Hi folks. I’m a beekeeper and I currently drive a 1989 Jeep Comanche. I love the truck but I was recently in a very bad car accident (as the passenger in a friend’s car) and I now have a huge scar on my forehead, not to mention headaches and dizzy spells. Long story short, I want to get something with driver and passenger airbags and good safety ratings in the 8,000 dollar range. I’ve been looking at bigger trucks because my apiary is outgrowing my Comanche anyway, and I’ve got horses and cattle to tow. I was debating getting a big work truck and a small commuter car, but now I’ve become a safety nazi and want something I feel safe in. I figure I might as well put the money I’d put towards insuring the smaller car into gas and drive the big truck.
I’ve been thinking of a diesel, late 90’s or early 2000’s Dodge with the cummins 5.9 or the same years of the Ford 7.3 superduty, but I’m open to any suggestions!
I need the truck to have airbags and good safety ratings. Does anyone know what years passenger airbags and anti-lock breaks began being installed in the above trucks or how safe they are?
I’d like good stability-but I’m not sure if I need 4x4 or duelly’s. I could use 4x4 on the farm but I’m not sure it’s worth the extra chance of flipping. Anyone have any thoughts?
Ideally I could easily tow 14,000 lbs
Ideally I’d have back seats
Do I want too much in one vehicle? Anyone have any suggestions I haven’t thought of?
Most of the F350 Diesel’s for under $8,000 in the country have 250,000 miles or even more. But you could get a crew or extended cab for the money. The tow ratings on these are much higher if your trailer is a 5th wheel. The '99 or newer Superdutys should come with ABS and Dual Airbags. http://www.campinglife.com has a tow ratings database that will help you figure out what the particular used truck you are looking at is rated to tow.
I want a Lear Jet too for $8k. Our chances of either one of us getting all we want is slim to none… If “any model 2008 would work” @Barkeydog, we all would be on it in a heartbeat. @jtsanders is being much more realistic…and there are fewer safety features.
You aren’t going to get into 7.3L Powerstroke that’s in halfway decent condition for $8000. Those things hold their value very well. Around here a 1996/1997 F-350 with the 7.3L and less than 200k miles, will set you back around $10k-$14k. Same story for the Cummins. If you’re doing farm work, you’re probably going to want 4WD at some point. I don’t think $8k will get you a truck that has modern safety features and can safely tow 14,000 pounds. Also if you’re towing 14k, a dually is a given.
You might want to consider a trailer for the apiary. That would open up more choices for the vehicle itself, and might even make transporting the hives easier, as well as making expansion easier.
You might also check out the crash ratings at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website. They do the government compliance crash testing, and the data is all free.
A dually with a limited slip differential will pretty much go anywhere a 4x4 will go, and use less gas. A diesel may get better mileage, but diesel fuel costs more and the maintenance is much higher than with a gas engine.
Just about any truck built after 2000 is going to have at least dual airbags. But airbags don’t really do much for you unless you also wear your seatbelt. Airbags augment seatbelts, they don’t replace them.
You could look for an older crew cab dually with limited slip and at least a small V8. It depends on how far you need to tow that 14k lbs. If only short distances on flat ground and not too often, you won’t need a large V8 or turbo diesel.
Just curious if you meant 14,000 or 1400, I sped read, and if you mean 14,000 a dually extended cab would be my recommendation, are you sure about 14k lbs? I mean a 14 hand horse may weigh 1200 lbs
It’s either mechanical or electronic in today’s cars. When one wheel begins to slip or spin , the other wheel on the same axle assumes some of the torque so both wheels have driving power. Non mechanical electronic use the abs system to help brake the spinning wheel to fake the open differential into keeping torque on the non spinning wheel. Both limit the slip of the spinning wheel, hense, limited slip. Mechanical ones are more efficient as you loose some power during braking. But, mechanical ones also degrade over time while electronic ones.continue to work. Good and bad points of each.
Traction control is a fancy name for this though it is even more sophisticated and modulates the throttle as well to more evenly distribute power to each wheel. Sometimes though in mud, that ain’t good. So, electronic ones can be defeated with a switch when equipped for better handling on dry ground and other special occasions. I’m getting confused myself just talking about the variations.
Personally, I prefer electronic for most on road use as they have fewer maintenance requirements and are long lasting and only increase brake pad wear. As if that’s an advantage !
Ok, nice explanation dagosa, thanks. I tried to post a description of a truck I found that might fit the bill for $9,500 to ask you guys about it but for some reason it says it has to be approved…hopefully it will get approved and you can weigh in!
What is a limited slip differential? Does it only come in gas trucks?
What do you all think of this option: I found a 2001 Ford F-350 diesel dually with airbags and abs for $9,500 with 280,00 miles, BUT the original engine had a bad piston and was replaced at 150,000 miles with a brand new 2006 or 2007 7.3L diesel (the person I talked to wasn’t sure which but can find out). At the same time the tranny and clutch were replaced. So engine, tranny, clutch only have 130,000. The truck was owned by a business that kept meticulous records of their meticulous maintenance. It was used to move livestock across the country so almost exclusively driven on highways and freeways. Do you guys think this is a good choice or is the engine swap a red flag? I heard all engines after 2002 were garbage, but then someone said only the 6.0 is garbage and the 7.3 should be fine.
I went to the camping life website and I’m a bit confused-I put in this truck and then picked the highest trailer weight of 17,500 it told me the tow limit was 10,000 lbs. Is this on top of the trailer weight or including the trailer weight? If I picked a small trailer weight of 5000 it would say sorry, your query returned no results. If I picked 7,500 it would say 9,200 was the tow limit. I think this tool will be great once I understand how to use it.
Really appreciate all your advice and suggestions!