tow rig/mild 4x4/daily driver

[CRaSHnBuRN]

Hypothetical question:

Lets say you needed a new vehicle. For the most part this vehicle would be used as a daily driver (less than 10k miles a year), and as a tow rig maybe once or twice a month (standard load = 3-4.5K lb vehicle and a car hauler type trailer). But you would like this vehicle to also be 4x4 and mildly built (lift, bigger tires, maybe a rear locker), so that it can be used for mild wheeling, camping, and hunting. Oh yeah, the cheaper the better and its gotta have AC

What would kinda vehicle would you use for something like this? Mind you, the vehicle doesn't necessarily have to fit all the above requirements in the beginning (for example, you could swap in a V8 or heavier duty axles to make it better).

[CRaSHnBuRN]

as for me, I always thought a late 80's early 90s 1 ton single cab truck would fit the bill nicely. I like the fords from those years. Or perhaps a chevy setup similar to this , but much milder. Or perhaps something like a 350 powered FJ60 or a J20 pickup.

[CheapJeep]

Scott's or Kopecki's cummins is a perfect example. Keep it newer, the older you go for a D.D. the more problems you have. Diesel and 3/4 to 1 ton for towing purposes. But whatever, it's your deal.

[CRaSHnBuRN]

missed the cheap part, huh? Trucks like those with a diesel are normally kinda expensive

[KrazyKarl02]

My advice, don't screw with your daily driver. I had the bronco cause I thought it would be good for pulling boats, could go off road, put a little lift on it etc.. Well id did all of those things kind of, but none very well. That is why when I bought my F-250 I put stock tires back on it. My F-250 pulls good and rides down the highway great. At the deer lease, I usually don't have to worry. Wheeling your daily driver (in my opinion) leads to problems. Plus you never know when to stop, such as you start with oh I will just put 33's on it, then a year later, man 35's and a locker would be great.... Before you know it you have some sort of vehicle like Tate's, Doug's or Mike's. While I think their trucks are cool, just remember they all where daily drivers at one point too.

[eight]

You can get a dodge diesel in my style for well under 10K now, especially in a single cab. Put some 285s on the stock wheels and leave everything else stock, unless you want to lift the front a little for looks. Then you could move the axle forward an inch to run 35s, maybe even 37s. They work great for camping and hunting, but I haven't thought about wheeling. I used to take it out to eagle rock and it would idle over just about anything, with 3.55 gears and 35s.

Or a perfect truck for this would be those utility company 01-02 F-350s I like to buy real cheap. Plain as they get with diesel, 6 speed, 4x4, and no bed. You could chop the frame off at the hanger, build a flat bed, flip the shackels on the back and remove the block, put an overload spring from the rear of a F-150 under the front springs, redrill the perches to move the front axle forward a little, trim the fenders a little, build a crawler style bumper, and put on some 37" hummer tires and a locker in the 60. It'd be kinda like the average trail toyoda but twice the size.

[Doug Krebs]

My blazer up until a couple of months could have still been a DD.

Ready for gayness? Thought so...

Get a nice blazer body:

Decent springs, like alcoa, just something that rides nice with a lift

4BT/NV4500/whatever

Dana 60 Front

14 Bolt Rear

[CRaSHnBuRN]

so where are you'll finding these cheap diesels? Everytime I start thinkin about a tow rig again, I check the prices and thats the end of it again. High mileage and high prices is all I ever see. I do like the simple single cab utility trucks. The only creature comfort I need is AC. As for building a tow rig to wheel, I'm not saying anything crazy. Just something I know won't get stuck if I pull it off the road. The buggy handles anything I can throw at it, but it kinda sucks if I just want to drive down a rough dirt road to camp for a while. I love my tacoma as a daily driver, but I need something better to tow with, and I would really like to do it cheap so I don't have 5 years of payments to look at

[JB]

You don't need a damn diesel to tow 4k plus trailer

[robertf03]

I'd look for an 85 f150 with a 5.0 HO and zf 5 speed

[CRaSHnBuRN]

My blazer up until a couple of months could have still been a DD.

Ready for gayness? Thought so...

Get a nice blazer body:

Decent springs, like alcoa, just something that rides nice with a lift

4BT/NV4500/whatever

Dana 60 Front

14 Bolt Rear

I almost built that back in high school. I was lining up the parts for it when I cracked my hardtop in a soft flop, and killed the tranny. So I sold it to some mexicans for a couple of hundred more than I payed for it

[CRaSHnBuRN]

You don't need a damn diesel to tow 4k plus trailer

no, but if there is a place to find the diesels cheap, then they most likely have the V8s there even cheaper

[eight]

Yea these trucks all have AC, a spotlight, and some switches in the dash that don't do anything. For going offroad they're fine as they come. They have 265 all terrains. They were used to run down powerlines but all had winches on them. The reason to have a diesel is for the mileage, but with the cost of diesel I wonder if you're better off with a 5.4.

[CRaSHnBuRN]

we towed my old truck one day with crew cab with a 5.4, and you couldn't tell the thing was back there. Personally, I would prefer a small gas engine anyway, especially with the high cost of diesel.

[eight]

The 5.4 would be better offroad anyway, and probably more reliable.