Opinions on small trucks

[JasonC]

My S-10's (82-92) or Dodge Dakotas (92-96) never let me down.

[monty]

I vote Toyota. I have owned S10 and Toyota when it comes to small trucks. The Toyota was 4x4 and the s10 2 wheel. I liked both trucks for what I had them for. The S10 had a peppy little 4 cyl that fired up everytime and got me where I needed, and the Toyota had the undesireable 3.0 V6 but it never did me wrong either. Wheeled like a champ and could go anywhere, I miss that truck most.

[JasonC]

Monty, what drop do you have on that S10? Cause i ordered a 3/4 drop for mine, and i really like how yours sits there.

[mrsleeve]

Toyota is the truck that all the parts companies send there drivers out in.

Where the fuck do you live?????? All I have ever seen are rangers s-10's and now mostly Colorados in 2 states. The colorado is also a pretty good mini truck, I bought one new in 04 an traded it off on my 3/4 ton just because I needed a bigger truck.

[AndrewBird]

Dodge Dakotas (92-96) never let me down.

Agreed. My dad had a 93 Dakota with a 318 V8. Other then the plastic radiator going bad, he didn't have any problems with it. And it was quick too.

[808BMW]

I had LOTS of mazda's, gutless but pretty reliable imo
My friend was served surprisingly well by his S-10 4 banger
I've had a nissan work truck with the nap-z motor, sucked balls, and one of my friends had a pathfinder that was always falling apart... I don't like nissans much

Every toyota truck I've used/driven has been great. A lot of my friends own em and they are reliable as hell. Ridiculously overpriced, but that's because they are really that good.

[eighteight325is]

Toyota's and Nissan's are both great little trucks, but I'm going to have to agree with other posters that you shouldn't overlook the S-10's. I had a 91 S-10 pickup and 2000 S-10 (ZR-2) Blazer and both of them were pretty reliable. Granted there are ceratin GM parts that you will just have to accept you will end up replacing like alternators and wheel bearings but they are pretty easy and inexpensive to replace.

In the Northeast you will not find an old Nissan or Toyota for $1000 that doesn't have a plywood bed. The old Japanese compacts get the cancer around here...bad.

[KangamangusDriver]

I can vouch for a Nissan Frontier.

I bought a 1998 Frontier 4cyl, 5spd, 4x4, extd cab about two years ago.
Purchased it with 37k, now has about 85k.

I have tuned it up every 40k, did front brakes around 75k and it has been great!

I had to replace the drive shaft center bearing due to the rubber surround wearing out.
Not a big deal, swapped a one piece drive shaft in from a newer frontier truck.

The truck gets 19-20mpg all day long doing 65mph-75mph.
Truck is great in snow!

I love it, plan on getting another.

With that said, go with Nissan or Toyota. (toyota will be more$$ to initially buy, thats why I went Nissan)

[ethree]

Did you guys know that subaru brats have become "collectable?"

What about mitsubishi mighty max? I could roll one because my name isn't max right? I keep seeing them pop up on the cheap.

[PiercedE30]

I've got a '84 Nissan 720d KingCab 4x4. That thing rocks. Motor probably needs to be rebuilt since it is "lacking" a little. I replaced the shitty carb with a Weber and it made a HUGE difference. Surprisingly, when I bought it 3 years ago, it only had like 43000 miles on it. I MIGHT have 49000 on it now. I used it to haul a BIG U-Haul trailer from south Texas to Mississippi when I was relocating for work, took a while and couldn't really use 5th gear since the trailer probably weighed more than the truck. Unfortunately, I have had to replace the transmission, clutch, transfer case, and I've done some maintenance. But I love the truck. It is able to go through more shit than most of the trucks some of my buddies have.

[Ray McCooney]

Going to sound off on this one as I just recently purchased a pickup for the expressed intent of being able to haul more BMW parts:

I would also like to cast my vote for the almost invincible Toyota truck. I don't recall any other marque having had their truck traverse the English channel towards France with three quite likable British Television hosts (shame on you if you are lost on this reference).

The older 22r and 22re Toyota pickups are as dependable as is the certainty of death and taxes. I believe Toyota also offered a turbo variant of the 22 series engine for a short window in the 80's. The 22 series engines are a little lacking in the grunt department. You may also want to look at early production Tacoma's as they are not that much more expensive than the 22re equipped "pickups" (due to the strong resale value of Toyota trucks). The grunt issue is somewhat resolved with the 2rz and 3rz engines available in the tacoma's. Myself, I just purchased a 1996, 2WD, Manual Tacoma with 116,XXX original miles, every documented service since new, and even the original Sale agreement/Dealer window sticker for $4,000.

There is a reason why Toyota is often considered to be the king when it comes to inexpensive, dependable transportation.

Good luck to you.

[Mulholland]

MY 91 S-10 was the greatest vehicle I have ever owned. the 2.8litre V6's are mostly carb'd but the 4.3l vortec is fuel injected and is one of the best engines ever put into a Chevy, or any small truck for that matter. Mine was in my family it's entire life. With 215,000 miles on the digital custer, the only non maintenance repair was the gasket on the water pump leaking at 212k which the water pump was still fine but i used as a core and got a new one since it was already off. That truck was also indestructible. I used it to tow the 3000GT around which without the trailer is already tipping 2 tons, among other vehicles I towed for friends. The vortec s-10's are indestructible beasts thath can take torture, tow, race, and stand the test of time. And by the way, it took a corolla to the face (head on, 16 year old asian girl turned the wrong way onto a 1 way road as I was aproaching less than 100 feet away, doing 45, because she thought there was a second lane... nevermind the ONE WAY sign 10 feet in front of her) and the only damage suffered was the plastic grilled cracked and the driver's headlamp was shattered. The corolla was totaled, and not the "your car isn't worth much" kind of total, the "holy crap your car got monster trucked" kind of totaled.

If you want something slower, uglier, with less amenities, my dad and I have used several Nissan trucks as shitty putt putt vehicles without any major qualms.

Hope that helps some. I also still get 2,500 dollar offers on the S-10 which is beyond mint, after they find out that is has 200k+ on it, but I that truck will die in my ownership.

If you are feeling really adventurous and want a super truck, research Syclone/Typhoons and enjoy.

[ethree]

MY 91 S-10 was the greatest vehicle I have ever owned. the 2.8litre V6's are mostly carb'd but the 4.3l vortec is fuel injected and is one of the best engines ever put into a Chevy, or any small truck for that matter.

I cannot believe those shitheads at GM, I can call 'em shitheads I have some family that retired from GM in some pretty high positions but I digress, were still pumping out trucks with effing carbs in the 90's carbs suck for daily drivers, great for race cars bad for DDs.

[Mulholland]

I cannot believe those shitheads at GM, I can call 'em shitheads I have some family that retired from GM in some pretty high positions but I digress, were still pumping out trucks with effing carbs in the 90's carbs suck for daily drivers, great for race cars bad for DDs.

Actually the carbs on those trucks are perfectly fine, I have 3 friends with carb'd 2.8's that have never had any issues. Early S-10's are great all around.

[mrsleeve]

They are not carb's unless you are getting back into the 1983ish Luv truck area they are throttle body injection. Two injectors sit above the Throttle plates it works like a carb but much more precise fuel metering, the last of the computer controlled carbs went away in 1987, (think shitty 305 V8's in the base camaros) Yes there were computer controlled carbs they had the metering rods run by computer.