Next truck

[phsycle]

I need to get a truck. It’ll be used as a family hauler (for camping trips. Wife has a minivan for road trips and daily stuff). Won’t need much in the way of extreme off road. I’d probably get a 2-3” lift and 33-34” tires.
I don’t tow much.

Things I need:
- 4 doors
- 4wd
- Good reliability
- Decent MPG (20+ Stock preferable. I understand this will go down when I lift and install bigger tires)

Things I want:
- Locker (at least rear)
- 6’ bed
- below 100k miles
- Large fuel tank
- spend less than $20k

Ford, Chev, Toyota. Ideally, something in the lower trim would be the target. I don’t like Laramie/Lariat/Limited/LTZ. Give me basic trim. Simpler, the better.

I see F150’s in the 2012-2014 era that are appealing and in the right price range. Probably would go for XL or XLT, 6’ bed, and hopefully FX4 pkg.
Early 2000’s Silverado’s have caught my eye as well. 5.3, 4wd. It’d be much cheaper. But no stock locker and would probably need some good maintenance. But as long as they’re reliable (which they seem to be), I’m good with that. I’ll just use the money saved for either a winch, maxtraxx, or locker.
05-06 Tundra could be a candidate but frankly, I hate the low payload. They sure do have a lot of aftermarket support.

Thoughts?

 

[RememberTheAyyLmao]

I need to get a truck. It’ll be used as a family hauler (for camping trips. Wife has a minivan for road trips and daily stuff). Won’t need much in the way of extreme off road. I’d probably get a 2-3” lift and 33-34” tires.
I don’t tow much.

Things I need:
- 4 doors
- 4wd
- Good reliability
- Decent MPG (20+ Stock preferable. I understand this will go down when I lift and install bigger tires)

Things I want:
- Locker (at least rear)
- 6’ bed
- below 100k miles
- Large fuel tank
- spend less than $20k

Ford, Chev, Toyota. Ideally, something in the lower trim would be the target. I don’t like Laramie/Lariat/Limited/LTZ. Give me basic trim. Simpler, the better.

I see F150’s in the 2012-2014 era that are appealing and in the right price range. Probably would go for XL or XLT, 6’ bed, and hopefully FX4 pkg.
Early 2000’s Silverado’s have caught my eye as well. 5.3, 4wd. It’d be much cheaper. But no stock locker and would probably need some good maintenance. But as long as they’re reliable (which they seem to be), I’m good with that. I’ll just use the money saved for either a winch, maxtraxx, or locker.
05-06 Tundra could be a candidate but frankly, I hate the low payload. They sure do have a lot of aftermarket support.

Thoughts?

Based on your price and options, I would suggest a 2013-14 FX4. I just spent the last few months researching much the same price range as you and found that if you wanted a decent condition truck with a locker, you were looking at 13-14 FX4's. I don't see you finding a full size truck with 20+ mpg stock but I'm no expert on the MPG side of things. You could go for a 3.5 EcoBoost but those have their issues just like the 5.0 V8 does. Plenty of people getting tons of mileage and fun out of them reliably, a vocal few having all kinds of issues.

My vote for you is a 5.0 FX4 SCREW with the 6.5' bed. Can be found with a cloth interior and bench front seat. You'll have a massive amount of room, rear e-locker, sweet engine with decent mid-high teens MPG. I believe there were varying axle ratios as well which can be found on a sticker code on the passenger door.

With much the same budget and requirements, I bumped my budget up a few thousand and bought a 2013 Raptor. Has all the upgrades I would ever want on an F-150, a bulletproof enging, and is one of the slowest depreciating vehicles on the used market. 14mpg highway is gonna be rough, but, hey you gotta pay to play sometimes.

