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Tow Rig ideas- old school/newer?

stockk5

stockk5

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Hey guys, I have been tossing around ideas in my head for a while now and I am looking for some more input. So basically I finally have a big boy job and I started looking for a new truck to DD/tow rig. I have been crunching the numbers for some type of diesel truck either duramax/cummins and it seemed like the cummins was winning due to mileage they get and cost of repairs. 03-07 was my year/money range I thought I could afford. I then of course came back to the idea of a really mint 1980s crew cab chevy with a 12v cummins swapped into it.

My question is, how many of you DD an older 12v cummins or even 6.2, 6.5diesel, and or in a Crew cab. My thoughts on this were, no car payment, cheaper insurance and cheaper repairs and ease of repairs but still the benifits of "good" gas mileage and towability every once in a while. Right now I drive a 500dollar subaru I have kept driving by replacing parts here and there as I go, but I am always afraid of its reliability.

So what do you say, try to swing a newer truck or go with a older cheaper diesel? I will be towing my K5 2x a month along with the random house jobs and I drive about 75miles a day on my commute.
 
I've Had a Newer trucks and older trucks, I currently DD a 97 12 valve dually and a 91 burb on tons with a 6.2 my commute ( when I'm in town ) is 110 miles round trip.


The newer trucks are more comfortable thats for sure. but no payment sure is nice
 
one thing to consider is insurance coverage...older trucks are hard to insure for the amount of $$$$$ you have in them. just sayin'
 
I love my 6.2L but I'd have to say it's NOT a towing motor for something the size of a K5.

Older trucks are cool and vintage. I rocked my K5 for a few years as my DD. Was great but at the same time the maintenance was a PITA. Gas mileage was meh.

Newer truck costs more and has more stuff to it. However more cush too. Also less chance for someone to have done something stupid that years...possibly decades...later you have to discover and fix.


Also...you're in the rust belt. I lived in Michigan up until a few years ago. Sure you want to subject a vintage but rust prone old Chevy that is getting rarer and rarer every day to winter driving? I didn't. Hell, I won't drive mine in winter down here. Too much salt.
 
I guess some one forgot to tell me that I can't tow with a 6.2 lol
 
Not saying you can't...but a lot of people make the mistake of assuming "diesel = Cummins" and assume they're huge power motors and not good mpg alternatives to a 350.
 
I DD a 6.5 when I'm in Alaska working. It's stupid loud, vibrates a ton, and is a turd for towing my 7k lb trailer...I'm lucky when I can do the speed limit on the flats. It gets about 14.5 in town unloaded and 10-12 when I'm towing.

It's got great off-idle torque for plowing and it will run forever though. Personally, I'd take an l31 if I did it all over again. More power, same gas mileage, and cheaper fuel. Not to mention how much quieter it would be.
 
There not a Cummins,Dmax, or Power-joke but they can do the job of Occasional towing when Geared properly and you don't get in a hurry
 
A square-bodied GM won't last 5 years as a DD in Connecticut before it has cancer or holes rusted in it.

The early 90's saw a lot of major advances in comfort, soundproofing, and corrosion resistance (all manufacturers, not just GM).

It's stupid loud, vibrates a ton, and is a turd for towing my 7k lb trailer...I'm lucky when I can do the speed limit on the flats. It gets about 14.5 in town unloaded and 10-12 when I'm towing
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I'd say there might be something wrong with that truck.
 
yeah, my plan would be find an AZ truck. and maybe a 12v swap. I just have to much of a love for the 3+3's! I would keep the subie to hopefully avoid the salty months. I think im lookin at 1000bucks a month between fuel/insurance/truck if i went with a newer one.

Maybe just a complete dodge cummins but around 10g? What gen do you guys recommend?
 
No payment always wins for me

The nicest thing about newer trucks is the quitness, the comfortable seats, etc.

No payment makes me allot more comfortable towing very slowly in an uncomfortable seat with the racket of a 6.2:D

Or the milege of a 454
 
I'll have to second the no payment route. Although, there has been a couple of times I cursed the build and at that moment, would have thrown in the towel for a brand new duramax or whatever...

You can add sound proofing. Increase the corrosion preventatives and work on the comfort levels. I'm betting you can do it cheaper than a new truck. Admittedly I haven't priced them in many years.
 
cybrfire said:
I'll have to second the no payment route. Although, there has been a couple of times I cursed the build and at that moment, would have thrown in the towel for a brand new duramax or whatever...

You can add sound proofing. Increase the corrosion preventatives and work on the comfort levels. I'm betting you can do it cheaper than a new truck. Admittedly I haven't priced them in many years.
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Yeah, you can do a lot for mid $50K range...like have a dedicated wheeler, a tow truck, and a hot rod!
 
