Opinions on small trucks

[ethree]

I'm begining to research buying a small truck and I'd like opinions and experiences and also any leads to enthusiast sites or other good info. I'm leaning towards 86-89 toyotas but am open to nissan mazda izusu mitsu etc. I have had trouble locating info on when each make went to fuel injection as I will not deal with effing carbs right now, I want the truck to run decently all the time in all weather conditions and altitudes. Oh yeah like a typical r3ver I'm looking to spend about a grand. Your thoughts?

[StereoInstaller1]

The only reason I hate Mazda is parts support. Expensive, and they never seem to have what i need in stock.

Ford small truck can suck my balls. Worst pile to work on ever, IMO. Some guys can deal, but not me.

GMs work OK, but unless you are really patient when it breaks (not if, when) just for getting the damn thing apart, stay back.

All in all, I think there is a few really good reasons why Toyotas retain so much of their value...

[Tavern Gnome]

Toyota hands down. Anything with a 22r or 22re will be bulletproof. You'll spend a few more bucks initially but far far less in the long run.

[ethree]

Toyota hands down. Anything with a 22r or 22re will be bulletproof. You'll spend a few more bucks initially but far far less in the long run.

22r or re is definitely the direction I'm leaning with the 5-speed ofcourse, do you know when they went fuel injection? I think it was 85 or 86 but I'm not sure.

[trashcop 80s 80s]

NISSAN is just as good as a Toyota. You could get a newer Nissan for the same price. D21 hardbody with a k24 will last forever.

[Jon325i]

Toyota hands down. Anything with a 22r or 22re will be bulletproof. You'll spend a few more bucks initially but far far less in the long run.

+1. That is a very durable engine Toyota made. Very little maintenance is needed to keep it humming right along for hundreds-of-thousands of miles. My own experience owning a small truck was in the form of a 1989 Toyota 4x4 standard cab with V6 and 5-speed. Pretty much your basic truck: manual windows, manual locking hubs, no sliding rear window, am/fm radio (although I upgraded to a CD player after buying it). Fuel economy wasn't the greatest due to the engine & drivetrain choice, but in the several years and 100,000+ miles I had it (at the time of purchase it was 5 years old and had 80K on the clock), the worst thing that happened mechanically was a dead battery.

You will pay a bit more for a Toyota product compared to similar offerings, but in my experience it is worth it if you plan on keeping it for a while.

Jon

[motorsports_3]

Yeah or the Nissan Truck. The one iwth the ka24de.

[ban1]

I have had a nissan that i jumped some railroad tracks and blew up. It ran for a day after that.
I had a toyota that i put thourgh hell
The list of hell.
1. Learned to drive a stick in it
2. Learned to drift in it
3. Hit a ditch going 45 in the rain (drove it home).
4. Timing chain beat a hole in the cover. Which lead to water in the oil pan and oil in the radeater. (sold it and it got rebuilt motor wise then my friend bought it)

THE PITS OF HELL!!!!

5. My friends hit a ditch at 65 done a 360 in the air (DROVE IT HOME)
6. My friend rolled it over going 40 (filled it over drove it home)

Now how in the hell can nissan be better than toyota.
From the looks of it.

Toyota > Nissan.

[DaveSmed]

That 22re really lacks a pair though, and the beds are made out of compressed rust.

This is what I would suggest:

[ethirtydavid]

ford f350 is a good one, great gas mileage.

[DaveSmed]

I don't think he's cross-shopping Freightliners, so the F350 would be a "big" truck.

[ethree]

I don't think he's cross-shopping Freightliners, so the F350 would be a "big" truck.

uh yeah last I checked F350s are pretty big, I occasionally drive a F250 at work and I think fords even with their recent advancemnts in build quality are pieces of shit.

But I could get behind the commache idea, what motor options did they have for those the 2.8 and the 4.0? What kind of mileage?

Also thoughts on Subaru Brats?

[Funkmasta]

Toyota all the way.
I met Luke in 98(?) when I purchased an 86 toyota 4runner from one of his best friends.

The truck had 195k HARD miles on it... and I bought it and drove it just as hard.

@ 210k, the headgasket blew. At that point, I figured that it had sooo many miles that I might as well rebuild the engine (the head was coming off anyway, we were halfway there!).
Well, that was a waste of time. The bearings were ALL still FULLY silver. No wear hardly at all.

That being said...
My Land Cruiser gets 10k+ mile oil changes over the last 140k miles (currently at 242k).
Finally starting to show its age...

[mrsleeve]

I have had many a s10 all but one is still on the road with between 134k-268k on the clocks last time I heard. All 4x4 all good little trucks, used them on the farm and on the job site for small time stuff.

When they break they are not that hard to work on and parts are cheap as hell (unlike yota or nissan) mazda is nothing but a ford ranger so you can get ford parts cheaper. The weak link in the s10's is the 4l60 and later the 4l60e (electronic) AKA 700r4, they eat OD clutches an bands and latter on the E the torque converter clutch goes to hell.

[DCColegrove]

Sad but true the only small trucks that are reliable are Japanese...

Even the small American trucks are Japanese.

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