In reply to 03Panther :
Because it is hard as hell to sell anything that's 2wd up here.
The problem is people won't put snow tires on. If you have traction control and awd you can get away without it so people skip it. Now people are scared to drive a 2wd truck or SUV. So having one is outside of "normal" and that makes resale tough.
Rwd trucks suck way more than rwd cars in snow because of the weight distribution. For that matter my friend's f150 is borderline sketchy just in the rain in rwd mode. And snow tires in truck sizes aren't exactly cheap or easy to swap on and off. And they don't do much for off road use. Like I said earlier, 95% of the time it's a non issue, but that other 5% of the time it's enough of an issue that it makes sense to go awd. If you're only using it to tow and it'll never see snow or leave pavement, then rwd is fine. But beyond that, awd is worth it. I wouldn't hesitate to drive a rwd car year round, but if I ever buy a real truck it's going to be awd.
In reply to NY Nick :
Would not have thought about the resale aspect. But just like the "I can tow more, I have 4wd" wives tale can change resale values, I can see that as well.
I would never use a resale difference to pick a safety need, though.
In reply to dps214 :
You mentioned how sketchy a 150 was in 2wd mode... a 4x4 in 2 wheel mode handles a lot worse than a 2wd only.
I've got about 10 to 1 (or more) miles on RWD verses 4wd driving in winter in snow belt states. I've always made it in to work. Seen more 4wd stuff in ditches, than cars, personally; although I know a ton of cars (driven by people that should not have been out) get pulled out. Prolly by folks that would not have gotten stuck, driving that same car! From what I've seen, driver makes more difference than layout. 'Course we are real far afield.
only time Stampie's tow rig would need more than RWD, would be if he intentionally pulled somewhere to drag something out of the weeds. And that might be enough to justify it. I'm enjoying my current, for that reason, but glad I don't travel as much, these days , or I'd have a different one!
I am tossing my hat into the 3/4 ton ring.
I tow with a 2001 base model Ford F250 superduty. It has the same 5.4L and towing capacity as the upgraded F150, except the F150 can handle 1700lbs in the bed, where I can have 3200lbs (minus tongue weight) and still tow the same 7700lbs load.
I get 16mpg unloaded and 11-14mpg towing depending on what's on the trailer. AFAIK, the F150 from 2001 doesn't do much better, so the MPG is a wash compared with the piece of mind knowing I can load all the things, and not worry much about balance or capacity.
Were this truck to get totaled, I would be on the hunt for an Excursion, E250/350, Suburban 2500, or Express 2500.
Toyman! said:In reply to Stampie :
I would run from the rust, but the mileage is not an issue. My Suburban has over 350k on it now and runs flawlessly.
And just like that I own a 2500 Suburban. I created a fake Facebook account and talked to the owner last night. He mentioned having to move his boat to get the Suburban out so I figured that's where the rust came from.
I went over this evening and sure enough it's crusty but only like the back foot or so. Seller seemed like a good guy. He used to work as a mechanic at a car lot. The owner of the lot bought the Suburban at 50k miles, put another 100k on it then this guy bought it.
Needs a detail, battery, at least one tire, and rear passenger window regulator. After checking out the exterior I went to do a test drive. First I decided to shut the door on my finger.
Maybe that got him to feel sorry for me. We made a deal at $3k. I'll steal my truck battery in the morning and go get it.
Congrats what year model?
In reply to 759NRNG :
2002 2500 Suburban 4L80e 6.0 with 240k miles. I was able to get over the miles more as I talked to him. Mechanic that's serviced it since 50k miles. Working AC in FL. I figure worse case is I don't like it and I flip it after fixing some little things.
Yo the nonsense I'm seeing here in Texas with cold A/C ,mileage meh, you could get double plus maybe1K should you tire of it.
As the king of used tires:
Buy ten plys before loading it up. I aee how you do things, and its a good additional safety step.
Probably a set of them in the right size on a marketplace posting near you.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
I'm already hitting up Tire Rack.
Nice score, Stampie! You'll love it.
Hey... I assume it's 8-lug, yes? Cause I'm selling the 6-lug wheels off the van with next-to-new E-range tires on it.
