Buying a CHEAP truck. Anything out there have MPG hope?
 

Hi guys,

I'm going to be purchasing an old used pickup here in the next month after finals. Its going to be used to haul things around, and go off-roading here in Utah. It will rarely go on long trips but I might have a few here and there. Mostly town driving though.

Here are my requirements:

4x4
cheap (<$1500)
and hopefully ok mileage
chevy/gmc, toyota, nissan preferred.

Honestly I've thought about getting the regular old 1/2ton chevy, but wondering if you can even get ok mileage out of them.

Any suggestions for what to look for?
I'd love to find an old toyota but they are in demand like no other here and a very rare find in my price range.

i would just go with a f150 because there usally cheap and easy to work on. there a great truck for the $ also. mileage isnt that great but u want 4x4 you have to pay the price.

Try to find a standard shift ;) It will be difficult, but they're out there (somewhere :p)

agree that is one of my absolute gotta haves is a manual

My buddy back in high school had these little toyota 4-cylinder trucks that got like 30mpg. They were standards but I don't know about 4 wheel drive though....

I'd go for a V6 dakota. You should be able to find one in your price range but 4x4 v6 might be tough....,

An International Scout II Truck type with a nissan deisel and a 4 speed with 4x4 would be very nice but I think they are getting hard to find. My dad had one when I was young. The diesel gets better FE than a V8.....

To bad about the the demand, 4 cyl 4x4 'yota would be perfect. Those things won't die off road and are descent in the hauling category. Not sure of the year range you are looking for, but a late 80s, with a solid front axle would be a boon.

91-95 Wranglers(YJ) makes for good off road beaters as well. You'd need a trailer to haul stuff though.

everyone else and their grandmother wants a truck like that as well, and they have more money then you, so you are either going to need alot of luck, or to compromise, if you are going to abuse it go with an amarican made truck, they are going to get worse mileage, and be harder to work on, but they are going to be cheaper because people who don't want to abuse, but insted need or want a useful truck that will last a long time and get good mileage are going to be willing to spend more on a Toyota or Nissan.

Can't speak for the 4x4s but I had a nice little "beater" 94 Mazda B2300 for a long while. It was a good little commuter truck for me and I think that I regularly got mid to high 20s in it.

Maybe check out Ford Rangers as well?

how about renting a truck? $1,500 will rent alot of truck

How about a little Chevrolet S10 with 4.3L V6 4x4 with a 5-speed? I'm sure it could hypermile well with CODFISH'ing and reduced highway speed (17/22 mpg).
Attachment 410

Another option is to get the 4 cylinder 4x4 stick version of the Ford Ranger (20/25 mpg).
Attachment 409

I'd recommend 1996+ for SG compatibility. Check out used government vehicles too. They're usually bare bones and priced well.

If you hold tight and try to find a stick, you might be able to get a really great deal. Especially on an F150 or something like that, where nearly all of the owners want an automatic. It will take some time to find one...

I'd have to agree with many of the previous statements. $1500 is the bottom bargain price and really hard to find anything solid. 4x4 s10 in a stick for 1500 going to be a hard find. I don't like dakota's. There are a lot of the early s10 blazer, bronco II, explorer, etc to choose from. You might consider one of the older AWD astros or aerostars.

Basically you'll end up buying what you can find in that price range. Trucks are hard to come by that aren't worn out or ruined. Personally I like the 5spd GM 1500 with a 4.3. Should be able to get 19-20mpg. Plenty of power and cheap common parts.

https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...496a4ccf50.jpg

We got this truck for $150 last year

ok what are you planning to haul? i have a 95 s-10 2wd and it can haul alot of stuff (try 900lbs of topsoil) and i only the the 2.2L 5speed. and i dont have the off road or extra weight leaf springs. also consider how often your doing to haul stuff...what ever you do buy a truck with a manual tranny. i get about 5-6 mpg better than the auto trucks.

parts are cheap
plenty in junkyards so if you need body parts...

