Tow vehicles

I have three options I'm looking at at the moment.
1995 Chevy 3500 crew cab, 5 speed manual, 4X4, 210K, 100K on engine, 6.5L Turbo Diesel - $4000.

1993 Dodge 250 Extended Cab turbo Diesel, 180-200K, 2WD, 5 speed manual, owned by a friend/mechanic/rallyists so I know what's been recently fixed and what condition it is in. $4200

1996 Dodge 3500 dually extended cab turbo diesel, 300K, 4WD, automatic, really cool tool boxes in the back.

They all have their advantages and disadvantages. I've done one out of state rally with an extended cab and it sucked, and this makes the Chevy really attractive with it's crew cab. All three have toppers so that is nice. The 96 Dodge is a dually so my dream of pulling multi-car trailers could be reality, but the auto tranny and high miles makes me think twice about that one. The 93 is probably the nicest and most reliable truck, but I just have trouble buying a truck that can't comfortably carry four people anywhere.

Anyhow, just thought I'd hear some outside opinions.

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Grant Hughes

Just don't get the '95 Chevy. You will be forever screwing with the injector driver module. If you don't move them off the engine and put a huge heatsink on the case they cook themselves every 20K miles.

Tim

I've heard Dodge auto-tragics puke their guts every 70k-100k just because they like to.

Cummins diesels are supposedly the waycoolest of the "domestics" though.

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

Well it keeps going back to the 93 Cummins.
That truck is seem in the background here and has been towing the Subaru in the foreground for the last two years. Guess I'll go with that.

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Grant Hughes

NoCoast Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well it keeps going back to the 93 Cummins.
> That truck is seem in the background here and has
> been towing the Subaru in the foreground for the
> last two years. Guess I'll go with that.

Yeah you want one of the cummins from what I know.

Couple things:

1- The automatics in dodges are pretty bad, especially if you don't flush the fluid!!! I drive dodge trucks all the time and the company I work for has a fleet. We haven't had that many problems with the automatics and these are pretty heavily beaten on vehicles. One auto failure that I know of in lets say 10 trucks in 10 years.. I was also beating on that truck and I tend to beat on them harder than most.

2- No price listed for the 96!

3- The 93 is probably noisier than fuck.. I believe they got it quieted down a bit by 96 (may be wrong)

4- Is 4WD something you'll ever need/wish you had?

5- Price of the 93 seems a bit high (although I guess it can't get much lower), but I love the Vietnam - Mid 90s dodge trucks (I'm also a dodge truck perv and they are basically extinct here)

6- What would a worse case scenario cost for putting a stick in the 96 if the auto blew?

The 96 IS a one ton dually 4X4 with cool tool boxes! What's the price?

EDIT:/ I realized that what I said about the auto tranny didn't make sense. They develop annoying shit. My truck is auto and has ~65k km of ABNORMAL ABUSE and it shifts wonky with the leaver (biggest complaint would be too hard of an engagement into reverse, but it's hard into drive aswell).. I generally hate how autos "pick" gears for you so won't comment there.

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Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2008 12:03AM by hudson.

Why limit yourself to just these three vehicles? If none of them fit what you're looking for I would keep looking.

The highest gas prices this country has ever seen, combined with the bursting of the largest housing bubble this country has ever seen, makes this a buyer's market for full sized trucks. I would suggest you sit down and figure out the perfect truck for your price range and then keep your eyes on craigslist (or wherever) until you find it. If you're not in a rush to buy, and don't mind travelling a bit to pick it up the perfect truck should come along sooner or later.

In other words, why compromise on a truck you're not going to be happy with when there are so many trucks on the market right now?

I'm now between two trucks.
This 2000 Ford F350.
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=22&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=100&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-%7cE-ANY%7cM-_9-14-15_%7cB-14000%7cA-1000%7cH-%7cD-_96-97-181-182-8671-9433-9434-9394-9395_%7cN-N%7cR-250%7cI-1%7cP-PRICE+descending%7cQ-descending%7cX-popular%7cZ-80202&aff=national&paId=135447677&recnum=92&leadExists=true

And this 01 GMC 2500.
http://cosprings.craigslist.org/car/682209537.html

Going to look at them both tomorrow. Had to bump up the price range I was looking at due to financing restrictions on model year.
The Ford is nice because it's a five speed and pretty low miles, but the Duramax is considered to be a better engine and the Allison auto is bullet proof I am told.

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Grant Hughes

http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/car/683088049.html
96 Dodge diesel xtra cab 5spd 4x4 long bed - $6500 (Puyallup)

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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.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2008 06:03PM by john vanlandingham.

You wanted crew cab, diesel, manual trans, and preferably dually? Matches your car too

1995 F-350 Crew Cab Dually 4x4 with Diesel - $4900

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/car/682562168.html

A friend of mine had one just like the GMC, but a Chevy.

It was the greatest truck he ever had to tow. He went a few times to Ohio from Quebec (12 hours) with a DSM on it without any complaints.

But having rode in the back while spectating Perce-Neige about 3 years ago it is not very comfortable on a rough road. The driver and front passenger were fine though.

Fitted with 33" tires it can go almost anywhere too! Pretty strong and powerful truck. I think that would be my personal choice.

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Francois