narrowing my choices....
 

ok, so i'm down to an F150 or a chevy (pickup, tahoe, yukon or suburban).
looking at trucks with around 125,000 to 165,000 miles. which can i expect to be the more reliable truck? wanna just gas and go. i can do basic sh!t myself but i wanna go as long as i can without replacing all kinds of sh!t.
ford or chevy?

210000 miles on Dads 94 F150. Has not been run since april last year. Yesterday I put a battery to it and it cranked half a second before running. Not bad at all. Once I get the title to it I am selling my 96 GMC diesel and plan to fix up the old truck and drive it.

at that mileage you can expect SOME maintenance on both like alternator or O2 sensor, etc.... parts for the chevy will usually be cheaper and in stock.... ford is famous for "what day of what month was it built?" and "oh we have to special order parts for trucks built on Tuesdays"
In my experience chevy's are usually easier to work on too.

My choice would go to a 99-06 GM with a 5.3L in it. It will end up needing an idler and pitman arm in the front end around that milage, but other than that they are pretty solid trucks with only a few other issues(nothing major). Not alot to say about FORDS as I don't have alot of first hand experience with them. I would steer clear of FORDS from the mid 90's to 03-04 with the 4.6L and 5.4L engines due to the spark plug problems as it can get REAL costly REAL quick fixing spark plug holes in teh heads.

chevy/gmc better ride, better fuel mileage ( i know you only drive 2 miles to work), & better resale, due to the plug issue ferm mentions.

I replace pitman and idler arms in my GMC every year. Make sure you buy a lifetime warranty product. My truck is a 2wd and has hardly been offroad since I quit hunting three years ago and still eats front end parts. I know dads F150 has been very reliable. Both are good trucks and I would not hesitate to buy either. But I do not need or want a newer truck.

put MOOG on that gmc..... unless you have some huge offset wheels they should outlive the truck and you

you get what you pay for, and those lifetime guaranteed parts from AZ and ADVANCE are just the warranty your paying for and some cheap chinese junk. I do quite a few of these, and the cheapos we get today are junk. Buy MOOG and you won't have to do the job for another 100K miles, or go with the ones with a lifetimne warranty and spend a lifetime replacing them. And I reccomended a 99-06 which is a COMPLETELY different front end from your 96. I know somebody with well over 300K miles on his 05 3500, and the only front end work done to it was a hub bearing at 85K miles. This trucks list of repairs in the 300K miles has been 1 water pump, 2 alternators, 1 hub bearing, blower motor resistor and plug, 3 sets of plugs, 2 sets of plug wires, 2 sets of front brakes, trans service every 75K miles, oil changes every 5K miles, and a couple of air filters. It does now need the guage cluster repaired, but for 300K miles it has been a SOLID truck with very few repairs. And this has pretty much been the norm with the newer trucks instead of the oddball.

They are MOOG. That is all I will put under my truck. I was running LT265/75R16E tires and now running LT285/75R16E tires. All on stock steel wheels.

You've got some other issues tearing them up then. I've got over 50K miles on AZ ones(back before they were chinese made, will be going with MOOG when they go) in my BURB with a few boosted launches on them, and they're still holding up. And one of them boosted launches was all 4 spinning on a track treated with VHT(I was trying to leave WAY to hard at 12 pounds of boost, was an eery ride spinning em 1st, 2nd, and catching in 3rd and taking off).

what he said... no reason in the world for them to be going out... what grease are you using on em?

I have 260,000 miles on my 2006 silverado 4.8. Still runs great. Just had to put an engine in my sons 99 F-150 with only 130k on it.

I got 210k out of my 4th gen LT1 Trans Am (I gave it hell too), my buddy got 160k out of his 4.6 mustang. I'm a GM fan all the way.

Oh, and my Dodge Ram caught on fire after two engines and three transmissions.

On that GM front end has anyone tightened up them torsion bars for height?? that will mess with the front end big time!! I had a 2002 Chevy and sold it to my friend 3 years ago with 190,000 and it now has 230,000 and he says its the best thing he has ever bought! 4.8 motor, was good on gas, but I think my current 5.3 is a bit better!
Power window motors, wheel hubs, fuel pump all gave me crap other then that the thing was always great! As stated you get what you pay for as far as parts! I faught hard with a few different wheel hubs before getting smart!

I have had Chevy for years and years, I bought a 98 Ford and traded it in less then a year and will never do that again!!

so do we start a pool to see if Charlie actually buys a car this time? we can double the odds and combine it when Willy buys a boat,
:nut:

Or we can triple it. I cant decide between a Tarpon 160 or Native Mariner 12.5 Propel.

My 2000 Suburban has 226K miles on it. I've owned over a dozen vehicles and it has been the most reliable and least expensive to maintain of them all. There, now I just jinxed myself.

Find a one-owner Sub or Yukon, owned by an older guy. Be patient, they're out there. Just be ready to pounce.

thankfully, i'm not in a terrible rush. i can walk to the station in the morning and get a ride home after work. so if i have to go another couple months without a car it aint no big deal. but if i come accross a deal of a deal i got a few grand just sitting here ready to go. just wanna know what to expect when i finally do dive in. i'll keep y'all posted.
really love the regular cab stepside, but i hafta remember i'm married and i got those pain in the a$$ kids i hafta drag around too.