Another Truck Thread

[flipsRscary]

I can see wanting and getting a full sized truck when you're coming out of a small truck or SUV. Particularly if you watched it not quite work for what you wanted to do time and time again. However I wouldn't own a one ton if I had to commute in it. That said, it sounds like you have a bike which should help in the summer, so perhaps in the winter you'll bite it on the gas until you can find some lesbians that you can warm up to (hint: some of them wear make-up and aren't too hung up on the party line).

If you want a full sized truck because you were constantly overloading your small truck, then just move directly to a 3/4 or 1 ton. The 1/2 ton trucks do give you slightly more weight capacity than a small truck, but you still have to think about what you're putting in there. With the 1 ton I generally get tired of loading before it's any where neat a problem. The extra springs that LeeC mentions (and at least for fords, he's dead on) are great if you're running heavy most of the time, but also make the truck no fun at all to drive if you're running empty, so that should help you make the call between the 3/4 and 1 ton. They are pretty close in price actually; the jump is from the half ton to all the heavy duty stuff that start on the 3/4 ton.

Also, price a set of rotors (or some other wear item) for a heavy duty truck before you commit to commuting in one. It's not totally unaffordable, but it should be something you actively choose to spend your money on. Just graduating from school, spending it on drinks for three or four girls might turn out to be more fun (though possibly less healthy).

[farmer]

Thanks everyone for the (mostly) helpful advise. 3/4 ton dodge sounds like my best bet.

I put the nissan on craigslist, figuring that it would be tough to sell, and I've had ~10 people interested in the 3 days since then. Looks like it will be easy to unload it, so I'm going to wait until it's closer to the end of the schoo year / into the summer unless a good deal comes up on a 3/4 ton. Full disclosure of everything that's wrong, inlcuding salvage title, in the ad, so I was suprised how much interest there was for it.

[old goat]

Best advice I ever got was from my gym teacher in elementary school--never buy a car on credit, and I never have. Second best advice--drive it until it dies (which is why I still have an 87 4runner I just gave my son). Just starting out the last thing you need is to owe more money. Buy something you can afford to pay cash for now, save for what you want to buy next. Follow my advice and you too can retire early and ski every day (going to med school did help some too.) And never forget--big truck, big dog, small dick. I drive a subaru.