Truck and 5th Wheel under $25,000 Possible?

kobesunset, when are you planning to return to the U.S. and what area are you relocating to? I still have my 2004 F250 crew cab, 6.8 V10 gasser, Auto trans, 2WD, and it only has 65,000 miles on it. I have not pulled a TT with it for 4 years and just use it for rare trips around the state. As a vet, I know money is not in abundance in the military and I have no plans on trying to sell it, but if you will be interested I am willing to make it available to you when you get settled back in the states.

Thank you for your service, and keep safe. God bless...........

kobesunset wrote:
Hey guys,

I'll be moving back to the United States from overseas. Was wondering what your thoughts are on getting a truck and 5th wheel within a $25,000 budget (used okay). Would like both truck and 5th wheel to be 14 years or younger. Biggest fear: Buying something with a lot of (expensive) problems.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this

Well I guess today the amrket for truck is much higher compared to a decade ago. People love trucks, now if mroe trucks are sold, aI dont see you having a problem fidings the trucks at the price range. Howveer, you might need a lot of searching or some contacts who can get a truck in good condition and who requires less maintenence. In case if you find it make sure the basics are fine. Coz buying for cheap and then spendign thousnds to get to done just dosent make sense.

I live right on the edge of the rust belt. 50 miles north and cars dissolve. 50 miles south they are usually solid as a rock. A lot of older equipment is still perfectly serviceable. The revious owner either wanted something newer, maybe more things like power windows or navigation, a kid left home and they want to cut down on the number of vehicles and so on. The car companies spend a lot of money of advertising budgets to make people want a new vehicle. They aren't in the business of selling parts, they sell cars and trucks.

One of my pickups was a commercial farm truck before I got it and it was rotated out of service due to age, not miles.

Sure, it can be done, especially if you have time to do a little shopping around.

We picked up our rig and truck (all the same day) for $27K. Fell into a deal whereby the owners wanted something different and needed to unload the 5'r. It was spotless and we got a great deal. Right after we committed to buying that, we ran over to where I knew there was a 1-ton for sale. It had been sitting there for a while so the owner was more than happy to deal.

Note the responses from the upper midwest. You won't want to be buying an old truck from that part of the country, because of corrosion problems. I grew up there, our family business was autobody repair, and we were fixing up rust at 2-3 years on cars and trucks that lasted 20-30 years in the south and southwest.

Improved body technology might make vehicles now hold up for ten years or more in the rust belt, but they still not going to last like they do in the southwest. When buying, you want to know where the vehicle has been operated. You can often gather that information now.

Earlier this year I bought a year-old one ton van that had been used in a rental fleet. Location on this one was Los Angeles. If it had been from Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis or anywhere in the Northeast, I would have passed on it. Destruction from corrosion starts the first winter used in corrosive conditions, and it doesn't stop when you move away.

If older trucks are so great, then why are they for sale to begin with? If a truck has 100,000 to 150,000 miles, are they really still that good? Folks selling trucks every couple years, well ... those vehicles will NOT be in the OP's price range.

They say diesel can run 300,000 plus miles. I believe that. But... what about the body, the rest of the truck!

I've had 4 pick-up trucks in my lifetime. All thee were good trucks. My first was a Chevy S-10. The second was a gas 3500 dully Chevy Silverado, the third a 3500 diesel Chevy Silverado, and the 4th a diesel Chevy Silverado.

The S-10 was literally driving in the ground. The engine literally blew up in the middle of an intersection. But the doors were rusted out so bad, you could see the window mechanism from the outside of the truck. Not to mention the rust every where else.

My first gas 3500 dully literally, the frame rusted out. Transmission, engine, wonderful! Strong as an ox. But we sold it for about $8,000 at a dealer for another used, 2 year old diesel dully that someone drove on a 2 year lease. NICE truck and price was good, but way more than the OP's total budget amount

This one was a powerful work horse. We loved that truck. Put a lot of miles on it, towed wonderful, and there again ... strong as an ox. But, the fat fenders were made of fiberglass, and they had spider cracks in them, and were concerned about the fender just falling off in chunks some day. So, while the truck still had a somewhat, good appears, we traded for our current one. For what it's worth, dealer gave us $18,000 for a 9 years old truck. They patched up the fenders and hid the spider cracks, cleaned it up and turned around and put it back on their lot for $25,000. It had about 135,000 miles on it. (I kept checking their web side, and occasionally drove through their lot to look at the old gal, that's why I knew the repairs and cost). The one day, the truck disappeared.

What I'm saying is, a truck for sale in the $10,000 range, "might" have more much more life in the transmission and engine, but what about the body, the rest of the parts, rusting frame, suspension, and everything else. If older trucks were so great, wouldn't the original owners still own them? Bottom line, they are for sale, or sold to a dealer for a reason.

Yes, the OP may be able to find something in his price range, but "what" is he getting?

Now for all of you that have older vehicles and you're the original owner, "coodos to you!" Wonderful! Hang on to that truck! I'm not talking about you or your truck. But remember, YOUR tuck is not the one "for sale" out there! Someone else's reject is.

Just because a truck is under $10,000 does not mean its still a solid truck. Anything more than 10 years old ... watch out for the rust!

Can be done, depending on what you want / need. In '08 I bought the rig in my sig. 26 ft Wilderness, very nice condition, 10K with hitch. The 1500 HD had about 72K on it, also very good condition, 11K. Spent about another 1K transferring titles, getting the hitch installed, and a receiver hitch built on the Wilderness.

Lots of good used stuff available, I don't even know why they make new stuff :)

Afterthought: Read up on all the problems people have with new campers. Let a First Owner get it all working :)

Lantley wrote:

wintersun wrote:
The problem is the cost of the truck to tow a 10,000 lb. trailer. It is likely going to have to be a diesel and it is possible to find a truck with 120,0000 miles in good shape with newish fuel injectors for $25,000 that eats up 100% of your budget.

A 28-30 foot travel trailer in excellent condition can be purchased for under $8,000 and then put the rest into a gas engine equipped crew cab or super cab 1/2 ton pickup truck or a full size SUV with a 4.10 rear end to pull it.

Include the cost for possible adding sway control to the tow vehicle and possible a new hitch and a brake controller.

There are plenty of 7.3 PSD trucks in the 150K mile range with lots of life in them capable of towing a medium size fiver in the $10K price range.

In my area (SW, no rust), you would have great difficulty finding a clean 7.3 (at least in a 4x4 Crew Cab, the most popular configuration), for under $10K. MAYBE a clean 2WD, non CC, pre-2000 7.3, but won't be easy.

Good luck!

Lantley wrote:
Yes $25K is doable. $10K will buy a decent 7.3 PSD or early 2000's truck and 15K will get you a decent 5'er.

X2! And with good shopping you can have a very nice setup!

$25K? Sure you can do it. Getting newer equipment that doesn't have a blue million miles (compared to a green million) might be difficult. Truck prices have gotten silly lately. I've seen plenty of reasonable prices on 5th wheel campers. If I had room for one, I'd probably get one myself. (I have a small house on a very small lot)

For a truck, I'd recommend going back maybe 4 more years and get something post 1996. '96 is when OBD II came into use and makes diagnoses much easier and they're just plain more reliable. Low miles are good, usually. You want a heavy duty 1/2 ton or standard 3/4 ton. I have a heavy duty 3/4 ton and it will rattle your teeth if you don't have at least a ton in the bed.