Dear American FG members, help me find and purchase a rwd, V8 powered exotic!

avanti

avanti

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Joined
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Location
Milano, Italia
Car(s)
5 cars + 8 motorcycles
I need a car that unfortunately is impossible to find on this continent (Europe), therefor I turn to you, the FG community for help.

The car I am looking for is a car I have always wanted, but not really needed until now, the car I want is a full size pickup truck!


EDIT FOR NEW VIEWERS:
I have discarded the Chevy 2500 and after advise from the forum I am only considering the 9th gen F350.

The requirements are as follows:
- Crew cab
- Long box
- Automatic
- 4x4
- weight-distributing platform hitch receiver for towing heavy loads
- RUST FREE
- 7.3l Powerstroke Diesel engine
- air conditioning
- Cruise control

As for the rest I am quite flexible.

Price range: max 5000 USD

If anyone is interested in helping me we can figure out the practical details through PM.

:drool:

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Why gasoline-powered? I would have thought that a diesel would be better for European-theatre operations.

There's also no shortage of these (or their Ford or Dodge counterparts) here in Texas so finding one is soooo not a challenge. We even have the port of Houston to ship the thing out of, so transport to the nearest port wouldn't even be a challenge.
 
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I just helped a friend pick up a 1993 for free a couple of weeks ago. I believe it's only a 1500 though. All it need was a clutch but it's pretty rough. Definitely a work kind of truck. He'll probably end up selling it for probably at or under $2500. It has 4WD and is a manual with a 350. I'm not sure if the A/C is working or not
 
I doubt that an 20 yards long, 200 meters high and 7 miles wide GMC PickUp truck would fit into the narrow streets of Milano, where everyone is driving on contact with horn, waving hands and LOUDE ITALIANO ACCENT shouting eachover. :p
 
avanti said:
I don't like diesel!

I was hoping a strong southern man would step forward, does the fine state of Texas have something to offer a poor European..?
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Sure, I (and probably all the other Texas members) would be more than happy to help. We have a surplus of the damn things. What is the budget on this thing?

Also, you will find that the diesels of this era were far more powerful and fuel efficient than their gasser counterparts, not to mention more reliable. The era you're looking at was the tail end of the 'smogger' motors. These were very low output engines. Not very well put together, either.

Finally, it is unfortunate, but the truck you're looking at was 1) greatly outsold by the F250/350, 2) was very, very poorly made and 3) most of those specific ones in 2500/3500 form are long since dead, though many survive. The 1500 form is the only one that survives in large numbers.
 
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We don't have any rust, either. :p

I would still recommend that you get a Ford F-250/350. The diesel engine option was the indestructible 7.3L International/Navistar, and the gasoline engine options were pretty good as well - 302 (5L), 351 (5.8L) and 460 (7.5L). The GM diesel wasn't very good and the 454 (7.4L) gasser engine was throttle-body injected from 90-95 so it didn't make much power. By the time they upgraded it to MPFI in 96, Fords had much better gas engines in the form of the Modular V8 family (which you can get lots of parts for over there). While both had pretty fail-tastic interiors, the GM one fell apart faster and more completely - plus it also incorporated a bunch of dodgy electronics.

I would also suggest you consult with Cowboy about running an American pickup in Europe regarding which fuel you should run on.

Edit: Another option would be the Dodge Ram. The rest of the truck isn't so great, but the Cummins turbodiesel makes up for it.
 
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Seriously though, I would buy a diesel and if you want more power... http://www.bankspower.com/

But I know slightly more than nothing about trucks despite living in Texas. I just know we have lots of them and you can get them for next to nothing.
 
Spectre said:
Sure, I (and probably all the other Texas members) would be more than happy to help. We have a surplus of the damn things. What is the budget on this thing?

Also, you will find that the diesels of this era were far more powerful and fuel efficient than their gasser counterparts, not to mention more reliable. The era you're looking at was the tail end of the 'smogger' motors. These were very low output engines. Not very well put together, either.

Finally, it is unfortunate, but the truck you're looking at was 1) greatly outsold by the F250/350, 2) was very, very poorly made and 3) most of those specific ones in 2500/3500 form are long since dead, though many survive. The 1500 form is the only one that survives in large numbers.
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I was under the impression that the diesels were awful, but maybe that was the 73-87 generation?

As I said I am open to Ford suggestions, why was the Ford better? I would like to keep it under 5 grand including shipping.

Crazyjeeper said:
5 minutes on craigslist yields...

We have no shortage of them here. :D
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Nice, any F250s? :D
 
avanti said:
As I said I am open to Ford suggestions, why was the Ford better? I would like to keep it under 5 grand including shipping.
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Texas will be your best bet, but sadly I don't think that kind of budget (including shipping) is going to get you much.
 
Crazyjeeper said:
The Chevy was the worst of that era, something like this is what I would recommend.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ctd/1971626696.html
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Nice, I like it.

What is the max payload and how long is the bed, isn't it 7 feet on the Ford?

Out of curiosity, why was the ford better, was the chevy just put together badly or was it a bad truck?

gtrietsc said:
Texas will be your best bet, but sadly I don't think that kind of budget (including shipping) is going to get you much.
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It can be stretched..
 
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Long bed is 8 feet, I'll have to do some digging to find the payload, but should be an easy 2000 pounds.
 
Max payload for a 9th gen F-350 like the one linked above is 3970lbs, with the diesel.

Also, do you want a crew cab or do you really want the extended cab?
 
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Another issue with the chevy's of that era is, this generation was the first of the IFS setup, and while they will ride a bit better because of it... it wasn't a very strong suspention setup. You'll be replacing bushings and tie rods and all sorts of other suspention components a lot more frequently. Especially if you go with a 4x4 model.

Of the years you've mentioned I'd recomend a Dodge, purely because you can probably get a newer model for less money, and the Cummin's deisel and Dana axles will outlast planet earth. Just beware of a less than inspiring interior. But hey, it's a work truck. THey are also more common with a stick shift, but that's just a preference thing.
 
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