Intermediate Truck?

[Danno77]

Anybody here ever purchased an intermediate Truck. I'm in a funny place vehicle-wise right now. I can probably keep doing what i've been doing to haul wood. that's use my 1000lb 40x48 (with a slightly larger deck on it) behind the Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. I have been looking for a 3/4 or 1 ton truck for some time now and I'm being pretty picky about it because I don't NEED a new truck for transportation reasons and I've been "getting by" without one. Life really would be a heck of a lot easier if i could haul some drywall, plywood and some firewood. Life would be even better if I could haul A LOT of that stuff. As it stands I only haul what my little trailer can hold and it's not good for plywood, so i am limited to getting drywall delivered from the local lumber yard, and he doesn't have the plywood I want 90% of the time (same goes for treated lumber)

The point of this post is to just get some feelings (and hopefully scrounge up some information) on an intermediate truck. One of the local small-time dealerships has a pretty cool looking old dodge truck. I stopped and looked and talked to the dealer. He gave me the name of the previous owner, a local farmer. I know him by name, but don't think I've ever met him. anyway it's a 1988 D100 with a long bed and the 3.9L V6, 2wd, automatic transmission, and a leer topper on it. I normally wouldn't even consider it, but the thing only has 57,000 (or something like that) miles on it and he's only asking 2775 for it. It's a really basic truck and a fair price (I'd try to get him to take a bit less). This truck looks exactly like it did 22 years ago, it's crazy. I can't find much information online about this year of truck and no payload and towing information for it. If it's not insanely light duty I might just get this.

so, to summarize:
1. Numbers to go with hauling/towing for a 1988 D100.
2. any input on the concept of an intermediate truck.

 

[fossil]

I have a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (V-8). I have a 1988 Big Tex 8' x 12' utility trailer (tandem axle flatbed with a ~16" rail around three sides, electric brakes on the rear axle). I've hauled two different cars across the country (San Diego to Virginia, Virginia to Oregon), untold runs to Home Depot, Lowe's, wherever for whatever. 4' x 8' sheet of whatever...no problemo. I also have a 5' x 10' x 2' dump trailer, and the Jeep has no problem pulling it around fully loaded with whatever I might be wanting to move from one place to another. I'm careful about load and towing weight capacities to make sure I'm not approaching the limits of my equipment. Maybe you don't need a pickup truck, just a more versatile trailer? My old Jeep has been a really good vehicle, and has seemed to take all the towing in stride. Rick

 

[Danno77]

Jeep is on it's way out. I hate the planning trailers require, I hate navigating through traffic with trailers, I hate being at Menards and deciding I want to buy something, but this was the trip that I didn't bring the trailer.

Besides, you know what hauls more firewood than a Jeep+Trailer? A truck+trailer......

 

[Danno77]

BTW, Rick. I towed a car back on dad's car hauler. I borrowed gpa's 2003 F150 with the Titon v8 in it to go pick it up, but then used my Jeep to bring it back to my place from gpa's place. Jeep towed that trailer wayyyyy better than the truck did. truck seemed like it could stop better, but the Jeep needs new rotors (AGAIN!). So, I do agree that the Jeep is a very capable tower, I just think I could utilize the bigger truck.

 

[zzr7ky]

I don't see much wrong with the thinking.

On the farm as a kid we used 3/4 and 1 ton pickups for hauling pretty hairy loads frequently. They also had 8 ply tires with about 90 psi in them.

I'm using my pick up a little over half the time. I have use of a 5' X 8' trailer also. I like it better for moving large loads.

It is quite common for the brakes to suffer frrom disuse if the trucks sit unused a good deal. The brakes are designed to stop the vehicle and a big load. An ocasional short drive, unloaded, just isn't enough to get the crud off of the rotors. Surface rust then starts to pit.. etc... The trailer is low mantenance.

ATB,
Mike

 

[festerw]

Look for something with a V-8 at least, the pre-Magnum 3.9L had a whopping 125HP. It'll be slow and even slower if you load it to capacity, my old 92 Dakota 3.9 was a dog and it was lighter than the D100. Payload should be around 1500lbs and tow rating 3500.

 

[jeff_t]

That's a pretty light duty old truck. Kinda like GM's Work Truck. Made for the old man who had to drive a pickup to the coffee klatch, but really didn't haul anything.

 

[SolarAndWood]

It is quite common for the brakes to suffer frrom disuse if the trucks sit unused a good deal. The brakes are designed to stop the vehicle and a big load. An ocasional short drive, unloaded, just isn't enough to get the crud off of the rotors. Surface rust then starts to pit.. etc... The trailer is low mantenance.

