How much truck?

I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that a truck may be in my future, loading dirty engines and transmissions into hatchbacks is starting to get old. I also want to stop driving my 'racecar' to track events and bring it there and back on a tow dolly instead. The racecar is a 94' Integra and for now I plan to track it 3-4 times a year so my towing needs are ~3500lbs including the dolly. I'd be going for a 4x4 since I live in a snowy area and prefer not to have a rwd DD in the snow anymore.

I'll be trading in a GTI to find a truck in the 15-20k range, right now I've honed in on first year (2011) 5.0L F150s and stick shift Frontiers. I like the F150 for its added capacity, but I'm tempted by the Frontier for the manual transmission and smaller more manageable size. Not sure if I can give up the manual in a daily driver quite yet. MPG is similarly poor for both 16-17mpg on Fuelly.

Any comments? Should I just buy the most truck I can afford and forego the manual transmission? I'm not willing to make the jump to a massive 3/4 ton for a manual either, a 1/2 ton should be plenty for my needs.

In my case, I knew someone looking to get away from a very nice truck that was rust-free and well maintained. The fact that it was a 1985 Chevy C-30 Dooley meant that it was a tad more truck than I was ever likely to need. I've owned her for over 10 years now, and I've never regretted getting this truck for a minute!

I'd shop for something GM with the 4.8. Should get better milage than you expect and your towing is well within it's ability.

I'd suggest staying full size. Any of the big three should really be fine and last virtually forever.

Stay away from 3/4 and one tons as a daily unless you actually test drive it empty and don't mind the ride quality. I drive an F250 daily and if it weren't for the 1000+/- lbs of crap in the back it would be a painful ride. I have found an autotratic in a truck is OK. It's not as much fun to row the gears on a track as a car imho. Have you considered a Full-size van? they offer a lot of the pluses of truck ownership with addition of climate controlled storage and a lower loading height than a truck. GM does offer an factory AWD option as I recall.

Vans rock. A truck is 6.5' of bed space with 12 feet of cab and hood. A van is 12 feet of bed space with 3 feet of cab and hood. The difference in cargo space is undeniable.

For your money you could buy a good used 4x4 van conversion.

As far as manual/auto in a truck; you'll run into a small issue. The demand for manuals has dropped so steeply that truck manufacturers don't put any effort into them. They use old-design, light-duty manuals from 1985 and then only put them behind the smaller engines or in rubber-floored V6 work trucks. I don't really mind automatics in trucks but like you I prefer the manual.

If I thought that "truck" was the answer, and since you didn't state how many people needed to ride in this thing, here's what I would do. I'd look for a ~10 year old Chevrolet in 2wd. Standard cab because I don't enjoy driving extended cab trucks because of sight lines and increased weight, etc. I'd have a Torsen-type or clutch LSD installed in the rear and have a set of winter tires & wheels for the months they made sense. A 5.3 powered truck is plenty, I don't know what the 4.8's are really like to drive, but I'd be curious enough to test drive one or two and find out. And I agree with above that trucks aren't usually fun vehicles to row gears in so an automatic might make the cut. Again, test drive and find out. The very nicest truck I'm describing should be $10k or so I think. I just can't justify the weight and cost and complexity of 4WD and I drove a 2WD Silverado for a lot of years in the rural area I grew up in. I never got stuck in mud or snow.

Did the 4.8 come in vans?

i love my 97 Chevy K1500 extended cab long box. it's a lot of truck to maneuver around parking lots, but i'm one of those guys that just doesn't see the point of a pickup with a bed that is too short to close the tailgate with a full sheet of plywood in it. i didn't really like the extended cab at first, but i've grown used to it and keep all my hithces and ratchet straps tucked away under the rear seat in some cheap plastic totes from Wally Mart.

the vortec 350 has got plenty of power- it's a truck, not a race car- and averages in the area of 14mpg, which is plenty for my 7 mile daily commute to work. haven't towed with it yet, but have driven it 150 miles with a couple thousand pounds in the bed and it did pretty good. about the only thing i'd like to change on it would be to get rid of the silly push button transfer case and get a proper lever in the floor so there's just one less thing to go wrong.

