American Trucks

[stephanieadavey]

Hi

I am looking to purchase an authentic American truck and need some advice!

I am set on a Ford, either F100, F150 or F350, but am open to other suggestions.

I will be using it for work this summer to tour the UK (from Edinburgh to Brighton) so my requirements are as follows:
- Reliable
- Easy access to spare parts if necessary
- Cheap insurance
- Good mpg
- It also needs to a real authentic American truck - as rustic as possible! - so no shiny, new trucks allowed!
- Budget: £5k-£8k

Your help would be much appreciated!

Stephanie

[Tim Mosley]

Iv been looking at american trucks for a while now and i cant honestly say there are any trucks that are reliable and within that budget. That i know of anyway.

And good MPG is not know in the Yank Truck market lol.


Edit: The guys at Rebel-V8.com are very helpful and invaluable.

Edited by Tim Mosley on Wednesday 25th February 14:24

[zubair]

i have been using dodge rams 1500 dual cabs for almost 5 years.i had five of them so far from an srt10 with the viper engine to hemi 5.7.i honestly think they are the most reliable and practical.i always convert them to run on lpg which makes it very ecnomical.at the monent i have a 1500 ram with a 4.7 engine and also on lpg i find it great for everyday use.i think you would have to spend around 11 0r 12 to get a decent truck.if u need anymore help send me an email

[Motorama]

stephanieadavey said:

Hi

I am looking to purchase an authentic American truck and need some advice!

I am set on a Ford, either F100, F150 or F350, but am open to other suggestions.

I will be using it for work this summer to tour the UK (from Edinburgh to Brighton) so my requirements are as follows:
- Reliable
- Easy access to spare parts if necessary
- Cheap insurance
- Good mpg
- It also needs to a real authentic American truck - as rustic as possible! - so no shiny, new trucks allowed!
- Budget: £5k-£8k

Your help would be much appreciated!

Stephanie

I have a nicely patina'd 65 Chevy C10 Pick Up for sale. Rust free California truck in very good running and driving condition. Long MOT and free tax, circa £7,500 if you're interested.

[Motorama]

zubair said:

i have been using dodge rams 1500 dual cabs for almost 5 years.i had five of them so far from an srt10 with the viper engine to hemi 5.7.i honestly think they are the most reliable and practical.i always convert them to run on lpg which makes it very ecnomical.at the monent i have a 1500 ram with a 4.7 engine and also on lpg i find it great for everyday use.i think you would have to spend around 11 0r 12 to get a decent truck.if u need anymore help send me an email

5 LPG conversions in five years! How many miles a year do you have to do to save over the cost of the conversion?

[zubair]

i dont do much mileage at all not even 3000 miles a year but i always get my cost of conversion back when i sell the truck i get bored with the same vehicle.

[Marquis_Rex]

Another vote for the Ram.

I got one recently, have done massive mileage in a short time. Love it!
Am taking it to California to Camp in!

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

And
Ford vs Dodge

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by Marquis_Rex on Monday 16th March 08:12

[GavinPearson]

F250 or F350 diesel would be my recommendation.

Tons of room in them, very economical, you could put a classic mini in the pickup bed it's so big and it has 'don't mess with me' presence.

But I would drive one first because they make the average large car seem tiny.

[AdeTuono]

GavinPearson said:

F250 or F350 diesel would be my recommendation.

Gavin,

Since you plainly know what you're talking about, I don't suppose you know where I might get hold of a F350 Dually, do you? Got to be diesel, as we can't use petrol vehicles on site. Anything after around 2004 would do. Don't really want a new one, as I'm fed up with taking the big depreciation hits, especially in the current climate.
I've looked in the classifieds and eBay, and there aren't any available. There's just the one on Autotrader, which I've been to see. Unfortunately, the name and shame rules of this site don't allow me to recount my experience with this dealer.

[JimexPL]

AdeTuono said:

GavinPearson said:

F250 or F350 diesel would be my recommendation.

Gavin,

Since you plainly know what you're talking about, I don't suppose you know where I might get hold of a F350 Dually, do you? Got to be diesel, as we can't use petrol vehicles on site. Anything after around 2004 would do. Don't really want a new one, as I'm fed up with taking the big depreciation hits, especially in the current climate.
I've looked in the classifieds and eBay, and there aren't any available. There's just the one on Autotrader, which I've been to see. Unfortunately, the name and shame rules of this site don't allow me to recount my experience with this dealer.

Probably worth having a chat with Charles or Shaun at Newport Imports www.newport-imports.co.uk
They don't have anything listed for sale, but do deal in some of the big trucks and might know of a sutable one for you.

[BLUETHUNDER]

Another vote for the Ram here.I have had mine over a year.And bought for within the amount the OP is budgeting.Its been 100% reliable.I am one of two Ram owners where i work.The majority of trucks running about at my work place are Jap ones.And there has been some horror storys regarding them. So another Ram for me.

[GavinPearson]

AdeTuono said:

GavinPearson said:

F250 or F350 diesel would be my recommendation.

Gavin,

Since you plainly know what you're talking about, I don't suppose you know where I might get hold of a F350 Dually, do you? Got to be diesel, as we can't use petrol vehicles on site. Anything after around 2004 would do. Don't really want a new one, as I'm fed up with taking the big depreciation hits, especially in the current climate.
I've looked in the classifieds and eBay, and there aren't any available. There's just the one on Autotrader, which I've been to see. Unfortunately, the name and shame rules of this site don't allow me to recount my experience with this dealer.

