If you want more opinions about tow vehicles, here's mine.
I currently have an '83 F250 6.9L diesel w 4sp manual trans bought
used with 170,000 miles. Now have 230,000 miles. It has dual 18 gal
tanks and I get 18-20 MPG. I either tow an open car trailer or carry a
camper in the bed (camper weighs 2,500 lbs.). The PO installed a Banks
Turbo-charger. The turbo makes a big difference in diesel performance
and economy. (I'm glad the PO bought it tho 'cause they're $$$). This
is an XLT model (Extra Luxurious Truck?). Bucket seats, A/C, stereo,
supercab. I wasn't seeking a diesel but it was local and looked good.
It's been a fine truck. Beware that repair costs for diesels are much
more than for gas engines. But the long life and better mileage
*should* win out in the long run...
Previous truck (same duties) was a '75 Chevy C-20 w 292 in-line six &
4 sp manual trans. I liked that truck for it's simplicity but the 4sp
trans had a 'stump-puller' first gear so the ratios for 2-4 were too
wide spread. If I needed to down shift for a hill, my max speed was
about 45MPH.
Even more previous truck was a '54 Chevy 1/2 ton. Talk about simple!
Lots of fun to drive. All I ever towed was a small pop-up camper. Sold
the '54 to buy a '41 Chevy 1 1/2 ton, ex-fire engine. Will stop now...
Eric
>Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 13:14:02 -0500 (CDT)
>From: tomph@ix.netcom.com
>Subject: Tow Vehicle
>
>I'm starting to look for a used pickup truck and would like to ask
for some
>advice, based on your experiences, on what to look for in make,
model,
>engine size, manual vs automatic, desiel vs gas, options, etc. Any
help
>would be appreciated. Car is about 2K lbs and trailer is a tilt bed
single
>axle that is under 1k lbs.
>
>Thanx
>Tom
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