LOTS of aftermarket stuff for em (lift kits lower kits, brush guards, etc) ive heard an s-10 is alot easier to lift/lower than a ranger is just because of the different front susupention setup. trucks must be in high demand in your area cuz i see all sorts of s-10s around me for sale.

i like toyotas except ive noticed/heard from several mechanics/ body shops that the early 90's toyotas rust out like no other. a kid in my auto mech class brought one in to fix the frame cuz it had a 2"-4" hole in the frame that was rusted out.

I picked up a full size chevy pickup with the most efficient setup (the 4.3 l V6 and the 5 speed, 2wd) for 750 with a broken windshield. Look for one with peeling paint and good mechanicals. Mine gets 23 MPG, but I would guess that the 4wd would drop about 2-3 mpg. You might have to look for a while for one. I would guess that a toyota would be too expensive. If economy is more important than durability and how much you can haul, then i would go with a s10 or ranger 4cyl 5 spd. otherwise go with the full size...they don't cost much more, and they will last longer.

Does it have to be a truck? I'd go for an older 4wd subaru+trailer if all you needed to haul was ~1k lbs. AWD, great reliability, ~30mpg.

I have a 93 Toyota 2wd 5spd 4cyl pickup. Bought it new and it now has 218,000 miles. Driving the speed limit I can get 30 mpg while towing my teardrop trailer. It's a wonderful truck but sets in the driveway most of the time now as I drive the Swift.

Q

If you're hauling, I'd go diesel. Added load can cut a petrol powered truck's mpg in half where a diesel my only lose 1 or 2 mpg.

I don't think you'll find a toyota in your price range, but those are good small trucks.

A hardbody Nissan pickup can be had for cheap and the motor is pretty torquey for a 4cyl. I had the motor in my 240sx. It lacks top end, but has a very nice low and midrange.

When you're not hauling, you should use a bed cover and other aero like this:
https://www.evworld.com/images/pknox_toyota.jpg

Click the image for more info. The Cd was cut almost in half and is now equivalent to that of a Honda Insight.

Matt

A diesel scout would probably be great for his needs, and can be converted to run on veggie oil very easily.

How bad do you need 4X4? Get a 2wd 4 cylender s10 stick. An early 90's 2wd Toyota (damaged) may go this low too. Install locking or limited slip differental. Buy one extra rim. Intall Kumho Road Venture MT 834's on the spare and the extra rim. Set tire presure for those two tires 15 PSI. Now when you need "four wheel drive" you can go more places than other normal 4x4's with crappy difernentals and average tires set at 35psi. Any other time you can get 30+ MPG hwy with all your street tires.:thumbup:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Venture+MT+834

Unless you have a V6 with a standard, Almost no old fullsize chevy breaks the 20 MPG hwy barier. The ones that do are few and far between. I believe there are several at 67-72chevytrucks.com though. But they are usally lowered 2wd's. Like this one and he has a 5.7:

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=238227

Start with a 4.3 v6 or 305 v8. Upgrading ignition and rolling valvetrain help FE on these. Getting low gears ratios is a dime a dozen at salvage yards. RV cam's may help too. Carburator or TBI rebuilds will devinatly too. Don't forget converting to electric fan.

The friend I'm building the ForkenSwift with has one of these with a stick - a '95.

Easily gets upper 20's to 30 mpg (US) with conservative driving (and no "advanced" methods). Could exceed that without too much difficulty if you threw some technique and a few mods at it.

I agree about the decent torque - it's quite surprising actually.

The 73-87 Chevy halftons are bulletproof, and one of GM's worst mistakes. You still see them on the road everywhere, they are still popular, reliable trucks. And, it's almost the only truck you see that was built in the 70s from any brand. Sure, they are out there but unless you come across an enthusiast show for a different make you will see a dozen old Chevy/GMC full size trucks for any one other make from that era. It was a mistake for GM because every one of those trucks still on the road represents a lost sale of a newer truck.

One thing to watch on these trucks is the frame at the steering box, they are prone to breaking the frame at this point. LMC trucks sells a frame repair/reinforce kit for this problem. Another thing is cab corner rust, they are bad about the rear corners rusting out. Once again, LMC has repair panels.

