2WD or 4WD

jbach wrote:

X2,i'll take ours over any domestic, pulling the boat or not.

:stirthepot: plus, we prefer not to buy govt. bailed out, union built autos anyways. not only do they hold up better, they hold their value leaps and bounds better :stirthepot: [/QUOTE]



You're not necessarily 100% correct here. Pretty sure most of the import manuf here are operating in facilities that are controlled by union labor. Ford and Chevy are right in there with resale values as well.
I know my Tundra has 100k miles on it with only oil changes at 3-4000 mile intervals, rear diff fluid changed once and I just had to put brakes on it at about 85k. It's been turning 35" tires since 30k miles and is just a beast that refuses to let me down. I love it.

What are you guys towing that you need a truck? If I had to own a truck to tow my boat I would sell the boat.

8122pbrainard wrote: 62 wood wrote: 4WD...."Dont leave home without it"! Leave or leaves? Yes, I know how important the 4WD is for you in the fall!

Heres one for Pete,



What I usually use the plow for..

john b wrote: What are you guys towing that you need a truck? If I had to own a truck to tow my boat I would sell the boat.

besides the boats, there's this little 18 footer..


and the slightly larger 24 footer...


Sorry, I dont have the open car trailer here to take a pic...


...and the Pres. wants me to get a hybrid...


BTW, Does anyone make a one ton Jap truck to do this kind of work?

.
.

phatsat67 wrote: That thats a big NO Steve. The newer Tundras are plow capable. I run 1500 and 2500 solid fron axle trucks as plow rigs. Have since I was about 16 years old. Never had a failure in one. Both gas rigs and diesel. If winter gets super bad I just break out one of those old girls but It never does here anymore. Probably going to sell atleast one of them. I enjoy the comfort of the new truck even if it slips around a bit in the snow being 2wd.

I hear ya Zach,
Years ago, I had built a 1980 Chevy dually 4x4 with a 454. 400/205 tranny/t.fer case. Dana 60 front/70 rear.

LOVED the truck ,she pushed a 9 foot Meyer plow. But thanks to $4 gas, could no longer afford to feed the old girl. Also got "Tired" of putting $1300. worth of tires on it every 4 years.

This 97 is my first IFS 4x4.. HATED it the first winter. Then beefed the front up and bought the Boss V plow. Now, I would never go back.

btw, the 80 had over 400,000 miles on the clock when I sold her 5 years ago. She is still being used to plow snow today!

phatsat67 wrote: All our old rigs are Dodges. We would buy with plows and sell the trucks and keep the plows so we had as many as 4 plows at one time haha. Used to make some good $$$ when Indiana had big boy winters. Dad plowed for a company back in the late 70's early 80's and all they used were lifted 454 regular cab long bed Chevy 3/4 tons. I dig old work trucks but have been spolied by my newer half ton trucks for daily drivers. Oh and Boss V plows are cool

"Back in the day",(Started plowing in 1978.) I plowed 32 commercial accounts. The 97 had an old style Western "T" handle plow hanging on it when I bought it. Worked ok, but the 7 1/2 didnt cut it after running a 9 footer.

Sold the 80, with the 9 foot Meyer, add 3 grand and "viola" an NEW Boss! Hard to make that decision at first.. after using the v for the first half hour, never thought about its cost again!

If you have ever backed too far into a slimy algae covered ramp you will wish you had 4WD . When you need it, you need it. I wont buy anything but 4WD ever since I got stuck in my own driveway 3 times a few years ago (Michigan winters suck)

Foreign or Domestic is a personal choice, but if you want to tow a trailer full of Clydesdales up Pikes Peak, you will need one of these two- the only trucks capable of entering this competition.

Ford Chevy

phatsat67 wrote: Have you checked out the new 13 Ram 3500? It blows the competition out of the water with it's tow ratings. They can't build a manual transmission to hold the torque so the automatic is the highest torque rating. 850 Ft/Lbs, 30,000lb 5th wheel rating 18,000lb bumper pull rating. Thats stupid weight for a single rear axle vehicle.

They can't really build automatic transmissions that can withstand any kind of abuse or longevity either. That's why it was so confusing to me that they just came out with a tranny with even more gears. Maybe they should try to fix what they got first before making things even worse? LOL

All the new Dodge transmissions are money. They got a bad rap from the RE series which went away in 2007 1/2 on the Diesel trucks and 2009 in the half tons.

If you actually maintain the transmissions in the trucks they don't have problems. Nobody does band adjustments at the set intervals which is easy especially when doing a pan off transmission service.

When the fluid starts to change as it gets older it causes seal problems. The most common failures on that family of transmissions is seal failure and 2nd gear band failure.

My best friends dad always ran 06 and older Cummins trucks. They would go exactly 250,000 on transmissions before rebuild. Mostly towing highway miles.

All of our plow trucks have the "worst" version of these transmissions and guess howmany failures I've had in 6 or 8 trucks?

You are such a redneck Steve ;).

phatsat67 wrote: You are such a redneck Steve ;).

actually, redneck probably hadnt been coined yet. I was considered a farmer back then. I lived in the country and drove a pickup, what else could you be?

4wd all the way

Can't believe all these answers in such a short time...must be Winter.

Nice value on the older 4Runners right now. I was looking at one myself. I believe the 05+ (5 Speed Transmission) and 2WD will give you all the towing you need for a Nautique and the best gas mileage. Not to mention the wealth of information out there on the 4Runner. Might even be able to find one under $10k.

stats

You are going to get flamed, those are older tacomas.

HW you'll like this- Back in the 70's you could not buy a nice
truck with modern conveniences that we take for granted now. Air,
power windows,locks,nice ride etc. This picture shows my Dads '71
472ci Caddy on the left with a couple of friends.L-R 27ft,31ft,
25ft Airstreams. All the car needed was a hitch and a trans cooler.
The difference between towing and not was 4mpg. At 32 cents a
gallon,no one cared.

HW's Caddy sure gets the job done.

I love the early 60's Lincolns.