Ade - I work in the USA so i can't speak for the UK, but if I were in your shoes I would look on Autotrader.com which is a US based site. You could also try vehix.com. Search for whichever combination suits you best - regular cab, extended cab, crew cab, type of trim, colour etc. I'd probably buy from a Ford dealer and have it shipped via Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

It's probably worth saying that you ought to have the vehicle serviced before shipping, and have them ship over consumables like air filter, oil filters & fuel filters with the truck.

[zubair]

fr iend in ware has a diesel f350 dual cab and double axle i think he wanted to sell the truck if intrested i can give you his number.

[AdeTuono]

zubair said:

fr iend in ware has a diesel f350 dual cab and double axle i think he wanted to sell the truck if intrested i can give you his number.

Please do. You can e-mail me through my profile. Thanks.

[zubair]

have you received my e,mail.

[AdeTuono]

zubair said:

have you received my e,mail.

Yep, I'll call him this evening. Many thanks.

[BondandBigM]

Tim Mosley said:

Iv been looking at american trucks for a while now and i cant honestly say there are any trucks that are reliable and within that budget. That i know of anyway.

And good MPG is not know in the Yank Truck market lol.

Ford F-Series pickups are not the number one seller for the last 30 or so years for no good reason, if looked after properly they'll go for ever, mine's a 95 7.3 Power Stroke and has 300,000K miles and it still starts on the button and never misses a beat.

To the original poster, these things, whatever anybody tells you are not economical. Even the diesels in the bigger F350's are struggling to do 20mpg. The best mine has done on a long trip unloaded and taking it easy was only just over 20mpg and in general running around usually about 16/17mpg is the norm, petrol will be worse expect 10/12mpg if it is one of the big ones. Good fun though especially taking up four parking spaces at Tesco's and two bays length ways in the residents parking outside my house.

Parts are easy enough to get a hold of for Fords with the usual places like Rodley Motors or if you are based in Edinburgh, Alexanders in Glasgow should be able to get you pretty much anything you need. Additional cost to think about on the big Dually's are that 6 decent tyres will set you back the best part of £7-800 quid and you need to get them MOT's at a truck garage even if they have been down plated most normal car MOT stations can't get them on the ramps. You should be able to pick up something like mine for around the sort of money you want to spend but older "Rustic" ones are likely to go for more so it depends what you are looking for.

And just to put you off some more, the big 350 dually's are a bh to park in town and it won't be the first time I have been stuck up a narrow street or jammed in a parking bay :-)

Good Luck

B.

[Mr Fenix]

Nice little thread here, especially since I'm now starting my research into buying a truck.

Having recently emigrated to the states I've become less hostile and negative to the pick up truck and haven driven a couple I can see why they're so popular over here. Tow anything, seat 5-6 people comfortably and put lots of tools, materials, equipment, big toys or move house!

If anyone on here could help here's my criteria:

1) Diesel. Automatic or manual which ever gets best MPG.

2) Crew Cab to seat 5 people in comfort, so no half door bench seats etc.

3) 8ft bed or longer, will be required to haul construction materials & tools.

4) 4 x 4 not needed, I'm in southern California for the foreseeable future and have no plans to go rock crawling or desert racing.

5) Reliable with decent availability of parts I've heard good and bad stories about jap and yank trucks so I'll take the "more truck for the buck" with any of the american brands.

6) Budget... I'd love to lease a brand new truck and eventually buy it but we've only got $500 a month to spend at the very most. Used purchase price would be 10k - 25k.

[GavinPearson]

Mr Fenix said:

Nice little thread here, especially since I'm now starting my research into buying a truck.

Having recently emigrated to the states I've become less hostile and negative to the pick up truck and haven driven a couple I can see why they're so popular over here. Tow anything, seat 5-6 people comfortably and put lots of tools, materials, equipment, big toys or move house!

If anyone on here could help here's my criteria:

1) Diesel. Automatic or manual which ever gets best MPG.

2) Crew Cab to seat 5 people in comfort, so no half door bench seats etc.

3) 8ft bed or longer, will be required to haul construction materials & tools.

4) 4 x 4 not needed, I'm in southern California for the foreseeable future and have no plans to go rock crawling or desert racing.

5) Reliable with decent availability of parts I've heard good and bad stories about jap and yank trucks so I'll take the "more truck for the buck" with any of the american brands.

6) Budget... I'd love to lease a brand new truck and eventually buy it but we've only got $500 a month to spend at the very most. Used purchase price would be 10k - 25k.

I would seach on Autotrader.com for the Ford F250 6.0 Diesel crew cab, the GM Silverado 2500 Diesel and the Dodge 2500 Diesel. Drive the lot and pick your favourite.

I'd look at some low spec ones and high end ones too. A friend's F250 crew cab 6.0 with 34K on the clock (pretty much exactly what you want) had a very highly specced interior & went for $21K. The top of the range trucks from each of the respective manufacturers are very nice indeed.

Leasing on pick-ups is out of the question nowadays. But financing to buy is certainly possible for the very top of your budget for under $500.

A word of warning, I would avoid anything that has been chipped or fitted with non-standard kit. California has enacted legislation that is incredibly draconian - basically it is instant impounding and then repair at a franchised dealer, plus pay a stiff daily fine. It is due to take effect imminently.

[Mr Fenix]

Cheers Gavin,

What you've suggested echoes my own thoughts. An f150 or similar
Sized rival just doesn't have the towing or load capacity I'm after.
I've seen a lot of trucks with big tyres and huge lift kits romping around
San diego. Not what I'm into and will steer well clear of them.
Just out of curiousity what year was hour friends truck? Should help
Me home in on a realistic price & expectation scenario.