Mileage is around 13-15MPG on these trucks, even the only fuel injected year, 1987. To get one of these trucks into the mid 20s to low 30s, install a 99+ 4.8L engine with a 5 speed manual, rear end ratio of 3.42 with a 28 to 30 inch tall tire, electric fans, long tube (not shorties!!!) headers, and 2 inch true duals with crossover. The 4.8L in a 99+ reg cab stepside and auto can see 25MPG unloaded with normal driving from the factory, using some of the techniques here might get 35MPG out of it. Other parts I'd install are a fiberglass hood and fenders, and a full size Blazer rear bumper. When looking at Chevy truck weights, for the base reg cab truck with the smallest offered engine the 73-80 truck dry weighs in at 3600lbs, 81-87 3400lbs (lighter frame and fenders), 88-89 3800lbs and 99+ 4000lbs.

The 4.8L engine complete is available (at least to me) at salvage yards for around 2000 dollars, with accessories and bracketry, computer and wiring harness. No idea on the trans. Hoods go for about 400 bucks, ceramic headers another 400 bucks.

Another option would be to get an inline 6 cyl truck, the 250cid inline 6 got pretty decent mileage with a carb. On one of these engines I would rebuild the engine, and have the intake manifold drilled for injectors, and take the computer system from any 4.3L GM truck to operate it. Install the fuel system, hook it up, use the factory throttle body (may have to modify the intake for the TB, or install an adapter) and you'll have a fuel injected inline 6. The inline 6 is a lot more durable than the V8 with a bearing between each connecting rod throw, so it's a lot stronger. About the only way you can blow one up is to run the oil dry, and even that will take a while to kill it.

If you do the new engine, you can also get an aftermarket computer system to operate it. Some of them allow the use of wideband O2 sensors which will allow you to program the truck to run super lean in cruise mode, and richen back up if you have to get into it.

Hope all this helps, GM trucks are kinda my thing :D

1990 or earlier Jeep Comanche pickup with 4.0 I6

1) $1500 will be doable, I bought an 89 with zero rust and a Jasper engine with 20k miles on it for $1200.00 a few months back

2) the 4.0 is well known for +200,000 mile longevity, I would put it right next to the Toyota 22RE, except that it's a LOT more powerful... Interestingly both trucks use Aisin Warner 4 speed autos which are also bullet proof...

3) the pre 91 4.0 is fuel injected using a MPI system called "Renix" which coupled with the lower power (91 and later "High Output" 4.0's got better flowing heads and use more fuel) will get very decent mileage.

4) very capable of 24-25 MPG without any sort of FE mods.

5) Jeep 4 wheel drive = more aftermarket parts, more Web forums (user knowledge base) and proven capability

6) you wont get a Toyota for anywhere near $1500 and they are the only trucks I would compare the Comanche to, for that time frame. Light truck wise anyway

Look into getting a mid 80s Toyota Pickup.

We had one and it ran for 235,000 miles. If I do recall, it got decent mileage and it was a 4X4.

The old half ton chevy pickup is absolutely a great buy. The FE is probably not the best, but those are the most reliable trucks on the road. My dad had a 1990 model and ran it from 95,000 to 191,000 and it never once died on him.

something like this....

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Toyot...32190167QQrdZ1

I just went thru this last fall and ended up with a Nissan I4 4x4. It's getting around 22 mpg mixed...hope to get it up to 25 or so.

I ended up looking for a Toyota...Nissan...or Ranger...mostly the 4 bangers with manual trans. Though the smaller V6 might do OK with the Ranger.

Always check the frame out for rust...if you can poke a hole thru it...you probably don't want it? Also check the driveline for lose bearings and leaking seals.

Around here they are in high demand. I budgeted about $3K...ended up buying for $1600...but am doing a lot of remedial repair work.

Best bet might be the local free classified papers or maybe Craiglist?

