I’ve been looking at trucks again. Work trucks. Basic, regular cab, long bed trucks. I might as well be hunting for a freaking leprechaun, the winning lottery ticket or my misplaced youth. For what I’m looking at, I’m probably looking at a $40,000 or so bill for my trouble if I bought new. That’s a two-door, 3/4 ton gas bare-bones stripper of a truck with the only options ticked either adding to the utility of the truck (like a spray-in bedliner) or are just things I’m willing to spend money on (the optional cruise control, for example). I can’t get past the idea that a truck shouldn’t be a four-door sedan with a bed on it. When Haley and I toured with the first Rocky Mountain Race Week earlier this year, our ride was a 2019 Ram 1500 Classic and while it was a capable, comfortable and competent pickup truck, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it just didn’t feel quite right. The interior room, phenomenal. The bed? Meh.
Let my age show, call it what you will. But I view the regular cab, long bed truck the optimal version. And don’t get me started on just how much bigger modern trucks are overall compared to the rigs my dad was driving when I was a kid. Square-body Chevrolets, D-series Rams and Fords like this bullnosed F-250 might have started flirting with trim packages, but let’s be real, they were still a basic pickup in the end. Tape stripes be damned, it was designed to be worked. It was designed to tow, to carry, and to live as long as possible. No black-chrome style kit, no state-themed trim package, none of that crap. This was as fancy as you could expect to get: dual fuel tanks, a diesel engine and some aftermarket wheels.
This is what I need.
I feel the same way about a personal truck. I am currently looking for my last truck I will ever buy(retirement) and have decided to buy a rebuilt/restored truck. I can get a very good truck for 20,000 or so. I looked at new trucks, 1/2 ton, 4wd single cab not available, have to go 3/4 ton. Base price was 30,000+. Found a 1990 f150 for 18,500 with 45,000 miles not restored. No brainer on which one to buy.
Just picked up a 2004 Ford F250 4wd has regular cab long bed with 46,000 miles
Was a musical work truck that had some rust only on the doors. Ordered new Ford doors and sent the truck for a complete paint job
Previous owner had replaced all the suspension along with a rear diff rebuild and a 2″ lift
I basically have a brand new truck for under $14k when finished
man I don’t know… an IDI 6.9 or 7.3 was pretty painful. Glacially slow, rides like a buckboard wagone, and steers about the same. You don’t really drive an old F250, you give it suggestions on which way to point. With the current crop of crappy front end parts available, you can sort of try to retrain it every 25-40,000 miles. Anybody over 5’7″ will be miserable in the passenger seat of a regular cab for any trip past Bob’s BurgerJoint and the bench seat was a medieval torture rack brought into the 20th century by some Ford engineer with the last name de Sade.
Other than that, yeah, they’re fantastic on somebody else’s youtube channel. 🙂
I have a 1985 F350 Crew Cab Centurion CL dually conversion 7.3 IDI diesel w/a Gale Banks sidewinder turbo. I’ve owned this truck for 28 years. It will run and and surprise many newer diesel trucks, now is it fast…no. If you get used to I beams and how they drive, they are one of the best tracking trucks ever made. Keep the king pins lubed, stay on the radius arm bushings, very little maintenance is required.
BTW- If anyone is interested in classic super clean dually mine for sale.
changing out valve cover gaskets on a 89 f250 right now, ever seen the air injection setup on one of these?? jeesus ford!
Must be a 460 twin Air pump deal. Ford wasn’t the only one doing this.