Need advice on pickup trucks; your experience

[ws23jrt]

Have never seen a roadster yet disigned for every day use. You might as well be on a gocart in big truck traffic. You got flags on that roadster so you can be seem in their mirrors?

Motorcycles are designed for everyday use. Don't see many with flags.
Smart cars don't have flags either.

 

[Bb70charger500]

To the a hole who disagreed with me . I know what my truck does and you can have no possible input on it because you don't know my truck at all! I have nothing to gain by lieing about what my truck does!

 

[Kern Dog]

Maybe the person that disagreed has or had a similar truck and got the same mileage that everyone else has with it. Admit it, 22 mpg out of a 3/4 ton truck while towing is not likely unless the truck has a Cummins diesel. You are lucky to get 15 mpg while towing.
Maybe you did the math wrong? You are a nice guy but it is not reasonable to get mad when someone doubts a claim like yours. Think I am wrong? Ask around what others get with trucks like yours.

 

[not so famous bob]

I am considering the purchase of a pickup truck for use as my daily commuter; and odd weekend trips to Lowe's/etc. No towing. The last time I had a new vehicle was 1989...a 2WD 360 Ramcharger with 3.55 gears and it was great! I am "cheap" and no longer buy new cars, but used pickup trucks here in Georgia are too expensive even for high mileage examples. So, I am looking for your advice on brands/models, but I am only interested in the lowest purchase price. Fortunately, there is a glut of 2017 makes/models and there are lots of sales here in Georgia, as well as Hilton Head and Charleston, South Carolina. Sales prices are currently ranging from $19,900 to approximately $24,300 for Fords and Rams; and GMC is slightly higher.
(1) Ram 1500 regular cab Tradesman?
(2) Ford F-150 XL?
(3) GMC?
(4) foreign?

Other than reliability (and lowest purchase price), my only requirements are:
(1) 8 foot bed
(2) 2 door models, not 4 door models
(3) air conditioning
(4) combined city/hwy fuel economy above 20 mpg.

Feel free to pm me if you prefer that over posting a reply here.

Many thanks in advance.

I bought a 2014 ram express, 300 horse 6, auto., 23,00 miles, never had anything in the bed, or any thing in the trailer hitch. Gets average of 23 m.p.g., is quick and lite. love it ! Sure beats the 4 door ram that I drove for 15 yrs. !

 

[MiradaMegaCab]

Dodge Ram BFT
10' Bed

 

[YY1]

RE: Dakota.

Not an 8 foot bed, but there are indentations to use 1x4 and 1x6 to lay a 4x8 sheet flat.

I L O V E my Dakota....and I use it like a truck. I ask a lot of it too.

I will say that I verified the EVIC (that does the MPG calculations).

You absolutely CAN trust it.

Over three tanks (835 miles), it was off by .5 of an MPG.
That's .16 MPG per tank, and it was to the bad, meaning it actually got that .16 MPG more than the EVIC said.

That said, we've had a couple v6 Dakotas in the family, and I would NOT use one for towing. They seem to be hit or miss on power. The one I had was kind of a dog, and it wasn't wore out either. The first one my mom had was abused but it had a LOT more power. The one she's got now was babied and is just so/so on power.

 

[Budnicks]

I love my 99 Dakota SLT 4x4 318/5.2ltr Magnum/44RE TF
it fits in the garage easily,
it has plenty of bed space "usually" for all I want
{I have a 02 F350 4x4 dually if I need more, I rarely ever do}
it's comfortable handles very well
it gets better mileage than most that are the same truck
but I've done a few mods that helped perk it up
& improve on the MPG's it has a 3.54:1 gears 9.25" limited slip
Mine has only 58,000 miles on it, the resale value sucks *** &
I couldn't replace it for what I can sell it for, not even close...

You can get them cheap...

I've heard all the stories about this & that...
Most people don't take care of their **** like most of US all do here...
I also did a Hypertech tuner, it helped some
I also installed an AEM Air box/tube 4" alum & a Gauze cone filter
I also have 1.7:1 HS Rockers, that really woke it up,
{I have a set of bolt on Edelbrock chrome (whoopie} shorty headers I will install sooner or later,
probably when I finally have to do my brakes & shocks}
IMO it didn't hurt my mileage one bit, I actually "Know it helped",
I was getting 12-13mpg OE before all the mods...
NOW I don't have to mash the skinny peddle anywhere near
as much as I use to, especially here in the mountains,
when it was in OE stock tune, I had to constantly shift down...
I now get average 16-17mpg here in the Foothills
it's rarely in O/D either {probably because of the bigger 32" tires}
NOW runs better, more usable power & gets better mileage too,
it's not gear hunting, so damn much either,
we have very little flat or straight roads up here...

On long trips it gets appr. 20mpg, last trip like from here to Redbluff
if I keep it under 75mph, if I mainly using the cruise control too
when I finally get to a freeway/4 lane or more hwy
{we are a min of 60+ miles away from any freeways/major hwy}

I have a bit taller tire than OE, it came with a 31 x 10,
I have a 32 x 11, that cuts the gears down a bit in O/D,
runs just under 1500rpm at 70 {yes it's been recalibrated for the 32"/bigger tires too}...

I guess it depends on what you want,
I've also got another truck if need be...

It gets about 14mpg while towing a 36" Jaco 5th wheel
on highways/flatter surfaces, slightly mod
F350 4x4 Dually 7.3 Powerstroke with a Hypertech chip
4" exhaust etc.

My Dakota {like my 3rd Dakota} is like the best of both worlds,
drives like a car {sort of}
small enough to park anywhere & handles well anywhere
far better than a full size truck anyway...
It serves my purpose, very well...
Yeah it's not the best tow rig, but I've used it to haul an
open trailer & a RR on it did fine had plenty of power,
even here in the mountains, easy peasy on flat land...
It came from the factory with trailer brakes actuator
& a OE tow package, better cooling & larger trans cooler
a class 3, 2" receiver hitch etc.

I love it...
It's still in great shape & I keep it that way...

Some people experiences will vary...
I've heard so many different tales about what others
have & done, I ignore them now...
I know exactly what mine does & what it gets or will handle...

check out www.fortrucksonly.com
another of Joey's sites