considering a beater truck...

considering a beater truck...

after the snow storm we had last weekend, i'm SERIOUSLY considering picking up an old SUV or pickup truck for nasty weather. i can't afford to miss a day of work because it's a Sunday and they don't feel like plowing my street till Sunday night.

i'm hedging between two right now: 1986-1994 S-10 Blazer(this is before they got really bad on reliability), and an older Wrangler. i know at least some of you have had experience with these two, so lay it on me. what do you like about one or the other? what do you hate?

before it's suggested, i'm intentionally avoiding toyota SUVs...their rear axles are thin compared to the blazer and the wrangler.

CJ7...

see...that falls under the same category as wranglers...so it's one of my options.

Come get my Bronco II! I'll cut you a /really/ good deal..

I hadn't heard anything about older Toyotas having weak axles..do you plan on running it hard?

too bad you're not in WA..... i'm selling my 86 4 runner for only $800... RUNNING!

Mike won't touch Fords...so if i need help repairing/replacing something, i'd have to look elsewhere for assistance. i think he's convinced they're diseased.

i tend to drive a vehicle pretty hard in the winter...i'm surprised my 94 corolla was able to handle it. the current corolla is dealing, though i've already ripped a hold in the year-old exhaust.

such is life...though i would be able to find a similar deal out here.

I don't blame him..lol

Some people hammer old Toyota trucks pretty hard - it may be worth some additional research into axle strength if that's the only reason you don't want to get one.

You do know that I am terribly biased, though.

heh, yes...i know.


i just found an Outback on Craigslist for $1500...i might consider that if it's an Impreza Sport...

Im going to go the complete opposite way on this. Why not just buy a set of steelies and some blizzaks, then throw them on the Corolla when it snows? You shouldnt have ANY problem getting around that way, and it'll be cheaper than buying a truck + insurance on another vehicle.

my father has had a wrangler daily driver since like 92'.

the **** is still up and running strong.

There's a set of Miata steelies and Cooper (I think..) snows on my old rolla, and it's awesome in snow.

that wouldn't have helped me on Sunday, when the car was stuck in the snow. the snow was WAY too deep(1.5' +), and we didn't get plowed till Sunday night...after i missed a full day of work.

besides, it would be useful to have a truck.

That sucks.

Move north - we don't have nearly as much snow (*cough*this year, anyway), and there are plenty of trucks up here. Heck..buy the Doc's house!

heh...if i hadn't just started my dream job 3 weeks ago, we'd consider it...Mike loves the cold, so that would be ideal.

meh. i guess i'll stick with the Blazer, since it has more interior room than the Jeep would have.

Good luck

ty hon

Sorry to jack ur thread here but I have a good story bout a small truck......

My friend, who owns a quad cab 2002 F-150 on 20 inch chrome rims (parents spoil him with money), well back in highschool, me, him, and another friend were drivin to OSU to check out the college. Well on the way home, we realized that every car we passed by was covered with, not brown, but red mud and we were kinda intrigued by it cuz we had never seen so much red mud covered cars b4....well we saw a back road off of the main "country highway back road type thing" and me and my friend were pressuring him to take his truck for some mudding action (it had just finished pouring rain in this area the day b4)....he eventually gave in and it was pretty fun cuz we were sliding left and right all the way down the hill but then we went up hill, started to slow down.....came to a stop....wheels still rollin....and we slowly start easing over into a two foot ditch...........we sat there for literally 6 hours trying to get the truck out....we went down to a nearby farm house to see if he could help us out but he was a rude little bastard and told us no and if we bothered him, he was gonna call the cops or take matters into his own hands....so we freakin ran back to the truck and waited and finally someone actually went and turned off of the main road and found us stranded to help us....he took me n my friend back into Stillwater (the town where OSU is at) while my friend stayed with his truck......all the wrecker people were like, we cant pull him out cuz you guys went too far down the dirt road and we might get stuck.....so they were like but we do kno someone who might wanna help you boys out but it may cost ya.....at this point we really didnt car so we were like okay....well this tiny late 80s early 90s model toyota pulls up....beat up as can be with nothing but a 6 inch lift and some off-road tires....two little sh*t kicker country boys step out of the truck and we were even more disappointed....we asked them if they think they can pull a full size f-150 out and if they ever got stuck....they said they think they could cuz theyve never got stuck before except when it was top centered....on our way to save my friend n his truck, these two sh*t kickers were tellin us about their "new pants" they just got from the flea market and they apologized because quote "they smell like cat piss", lol......newayz, we get down the hill....well my friend walked out of his truck with his mouth open like wtf did we bring back....but newayz, he hooked us up to his truck and dragged my friends truck ALL THE WAY back to the main road (probably two miles).......the result of all this as a completely bent out of shape pipe (ahem, custom pipes), and nearly bare rear tires.....oh yea.....and a really dirt truck!......he paid i believe around $15 worth of quarters at the car wash of the next town we ran into......oh yea, he paid the guys like $160 to pull his f-150 out too.......

Sorry lilbit01 for jackin your thread but hey maybe it opened ur eyes to some possibilities......continue with the discussion.....

those 80s toyota trucks are no joke. One of my friends have one with over 200,000 miles and still running strong. And another redneck buddy with a Full size Tahoe now said his old Toyota was really strong for a 4 cylinder.

Solid front axle and a 22re - what more could you ask for?