 

[Kaisen]

My opinion for longevity and reliability:

2007-2014 Silverado/Sierra Crew Short 2500HD 4x4
Standard 6.0L gas / 6L90e / AAM 10.5" full-floater with common factory G80 locker

You've given zero reason to buy a half ton

 

[tacollie]

This was my search a year ago. Best bet is Ford or Silverado. 20+ mpgs is a stretch. In my experience most trucks under $20k are beat. I ended up with a Tundra because all the F150s I drove were clapped out. Brand isn't as important as maintenance imo.

 

[Wrathchild]

My opinion for longevity and reliability:

2007-2014 Silverado/Sierra Crew Short 2500HD 4x4
Standard 6.0L gas / 6L90e / AAM 10.5" full-floater with common factory G80 locker

You've given zero reason to buy a half ton

Couldn’t agree more. If I could go back in time I would have kept my ‘07.

 

[RememberTheAyyLmao]

My opinion for longevity and reliability:

2007-2014 Silverado/Sierra Crew Short 2500HD 4x4
Standard 6.0L gas / 6L90e / AAM 10.5" full-floater with common factory G80 locker

You've given zero reason to buy a half ton

Another good question is why a truck over a larger SUV like a Suburban. Mileage on those tends to be better and they're usually cheaper than a comparable year truck. The space behind a Sub has to be at least equivalent to a 6' bed

 

[Explorerinil]

My opinion for longevity and reliability:

2007-2014 Silverado/Sierra Crew Short 2500HD 4x4
Standard 6.0L gas / 6L90e / AAM 10.5" full-floater with common factory G80 locker

You've given zero reason to buy a half ton

Yeah thats probably the most reliable set up of all American made trucks.

 

[tdferrero]

My opinion for longevity and reliability:

2007-2014 Silverado/Sierra Crew Short 2500HD 4x4
Standard 6.0L gas / 6L90e / AAM 10.5" full-floater with common factory G80 locker

You've given zero reason to buy a half ton

Another +1 for this setup. Or you may be able to find a low mileage LBZ Duramax depending on where you're located.

 

[Kaisen]

Another +1 for this setup. Or you may be able to find a low mileage LBZ Duramax depending on where you're located.

But why? Is he towing >10,000 lbs on a regular basis? I own a LBZ (since new) and a LMM. They literally only move when they have huge trailers behind them. A 6.0L/6L90e is far superior when it's just a laden rig out on an adventure. Cheaper fuel (by a LOT right now, but over the past decade diesel has averaged 23% more than gasoline), much simpler engine (pushrod, 2v, no AFM/DoD, cheap parts), robust transmission, high teens fuel economy when not laden with gear.... and thousands less than a LBZ

 

[Martinjmpr]

Another good question is why a truck over a larger SUV like a Suburban. Mileage on those tends to be better and they're usually cheaper than a comparable year truck. The space behind a Sub has to be at least equivalent to a 6' bed

With the 2nd row down a Suburban has a load deck just over 8' long. 96" and some change.

Used pickups can be a mixed bag. Many of them are beat to hell by the time they 60,000 or 70,000 miles on them. If you are set on a pickup try to find one that was owned by a suburban-dwelling soccer dad. Farm/ranch/oil patch trucks are going to be well used.

For under $20k you can get a GMT-900 Suburban. Get a 2009 or later as it will have the 6 speed transmission and as far as I know the AFM issues had been pretty much ironed out by that time. Some of the later GMT-900's even had a built in trailer brake controller if that's important to you. 31 gallon gas tank is bigger than most crew-cab pickups of that generation. Only thing you will have to be careful of is that not all of them had low range in the transfer case - the 2 speed T-case was an option.

 

[billiebob]

Decent MPG (20+

you might almost get 20mpg empty on the highway, no passing or speeding, but throw 10# in the box, you'll get closer to 15mpg.

 

[tdferrero]

But why? Is he towing >10,000 lbs on a regular basis? I own a LBZ (since new) and a LMM. They literally only move when they have huge trailers behind them. A 6.0L/6L90e is far superior when it's just a laden rig out on an adventure. Cheaper fuel (by a LOT right now, but over the past decade diesel has averaged 23% more than gasoline), much simpler engine (pushrod, 2v, no AFM/DoD, cheap parts), robust transmission, high teens fuel economy when not laden with gear.... and thousands less than a LBZ

Why? Because he asked for options. I had an LBZ for awhile and it was great - reliable, and ticked every box on his list save for the 20+ mpg, though it was close. In what scenario is the 6.0, "far superior when it's just a laden rig out on an adventure"?

