Looking to pick up a truck to daily drive and use for hauling house things around. Probably won’t see much towing, but I drive about 50 miles a day for a commute, so fuel mileage is a HUGE selling point. Looking to see what my options are for trucks.
I’d love to get a diesel and it sounds like the newer Chevys are great. Zero interest in Ford unless there are some VERY convincing arguments. Too many people I know have had EGR problems and from what I hear the fuel mileage is crap too.
That leaves Cummins and Duramaxes. I’d be happy to do the exhaust/tuner and bolt on type mods to see better mileage. Is 20+ in mixed driving even remotely possible? I’m light on the pedal in town and usually cruise about 5-8mph over the limit on the highway. That would keep my fuel bills about the same as they are.
Budget is maybe 25k max. Should buy me a lot of used truck…
I’ve seen a few EGR issues with Fords at my shop but overall I’d say we see Ford diesels in for repairs the least out of the big 3. I see Chevy’s come in on Flatbeds all the time with crank no start issues. Dodges have HVAC issues and lots of axle seal and pinion seal leaks. I don’t think you can really go wrong with any of them if you’re going the diesel route since you’re not really towing anything crazy. Not familiar with any of the gas mileage ratings for them though. Are you set on a diesel?
Not completely, but I do prefer diesel. My dad has a '07 variable displacement Chevy truck that is pretty awesome, but the mileage is less than I could handle. Probably 12ish in town and 17ish highway. As far as I know, that’s about as good as most half ton trucks will get.
I have a house too and I’ve yet to wish I had a full sized pickup. I’ve remodeled 3 rooms so far and was fine borrowing my friends s10 for 1 trip and the rest I got with my legacy wagon…
Any of the '07 and newer diesels do not do as well mileage wise due to the new emission requirements that went into effect that year. I have a '96 Dodge 3500 Dually, 4x4, ext cab, flatbed, 5 speed Cummins that gets about 18 MPG. The truck has 4.10’s in it and weighs 9500 lbs so it hurts the mileage a bit, but it will tow a battleship up a mountain. The guys with 3.55’s and sticks get mid 20’s on the highway with the Cummins. I had an '85 Ford F-250 4x4 with the 6.9 International in it with a 4 speed. It wasn’t a land rocket since it was naturally aspirated, but it got 20 MPG on the highway and it was super easy to work on. That truck had 3.55’s in it, a 5 speed with O/D would have had the mileage up even more.
If it were me, I’d be looking at a pre '07 Duramax, 5.9 Cummins, or a 7.3 Powerstroke. If you’re decent mechanically, don’t shy away from the older trucks. You’ll have to do stuff like brakes, U-joints, ball joints, seals, maybe a clutch, etc, but the trucks are simpler mechanically, easier to work on, cheaper to get parts for, cheaper to buy in the first place, and anything you own will eventually need all of the above anyway.
When I bought my truck 3 years ago, I was specifically looking for a '94-'98 Dodge (since it has the really nice mechanical injection pump). I found it in Mississippi for $11,000. Score. It now has almost a quarter of a million miles on it and shows no signs of slowing down. Don’t let mileage scare you if the truck has been taken care of. Good luck with your hunt
i wouldnt go oil burner just yet, if you want a “commuter truck” i would say “honda ridgeline”. Then if you want to get an oil burner later you can and you will not lose much $$ on the ridgeline.
Justin on here should weigh in. He had/has an '03 Duramax 2WD that he claimed 28mg highway on. That’s definitely a similar sort of truck to what I’m looking for, but that mileage seems really high.
i had a 99 superduty, and it was a beast $100 to fill it up, it had banks everything on it. it got about 18, but that 18 was pulling anything or picking up KY jelly at the local store. If you want a cow boy caddy = 2wd truck with a diesel. DONT plan on using it for off road use with out MOD’s.
If i had a choice, i would go with a chevy, we have one on the farm and it is a work horse.
Off road is for fggts, unless you’re a farmer or something. Otherwise it’s just doing dumb shit just to see if you can break something or get stuck. So cool. :gay3::gay3::gay3:
