I'd like a truck!

Hey Gang, I don't know if maybe this isn't the right place for it but with the insane amount of knowledge and experience y'all have I figured I'd ask... I'm looking for a truck. I don't have a ton of money to spend but depending on the truck and its uses I could see getting up to $10k (which honestly seems like a ton of money, I'd rather be sub 5k).

With that budget, ideally, I'd get a well-used 4wd truck but as we all know there are many options in that world. I may be stirring up cans of Calvin-pissing-on-Chevy-or-Ford-logo worms, but can you guys give me some positives or negatives of the various trucks out there? 4 wheel drive is about my only must have and a standard or long bed.

As I poke around I seem to be looking at stuff from the late 1990's through mid-2000's but I'm scared to buy any obvious nightmare trucks, specifically anything with known maintenance issues, and I'm willing to go with anything from any period of time. I don't care about the look of the truck, I'd really rather something that looks like crap but runs well, the crappier the better.



I bought the above 1987 F250 from my neighbor a few years back to help move from my old house to my new house for 500 bucks and while it looked perfect, for me, it never ran well and couldn't be trusted to not break down at any given point. I think that was mostly to be blamed on sitting for years without running, but I also didn't have the money or time to put into making it better. I know maintenance issues on anything used are tough and you never really know what you'll get, so I'm keeping that in mind as well. While I plan to mostly use the truck to run to the hardware store or get me to work on snowy days, I'd probably try to drive it at least once a week.

When we get into the higher end of the budget we get into a truck that would pull a trailer with my backhoe around on it and at that point I'm well out of my knowledge. Are there standard sized trucks that can do it? It got delivered to my house by a dually F350 or something, I think, so I guess yes but I'm not sure... Does it have to have a gooseneck hitch and trailer? Anything else I should be looking at in that respect?

OK, so we are talking apples and oranges on Peanut expense tickets. Today the market is getting what the market will bear on light duty trucks. ANY and ALL CLEAN with a decent sized HP power plant and good trans with OK Gearing will clear $15K EASY. My own 7.3 dsl 21 year old F250 SD is a 340,000mile rusted bucket and due to the power train STILL worth at least $7k. A Good Backhoe hauler will be a Ton MINIMUM where a 450 or 550 would be better for suspension, wear items as brakes and grade of rubber on road. That to drag a Gooseneck with Duals to handle the weight correctly.

OR, can go Air Brake medium duty(IGNORE Med Duty JUICE Brakes), go to a Six bolt Pintle on a one inch tow plate and can do a 'Tag Along" 20t trailer for the Hoe, possibly set up truck as a Dump Truck for job spoil or refill materials.

Stay away from 6.0 and 6.4 Powerstrokes.

I wouldn't plan to haul your backhoe with a pickup except short, slow trips. If you do, you will have to have a dual tandem gooseneck trailer. I know people do it all the time, and you can until something goes wrong. If you get one loose connection, you lose your trailer brakes, or if you have to make sudden evasive maneuvers, you don't have the truck weight to control it. The other thing about that, it puts you up into a much newer truck. The older ones don't have as large axles and brakes as the last few years.

Thanks guys! That's kind of what I was thinking too... My budget is too low to be too picky. Hauling the backhoe is really not expected to happen, it would just be nice if I could find the right old beater and yeah, I can't imagine towing it anywhere out of town or even on the highway.

It's pretty incredible what truck prices are nowadays and I'm assuming stuff I can afford will need a little work at least.

Any easy suggestions like avoid Dodge or the 2001 Silverado, for example? Or maybe both of those are great?

Look to single axle road tractors, they are nearly as cheap as median priced pickups, Last ten times longer and heavier everywhere. Can be developed to other uses.

If you really never see yourself hauling the backhoe, just by any late 90's early 2000's gasser 1/2 to 3/4 ton and call it a day. By the time you buy the truck, buy the gooseneck, and buy all the license and insurance to legally haul it, you could pay to have it hauled to 5 jobs a year, and it would be cheaper than owning all the other stuff.

Anywhere you need the backhoe within 5 miles, just road it there and back. To get a decent heavy one ton (450-550) and a tandem gooseneck you're going to spend $15,000-$25,000, depending on how new and how nice you want. I don't see you spending $10,000 and having a decent truck and trailer.

You could probably find a cut down road tractor and tag air brake trailer for around 10,000, but the problem is now you're in CDL and DOT standards and insurance and that's going to cost you a lot of $$$ to be legal unless you can qualify as a farm and put farm tags on it. I'd be happier myself pulling a backhoe on that vs. a one ton truck, but I like having enough truck to boss around the trailer.

If it would cost you $500 every time you wanted to move the backhoe, by paying someone to haul it, five times a year is $2,500. You can do that for 10 years and still be cheaper than the truck and trailer.

I think everybody should have one of above just for a family car.

Truck Shop said:

I think everybody should have one of above just for a family car.

Click to expand...

ME Too!

6.0 Chev./GMC gas engines are brutal for gas mileage.

Welder Dave said:

6.0 Chev./GMC gas engines are brutal for gas mileage.

Click to expand...

The mileage isnt great for sure, but those gas 6.0's run for a long time.

Unless you need the power they will burn up a lot of money in fuel.

Truck Shop said:

View attachment 225791

Click to expand...

Waste of money for traction tires on a front straight axle

Get a M35, it’s my next project or thereabouts. Haul, go off-road and last long.

@crane operator excellent perspective! The only current reason for me to consider being able to haul the backhoe is so I could say I can do it. The hassle of it all is likely not worth it for me right now...

@Truck Shop that thing is sweet!

@Spud_Monkey That would certainly be kickass.

Spud_Monkey said:

Waste of money for traction tires on a front straight axle

Click to expand...

Pretty hard to find to find highway tread on that size plus the ply rating.

I have a 2008 Dodge Ram 3500 4x4 crew cab with the Cummins 6.7 and 6 speed standard transmission. Best truck I have ever owned and has been bulletproof. Currently has 235K miles and still pulls heavy loads as well as it did when it was new. The only things that have been done to this truck is tires, brakes, and a water pump.........i did have to put batteries in it 2 years ago.

Has the 80 series Dana under it too, a step up from the 10.5 Ford Corporate in mine or the Dana 70 of the older Mopars. Auto in mine lasted to 265k pulling major loads, was the early version 4R100 fine spline(its demise source). the tires on mine I am lucky to get 45K out of, OE tires hard as Glass lasted to near 60 but were horrible on anything even damp, brakes have been a consistent wear item all too fast. 4 Wheel Disc on my Ford reminds me of the issues with Semi Disc brakes and the GM Hydraulic 4 wheel medium duty disc units, Negligible life, considerable issues if sits.
My coming to antique stage Ford 7.3 pulls fine, stops fine and yet is still a 21 soon to be 22 year old wagon. It never did great for pulling RV trailers(Wind Prone) or pulling the goose with tractor and bush hog or other materials just OK where the weight was not that bad. 11,100 lbs. of scrap was a tussle and about its limit, and it does have a program uprate in the ECM for added HP, just NOT extreme. Can tweak 12mpg loaded of it, 14-16 dependent of driving tactics from it but work at getting either. It is Not a race machine and I do not operate it that way. Rust will eventually kill it.

Thanks guys, for some unknown reason I've shied away from Rams... While I am ignorant about a lot I like Mopar stuff but don't really trust it but don't have any reason for not. Looking at Craigslist in Columbus they have a fair amount of Rams around there, where they don't seem to in Dayton or Cincinnati, weird.