ATB,
Mike

I'm with you Mike. We tried the 3 car thing and it was both expensive and old vehicles suck when they sit especially in the salt belt. A 3/4 ton Suburban gives you all the family benefits of the Jeep and you can put a sheet of plywood in it. Any loads measured in tons go on a trailer behind it.

 

[ANeat]

As the others mentioned D100 is as light a full sized pickup as they made. Light duty rearend/springs etc.

Have you considered a bigger trailer??

Honestly I have an 84 Dodge 250 (3/4 ton) that is my as needed truck. I do try to drive it several times a month just to keep everything working. Lots of good beater trucks out there for sure

 

[firefighterjake]

Why not a decent 1/2 ton pick-up? They have decent payloads and you could keep the trailer for those times when you're doing some serious wood-hauling.

As for myself, in another year or two (or more) I'm hoping to go back to a pick-up . . . for the same reasons you mentioned . . . it's a lot more convenient to have a pick-up for home supplies and not have to bother with a trailer . . . but I'm keeping the trailer for those times when I have to haul a lot more stuff . . . i.e. firewood, friends' ATVs, sleds, etc. . . . but that will be in another year or two.

 

[Highbeam]

Look for something with a V-8 at least, the pre-Magnum 3.9L had a whopping 125HP. It'll be slow and even slower if you load it to capacity, my old 92 Dakota 3.9 was a dog and it was lighter than the D100. Payload should be around 1500lbs and tow rating 3500.

I would be sure to actually check those numbers. You will find that the marketing numbers are false. Meaning, if you actually took the truck for a test drive and weighed it, then subtracted that weight from the stickered GVWR in the door jamb you will likely find that your actual legal payload will be between 500 and 1000 lbs if you're lucky. My last truck was a 98 GM 1/2 ton and the actual legal payload capacity was 400 lbs.

If you want to actually haul heavy things, firewood is heavy, then you need to step it up into the 3/4 or one ton world. My actual legal payload of the current truck, a sringle rear wheel F350, is 2400lbs. That's 6 freaking times the load of the 1/2 ton.

 

[ironpony]

Look for something with a V-8 at least, the pre-Magnum 3.9L had a whopping 125HP. It'll be slow and even slower if you load it to capacity, my old 92 Dakota 3.9 was a dog and it was lighter than the D100. Payload should be around 1500lbs and tow rating 3500.

I would be sure to actually check those numbers. You will find that the marketing numbers are false. Meaning, if you actually took the truck for a test drive and weighed it, then subtracted that weight from the stickered GVWR in the door jamb you will likely find that your actual legal payload will be between 500 and 1000 lbs if you're lucky. My last truck was a 98 GM 1/2 ton and the actual legal payload capacity was 400 lbs.

If you want to actually haul heavy things, firewood is heavy, then you need to step it up into the 3/4 or one ton world. My actual legal payload of the current truck, a sringle rear wheel F350, is 2400lbs. That's 6 freaking times the load of the 1/2 ton.

I agree with the above, a half ton truck is a car with a bed on it
find a 3/4/ ton or possibly an old one ton dually so you can actually haul something

 

[oldspark]

My half ton works fine and has for a long time, 3/4 would be better but not that big a deal in the scheme of things.

 

[Jaugust124]

Just checked my manual. I drive a 1997 4wd Dodge 1/2 ton with the 5.2 liter (318) engine. I've carried everything from motorcycles to gravel to now firewood and have never had any issues carrying what I needed to carry. The manual states that the GCWR (gross combined weight rating) is 12,500 lbs with the automatic transmission. This includes: truck, trailer, cargo, people and fluids. The GVWR is 6400 lbs. It can tow a trailer weighing 7800 lbs. I would imagine that most of the 1/2 ton trucks would have similar payload capacities.

This truck works well for me, but I'm hauling for myself and not every single day. If I was in the wood business or was really going to put heavy duty use on the truck, then yeah, I would have a 3/4 ton. I think you have to assess how much wood you will actually be hauling at one time and go from there.

The other thing I would consider is how far do you travel to get your wood? Would you have to make 2 or more trips with a lighter duty truck or is one trip at a time enough? Earlier this year before I started processing my own wood, I bought a cord of wood that was cut/split and I had to make three trips with my 6 foot bed. I don't know what a neatly stacked load of oak just over the rails of my truck weighs, but I would guess about 1000 lbs, probably more and my truck had no problems.

 

[Flatbedford]

I bought this for $700 4 1/2 years ago. I runs about 1000 miles per year and has proven to be very reliable with that amount of use. Being 40 years old, and pretty uncomplicated mechanically, I have been able to do whatever repairs it needs by myself in the driveway.