Any 94-01 Dodge Ram will suck in your climate. Rust traps. The doors will be gone.
 
AJMBLAZER said:
Any 94-01 Dodge Ram will suck in your climate. Rust traps. The doors will be gone.
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:rolleyes: Quoted for truth :doah:

The doors on my 00 are shot, but, other then that it's solid :dunno:, and with 330k on it, averaging 20+mpg DDing and never less then 15-16 when pulling 10k no matter what kind of traffic it's hard to complain about the
Upcoming door swap.
 
Here is the thing, if you wont' want something you might have to work on alot buy new.

If you don't mind working on something how about driving a beater honda as a a daily driver, and then buying the tow rig.

All paid for then just make a car payment to yourself, that money goes into the tow rig. Or repairs to the DD. Just the money you will save on gas driving a beater econo car will pay for alot of the overall tow rig budget.

As a comparision I DD a 6.2 diesel Jimmy got a lift on it 35s gets 18 mpg easy.


If I sold it and DD my dually which is a 454, then I am looking at 10 mpg if I am lucky. With as many miles as I put on my DD its easy to justify keeping the Jimmy to daily drive. Woud cost me an extra 600 a year at least to drive the dually that more than pays for insurance and maintenance costs on the Jimmy.

If you were driving a mileage car that figure could easily double, even when you compare to an early diesel rig.
 
Yeah, i figure if i can have AC in a crew cab, i can always swap in newer seats, even power seats if i wanted. I spend about 450 a month in gas on my subie going to work/weekend, with a newer diesel it would be roughly 550, plus insurance/payment im lookin at 1000 a month just in owning a new truck.

A nicer crew cab, 3-4g, cheappppp insurance and another 3-4g making it nice with a cummins swap? I could be totally wrong with those numbers.

I think my plan is more moving towards, get a Crew cab chevy, tow with it, daily drive it during nicer monthsj ( not as much summer commuting), keep my beater subie for winter driving. Right now my subie gets 22mpg no matter what, easy driving, 80mph driving, all highway.

Right now i think its all about keeping $$$ in the bank and of course getting my dream truck. Just wanted to toss the idea around with guys who might have been in the same situation.
 
stockk5 said:
Right now i think its all about keeping $$$ in the bank and of course getting my dream truck. Just wanted to toss the idea around with guys who might have been in the same situation.
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Yep if your dream truck is a brand new truck it just takes a little longer.

If your dream truck is like mine. No one built it. But Chevy gave me a good start then you buy what you want and slowly build it up.

My crew will eventually have a diesel of some sort, links and bags front and rear, custom paint, custom seats, tons of sound deadining etc etc etc
 
If you look at a newer (2000 up) truck,look GOOD under them,I have seen many severely rusted trucks with more rot on stuctural components on relatively "young" vehicles here...my 1982 has less rust on the chassis than many of the newer trucks I've looked under,that were driven year round...newer vehicles were made with more recycled steel,that turns to dust a lot faster than the "virgin" metals they used top use years ago..the new trucks frames are thin to begin with too..
 
stockk5 said:
Right now i think its all about keeping $$$ in the bank and of course getting my dream truck. Just wanted to toss the idea around with guys who might have been in the same situation.
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With this statement, you have some things to really think about.

Do you absolutely need a tow rig? Your K5 is pretty stout. Why the need to tow it? Just so you can run it harder without fear of breaking it? You'd be better off in saving money by just driving it to/from the trail and wheeling it accordingly. When the occasional breakage happens fix it. When a catastrophic failure happens, paying for a tow home is cheaper than a monthly loan payment.

Buying a truck, even a decent mileage diesel, for commuting the miles you stated and using as a tow rig. This is like stepping over dollars to pick up dimes. You want to save money? Keep driving the Scoob. If that's becoming problematic, replace it with another cheapo high mileage beater.

If you really want to save money, long term, and put it towards buying the "dream truck" (or something more practical like a house), put some dollars and sense into the K5 to make it about bulletproof. That way it can be reliable enough to drive to/from the trail and you still have a toy to play with. And a reliable DD/beater car for work and commuting so you're not spending a fortune on fuel, insurance, taxes, maintenence, payments?, etc... on a truck just so you can wheel the toy harder.

I've been there. I lived paycheck to paycheck so I could have a decent truck to tow with. And if I could do it all over again... I'd do it different. If your goal is really to save money? Reevaluate how much you really need that tow rig. Unless money is no object for you, by all means, spend those dollars and save those dimes.
 
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