I don't know how you will find something like that with 4 wheel drive that gets good mpg. If this is just another car/fun car for offroading and such, why does it really matter? When you engage that 4 wheel low and go wheeling, that is gonna kill your mpg anyways. I have an old Jeep (64 CJ-5) with the 4 cylinder f-head in it, and it's mpg is about as good as a lawnmowers, especially in 4 low. But it sure is fun off the road!! :cool:

I've got a 96 s-10, with the 2.2L 5sp. It would pull/haul anything I needed it to, had a surprising amount of pep/torque for the 4 banger, and would hit 22-25 MPG with moderate driving, 30 MPG highway @ 70 MPH. I stuck a set of Goodyear Wrangler SR-As on it for the wintertime....that little truck did awesome in the snow, and pretty good off-road for being 2WD.

Remember....Your success in off-roading adventures is 90&#37; driver, 10% vehicle.....




PS - that same 96 s-10 is also for sale...only $1200. 15x,xxx miles, A/C, ext. cab, the works

volkswagen used to make a diesel pickup truck based of the rabbit chassis. allegedly got around 40-45mpg i think. doubt it was 4x4 though. can run off of biodiesel too.

yup jus thro maybe 150-200lb sof sand bags back there and your good to go in the winter:D

and their s-10's their a dime a dozen:thumbup: if you break somehtign or wreck it just got to any junkyard and they will haev the parts (relatively cheap cuz the places i go to want to get rid of s-10 parts cuz they have too many;)

I actually ran all winter with no weight in the bed. Only got stuck once, I ended up sliding into the "unplowed" part of the off-ramp, where the plows had dumped all the snow. Couldn't open my doors, as the snowpiles came almost up to my door-handles!! Climbed out a window, filled 1/2 the bed with snow, and started rocking her back and forth.....made it out in 'bout 10 minutes.

My vote would be a Toyota 4x4...and if you can do it cheap enough, dump a 4cyl diesel in it, and barring rust or a sudden stop (read collision) it will run forever.

Then again, if gas prices stay high, and you aren't going on any long trips at all, or using it for a daily driver, then get the newest full-sized truck with the largest and most piggy V-8 you can find. They are getting cheaper and cheaper as people wake-up. ;) Drive it, and don't even calculate your FE. ;)

Seeing as this IS gassavers, and you are on a budget, I'm gonna try and steer you in a fuel efficient and thrifty direction.

Get a $200 trailer from menards/harbor freight/parts sitting in the back yard/wherever.

Buy a stick shift escort/saturn/diesel rabbit/whatever and put a tow hitch on it.

When you need to haul something, hook up the trailer. Meanwhile hypermile that econobox into the ground.

one small problem, most of those cars would have problems hauling 900 lbs of stuff. or if any type of incline would cause it to bog so much...

There are older MT Toyota trucks out there. Good luck getting the owners to part with them, though.

m

im not sure with your area but around here any old toyota truck is a total rust bucket(i saw one with a fist sized hole in the frame O_o ) yet i see alot of rust free to slight rust s-10's around. alot more than rangers

There is a web page for guys getting diesel motors out of Japan and making their US spec Toyota trucks to global HiLux standards....

Cool, but FAR from cheap (motors are $4K or so alone)

Get a sl2, its got much sportier gearing. I don't think 900lbs would be a problem for a saturn. You'd definately want the SL2,SW2,or SC2 simply because you'd get a rear anti roll bar, and the shorter trans gearing.

Ha ha, I was just looking at this on e-bay :

Putnam hitch # 55142 Saturn Wagon, Coupe, class 1
https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...8721572&rd=1,1

In Europe, on maybe 20% of the normal passenger cars, there are trailer hooks sticking out the back (even on BMWs!). When they need to haul something, they commonly use an open flatbed trailer like this :

Attachment 643
https://www.worthingtontrailers.com/t...are.aspx?ID=41

Sooooo, when needed, a normal passenger car can haul nearly the same as a truck.

However, this does NOT address the 4WD drive issue.

CarloSW2

VetteOwner -

Yeah, 900 lbs is about right. I went here for my car :

1999 Saturn SW
https://autos.msn.com/research/vip/sp...l=SW&trimid=-1

And it said that the towing capacity was 1000 lbs. Assuming that the trailer itself weighs 350 lbs, the effective load capacity would be 650 lbs.

CarloSW2