Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,690 posts, read 57,994,855 times
Reputation: 46171
Advertisements
I do not find Economy is significant in compact trucks. Most are 24 - 26 mpg (tho my VW Rabbit pickup is ~ 50mpg). They are ez to park! BUT I often haul 20' lengths of pipe / steel / wood / rebar, tough in a 6ft box.
My full sized Cummins 1T 4x4's weigh 8,000# and get up to 23 mpg on free fryer grease or jet A or heating oil or used motor oil .../ or diesel ....
RE:
Quote:
The problem with the Ridgeline ...
I have wanted to see a commercial where the Ridgeline pulls into a gravel pit, and a 20 yd loader 'fills-her-up' (buries) the Ridgeline in one scoop
My full sized Cummins 1T 4x4's weigh 8,000# and get up to 23 mpg on free fryer grease or jet A or heating oil or used motor oil .../ or diesel ....
Don't get caught with heating oil on your fuel tank. It is basically diesel fuel that has not been taxed for highway use and is dyed to identify it. Uncle Sam doesn't like it when people use it on the road.
We have a ranger. I used to have an F-150. I cannot wait to get back into a "real" pickup truck again. Not only does the ranger not get better mileage, but we occasionally have to make two trips where a normal sized pick up would make one. (firewood, stone, rocks, compost, trees, trash, sometimes lumber or furniture, all have overfilled the Ranger or exceeded its capacity at times.) Thus, the bigger trucks are frequently more economical as well as far more comfortable, better performing, more pleasant to drive, safer, better for towing, . . . . .
I just cannot understand what happened to those little pick up trucks.
One thing I can say however is that Rangers seem to last forever. However that may be in part because they are light duty tucks with limited capacity, so they get light duty. They are also easier to park. My kids like it better for tha reason. Personally I never have that much difficulty parking most vehicles regardless of size. However for osme people , they might want to sacrifice comfort, safety, performance and capacity for easier parking.
I had a 1980 Chevy LUV pickup and loved it. You could do anything to that little guy. I changed the clutch twice, replaced the u joints for the drive shaft a couple of times. There just wasn't a lot to that little truck. Very easy to maintain. I had close to 200,000 when we parted ways. About the only reason I sold it was because the bracket that held the clutch and brake pedals kept splitting. It was a pain to replace and I got tired of doing it. A few years after selling it someone told me that the clutch pedel could be adjusted to reduse the amount of presure that it was placing on that plate. A little late for me though.
I would bet that the number one reason that no one sells a mini truck anymore is that so few people will buy them. Not the profit that they can get out of a fullsize truck. I would also bet that if you get a lot of people start requesting them that someone will build it if the market will support it. I would buy one if someone would build it. I would even buy a bare bones machine.
With news that the Ford Ranger and the Dodge Dakota are moving to a mid size truck next year and Toyota and Nissan having already stopped making their pickup tucks there are now next to zero pickups left. They only pickup truck that I can think of that still exists is the Chevy S10.
It is the Ranger that is being cancelled, and Ram announced that the Dakota was ending production this year too. 2011 will most likely be the last year for both, at least in their current form.
By S-10, I assume you mean Colorado, since the S-10 has been replaced by this model several years ago. Chevy has announced it is going to redesign it as opposed to cancelling it as stated earlier. Ford has a nice "euro" style truck too, but has not decided to bring it over as the next ranger. Mitsubishi is still toying with the idea of bringing their own Triton truck which is well received in other parts of the world, now that their poorly selling Dakota based Raider has been cancelled. Suzuki is still selling a rebadged Nissan Frontier. Honda still is standing behind their slow selling Ridgeline. Toyota showed an A-BAT (IIRC) prototype truck to be sold as a Scion, but nothing past show car stage has shown up. Mahindra, in this country, seems dead in the water.
I never cared for little trucks as they were not comfortable, and my needs are around moving a bed full of ply wood with the tail gate closed, and or a cord of fire wood at one trip, and maybe pushing a blade full of snow at the same time.
I dream about a no non sence work truck. I guess Ford has the best of these at this time.
Dip a cup in the tank and look to see if the fuel has any red dye in it. If no, you're fine. If yes, you're busted.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
