Opinions on small trucks

[mrsleeve]

I have had lots of s10's an never had one with a carb. Had 2 2.hate, and 3 4.3's one with the CPFI. The best one of them all was the 93 4x4 4.3 exe cab, bought it w70k on the clock and sold it 3 years later with 230k on it to a buddy that just uses up at his cabin. The only problem I had was the input shaft on the torque converter had gotten a grove worn into it and pissed tranny fluid all over. Its now got 250+k on it and you can just about throw a cat through the cab corners, but it starts every time an will do any thing you ask of it.

[JasonC]

I will admit when i'm wrong, but i'm sticking to my guns on this one. The only carb s-series trucks that i can find after 85 is a 1986 1.9L. The rest are fuel injected (TBI or CPFI on the 93-94 4.3).

As for the dashes, the digital ones are very cool (started as a option in 89) I like how the turn signals flash in the cluster. But they are good little truck if taken care of. Only proplems i've had with mine was on my 82, moisture would get in the distributor cap once a blue moon. and on my 94 blazer the CPFI unit (spider) went out of it, like most of them do. My current one it just has a lower rust problem.

[Mulholland]

JasonC while I appreciate you trying to help the OP and probably your knowledge of E30's, all of your information in the last 2 posts is wrong. Carb's were carried through on many of the engines into the early 90's. I don't believe they were fully taken out of the lineup until 92/93 model year, but regardless, they stayed around much longer than just 85. Also the dashes on the trucks are also quite varied from the guages you described to an entirely different one on the digital gauge equiped trucks, which I see many of.

Regardless, carb'd or or injected, they are great, dependable, indestructible trucks, that with very minimal maintenance, which is all easy to do in the massive engine bay, will run for ages.

However this remains true for most of the small trucks of the 80's and early 90's. They were built to be rugged dependable commuter work horses, and they were made to last. I prefer an S-10 with a big v6 vortec that is rear wheel drive and has the power to actually perform normal truck duties by far over a 4banger front wheel drive truck the same size, most of with were made with crappy beds and for an entirely different demographic. Pick the truck you want based on your needs. It will likely come down to toyota vs. nissan, or chevy vs. ford. Personally I recommend nissan trucks and chevy trucks for superior quality and performance, however there are enough toyota's in the world that survive and get airtime on TopGear that it has a reputation for being the import small truck king, but in all honesty it goes the same as any used vehicle. Any car can last well taken car of, and even the greatest cars in the world will be demolished by irresponsible people who treat their stuff like shit. So decide what you want/need from a small truck, and then look at local listings for both trucks that fall into your wants and needs, and just find the best buy regardless of prestige, becaus you pay for that prestige and don't always get the good condition vehicles that were well taken care of survivors who merit such prestige. Happy hunting let me know if I can help.

[JasonC]

A good way to tell if one is carb or FI, is by the dash. The carb models (82-85) had a flat dash. Where the 86+ had the dash that sticks out on the drivers side for the gauge cluster and other switches.

[mrsleeve]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

so the 1st 2 years of production then. Shit I have not seen a 84-85 S10 in almost 10 years man. Lots of 88 and ups running around though.

[JasonC]

S10/S15's are carbs up to 1985. After that they are TBI.

[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.

[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.

[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]

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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)

[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.