truck help

**shafty85** · 03-14-2016, 11:42 PM

People who know things about trucks - educate me. I'm looking to purchase a truck. I'm not a car/truck guy, so assume that whatever knowledge you have, I don't. Said truck would be mainly used for hauling sleds (in the process of purchasing 1 or 2/mountain bikes/canoe/boat/random recreational activity stuff/yardwork/etc. Vancouver Island is full of logging roads, so lots of access for the sleds/bikes/canoes will be down those. Will also travel to Whistler/Pemberton/Revelstoke/Golden areas on occasion. It won't be a 'work' truck - unless my office job changes drastically. Ideally would have also have a small car to do daily commutes to work and around town with, but don't know if that's feasible given that we just bought a house (fuel mileage is incredible on newer/small cars, but would the additional insurance just cancel that out?). Main question I have is, should I be looking at an older diesel that is more likely a pig on fuel (that's an assumption there, which will only make an ass of you and me... I'll be here all day, folks) or should I buy a newer, more expensive truck? I have minor mechanical skills, and am capable of doing work on older vehicles (such as my '96 cherokee) but these new driving computers have my stumped whenever I pop the hood on one. My budget is far from limitless, especially with the potential expense of purchasing a couple sleds, but I want to make this happen. Take me to school, folks.

**Silverbullet** · 03-15-2016, 12:04 AM

I have a Ford F-350 diesel 2006 , 183000 km. Have just completed 5000.00 in repairs, front end and high pressure oil leak. Been a great truck but might be time for me to get somethings newer.

**RShea** · 03-15-2016, 09:07 AM

First off- hauling as in the back of the bed of the truck or hauling as in some sort of trailer? If in the bed- how big are the 2 sleds and that will help determine the bed size. If the trailer, then the bed size is not as important. The boats of course wills tick out the back of most any size truck bed, so many do a rack or put a bed cap and mount up a rack system to haul the canoe or Kayak. Then your next decision is standard cab (3 people max) extended cab (3 in the seat and 2 small people uncomfortably in the shotgun seats behind) or a double cab- 2 seats and able to fit more people in the 2nd row seat....

Once you have that figured out, then you move on to brands, new or used, engine type (gas or diesel and if pulling a trailer or hauling stuff each has pluses and minuses) and some other things to narrow your search.

**XXX-er** · 03-15-2016, 09:23 AM

IMO the big question IS do you need to haul a lot of weight? if you wana haul 2 sleds you need a deck or a trailer

If you do then a diesel will handle the load and it may save money on fuel but the gas engines are pretty damn good nowdays and the milage is just getting better & better

IME diesel in BC was almost always cheaper than RUG 10-15 yrs ago when I was running it in a TDi but the price of diesel seems to fluctuate more than or less than RUG and stay more expensive than diesel nowdays, doing the math on fuel cost is easy enough

But then there is repairs a diesel can be $$$$ when they break

**::: :::** · 03-15-2016, 09:26 AM

for the sleds, i'm guessing you want a 1/2ton or better. sure, you can pull with something smaller but it can be a struggle in some conditions you find in the sticks...the other toys don't require a big truck (unless they will all be packed together)

a used domestic truck is going to be easier on the wallet for purchase & repairs

**TAFKALVS** · 03-15-2016, 09:44 AM

The 1999 - 2007 Chevy Pickups are about as simple as your 1996 Cherokee in terms of fixing things, and having owned multiples of both, I find the Chevy easier to do basic maintenance on because there is more room around everything. Plus the oil filter isn't in a stupid place like it is on the 4.0L I6 Jeep engines.

Diesel trucks get better fuel mileage but are much more expensive to fix and everything is more expensive when it comes to basic maintenance (more oil needed in an oil change for instance.) Diesel trucks are also a lot more expensive to buy.

**Wapow** · 03-15-2016, 12:24 PM

If you're planning to buy two snomos, then you'll either need to trailer them or get a sled deck, because you can't fit two sleds in the back of any standard issue truck. Sled decks are the better option IMO, but that would require a full size truck, plus the cost of the sled deck and maybe air bags too. Sled deck is especially good on snow covered logging roads, with discontinuous snow, like in the early and late season. Trailer is cheaper and easier for sledding newbs to deal with. You can also pull a two-up sled trailer with any mid size truck or SUV w/ a 6 cylinder. Old trucks break down and cost a lot to fix. Double ditto with sleds. Pay less now and risk having your trips ruined and having to fund expensive repairs (sleds cost about as much cheap cars to repair, especially if you have the dealer do the wrenching) , or make the investment in reliable transportation now. I'd recommend the latter.

**adrenalated** · 03-15-2016, 12:36 PM

Everything written here so far is good. One thing I'll add about the sled deck vs trailer thing though, if you're buying older sleds, there's a good chance they won't have reverse. I'd rather unload a sled without reverse from a trailer than from a sled deck.

**LightRanger** · 03-15-2016, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by Leavenworth Skier

Plus the oil filter isn't in a stupid place like it is on the 4.0L I6 Jeep engines.

Heh. I'd forgotten how annoying it was to change those.

**TAFKALVS** · 03-15-2016, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by LightRanger

Heh. I'd forgotten how annoying it was to change those.

What a dumb idea to mount an oil filter diagonally in an impossible to reach place. It always resulted in spilling oil everywhere and that was if you could get a filter wrench on the damn filter. Plus the 3 or so sensors next to it that always seemed to break when you bumped them with the filter wrench. So stupid.

**XXX-er** · 03-15-2016, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by adrenalated

Everything written here so far is good. One thing I'll add about the sled deck vs trailer thing though, if you're buying older sleds, there's a good chance they won't have reverse. I'd rather unload a sled without reverse from a trailer than from a sled deck.

it looked like the local guys at the sled lot just thro them down the ramp off the back of the truckdeck !

