Best older pickups?

David Nettleton

David Nettleton

Veteran Member
A little advice please. I need a good older 4wd pickup for this winter. What is the best most reliable older pickup brand to look for?
 
Hfcomms

Hfcomms

EN66iq
The answers your going to get are all over the board. I have a 10 year old GMC half ton that is tough as nuts.

Instead of brand name I would look at the overall condition and past maintainence history. I bought mine without all the bells and whistles as that is just more stuff to go wrong with it. If a Ford then I would go with an F-150 with a straight 6 and manual transmission.

In my case the GMC has a vortec V6 married to a manual transmission and I get 20 mpg with it. It's an extended cab so I got plenty of room inside to carry stuff and with a 6 1/2 foot bed I can still carry just about anything I need.
 
M

max_914

Contributing Member
When you say older how old are you looking for?
What do you want to do with your truck -is it just for driving in the snow or do you need it for plowing/hauling heavy loads/light loads etc.?
How many miles a week do you think you'll be using it?
Do you want something emp proof?
Gas or diesel?
How long do you expect to keep it?
How much of a factor is fuel economy to you?
Do you want a Ford/Chevy/Dodge or are you open to a Nissan or Toyota?

Once you figure out what your needs are then come up with a price range. This should narrow down your choices quite a bit.
 
I

imaginative

keep your eye on the ball
If you dont need an 8ft bed the Toyota 4 x 4 with the 22RE engine is about as dependable and indestructible of a truck as Ive ever seen.
 
C

Crawlingtoy

Veteran Member
My vote goes for Toyota 4x4 as well, unless you need to tow or haul anything real heavy, but I don't think you do.
 
H

hummer

Veteran Member
Hi David. I am sure you are not expecting to hear from 63 year old ladies, but..... I ordered myself a new truck in 1984....Chevy 1/2 ton, short box, small 6 engine, standard tranny on the floor, with a low truckers gear added. I also had them gear it so I could get good mileage....get 24 mpg. That old truck and I have been through a lot together.....lots of miles, lots of mountains and trips, lots of winters in no. mn., including the hills of Duluth, lots of crawling around in the woods hauling wood, hence the low truckers gear......lots of camping, lots of hauling building supplies.... etc, etc, etc..... It has close to 200,000 miles on it. I have never had any major engine or tranny probs with it. And I can work on it myself. In the winter I add sand bags in the box over the axel and can get around anywhere. And......it has always, yes, I said always started.......It can sit for 2 - 3 months in the winter, buried under feet of snow or not...temps can be down to 35-40 below....and that wonderful truck will start whenever I need it....no plug-ins, no engine heater. Needless to say, I LOVE MY TRUCK!

hummer
 
theoriginaldeb

theoriginaldeb

Still A Geology Fanatic
hummer said:
Hi David. I am sure you are not expecting to hear from 63 year old ladies, but..... I ordered myself a new truck in 1984....Chevy 1/2 ton, short box, small 6 engine, standard tranny on the floor, with a low truckers gear added. I also had them gear it so I could get good mileage....get 24 mpg. That old truck and I have been through a lot together.....lots of miles, lots of mountains and trips, lots of winters in no. mn., including the hills of Duluth, lots of crawling around in the woods hauling wood, hence the low truckers gear......lots of camping, lots of hauling building supplies.... etc, etc, etc..... It has close to 200,000 miles on it. I have never had any major engine or tranny probs with it. And I can work on it myself. In the winter I add sand bags in the box over the axel and can get around anywhere. And......it has always, yes, I said always started.......It can sit for 2 - 3 months in the winter, buried under feet of snow or not...temps can be down to 35-40 below....and that wonderful truck will start whenever I need it....no plug-ins, no engine heater. Needless to say, I LOVE MY TRUCK!

hummer
Click to expand...
My Granny has an old Chevy truck 1/2 ton except it is a 1972 with a column shift. Except for the carbeurator falling off once that old truck is still awesome.
Took me awhile to get used to a column shift...but I figured it out and have driven it to the dump once or twice loaded with stuff as full as we could get it.
 
