Whats a good cheap 4x4 truck?

http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/cto/1086695894.html

that thing looks badass, and i bet it could pull a shitload.

Ive used mostly Fords and I never cared for the V 10. Id rather the diesel (7.3 over the 6.4). I had a V-10 briefly and it just didnt have the torque that one would expect, (In order to get the torque, its possible to trick out the engine with after market gizmos).
ALSO, the fuel economy really sucked while the diesels gave anywhere from 23 (not towing) down to 11 mpg (when towing an 8 ton RV). ford trucks are great if its work needing done. I know of a 07 250 for about the same price (and its a diesel with about 85000).

ALL trucks nowdays use crappy metal parts from China and Ford is no different. The metal fatigue on brakes, fuel lines, gears etc is just a shame. SO be careful of the CARFAX info about the truck (if youre gonna pursue it) CArfax will let you know of major accidents or special conditions that have occured.

Good
Cheap
4x4

Pick two...

Good point. Do you really NEED a 4by? You can get most of what you need with positratction and antislip nowadays. Unless you are working seriously off road (like I do mining) then do you really need the AWD option? It can be the source of extra pain, and expenses.

id rather have 4wd than not.

better safe than sorry IMO. I dont want to have any issues with snow, or going offroad at all, and Ill possibly be towing a trailer, well two kinds, A camper possibly, tho i doubt it will need to be moved. and a trailer for wood , concrete etc.

We have to go far to pick up that kinda stuff in bulk, sow e wont be keen to multiple trips.

You gonna have internets out there man?

Cycloptichorn

no and i dont give a **** =D

lol. i sold my wow account. im using to soulseek to download what im estimating to be 500 albums.
nad im buying an external harddrive to save it all. im prepared,i hope!

But but what about us??!!? Lol. We'll miss ya!

Cycloptichorn

true. ill have to get set up rather quickly then. ;D

hooray!

Cycloptichorn

I just bought a 98 F150 4x4 with 123k for $4500, but it has open differentials front and rear, so its only ever a 4x2. You can theoretically get similar traction from a 2WD with a limited slip rear. The need for 4x4 is a nice marketing trick. They show you commercials where a Subaru avoids a stupid kid on a bike when its raining, or how a 4wd truck can bounce over a rocky desert scene, but its mostly marketing. I grew up in PA and Ontario, and my winter car was a RWD full-size car with wide summer tires on it. No worries. I did get stuck once or twice, but it was in a situation that 4x4 probably wouldn't have helped, and being stuck twice in 35 years certainly doesn't warrant the extra tire wear, lower MPG, and extra maintenance of a 4x4.

But, the truck that I found was the right price at the right time and it happened to have 4x4 so I bought it anyway.

But... as far as good reliable 4x4? Anything mechanical with a solid front axle instead of the IFS. Don't do the pushbutton stuff, and watch out for the vacuum, electrical, or otherwise non-manual hub-engagement setups. Many of the components involved with pushbutton 4x4 are fragile, and are the exact antithesis of what a rugged 4x4 should be. I call them boutique trucks.

Chevy used the bulletproof NP203 and 205 transfer cases for a long time. Starting in 1987 or 88 they went with a vacuum/electrical operated hub engagement setup that was crap. A pre-87 chevy truck is a beacon of reliability, and whatever fails can usually be fixed for $30 and a pair of pliers

Ford has some very reliable Borg Warner transfer cases. One of the reasons I like the setup in my 98 is because it has no hub disengagement; they're locked in all the time. Then the transfer case is shifted by a good old fashioned stick on the floor. The downside is additional drag and tire wear since the hubs don't disengage, but if there are no moving hub parts, there is nothing to break. The other downside is that its not a solid front axle. Older Fords are also beacons of reliability. Parts are a teeny bit more expensive, but that just means they can be fixed for $50 and a pair of pliers.

Dodge was one of the last to go IFS. They used solid axles up through the 90s. They also typically used really beefy Dana axles that take a lot of punishment. I'm not a big fan of the rest of the Dodge truck, but they're fine.

Jeeps are bulletproof. Parts are expensive, and buying them usually empties your wallet. A fair alternative is a Scout or other International Harvester. Original replacement parts are expensive, but the running gear is pretty universal. Many of them have Dana 20 or Dana 30 transfer cases that are gear driven and darn near indestructible. Manual IH transmissions won't break, and the automatics were beefy Dodge units, so parts are readily available.

Gear-driven transfer cases are strong, reliable, and a bit clunky and noisy.
Chain driven transfer cases are usually slightly weaker, but quiet and smooth
Solid front axles are super reliable and strong, but IFS has a smoother ride
Mechanical hub and transfer case engagements are reliable, anything pushbutton or automatically operated is junk.

Old Toyota 4 x 4...

just bought one and sold it to a friend. (86 long bed, 10k on a fresh motor)

$1K.

can't beat it, and it gets 20+ to a gallon.

How much can ya pull with that thing? My buddy has one of those, but it's up on blocks waiting for a new tranny.

Cycloptichorn

they are more stout than an s-10 or a ford mini by half.

with stock tires, it will pull a decent trailer.

the F/I motor helps a lot, but they were built as real trucks back in the day.

big tires is what does in the trans...

Curtis two points. If the surface you´re driving on with your standard axel 4x4 F150 is uniform ie; sand, snow, totally muddy track or hard packed dirt you´ll get drive to all four wheels. It´s only when traction is uneven by virtue of the road condition or balance of the vehical that you´ll get "two wheel drive" that is one spinning in the front and one at the rear. In the early seventies when "full time four wheel drive" was popular (the chain drive transfercase) you could park one front or one rear wheel on a thick patch of ice with the other three wheels on dry pavement, give it the gas and the wheel parked on ice would spin like crazy with no drive sent to the other three. However if the traction under all wheels was equal the system worked just like a standard transfer case.

Here´s my take on hubs. I still have a functioning 1993 Dodge Dakota with vacuum operated hubs. No problems with hub engagement in sixteen years. That´s stateside. Here in Colombia I´ve owned a 2007 Mazda 2600 4x4 with electric hubs and a 2007 Mitsubishi Montero with auto hubs that disengaged mechanicly by going a few feet in reverse. Both vehicles, assembled in Bogotá are essentially identical to models sold in the US in the early nineties and their automatic hub systems continue to work just fine to this day. They are proven systems and do not qualify as "junk". Then I bought a 2008 Nissan Frontier (assembled in Japan) I got the cheap version the sucker came with manual hubs!