Can I combine the wood hauler & car into 1 vehicle?

[Fronty Owner]

Myself like some others here have recommended would keep both vehicles.getting one vehicle for two purposes will be hard to do and if you are not careful you could end up with something that doesnt fit either intended purpose .

Luckily I'm blessed enough to be able to afford two trucks.I have a regular cab f150 4x4 as my daily driver and an f350 dually thats sole purpose is to pull our fifth wheel.

when I purchased the f350 my intentions was to sell the f150 to cut back on expenses but after a few days driving I discovered that the 350 was not a daily driver for me,with the 8ft bed and 4 door cab the truck needs a forty acre field to turn around and the dually rear tires makes it nearly impossible to get in a lot of drive thrus,,
My insurance company ( state farm) offers a break on rates if my mileage on the truck stays less than 5000 /yr .

must be a regional thing, most of the drivethrus here are either wide enough for a dually, or have a special lane for duallys.

I dont recommend a dually unless its a tow rig. those training wheels stick out way too much.

My frontier as it sits this evening.

 

[woodguy105]

I appreciate the alternative thought, but I was able to convince my wife to go with the Subaru after she was deadset on the Minivan. I do need to have some fun driving my vehicle.

+1
Subaru! I use our 02' forester to haul wood, pallets and tow the splitter. It's rated for 3k towing, maybe 3.5K? I don't have a road legal trailer....yet.

 

[goosegunner]

I have the same situation, I have

03 Jetta TDI diesel 50 mpg
97 Ford Expedition 15mpg

I have thought about selling both and getting one newer truck. I just can't do it at this point. I drive about 50 miles one way to work. The jetta is perfect for that.

The Big SUV can carry or pull what ever I need. The nice thing about the SUV is it is secure. Saws are inside, not in the back of a truck. I recently had to buy 10' copper pipe for my new boiler install. I wouldn't want to leave 10' pieces of 1-1/2" copper pipe in the back of a truck unattended in a lot. Not at $65 a stick!!!

gg

 

[cnice_37]

+1
Subaru! I use our 02' forester to haul wood, pallets and tow the splitter. It's rated for 3k towing, maybe 3.5K? I don't have a road legal trailer....yet.

Now this is intriguing, as I thought this may be the answer. Our Outback has the 2.5L and CVT, so it would be suspect to use to tow.

What's under your Forrester's hood?

And how much you hauling at a time? 1/2 cord or more like 1/3?? I'm concerned with tongue weight...

Manual or Auto?

 

[banshee67]

hey guys, they make caps and tonneau covers for pick up trucks with locks on them, you can keep alll your dirty gear,saws, gas, etc locked, dry, and on a dirty plastic bed liner, rather than the nice carpeting of the back of your SUV/minivan with the smell of gas making you nauseous
.. just thought id throw that out there:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[angelo c]

here's my two truck plan....

I sold the Toyota shortly after I spent a few weeks with the Cummins. No sense keeping toys around when a real 20MPG truck gets it done. I park away from crowds and if the lot is too small for my truck then I don't go there. Nothing says " i don't give a $#%^ what you think" more then a cummins dually.

OK dialing down the manspeak for a few seconds...it comes down to maintenance and not purchase price. I would keep both vehicles as you own them until the maintenance is the limiting factor. I look at it this way if you spend an average of $200 a month in maintenance ($2400 year) you are ok keeping them as thats the best car payment you'll ever get. The ford and the Honda you have generally require limited "major" upkeep. I drive vehicles to the ground. depreciating the asset until there is nothing left to drive of it. Far far too much capital investments are misdirected into driving "new" vehicles for the sake of "wanting" something "NEW".

 

[kugss]

Look at it this way. Did you ever have a DVD/VHS player poor pic on both sides hard to work and program, better off just getting two. Dual sport bikes dont handle well on the street and are heavy and pricey if you drop them off road. There is very few things out that there that can fill two needs at the same time good. Just my two cents.

 

[beerman6]

Will a honda hold accord of wood?

ba-da-bing.

 

[banshee67]

here's my two truck plan....

I sold the Toyota shortly after I spent a few weeks with the Cummins. No sense keeping toys around when a real 20MPG truck gets it done. I park away from crowds and if the lot is too small for my truck then I don't go there. Nothing says " i don't give a $#%^ what you think" more then a cummins dually.

OK dialing down the manspeak for a few seconds...it comes down to maintenance and not purchase price. I would keep both vehicles as you own them until the maintenance is the limiting factor. I look at it this way if you spend an average of $200 a month in maintenance ($2400 year) you are ok keeping them as thats the best car payment you'll ever get. The ford and the Honda you have generally require limited "major" upkeep. I drive vehicles to the ground. depreciating the asset until there is nothing left to drive of it. Far far too much capital investments are misdirected into driving "new" vehicles for the sake of "wanting" something "NEW".

awesome rig man, i hope i can afford a nice single wheel cummins , one day!
love those cummins!
better get that front license plate on before the gestapo gets you!

 

[angelo c]

awesome rig man, i hope i can afford a nice single wheel cummins , one day!
love those cummins!
better get that front license plate on before the gestapo gets you![/QUOTE]

its funny Banshee, I get better mileage out of the dually and I can haul anything I can stuff on the trailer and in the bed. It really does everything well but parks. I really wanted a 2500 SWD but they are real big money, believe it or not the Dually is cheaper to buy upfront used for some reason. Looking back would not change a thing.

on the front plate ...I fed a lot of Locals when I had my pizza shops. They treat me pretty good when I drop a few names and cell Phone #'s.