H

hummer

Veteran Member
theoriginaldeb said:
My Granny has an old Chevy truck 1/2 ton except it is a 1972 with a column shift. Except for the carbeurator falling off once that old truck is still awesome.
Took me awhile to get used to a column shift...but I figured it out and have driven it to the dump once or twice loaded with stuff as full as we could get it.
Click to expand...

Good for Granny! She knows a good truck. Have fun driving it. :)
 
LongCount

LongCount

Inactive
Last edited:
I

imaginative

keep your eye on the ball
LongCount said:
+1 on the toyota with the 22re 4 cyl motor. Absolutely indestructable. Amazingly so. Seriously! They crashed this one through a house, hit it with a demolition ball, dropped a house-trailer on it, set it on fire, left it underwater in the ocean for a day, blew it up on top of a building that was being demolished, dropping it 240 Feet and IT STILL DROVE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Uc4Ksz3nHM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfZDtC9kjVk
Click to expand...

Amazing.

Thanks for those incredible vids
 
LongCount

LongCount

Inactive
Another article. This toyota truck ran after being underwater for 4 months:

"STERLING, Alaska — A pickup pulled from the bottom of the Kenai River still runs despite being submerged for four months.
Larry Hansen, 66, of Sterling bought a new truck in the meantime, so he's giving the 1984 Toyota — which needs a bit of cleaning — to his grandson.
Hansen parked the pickup in late June on Huske Lane, which resembles a boat launch and leads to the river, to go fishing. He thought for sure he had engaged the parking brake.
After hiking a short distance to fish, he heard a vehicle moving behind him. Hansen turned to see the pickup going into the water.
Emergency responders weren't able to secure a line to the truck, and it was last seen going completely underwater about a mile down river.
On Oct. 23, Hansen was surprised by a phone call from a Kenai River State Park ranger reporting the roof of his truck had been spotted in the river.
The water level of the river started to recede, and the top of his truck was sticking out about 1.5 miles down from Huske Lane.
He decided to let the water go down a little more, and on Oct. 30 a recovery effort was launched. With the help of sons-in-law Lonnie McMilin and Terry Corsen, and family friend Joel Smith, they pulled the soggy truck out of the river.
The truck's gas tank, crankcase and radiator were drained and flushed. New fluids were put in, and the truck was started.
The pickup is now going to become the project of Hansen's soon-to-be-16 grandson, Teagun Corsen, who will have to clean the ever-present silt throughout the truck.
One of the first things Hansen checked when the truck came ashore was the emergency brake. It was still set; it just didn't hold, McMilin said."
Click to expand...

http://www.automotiveforums.com/t481037.html
 
T

tm1439m

Veteran Member
I owned a Mazda B2000. Bought it new for $5595 in 1986. Drove it for 19.5 years. Cranked every time I got in it the entire time I drove it. It was easy on tires and ran great. My son and I cut down thirt four seventy foot tall white pines in our back yard and hauled every one of them to the landfill 25 miles away in the back of that truck and buddy we had it loaded down every time. It never failed me all those years and I am very sorry to say I let it go for a new jeep wrangler. I love my new jeep but sure do miss that old truck. It took me to the beach. I coached little leage baseball for nine years and it went to every game. It took my son and I to the mountains for camping and mountain bike and hiking trips for all those years never failing one time! I should be asshamed for letting it go like I did. But it is gone and I have to move on. The moral of this story is if you have a car you have lived with and formed many memories then do not let it go for a little extra trade in money on a new one as it will be missed.

Mazdas are great trucks and I have never ran into an owner that was disaticfied.

My son and I were driving down town one day about a year after I let her go and a very large and expensive motor home pulled up to the red light next to us and my son excitedly said hey dad look there. I looked to the rear of the Motor home and there it was, my old truck. I no it well and it was mine. At least we know it went to a good home!
 
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