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I'm finding that I need a multi purpose, daily driver, swiss-army knife vehicle, that is reliable and able to occasionally tow my toys. A little background:

I currently own
72 710m (Penis Extension)
66 Thunderbird Conv. (Big Beautiful Bird)
79 Austin Mini Ranger (Tiny little toy)
04 Honda Element (Great condition)
92 Honda CRX (inopperable condition)

I'm looking to eliminate the Element and swap for something better suited to move my vehicles. However, I love the element for the utility, passenger space and dependability. I understand that I cant have everything, but I want it all!

I expect this vehicle to be my daily driver/bad weather vehicle. It must have A/C and lockable storage space for tools. I would prefer enough seating for 4.

Seems like I need a truck as a minimum. I could go gas or diesel. I was thinking about a 2006 or older dodge ram diesel with a short bed. The price of a diesel is so incredbily high. Is it worth getting a diesel if i will tow maybe once a month? I understand the reliability of a diesel engine, but in my price range (<$20k) these trucks have over 100k miles and its the rest of the vehicle breaking down that scares me.

Do i then look into a basic gas v8 truck or SUV? What's well suited to tow up to 7k lbs?

Finally, is there a beater (Less than $10k) that would do everything I want if I'm not so concerned about its over all appearance?

Thanks for your ideas!

How about a good clean 4 or 5 year old 3/4 ton Suburban? I used to have one and sold it to a guy who was going to use it to tow his race car to track events.

My recollection was the purchase price was under $15K.

audio - that tow rating thing has always begged the questions in my mind, "for how long? up how steep of a hill?" etc, etc. i used a suburban for towing 6 x 12 uhauls all over the place until one day the tranny ate itself and unleashed way too many other problems to fix. so now i say, BEEFIER THE BETTER, NO MATTER WHAT.

there are quite a lot of mil vehicles for sale on ebay. i bet there are auctions happening where amazing deals exist on 1 ton (and higher) trucks. georgia seems like a good location for those.

Audiocontr
There are several un-asked questions here... how many miles you plan on driving, on average, per month, how much weight in tools/payload on the truck... Seating for 4... adults or children. These also count against your towing capacity, figuring that a 7k trailer will have 700 to 900lb tongue weight, and if there are 4 people in the truck at 200 lb each, that is at least 1500 lbs of weight, that is more that the capacity of any full size foreign truck, or US 1/2T truck. Diesels are only available in 3/4T or larger pickups, and any rear ratio is ok in them for light to moederate towing... in a gas powered truck, stay with a 4.10 rr. Easier on the drivetrain ( especially trans).

Look at you monthly number of miles you'd drive to see if diesel is worth the extra cost. With my last truck I bought, I pay less for the gas each month than what the extra cost of the diesel engine would add to the monthly payment.

There even more questions that would suggest you may want to buy new, IF you're self employed... the truck is deductible...

Dave

My buddy has a 3/4 ton Suburban with a 454 that he tows his 404 Unimog with. He put airbags in the back and it does surprisingly well. A 712 would be easy and a 710M easier still.

I've got a 3/4 ton Silverado with the little 6 liter engine. It gets the same mileage pulling my 710K as it does around town (12-14 mpg). It has 4.10 rear end. I sometimes wish it had taller gears but as Dave said, the rest of the drive train suffers. I had to make the same decision on gas/diesel. There are new truck deals to be had, Government Motors was practically giving them away, and remember Obama and his new Car Czar will personally stand behind your warranty!

I went thru the same quandary a couple of months ago... I have a Mog 404 that is great to tow anything I want but it is way slow for the occasional 500 mile road trip.
My solution was to get a 1 ton crew cab duallie. I found a 86 F350 crew cab that was not too beat up for $2200. Not a daily driver but it pulls just fine, has room for me, my wife, and our 4 dogs in the cab.
The fuel cost is rather high (460 gas engine) but I figure it will be a lot of miles down the road to make the difference over a newer rig.

PS: two months and less than 1000 miles so far.

How about something like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7XQy0CuxK8

I use my 3/4T 2003 Dodge to pull my 712M. Good power and decent mileage both loaded and unloaded. Before that, I used it to pull my 406 Mog. Make sure you get a good trailer. I have one that has a 7 ton gross capacity. More than what I need but I have lots of braking capability and it pulls beatifully.

what was that titan pulling???!!!! A SHIP???

Some sort of pressure vessel in a chemical plant or refinery.

I wouldn't go with a diesel, the cost of ownership is much too high for an occasional hauler. We've had really good luck with the Ford V-10 powered Excursions and F250s. My wife is currently drving one with over 150K miles with no real issues.

Mike and I chatted about a month ago on this topic coming to the same understanding. There are a ton of V10 Ford carrier vans for less than $10k which would make for a great towing vehicle. Only problem is that V10. The thing is WEDGED in there. VERY difficult to get at certain areas for repair. Its actually easier to remove the front portion of the body on V10 pickups then to remove and service as is!

I have not found nor purchased my replacement as of yet, as yes i agree there are several more questions to answer. I'll come back and complete my question as soon as I can.

i once owned a quiggley 4x4 ford deisel ambulance. it was the WORST. i guess they're ok while they're new but paying for the motor's multiple repairs was a nightmare. everything turned out to be UNBELIEVABLELY EXPENSIVE. ford designed the engine compartment so you couldn't get at anything - way worse than the v10. i will never own another ford.

And this is back again =(

Crashed the Element over the weekend. Time to locate a daily driver that i will use to pull the 712 occasionally. There are a lot of hills around here, so yes, up and down hills at less than 500 mile intervals.

Ive been searching for a 92/93 dodge diesel but no luck. Time to look at the v10 excursions.

I currently own
72 710m (Penis Extension)
66 Thunderbird Conv. (Big Beautiful Bird)
79 Austin Mini Ranger (Tiny little toy)
04 Honda Element (Great condition)
92 Honda CRX (inopperable condition

Can't help you out with a tow vehicle (vehicles are a bit different out here in Aus) but I was wondering, what is a Austin Mini Ranger?
I've heard of Austins and Minis and Mini Mokes etc, but never a Austin Mini Ranger....even a Google search didn't turn up anything.
Just curious!