Let me know when you ain't got much to do, I have a friend who has 20 acres near leons sod farm that I been cuttin for a while. That shouldn't be too far from you.

 

[Cliniford]

I would also suggest the dodge diesel. Mine is an 03' quad cab 4x4 6spd, gets 20-23mpg and has hauled as much as 30,000 pounds gross without hesitation and that was over a mountain pass with hay coming from eastern washington. I only paid $15,000 for it with 80,000 miles two years ago, they are out there for that price but it takes some searching....Took me about 4 months to find mine for the price.

 

[angelo c]

I would also suggest the dodge diesel. Mine is an 03' quad cab 4x4 6spd, gets 20-23mpg and has hauled as much as 30,000 pounds gross without hesitation and that was over a mountain pass with hay coming from eastern washington. I only paid $15,000 for it with 80,000 miles two years ago, they are out there for that price but it takes some searching....Took me about 4 months to find mine for the price.

especially if you don't need the 4wd. the mileage goes up and the price comes down too. Still hauls like a MOFO.

 

[Cliniford]

especially if you don't need the 4wd. the mileage goes up and the price comes down too. Still hauls like a MOFO.

To date it is my favorite vehicle of all time and i have owned more than 40 different vehicles since i was 14!

 

[Scrapiron]

I have the same situation, I have

03 Jetta TDI diesel 50 mpg
97 Ford Expedition 15mpg

I have thought about selling both and getting one newer truck. I just can't do it at this point. I drive about 50 miles one way to work. The jetta is perfect for that.

gg

I've looking to get a truck- have an 03 TDI but need something to haul wood. I was thinking of trading in the TDI to get a one vechicle solution, but perhaps an older F250 along with the TDI is the way to go. I commute about 3 days a week (~24 miles each way). If I could, I'd go for a newer diesel (7.3 or Cummins). I'm leaning towards a 4x4.

 

[4seasons]

I am always surprised how much money someone is willing to spend to save a few MPG. Then I remember how little teaching government schools do so that no one learns math, or logical thinking anymore. If you break it down and look at the numbers you quickly see how illogical your ideas are.

Start with 70 miles a day times 5 days a week for 350 miles a week and that comes to 18,200 a year. Now if you get bad gas mileage at 15 MPG and pay $3.00 a gallon at the pump that come to 1213 gal a year at a cost of $3640.
Lets assume for a moment that that gas hog is payed for, but because you see such a large chunk of cash going to the fuel bill you want something with better gas mileage so you trade in you $2000 truck for a newer $15000 truck and now have a $350 a month payment to make. That comes to $4200 new expense a year meaning that you have to save on 1400 gallons of fuel a year. But wait you haven't figured in additional insurance cost. So your insurance went up and you spend more money every month so you can save a few bucks at the pump. And then someone says but in 5 years it will be payed for and then I will start to save money. But in 5 years you are tired of this old truck and want a new one so the whole cycle starts over again.

Now I know my formula is an extreme case and doesn't figure in maintenance cost but you get the idea. It is hard to come out ahead spending money to save on fuel.

 

[Big_Al]

:agree2: Don't forget the sales tax on the new rig, plus the tabs are probably more money.

 

[Scrapiron]

4Seasons is right... My smarter, better looking wife says the same thing. Get an older truck, factor in monthly maintenance, drive the TDI to work and enjoy two paid for cars now.

 

[Bob95065]

I agree with the other posters. I have a 2001 Civic that I commute 40 miles one way to work in, a 1997 Dodge Ran 2500 4x4 diesel for firewood and my wife has a 2005 CRV.

I found the smallest car I fit in (I am 6'05") and the biggest truck I could find. I'll always have a big truck and I'll never buy a gas truck again. This is the ideal arrangement IMHO.

I drive the truck about 5k miles/year and the insurance isn't bad. If you can afford it keep the truck. You will be sorry if you sell it.

 

[branchbuzzer]

I am always surprised how much money someone is willing to spend to save a few MPG.

I'd say there aren't too many things in life that annoy people more than paying for gas. Not sure why gas is so special in this regard, perhaps because people see it as something they have "no control" over or perhaps because of the way pump prices seem to rise and fall due to any reason at all.

Almost everyone that drives knows the exact price of gas at every location in their area, and some people will drive clear across town to save a penny or two per gallon ( about 30 cents on an average fill-up ). Contrast that to people blindly throwing groceries into their cart ( not many people would even notice or care if the price of hamburger went from $1.99 to $2.19 ). One could use almost anything for an example.

I've been a bit mystified why my S10 in my earlier post gets the mileage it does since the EPA Hwy rating is only 27 ( my figures were no joke and, yes, the odometer is accurate ). I've had it almost one year now, and all I've done other than routine maintenance is install an O2 sensor. I would have been happy if it got 20-25 unloaded.

 

[Big_Al]

I think the epa ratings were a bit optimistic. Is the s10 a 4x4? I get low 20's highway driving in my 06 ranger 4x4. Don't think you'll ever get much for mileage out of a 4x4 truck unless they start importing the 4 banger diesels in a small truck.