What would you buy for a decent hunting truck (beater)

[Ryanpktaxiderm]

As I'm gonna be relocating from Edmonton to Slave lake this fall, I'm looking to get rid of my sedan and upgrade to a truck. Figure now is the time to sell the sedan as I can get more than I paid for it thanks to the used car market.

If yall had a price range of about 4000-5000 for a used half ton with 4x4, under 300k, what would you be looking for? seem to be a decent amount of early 2000s half tons on Kijiji/marketplace around that price range and under 300k.

Wont be looking for anything pretty (some rust and dents are expected in that price range), and I'm already prepped to do maintenance things like brakes/tires/belts/battery etc after buying in that price range. Not a huge fan of ford 5.4 engines have seen those crater way too often. Dodge I know ima be looking at ball joints/tie rods most likely.

What would you be looking for in that situation?

Also have any of y'all noticed folks stop replying as soon as you mention arranging to meet at your shop so your mech can do a pre-purchase inspection? Seems to weed out a lot of lemons lol.

[lannie]

Buy the lowest km Japanese truck within your budget. Old north american pick would be pre 1980. Anything newer with high kms is high risk IMO.

[Ryanpktaxiderm]

Originally Posted by lannie

Buy the lowest km Japanese truck within your budget. Old north american pick would be pre 1980. Anything newer with high kms is high risk IMO.

hmm hadnt considered one of those good to know

[bsmitty27]

Any of them could give you problems.
Maby I got lucky but my 04 ram has been a gem. 350,000km and no major services.

[huntinstuff]

Have you started looking yet? Bicycles are 4-5 thousand......

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

Have you started looking yet? Bicycles are 4-5 thousand......

To be fair, upper end bicycles.

[huntinstuff]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

To be fair, upper end bicycles.

True dat

[270person]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

Have you started looking yet? Bicycles are 4-5 thousand......

Mug Shockey for his Quiet Cat. He's on all my Stealth Cams.

[EZM]

If you are not towing or loading heavy, with high milage I'd be looking at a 4runner or Taco

[jungleboy]

I have a 08 GMC Sierra with 311k on it that has been a very solid truck for me. It has had wear and tear items like brakes shocks wheel bearings but the drive train has been very strong still is . It’s got the 5.3 in it , it’s rusty on the box sides but goes and goes, I am hoping for another 100k🤞If I can afford the gas.

[270person]

Originally Posted by EZM

If you are not towing or loading heavy, with high milage I'd be looking at a 4runner or Taco

x2. They can go places a full size half ton cant. Even the old 4 bangers were great little bush trucks.

[huntinstuff]

.......

[jstubbs]

Nowadays for that kind of budget it’s basically whatever you can find with under 200k and not rusted out that maybe can pass a safety.

I’d look for a 00-06 Chev half ton or maybe an 99-03 Ford F150. Both were pretty good trucks those years but they all have their quirks.

Good news with high gas prices I think we’ll be seeing more and more older not so fuel efficient trucks being sold for cheap as people scramble for smaller fuel efficient vehicles.

[trailraat]

Late nineties Chevy/GMC 1500 with a 5.7L - i've know several people who took those trucks well over 400,000km. Following that 2000-2006 Chevy/GMC 1500 with a 4.8L. They are less desirable (less power) than the 5.3L so they can be found cheaper. I've put 80,000kms on one since 2014 and have had little to do beyond routine maintenance.

None of the Japanese trucks will get better gas mileage even with a small motor. Plus you will pay the Toyota tax for sure.

Early 2000's Fords can be ok as long as you avoid the 5.4L engine like the plague. Look for a 4.6L; less power, but no cam phaser problems.

[spoiledsaskhunter]

........think i'd be looking for an older chevy, as per some of the above comments. they'll go a long way.

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by trailraat

Late nineties Chevy/GMC 1500 with a 5.7L - i've know several people who took those trucks well over 400,000km. Following that 2000-2006 Chevy/GMC 1500 with a 4.8L. They are less desirable (less power) than the 5.3L so they can be found cheaper. I've put 80,000kms on one since 2014 and have had little to do beyond routine maintenance.