**adrenalated** · 03-15-2016, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by XXX-er

it looked like the local guys at the sled lot just thro them down the ramp off the back of the truckdeck !

I've seen all sorts of sketchy methods for unloading/loading sleds. Didn't say it can't be done, just saying I wouldn't want to do it. Especially since you can even buy drive on/drive off sled trailers.

**XXX-er** · 03-15-2016, 01:35 PM

On a truck I would go gas UNLESS I really needed to pull enough weight to justify a Diesel

or needed to smoke out that guy behind me

yeah a diesel gets better milage but so what if the fuel is mo expensive?

IME my VW TDi was a little cheaper for fuel cost when D was 50cents cheaper per gallon than RUG

but when RUG is 50cents cheaper than D ... didn't make sense from a cost standpoint

but you got ta calculator ... run the figures

**XXX-er** · 03-15-2016, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by adrenalated

I've seen all sorts of sketchy methods for unloading/loading sleds. Didn't say it can't be done, just saying I wouldn't want to do it. Especially since you can even buy drive on/drive off sled trailers.

I think the abuse getting off the deck is WAAAY less than the normal abuse the average mtn sled gets put thru in a days riding

**shafty85** · 03-15-2016, 01:37 PM

Great advice thus far, thanks.

The two sleds I have my eye on are a '01 summit 700 (engine rebuilt <1500km ago) and a '99 ('98?) summit 670 rebuilt <2000km ago). From my research, these seem to be well-built, reliable, sleds (correct me if I'm wrong). Though far from being big mountain sleds, I believe they would be adequate for getting around logging roads and getting us into the world of sledding (again, correct me if I'm wrong); we can always upgrade at a later date. I can get them for <$3000CAN (~$2250US) and hope to get them for ~$2500CAN ($1900US) for the both.

http://comoxvalley.craigslist.ca/snw/5440201449.html
The '01 summit 700 is through a buddy and not posted online yet. Obviously these are both short-track sleds, but would possibly end up with longer tracks in the future. Will be doing my own work on the sleds.

Back to the truck:

From everything I've been told, a sled deck is the way to go - but, as adrenelated and wapow mentioned, the trailer may be easier (especially without the reverse and being newbs to the sled world). But, while I may upgrade the sleds in the near-ish future, I'd like the truck to be a longer-term thing. So, I'd like the truck to have the ability to haul them both on a deck (even if I do wind up with a trailer in the short-term).

I have my eye on a diesel in-town http://nanaimo.craigslist.ca/cto/5463378454.html but am now reconsidering given the discussion re: gas vs diesel, especially in regards to repair costs (will do some further research tonight on the benefit between the 2). Definitely given me plenty to think about.

**TAFKALVS** · 03-15-2016, 01:42 PM

IDI powerstrokes without a turbo are serious dogs. Expect to pull most hills at 30mph...

How much are you wanting to spend on a truck?

**shafty85** · 03-15-2016, 01:44 PM

^^^ good to know. Hoping to keep the cost to <$10k or so? The less I need to spend, the better...

**XXX-er** · 03-15-2016, 01:49 PM

look for a chevy PU on gas, the newest you can find for <10k, my tenant had one it was pretty reliable and cheap

and he could fix it himself often with cheap parts from canadian tire

**shafty85** · 03-15-2016, 01:52 PM

This one looks real fast

http://nanaimo.craigslist.ca/ctd/5481214462.html

**adrenalated** · 03-15-2016, 01:54 PM

My family had an F350 with the 7.3L turbodiesel and it was a great rig (I think it was a 95 or 96). It was a crew cab, dually, and I pulled a fully loaded 38' gooseneck with it on the regular and it was an absolute beast, and mpg really wasn't that bad. I honestly couldn't tell you what maintenance costs were like though, as this was about 15 years ago and I was in high school at the time.

I'm not sure what exactly I'd hunt down if I were in your position, but an F250 with that engine in it would probably be on the research list.

**shafty85** · 03-15-2016, 02:13 PM

Will look into those as well, thanks.

**TAFKALVS** · 03-15-2016, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by shafty85

^^^ good to know. Hoping to keep the cost to <$10k or so? The less I need to spend, the better...

1999-2007 Chevy trucks are pretty nice. The 1500 has a 5.3l V8 that gets good gas mileage. The 2500 has a 6.0l V8 that gets terrible mileage but has a ton of power. If you're planning on towing a bunch the 6.0 is the way to go. I'm currently getting 12-13mpg in my 2002 2500 with the 6.0. Mixed driving, not much freeway stuff. I paid $5000 for mine with 150,000 on it. I bought a set of 265/75/r16 Goodyear Duratrac tires for it and so far am super happy with the performance on gravel roads, snow and the highway. Quiet but grippy in the loose crap.

The previous gen chevy trucks with the 350 in them are good and around $3500 or less. Not as refined and depending on the truck I've gotten between 12-18mpg on the ones I've owned. Just depends on the configuration, gears, transmission, tune, 1/2 vs 3/4 ton, etc. Easy and cheap to work on.

I don't have any experience with diesels first hand, just watched a lot of friends pay tons of money to get marginally better fuel mileage than my gas rigs. Unless you plan on towing heavy stuff all the time a diesel is a waste in my opinion. If there were 1/2 to light 3/4 ton trucks with nice small diesels readily available it'd be a different story, but right now when you buy a diesel truck you're basically buying a mini dump truck with a bus engine in it. Way overkill for running to the dump and hauling a few sleds.