The move is looming. I've managed to scrap together a little under $2K to buy a car. More if I can sell my Buick instead of scrapping it. I need to buy a car once I get there and I've been leaning towards an S10-sonoma.
I reason thusly: Trucks are convenient, If I buy a race car I'll need to tow it. and probably haul engines and whatnot. If I can't find a racecar I can buy another Buick as a daily and swap in an LSx
I'm looking for a '95+ 4.3 auto RWD, body and bed config is not really important as long as it only has 2 doors.
preference is Sonoma, then S10, then hombre. Would nab a 2 door Jimmy Bravada, or Blazer if it came down to it. If it says ZQ8 I know to buy it...
That said I know very little about the platform. what should I look for, what should I look out for?
I have a '94 4cly 5 speed extended cab. My BIl has a '94 regular cab . SIL has a '95 4.3 auto long bed. You NEED a extended cab 4.3 for many reasons if not just for the leg room. I would not tow with any of them.
You can't just say "many reasons"...
I did many tow dolly pulls with my 96 Ranger 4cyl stick model.... Would do it again in a heartbeat, with a v6, it would be even easier.
If you are over 6', ext cab isn't a must but you'll have more room to fit in the cab.
My only problem with them is how fast they become "junk" before other models for similar money. YMMV and JMO.
Back to the model itself, it eats front end components, like if you cheap out in them expect 20k max service life. The 700r4/4l60 has known issues but can live shifting funky for a bit before out and out dying. Cheap interiors. Cheap uncomfortable seats that look pretty. Ext cabs will have a rear driveshaft that has a carrier bearing that fails too easily. Sonoma will command a premium where a Hombre will be the cheapest buyin.
Many reasons besides legroom, more space to put more junk like tools, parts, dogs, kids...
I have towed cars and boats with mine but its not great. a v6 will be better but the breaks are not that great. Depending on what your towing, it can out weigh the truck and that's not a good thing.
It appears that V6 Extended Cab Hombres were only produced in '97 and '98.
We've used my wife's 2 door Jimmy (2000, 4x4, 4.3) to tow a 3500 pound Mercedes on a 1500 pound car hauler. She kept the 4l60 out of overdrive, and stayed around 60 mph on the highway. She said it did OK (she was driving, I was hauling something else). Hers has 4 wheel discs; not sure what year those came in, but they work well.
The biggest issues I have with the truck:
1) Dexcool. "The Orange Death". If you can, try to buy something with a recently replace3d cooling system. Her truck has 165k and has had a new radiator, heater core, everything. Dexcool eats all. If it's been converted to the green stuff, all the better- but still a full coolant flush should be #1 on your priority list. If the radiator looks brown inside, run away.
2) The 4.3 is a bear to work on in that tiny engine compartment. Changing the driver's side spark plugs is particularly nightmarish. Also, the distributor tends to go bad and the replacement procedure is not fully straightforward. Luckily, replacement dizzies are better quality than OEM.
3) Interior bits (especially the plastic stuff) tends to degrade and fall apart. Everything from defroster grills to the radio control knobs to the seat adjuster lever. I can't count how many pieces of trim I've shoved folded up cardboard into to keep it from rattling.
That said, if maintained, and you don't tow in OD, they're generally reliable. And they depreciate like rocks. Our '00 Jimmy, even though it's rust free, has only about 165k, and is still in pretty good shape overall, has a clean dealer retail of only about 3k. There's a nice-looking mid 90's 4 door 2WD one near us for 2k, that's been for sale for weeks.
http://www.s10planet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17252
I'd likely be towing A volvo 240 on a flatbed. And only sparingly as my co-driver has a diesel Toureg that will do most of the towing.
Ideally I'd like a standard cab short bed.
Find a clean first gen. They seem to be appreciating, at least around here. All the later stuff bolts up to make it better.
I will tell you what I tell anyone looking for a pickup: Long Bed is the way to go. Cheaper buy in, and does more of what a pickup is supposed to do: haul stuff. Plus the longer wheelbase helps for stability when towing.
Extended cabs are nice, too. But they don't come with long beds in compact pickups.
I'd say F150 is the answer. '87-'96 300 six.
Ranger50 wrote:
I did many tow dolly pulls with my 96 Ranger 4cyl stick model.... Would do it again in a heartbeat, with a v6, it would be even easier.
If you are over 6', ext cab isn't a must but you'll have more room to fit in the cab.
My only problem with them is how fast they become "junk" before other models for similar money. YMMV and JMO.
Back to the model itself, it eats front end components, like if you cheap out in them expect 20k max service life. The 700r4/4l60 has known issues but can live shifting funky for a bit before out and out dying. Cheap interiors. Cheap uncomfortable seats that look pretty. Ext cabs will have a rear driveshaft that has a carrier bearing that fails too easily. Sonoma will command a premium where a Hombre will be the cheapest buyin.
After owning a 2000 Sonoma, I can't agree with any part of this post except about the pricing. Decent enough vehicles. Parts are dirt cheap to repair and available everywhere. V8 swaps are super simple. Handling is pretty decent, a good set of tires and the ZQ8 setup is really good.
Why S10? In my opinion, and I really am more or less a GM fan, is that they are inferior to the Ranger in almost every way. Unless you want to build one, then they benefit from the GM parts catalogue and aftermarket of course. But why small truck at all? I feel like a 6 cyl full size truck from GM or Ford would be the better implement for your requirements. I can't even see them being significantly worse for fuel economy, while being both more comfortable and capable.
I'd go with a half ton, small trucks only really make sense if you buy a 4 cylinder manual trans model to have a commuter that can also do some light hauling. That's a big part of why they've died out, the fuel economy penalty is/was minimal between a V6 mini truck and a half ton with the same engine. So people just end up buying the more comfortable and capable half ton.
I always go back to the standard cab, long bed, V6 2WD 5 speed Chevy pickup (full size) I drove for awhile...25 mpg and decent power. And it was free, that was a big plus, too. Plus, unlike in the S-10, the 4.3 was easy to work on in that massive engine room.