If it happens to be 6-lug (but I doubt it) let me know and we can chat.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I had to go back and check out orig ad... 8 lug, 6.0. He's gonna love it!!!
And Stampie... +1 (or more 
) on the load range "E" LT tires, in whatever size and brand you go with. You'll end up regretting less, but I think you know that one, already!
In reply to Stampie :
Nice tow rig upgrade. My fav E rates tires are from Michelin.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:Hey... I assume it's 8-lug, yes? Cause I'm selling the 6-lug wheels off the van with next-to-new E-range tires on it.
If it happens to be 6-lug (but I doubt it) let me know and we can chat.
I could use those!
edit: sent you a text
In reply to yupididit :
I'm doing maintenance for them right now. Aside from not caring for them as a company, I am impressed with their tire construction, compared to other brands methods.
have had one set of Defenders. Best tire I ever bought. Also most expensive, aside from the big rig stuff. And more than some of those!!!
Life is an adventure.
Got up this morning. Finger is still bleeding. Yay! Pulled the battery out of the Silverado and put it and tools in the Miata. My bank is out of state but they have ATMs local. I thought that instead of going to the shady convenience store down the road I'd hit Walgreens. Still felt weird to do a lot of transactions to pull $3k out.
At this point I'm like a mile from his house. I pull out on the main road and start accelerating up through the gears. Something felt wrong and my first thought was I skipped a gear as it didn't have power. That soon turned into nope I don't have anything. I coasted into the parking lot of a Hindu temple.
Decision tree quickly came down to I'll walk to his house. Not going to carry the battery because I'm hoping a jump will get the Suburban back to the temple. Takes about 10 minutes to walk there. I hand him the cash, he gives me the title, and we jump her off.
I get all the way to the Miata and park next to it. Suburban is just idling away so I think that I'll try replacing the fuel pump relay since I have several spares in the car. That doesn't do it. A couple of times it almost caught but no go.
Throw the good battery into the back of the Suburban along with the tools and back out of the parking spot to head home and regroup. Get back about 12 feet and the Suburban stalls. Damn it and now I'm blocking their whole parking lot. Get out and push the Suburban back into it's parking spot. Here's what two broke ass Stampie vehicles look like in a Hindu temple parking lot.
Swap the battery and the Suburban starts right up with a now smooth idle. Drive it home and now waiting on the ex to wake up so we can go back and tow the Miata home.
In reply to Stampie :
LMAO old cars man
In reply to yupididit :
Life would be boring without old cars breaking down on you.
Tell lil stampie that its his fault for washing it
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
You know I agree. It is his fault.
First tow.
Got all the vehicles home. Need to move some in the driveway to get the Suburban to fit but before lunch I scraped off the PO's stickers and added some of my stash.
I guess that wants the GRM sticker goes on, It's planned on being a keeper!
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Yeah I really like it over the last few days. Since the Miata needs a CAS (I'm hoping), the Suburban has been my primary vehicle. I've noticed a couple of things. One it weighs a lot more than the Silverado. That means I've resigned myself that it's not fast. That means I don't hit the throttle as much around town. That means I'm seeing improved MPG so far. Still has power and stuff but not the sports car of the truck world like a standard cab swb truck.
Next I've noticed that it is a lot more stable. I haven't towed yet but when hitting construction areas with big bumps the Suburban doesn't get unsettled like the Silverado would. Also for a high mileage vehicle (241k) it seems solid and not "loose" like I expected. Over all I'm very happy.
There are a couple of problems I didn't notice in the inspection. The PRND and odometer LEDs seem to go in and out. The CEL came on today but the PO included a full set of AC Delco coils, plugs, and wires so I'll need to check codes and make sure that's what's needed. I really don't trust the tires. The passenger front was in the back and looks like an age failure. That makes me super nervous about the other 3 tires so I ordered new tires tonight.
I removed the bug deflector Sunday and ripped what I could of the door visors. Today I used copper wire to cut the double sided tape to remove the rest of the plastic. Still need to figure out how to remove the rest of the tape. I think I want to get tow mirrors on it. They should be close to what I have on my work van so I'll be comfortable with them. Anyway long post but I'm happy with my $3k purchase. I'll throw some money at it to get it where I want but hopefully it'll serve it's purpose for a while.
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