"simple" tow question

[flyfisherman]

In response to Fly's question about what kind of vehicle I'm looking for, I offer this muddy train of thought.  I really am wide open.  I've never owned a pickup before, but if I could find one in my price range (under 5 grand), and if it was a crew or king cab, I'd be very interested.  We live a kind of rural lifestyle and a pickup would be most useful.

The problem, at least in my neck of the woods, is that good used pick-up trucks in the under five grand price range are in big demand, you know ... that are not all beat & "used" up.  Lots of folks in this area have them for a second (utility) vehicle. Generally, a couple of exceptions to be sure, I'll run them over 100,000 miles and then sell them outright. When I've placed an ad in the local paper they always have sold the first day. The exceptions have been when I sold the truck when it was maybe only a couple years old and then it took another day or two! I guess what I'm saying is trucks around here are a better bought new or just a year or two old, otherwise a good older one is real hard to find.

But I've been amazed that the gas mileage and comfort has improved so much from years gone by. I can remember when having a full sized V-8 truck meant that 12mpg on the open road was good mileage! Now, my full sized GMC, V-8, can get an easy 20mpg on the open road, of course I'm talking 2-whl drive and that might not be satisfactory for where you live.

Fly

[wynot]

In response to Fly's question about what kind of vehicle I'm looking for, I offer this muddy train of thought. I really am wide open. I've never owned a pickup before, but if I could find one in my price range (under 5 grand), and if it was a crew or king cab, I'd be very interested. We live a kind of rural lifestyle and a pickup would be most useful.
Another option that was suggested to me was getting a regular passenger car to drive around, and keep my RamCharger for 4-wheeling and towing the pop-up. It's an old rattletrap with lots of small (mostly) problems, and I guess that ideally, replacing it with another SUV or pickup would be the best option. It's an '84, and I believe that if I can get something a few years newer, it should be better on gas. This is the crux of the problem. The RamCharger gets about 9 miles to the gallon. I'd like to double that if I can. Am I being naive to think I can do better for under $5000? Thanks, folks...

My Tahoe would double that mileage for you, as long as you kept your foot out of it.
 
Like Fly said, finding a "cheap" and "not worn out" pickup for less than $5K is going to be a challenge.  In SUVs, if you were to look two body styles ago - meaning a 99 or earlier Tahoe/Yukon, you might get close to the $5,000 mark.  But you will be looking at about 12-14 mpg (a 33% improvement!!).  The newer GMs (now one body style back) does much better on gas mileage (2000-2006) - SUV or Pickup.
 
Most full-size gasoline pickups of the Dodge and Ford lines are not going to give you great or even good gas mileage - they're reliable, but they tend to drink gas.  Not 9mpg worth (although I am sure that the one ton models with a big V8 could be there)  (Watching out now for the rock with Ford or Dodge painted on the side of it coming at me!! :yikes: )
 
Crew cab?  If you are referring to the "true" crewcabs, and not today's small-er crew cabs, you need a lot of space for one of those, and they might make 9 mpg look pretty decent.  I'm pretty sure that a newer (shrunk) crew cab is not going to be anywhere near $5K, unless it is stolen, is missing a front clip, is totalled, or a wife got mad and decided to sell it while the husband was out of the house.