Help finding the right "horse"
New here. Quick intro and the situation. Please bare with me. I'm also venting :) I've done plenty of tent and travel trailer camping growing up. Looking to do some with the kids. We have a couple ...
Forum Discussion
First. Thank you for the quick replies.
1 and 2. I will certainly keep an eye out for the 3/4 ton diesel dodge. Just have to stay within our budget.
3. I hope I didn't say mpg as a concern somewhere. I fully expect low mpg with a trailer this size and mpg is not on the radar as a concern. The main concern was around total miles on the vehicles. I like your tactics :)
4. I had looked as some of these for the bed of the truck (if we were to get a long bed). I didn't realize they made them for the factory location. Thanks for the tip!
I completely agree which is why I'm ok with finding higher (200k ish) mileage vehicles which there are "enough" to choose from. It's getting everybody on board with that too. Being the truck which offered coverage was near our max. It would have to be next to free to even be able to consider. You also have an excellent point on the age of them and "hopefully" having been fixed by now. Speaking to the 250/2500 near it's safety limit. I did find a 2002 F350 w/7.3 4SpdAuto 3.73gear 190Kmiles SRW SB for $9995. Not sure if we need to be looking at the dually version of the 350 or if SRW would still be OK as long as 350/3500 family.
You snuck this one in there on me as I finished my reply :). I will try to focus the search to F350's. Diesel > Gasser as the list of diesels dwindle. I know our friends parents have a GM 6.0 gasser in their sierra ext sb and they pull a larger trailer then ours with 3 slide outs. I'm not sure of the weight though. I guess they are happy with what it can do. Not sure that is for us to follow.. just some noted info. We were stranded once when I was a kid. the astro van broke down and we had to stay in the camper at the chevy dealer.. we called it the Chevy KOA and woke up the next morning to a car show. The memories lol. Sorry to hear of your troubles with it but hope we can find one as reliable as yours.
Expanding on the excellent info above. Is there an odometer mileage you would be OK with in your search? Any other things to maybe focus on?
I did find a 2004 F350 SRW Lariat with 95K miles for $16300. Not sure if still for sale, but promising that they are out there.
THANK YOU again,
Jesse
djgarcia wrote:
Just another opinion,
1. Dodge-diesel
2. 3/4 ton
3. I would rethink using the criteria of "miles per gallon" as your primary concern. For me, the cost or mpg of rving is not a concern. Rving has some basic costs that can't really be regulated. If I worry about the cost of fuel then I stay home until I have sufficient $$$ to make the trip. Yes I do try to get the best price for my diesel:)
4. After you select your truck, really consider replacing your stock fuel tank with a larger auxiliary diesel fuel tank to give you greater degree of choices on where to buy the best diesel price. Auxiliary fuel tanks are not available for Gas engines. I have a 60 gal. tank:)
1 and 2. I will certainly keep an eye out for the 3/4 ton diesel dodge. Just have to stay within our budget.
3. I hope I didn't say mpg as a concern somewhere. I fully expect low mpg with a trailer this size and mpg is not on the radar as a concern. The main concern was around total miles on the vehicles. I like your tactics :)
4. I had looked as some of these for the bed of the truck (if we were to get a long bed). I didn't realize they made them for the factory location. Thanks for the tip!
romore wrote:
You are finding it tough to get a clean low mileage unit in your price range for good reason. They are scarce. You are looking at a ten year old especially in diesel and 100,000 miles is simply not realistic unless it was used by a local building /landscape/whatever contractor in which case it was likely rode hard and put up wet.
You won't get a meaningful warranty on a ten year old vehicle so don't get sucked into buying coverage.Put the money in the bank so you can draw on it as needed.
There are a lot of horror stories on all of the big 3. Any Ford 6.0's still on the road should have had issues resolved by now, same with older GM and Ram. IMHO an F-250/2500 is barely enough to safely haul your trailer given the 12k GVW, you are looking at around 2400 lb on the pin plus another couple of hundred for the hitch. You should be looking for an F-350 but good ones are even harder to find. Good luck.
I completely agree which is why I'm ok with finding higher (200k ish) mileage vehicles which there are "enough" to choose from. It's getting everybody on board with that too. Being the truck which offered coverage was near our max. It would have to be next to free to even be able to consider. You also have an excellent point on the age of them and "hopefully" having been fixed by now. Speaking to the 250/2500 near it's safety limit. I did find a 2002 F350 w/7.3 4SpdAuto 3.73gear 190Kmiles SRW SB for $9995. Not sure if we need to be looking at the dually version of the 350 or if SRW would still be OK as long as 350/3500 family.
WyoTraveler wrote:Lol. I did have to look it up. I do have to say, I can't get the kids to pick up after "their" dogs... I don't think one of those will work out. :D
Being from Wyoming I would recommend a foxtrotter. Very smooth ride over a quarter horse. :B You did say horse in your title.
shadows4 wrote:
Definately should be looking at a F350 over the F250's listed. Ford upped the weight capacities quite abit in the 2005 model year. A V10 in a gas Ford is a capable gas motor.
In a GM the 6.0 I have read is capable.
Don't know about gas Dodge's.
As to the Ford 6.0 diesel. It's known problems have been well documented. I wouldn't be afraid of one if it has been "bullet proofed".
I don't really know anything about Dodge or GM diesels.
Any vehicle is a gamble with the kind of mileage you have mentioned. That said, my 2003 F350 had 127,000 miles on it when purchased. It now has 167,000+ miles. It has needed some work, left us stranded once, but has been trouble free for the last two years. Although it was stolen this summer, we fortunately got it back. I still think it is one of the best vehicles I have owned.
Good luck on your search.
You snuck this one in there on me as I finished my reply :). I will try to focus the search to F350's. Diesel > Gasser as the list of diesels dwindle. I know our friends parents have a GM 6.0 gasser in their sierra ext sb and they pull a larger trailer then ours with 3 slide outs. I'm not sure of the weight though. I guess they are happy with what it can do. Not sure that is for us to follow.. just some noted info. We were stranded once when I was a kid. the astro van broke down and we had to stay in the camper at the chevy dealer.. we called it the Chevy KOA and woke up the next morning to a car show. The memories lol. Sorry to hear of your troubles with it but hope we can find one as reliable as yours.
Expanding on the excellent info above. Is there an odometer mileage you would be OK with in your search? Any other things to maybe focus on?
I did find a 2004 F350 SRW Lariat with 95K miles for $16300. Not sure if still for sale, but promising that they are out there.
THANK YOU again,
Jesse