 

[Kaisen]

For under $20k you can get a GMT-900 Suburban. Get a 2009 or later as it will have the 6 speed transmission and as far as I know the AFM issues had been pretty much ironed out by that time. Some of the later GMT-900's even had a built in trailer brake controller if that's important to you. 31 gallon gas tank is bigger than most crew-cab pickups of that generation. Only thing you will have to be careful of is that not all of them had low range in the transfer case - the 2 speed T-case was an option.

GMT900 Suburban 2500 only had the 4L80e in 2007, and all 2008-2019 Sub 2500/3500 had the 6L90e.

No such thing as AFM/DoD on *ANY* HD 6.0L. The 2007-2019 6.0L had Variable Valve Timing, but no cylinder deactivation. VVT is a good thing, and GM didn't really have any problems with them. I own a few.

All of them had low range. Almost all Sub 3/4s had the NP246HD case

Sub 4s also have 37-40 gallon tanks (two tanks per vehicle)

 

[Kaisen]

In what scenario is the 6.0, "far superior when it's just a laden rig out on an adventure"?

Simpler, cheaper to purchase, cheaper to maintain, cheaper to repair, similar fuel economy using MUCH less expensive fuel, no diesel mess/fuss/quirks, more horsepower, more efficient transmission, quieter better power at idle (no boost), LESS WEIGHT bouncing over the nose... want me to go on?

 

[badm0t0rfinger]

I need to get a truck. It’ll be used as a family hauler (for camping trips. Wife has a minivan for road trips and daily stuff). Won’t need much in the way of extreme off road. I’d probably get a 2-3” lift and 33-34” tires.
I don’t tow much.

Things I need:
- 4 doors
- 4wd
- Good reliability
- Decent MPG (20+ Stock preferable. I understand this will go down when I lift and install bigger tires)

Things I want:
- Locker (at least rear)
- 6’ bed
- below 100k miles
- Large fuel tank
- spend less than $20k

Ford, Chev, Toyota. Ideally, something in the lower trim would be the target. I don’t like Laramie/Lariat/Limited/LTZ. Give me basic trim. Simpler, the better.

I see F150’s in the 2012-2014 era that are appealing and in the right price range. Probably would go for XL or XLT, 6’ bed, and hopefully FX4 pkg.
Early 2000’s Silverado’s have caught my eye as well. 5.3, 4wd. It’d be much cheaper. But no stock locker and would probably need some good maintenance. But as long as they’re reliable (which they seem to be), I’m good with that. I’ll just use the money saved for either a winch, maxtraxx, or locker.
05-06 Tundra could be a candidate but frankly, I hate the low payload. They sure do have a lot of aftermarket support.

Thoughts?

F150 EB, SCREW 6.5 bed. Not my favorite build of the F150 but man it would work. I also know that Toyota makes a Tundra with the 6.5 bed and the smaller version of the 4 door, not sure if they're suicide style or not though. FX4s come with rear lockers I believe, but you would have to look at the window sticker to be certain. MPG won't 20, but you should be able to get decent MPG, even when loaded up. Most of your wants are just on you regarding what you will give up to meet your needs, or if you're willing to split the difference.

I would say if you're looking at lifting an F150 you should always keep a GEN1 Raptor in your sights. You won't get good MPG (my gauge reads 13.4 right now), and you will ONLY get a 5.5 bed, but you will get a locker and a large tank. Comes with 35s to start, can fit 37s on mid perch and light offroading; or get a proper setup and pinch weld mod it and you can fit 37s and send it. Also has a front torsen on 2012s and newer.

Silverados are good but, square wheel wells? ICK!