Another idea that no one has suggested. How about a Suburban? Cargo for days, factory 4wd, tows anything, can sleep in it and stay dry, and if it comes up it can haul the entire family on vacation.

The last manual truck I had was a full sized C-30 dually.

The shift from 2nd to 3rd was about a foot and a half ( I'm not exaggerating). The clutch was so strong I had to lift my ass off the seat to push hard enough with my left leg.

It is not even close to the driving experience of a GTI.

Second vote here for a Suburban. It's just a big station wagon with towing capacity, available 4x4, and diesel (if you want it).

If you don't mind buying a little extra gas, it's not hard to find nice clean older ones for WAAY under $5K.

Actually, at 3500lbs you could tow easily with a 4.3 V6 S-10.

SVreX wrote: The clutch was so strong I had to lift my ass off the seat to push hard enough with my left leg.

Slightly divergent....reminds me of my 79 F250 and my first wife who was a wee woman (5' tall 100 lbs wet). The first time she tried to drive it she came back in the house and told me the transmission was broken because it wouldn't go in gear. She was pressing the clutch through its free motion to where it actually engaged and though it was bottomed out.

She was insistent upon driving that thing though. It was lifted on 35s so you couldn't even see her when driving it but when she shifted she had to stand to depress the clutch so you'd see this big yellow truck that looks like it has no driver going down the road then this head pops up, then back down again....I guess you had to be there, but it was funny, and scary.

On topic...another vote for a suburban. I've owned 4 of them now and I rarely repeat on cars but they are hard to beat.

I would consider any of the GM Trailblazer clones. I especially like the Saab 9-7.. aka the "trollblazer"

Gearheadotaku wrote: I'd shop for something GM with the 4.8. Should get better milage than you expect and your towing is well within it's ability.

Until the sunshell assplodes the transmission you mean? I'd walk if it had the 4L60e/4L65e without proof of an improved rebuild.

How about a landscape trailer? No insurance, GREAT gas mileage and you don't have to look at it when not in use.

Dan

I may be a wimp, but have found that even though the 4.8 can, in theory, tow it, my nerves are much better with a truck that can tow more. I towed a 6x12 cargo with an '07 4.8 Tahoe that struggled (not bad) going up and down the hills of Central Texas. The trailer maybe weighed 3000#'s loaded. Towing with my '14 single cab, 5.3l Sierra and I barely know it's there. HUGE difference in my comfort and gas mileage as the truck doesn't struggle.

I'd say look for something with a decent V8 (Suburban, Van, Truck, etc) and just resign yourself to the fact that it'll probably be an automatic.

I'm partial to Chevy's and would guess you could find a really nice one with the Z71 package (4x4) and a 350 fairly easily.

-Rob

In reply to rob_lewis:

Probably the difference in axle ratios between those two trucks btw

Another vote for a full-size van. A 1/2 ton conversion van will tow an Integra with ease, even if you skip the dolly and go full trailer.

Having an enclosed space to change in/out of gear is very nice. Stealth tool storage.

Having owned both a full-size conversion van and a diesel truck, I'm going back to the van. Unless you have need to haul large quantities of dirt on a regular basis, a van is simply way more practical.

yamaha wrote:

Gearheadotaku wrote: I'd shop for something GM with the 4.8. Should get better milage than you expect and your towing is well within it's ability.

Until the sunshell assplodes the transmission you mean? I'd walk if it had the 4L60e/4L65e without proof of an improved rebuild.

I wouldn't. Dad's lasted 200k miles before dying.

As for power/towing, the 4.8 in a 5500lb crew cab short bed is plenty. Towing 5k lbs all day long isn't a stretch and mid twenties on the highway unloaded is (or was, before E10. DAMN YOU E10!!!!!) the norm at 70mph.

Definitely look to the GMT800 (99-06) trucks over the older GMT400 (88-98). The chassis is loads better (2wd are R&P steering), the engines are leaps and bounds more efficient. Brakes are better etc.