None of the Japanese trucks will get better gas mileage even with a small motor. Plus you will pay the Toyota tax for sure.

Early 2000's Fords can be ok as long as you avoid the 5.4L engine like the plague. Look for a 4.6L; less power, but no cam phaser problems.

Agreed on the 5.7L. I had a 97 GMC K2500 with the 5.7L and 5 speed standard and it was one of the best trucks I ever owned. Thinking back to how cheap trucks used to be hurts the soul. It was near mint shape rust free with 201,000 km, near new tires, all power options, floor shift 4x4 and I paid $4300.

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by jstubbs

Agreed on the 5.7L. I had a 97 GMC K2500 with the 5.7L and 5 speed standard and it was one of the best trucks I ever owned. Thinking back to how cheap trucks used to be hurts the soul. It was near mint shape rust free with 201,000 km, near new tires, all power options, floor shift 4x4 and I paid $4300.

I had a Tahoe exactly the same. It was the most unreliable thing on the planet. Second only to a Cummins

[fordtruckin]

Don’t be afraid of a 5.0 or 5.8l ford from early to mid 90s. I also have a 01 f150 with the 2valve 5.4 and it’s been a solid truck! After 03 the 5.4s began having significant issues with the multi piece spark plugs and aluminum heads etc…

[outofbounds]

Another for the Tacoma, in lieu of paying north of $25k for a SxS I purchased a low mileage late '90s Tacoma. It is kept at the trapline cabin for use there for trapping activities along with hunting and fishing trips.
Road legal, heat, wipers, Sat radio yet fills my offroad requirements between my 1 ton and quad, sleds.
With use it receives should last me a while.

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by outofbounds

Another for the Tacoma, in lieu of paying north of $25k for a SxS I purchased a low mileage late '90s Tacoma. It is kept at the trapline cabin for use there for trapping activities along with hunting and fishing trips.
Road legal, heat, wipers, Sat radio yet fills my offroad requirements between my 1 ton and quad, sleds.
With use it receives should last me a while.

Tacoma all the way

[Buckhead]

Originally Posted by trailraat

Late nineties Chevy/GMC 1500 with a 5.7L - i've know several people who took those trucks well over 400,000km. Following that 2000-2006 Chevy/GMC 1500 with a 4.8L. They are less desirable (less power) than the 5.3L so they can be found cheaper. I've put 80,000kms on one since 2014 and have had little to do beyond routine maintenance.

None of the Japanese trucks will get better gas mileage even with a small motor. Plus you will pay the Toyota tax for sure.

Early 2000's Fords can be ok as long as you avoid the 5.4L engine like the plague. Look for a 4.6L; less power, but no cam phaser problems.

The late 90s GMs with the 5.7 were great trucks and super reliable. Took mine to 365K with only routine maintenance before I stepped up to a newer one. Some of them have transmission issues.
The 4.8 iron blocks are good as well, they just run and run.

I'm not fond of Toyotas. The one Taco that I purchased new was completely unreliable. Front diff, hubs, cylinder head, electrical problems all within the first 18 months. I was glad to see it go.

[C-Lublinkhof]

Picked up a little hunting/commuter truck this spring to keep miles off my diesel. I got a decent deal on a 2000 Dodge Dakota with 190x. Standard, 4x4 on the floor and a flat deck. It’s a little squishy for me but not much bigger than a SxS. I’m pretty happy with it so far for $2000.


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[Dean2]

In your price range, make and model are pretty much irrelevant. You are buying on miles and condition. Doing a bit of work is one thing, what you want to make sure is it has a good motor, even compression, not burning oil, valves etc sound good, and a good transmission and transfer case. The less rust the better. These are the expensive things to fix. New front ends, brakes etc, pretty cheap if you do the work yourself.

You will have to look for a while to find a good one but you should be able to find something. If you start with auto trader, you can search by price, drive train etc. For $5000, within 1000 Klms of Edmonton it showed 76 trucks and 95 SUVs, some with as little as 50,000 Klms and many of the B.C. units claimed to be rust free.

