough on a tow vehicle

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____________________________________________________________-

One. Class -- 2WD

www.quantumrallysport.com

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Quantum-Rally-Sport/281129179600?ref=nf

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HiTempguy
Diesel makes no sense unless you are putting the miles on to recoup costs. Your price range is low enough that diesel resale doesn't come into play, especially if you are keeping it for a while.

I'd have to disagree. I'd never buy another truck with a gas engine unless it's some weekend toy for off-roading or whatever.


Diesels get far better mileage, are barely getting broken in at 200k miles, make a ton more power, and are overall just more suited for towing.


OP, in the 7k range you're looking at either a 7.3 Powerstroke or an older 12 valve Cummins. Both are great motors...The Cummins will have the most power-potential of the two.

My buddy had a 97 F250 quad-cab long-bed(it was as long as a limo) 2wd. With a power-stroke and an auto trans. He had a little over 300k miles on it when he sold it. No trans issues. I think he did fuel filters a couple times, and might have done a glow-plug harness or something. It was a great truck. You could put a #3600lb car on a steel trailer behind it, fill the bed with stuff, and halfway through the trip you'd completely forget the truck was even loaded.