Fistful of dollars. . . . . . .

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by charlie_the_tuna

reel, when i bought my wife her minivan i took the same approach. $15,000. max, and then ended up buying her a brand new $30,000. sienna. this time i plan on sticking with the $15,000. (or so) max. i guess i could go a couple grand more or less but going much higher is not an option this time.
and blue, again, i do love the tacoma, and toyota in general but i figure a V20 would be the limit of towing capacity for it. i'm hoping to go a bit larger for my next one.

Chuck, there's plenty of 4-door trucks out there in that range that'll do the job...Willy's right about the 4-wheel drive...do your ramps require it?...if not, you can get more truck and better mileage by far goin 2-wheel drive...mine is 2WD...whatever you come down on, be sure it's got the factory tow package

[spareparts]

from what I found out from dealing with my Ford van, all the Ford triton series motors can be real expensive to work on labor and parts. Look up directions on repairing a cylinder head on a Ford pick up and the first thing they tell you is to pull the cab off the frame to get to the engine. Ever tried putting plugs in one? The chevy LS engines aren't cheap but they are easier to work on and have a good aftermarket following. I've allways been a chevy guy, but the newer GMC's look better. I'm not real thrilled with eth way GM handled the banckruptsy adn my hats off to Ford for not taking stimulos money. But I would still buy the GM truck just because I like it better.

[charlie_the_tuna]

what do you guys think about the gm 6.0? ferm? spare? anybody?

[phatdaddy]

great motor, naturally a little thirstier than the the smaller 5.3. but with a load not working as hard. is that what is in the Avalanche your looking at? i know that is not as thirsty as the dodge 5.9. considering your limited useage, it would not be much of a factor. the gear ratio would be a factor also..

[charlie_the_tuna]

phat, the avalanches i looked at all have the 5.3 but alot of the 1500's have the 6.0.

[THEFERMANATOR]

The 6.0L is a good engine, and a very strong engine for it's size. I haven't seen many 1500's with the 6.0L as that was normally for the VORTEC MAX option. I know the newer 07+ 1500's had it as an option though, and I believe it was backed by the new 6 speed auto in the 07+.

[nipper]

I remember we all said heck no when you first brought up the avalanches, but the newer ones look nice without all that plastic cladding on them.

[Hammerhead]

I've had good luck with Ford products. My E-150 conversion van v-6 w/towing package has 150K miles, runs great and pulls the V-20 w/o issue and serves as a work truck most of the time.

[nipper]

Wife and I have a 1998 Chevrolet Suburban K1500 4wd which we bought in 01 or 02 with 65k miles. Still running very strong at 168k

[spareparts]

our 99 Burb has 190,000 on it anda still going strong, down here in Orlando today, checked milage with 6 people, back full of luggage, even had teh carrier in the hitch with a cooler and box of food on it. Ran 70 or better on the way down, made 18.4 mpg with the 5.7 2wd