I can fit more than a cord in it and it can easily handle about 1 1/2 tons. After I spend about $500 to get the rear springs be arched, it will probably be ok with 2 1/2 tons as long as I don't want to go very fast or stop abruptly.
In my opinion, if you are thinking of an older truck to use just for hauling and not as a daily driver, you should buy the biggest truck you can find within your budget. Having too much truck is not as big a problem as not having enough truck. The 3/4 and 1 ton trucks have bigger and stronger brakes, springs, drivetrain etc.

 

[Tony H]

I use a 1/2 ton conversion van to pull my 15' trailer and it wooks pretty well. It would be handy to not have to use the trailer all the time and it does seem to be a bit rough on the drivetrain and brakes of the van when hauling a loaded trailer that probably gets up in the 4-5000 lb range.
I would like to find a 3/4 ton truck instead but the van is great for long trips .

 

[Tony H]

I use a 1/2 ton conversion van to pull my 15' trailer and it works pretty well. It would be handy to not have to use the trailer all the time and it does seem to be a bit rough on the drivetrain and brakes of the van when hauling a loaded trailer that probably gets up in the 4-5000 lb range.
I would like to find a 3/4 ton truck instead but the van is great for long trips .

 

[savageactor7]

Flatbedford makes a lot of sense if you needs are occasional.

We have an 88 GMC beater I keep licensed and insured as an occasional use hauler. I probably only use it 50x a year but for some reason I rather use that than a trailer...but we're out away from the city and parking or space is no issue.

Strange I'm anti-trailer having a CDL license, maybe it was that part time job back in the 80's. I was a yard man for a New England hauler. Must have spotted 50 trailers a day for 6 years. Loved that job though.

 

[Flatbedford]

While the trailer should be cheaper than the beater truck, I still prefer my truck. I'd say that at least 1/2 of the scrounging I have done in the last year or so would have been nearly impossible if I had to get a trailer to the wood. Between working roadside and squeezing into back yards, the trailer just wouldn't work for me. In a perfect world I'd have the old flatbed and a nice big trailer. But, I do not currently live in a perfect world.

 

[Danno77]

Let me be clear about this. I will end up with a 3/4-1ton truck. The question is whether or not I should play around with an intermediate truck that in no way meets my requirements for a REAL truck. This truck would only "halfway" do the things I need it to. BUT, it would do it infinitely better than my Jeep and 1000lb trailer. Heck, even if I load 1000lbs in the bed and 100lbs on the trailer, then I'm already hauling 2x the wood.

I really need to get down to menards to buy some materials for a shed I'm building, and I'm also going to start working on a "Teardrop" trailer, which will require plywood, as well as a 3-sheet boat. (actually, the boat will probably be first)

I also need to buy a few pavers, and have a load of scrap metal to take to the yard.

This is all stuff i could do with planning, and borrowing trucks/trailer, renting uhauls, paying menards for delivery over 30miles, or even if I bought a new trailer, i understand that. I didn't mean for this to become a 1/2 ton truck is a car, or a trailer is better than a truck conversation (I can look back at about a million different threads if I wanted to tread down that path AGAIN!)

 

[Danno77]

I should also mention that I'll probably make it a daily driver if it's decent enough. The one I'm currently looking at is VERY clean and comfortable, BUT it doesn't have AC or 4x4, so there are probably going to be days this year (really hot, or snow covered roads) where I'd drive the Jeep or Honda CRV instead.

 

[Flatbedford]

I understand now. If I were you, I'd skip the "intermediate" truck and go to the one you want/need. You can probably spend about the same money. Once you buy the intermediate truck, pay for its insurance, title, registration, and whatever repairs it may need, do you really want to go through all that trouble and expense again on the one you really want/need? Like I tell my 18 y.o. son who wants a second car, Buying it is the easy, and even cheap part. Its all the other costs that add up.

 

[Danno77]

But Steve,
I've got truck-itis, and I've been looking for a truck for so long that it's crazy. every time I find an ad for a truck that might work, i immediately call and it's been sold. it doesn't help that I'm being very picky. It HAS to be a crewcab, it has to be long bed, it has to be heavy duty (and I'd like it to be a Ford-but lets not get into that). I want it to have decent miles, I'd be thrilled it it was diesel....BUT, most of all, it has to fall into my budget. it's that last part that makes it so hard.

 

[Flatbedford]

It HAS to be a crewcab, it has to be long bed, it has to be heavy duty (and I'd like it to be a Ford-but lets not get into that). I want it to have decent miles, I'd be thrilled it it was diesel....BUT, most of all, it has to fall into my budget. it's that last part that makes it so hard.

The Dodge doesn't do any of that, except fit in your budget. Patience my friend. Patience. The good ones don't stick around long.

 

[Highbeam]

It's like you're a young single guy that moved into a city where all the girls are pregnant. Either expand your search or wait for more trucks to show up. You don't want to make due with what's available, it'll never be as good.