[stubblejumper01]

You will have to look for a while to find a good one but you should be able to find something. If you start with auto trader, you can search by price, drive train etc. For $5000, within 1000 Klms of Edmonton it showed 76 trucks and 95 SUVs, some with as little as 50,000 Klms and many of the B.C. units claimed to be rust free.[/QUOTE]

Just be careful as some of the BC units may have been caught in the flooding last year and can have issues in the future

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by trailraat

Look for a 4.6L; less power, but no cam phaser problems.

Yup, definitely a good option - one thing to check is that the coolant crossover pipe upgrade has been done (it should be metal instead of plastic).

[fishtank]

I had a older Ford Explorer with mud tires I paid 1500$ for it. And only repair was the manifold gasket’s ( common issue with the model )as a hunting vehicle mostly deer/bear and small game . Never got stuck hunting , seats folds down so can probably fit a moose quarters in there .

[outofbounds]

Originally Posted by outofbounds

Another for the Tacoma, in lieu of paying north of $25k for a SxS I purchased a low mileage late '90s Tacoma. It is kept at the trapline cabin for use there for trapping activities along with hunting and fishing trips.
Road legal, heat, wipers, Sat radio yet fills my offroad requirements between my 1 ton and quad, sleds.
With use it receives should last me a while.

Here is the Tacoma I picked up a couple of years back.
Looked for a while before finding this one.

The old-timer I had purchased it from had all the maintenance records and receipts for every service and work done to the truck. He insisted on all OEM parts if they didn't smell right, look right, or feel right he replaced them. Hadn't seen much gravel if any until I owned it.
Low mileage for year of truck, reasonable price.
Looked at many while searching that had seen better days and most were north of 200000km with some north of 350000km.
I looked all across the prairies and into the northern states when I did my searching.
In the end, I paid much less for this truck than I did for my new quad.

[HeavyD111]

Outofbbounds..my nephew had same style of truck, but beat to death with rusted frame issues but got 4k for it 2 years ago because someone thought it was “cool”. Great trucks but hard to find nice for 5k..you did very well.

My opinion:

CHEV...

96-98 5.7 vortec powered chev/gmc k1500 now entering classic status as all chevs seem to do, finding a nice one might cost more than your budget. Engine very good, 4l60 trans..meh. Same year tahoe easier to find for good price but the dead animal is inside the vehicle, obviously sucks.

88-95 tbi chevs cheaper as less power but have rust issues to watch for. Cheap to fix, lots of parts, not a bad buy for bush rig.

PS ALL 88-98 gm have worst feeling brakes ever...

Post 99 prices all over, prob get a decent one for 5k..these rust like the 70s chevs, but this many not matter to you. Not a bad buy, watch for high schooler treatment as ive seen lots of these get flogged bad.

Ford:
96 older good trucks but getting old, nice starting to mean expensive, still see some decent for 3-4k, usully ugly color so overpaying kids dont want it. ON broncos?? Insane price.

97-98 good body, screwed together tighter than chev/dodge same era, 5.4 2v only 235hp these years, leaky exh manifolds even after replacing them, (speak from experience), timing chain replacement sucks, plugs can blow out, but drive nice and good brakes. Tough trucks if get a good one. 4.6 reliable but not much power.
99-03 more power..other issues same as 97/98. I find these if tan or green and fleetside farmer edition to be pretty cheap compared to a gm, some real bargains. If like mine red, stepside, lower miles and “looks cool” the prices have went surprisingly high for a clean one.

05+ tough trucks, boxed frame, heavy, 5.4 3v with phasers suck, all sortsnof problems, some have been lucky but it equates to aiming shotgun at your head and pulling..you might win but is it worth the gamble??

Dodge: never owned one, older with 5.2/5.9 prob same as any other older v8 to keep going, heard bad trans, atvleast doesnt have HEMI bill attatched...guys love to say they have a HEMI and for a nice one they can be expensive.

Import: if nice expensive, old Nissans expensive, toyotas really expensive..just expensive

[Big Grey Wolf]

I seen times on forestry roads when my high powered turbo Cummins with 5 speed required every bit of torque/HP just to pull ridges and deep mud and snow. Watch that you are not under powered.

[ghfalls]

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...utm_source=sms

6.2 is supposed to be a great motor.