The new Ford Broncos and Rangers are anything but cheap.
Best four cylinder stick shift pickup
- Thread starter Zak
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Another Toyota fan here. But they are expensive. The last one I had was a 2013 4x4 Single cab Tacoma. If you are going to tow anything you will get better fuel mileage out of a V6 automatic than a 4 cylinder 5 speed, doesn’t make sense to me but is the way it is. I averaged what their sticker stated with a topper daily driving but towing went down to 15 MPG. They had some recalls as well. I sold it with 80,000 miles in 2018 for $18,000. I think if I were to do it over I would get a V6 Four Runner and tow a very small under 13’ trailer. In fact my wife has a 2002 Sequoia that we bought for $5,500 and repaired for another $5,500 for a total of $11,000 and should get another 150,000 to 200,000 miles out of. Only gets about 17 MPG and towing about 13 MPG but lots of space and deluxe riding that would fit your price range. A note on older Ford Rangers I had problems with hydraulic clutches and would recommend an automatic. You can almost do as well money wise unless you are doing lots of miles with a 1985 thu 1991 EFI Chevy Suburban as they are cheap and easy to get repaired. I really like small for exploring but I ended up using a tent, which led to a trailer to haul gear, which led to an enclosed trailer to sleep in in bad weather, which led to a bigger truck with camper towing a Samurai, which led to a Suburban towing a 24’ trailer (12’ camper/12’ flat bed for the Samurai. All of those options were close to your price range as I built them rather than buy. Just some thoughts. Lots of climbers called “dirt baggers” use a small truck with just a topper that you might find useful opinions as well.
Strange the worse it gets the fewer masks I see. Goes along with the cheaper the gas now the less I want to go drive somewhere and take a chance of getting the virus. If I had a four cylinder truck the gas would go bad at this point!
Covid-19 is history. It's officially Summer and it's riots in the streets time.
Screw social distancing and masks are back to being used to obscure identity.
Can we wear balaclavas or full face helmets into establishments?
Screw social distancing and masks are back to being used to obscure identity.
Can we wear balaclavas or full face helmets into establishments?
G0ldengirl68
Well-known member
I know this is an older post, but wanted to add about my Mazda B3000 V6 I bought new in '94. I have had to replace the clutch twice, first time was someone I allowed to "show" help me back it up a slight incline with a Uhaul attached. Burned out my clutch. This last time it had just worn out they said. That was 2015, and the first time was '97, so a good long time before it wore out. I had to replace the radiator, alternator, and starter one time in all these years I've owned it.Zak said:
It has 177,000 miles on it and runs like new imo. I love my truck and know it so well, I won't give it up unless I literally can't afford to fix it. I do the regular maintenance, as well as tires etc. Maybe I just got lucky with buying this truck, but it's taken me this far, and I am planning to put some sort of camping canopy/camper on it. Home-made no doubt will be what I can afford. I'm just havint it repainted including 3 dents taken out, and the wheels repainted as well. I needed it to look nice in case I wanted to stay, occasionally, in an RV park that requires your rig to look good.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Mazda, and as many of you know, Mazda makes the Ford Ranger and many of my parts are interchangeable with my truck. When I get my truck back from the auto body, I will post some pictures and ask people what they would do if they had it to live in, and how would they go about fixing up the back end to live in
:thumbsup:
G0ldengirl68
Well-known member
I'll bet, like everything else has gone up. Except wages to match the cost of living. I love my Mazda Pickup, but I think mostly because it is so familiar after having it since it was new in 94tx2sturgis said:
Maintenance I can afford, insurance, and rides nice. Nothing fancy on it, no A/C, no power windows to go bad too 
highdesertranger
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"Nothing fancy on it, no A/C, no power windows to go bad too"
Whaaaaaaaaaaaat how can you survive? the humanity.
LOL just funning you. I am a firm believer in less is more. Push button doo dads just break. power windows usually stop working at the worse possible time in the worse possible position. Like down, during a cloudburst or up when you don't have AC and it's 120 in the shade.
Highdesertranger
Whaaaaaaaaaaaat how can you survive? the humanity.
LOL just funning you. I am a firm believer in less is more. Push button doo dads just break. power windows usually stop working at the worse possible time in the worse possible position. Like down, during a cloudburst or up when you don't have AC and it's 120 in the shade.
Highdesertranger
Four cylinder engines, manual clutches, an uphill slope, and any not very lightweight trailer don't mix well.
Not much torque at low rpms, means revving higher while engaging the clutch, the end result is a burning smell and reduced clutch life.
If the primary use for the vehicle is pulling/carrying a load on varying terrain, skip the four cylinder, and get an automatic, or get a granny gear for first gear.
Not much torque at low rpms, means revving higher while engaging the clutch, the end result is a burning smell and reduced clutch life.
If the primary use for the vehicle is pulling/carrying a load on varying terrain, skip the four cylinder, and get an automatic, or get a granny gear for first gear.
highdesertranger
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Dang 300k, You know how to drive a stick. No one is slipping that clutch. Highdesertranger
^^^ My neighbors has 286,000 miles and he uses it to launch his bass boat on a very long launch ramp. It is almost gone, I expect to have to go pull him out of the lake soon. !993 Toyota's must have had some really good clutch material!
My sister for many years drove stick shift cars like VW's, Ford Mustangs & pickups and a couple of old Jeep CJ's. She had the bad habits of keeping the clutch pressed in while waiting for traffic lights and also keeping her foot rested on the clutch pedal while driving thru town. I don't remember her having to replace a lot of clutches, so I guess those vehicles stood up to the treatment.
Things changed when she inherited an '89 Nissan pickup from my brother. It was lower mileage and my brother had always been a stickler for maintenance.
Sure enough, 6 months after she had begun using it as her daily driver, the clutch went out. She called me for advice and I told her to first check the fluid. She was mystified as to what I meant. She was also mad that she had sold her '78 CJ5 and vented about the Nissan evidently being a poor quality truck.
After referring to the owner's manual (the first time she had looked at it) and talking to me some more, she understood what a hydraulic clutch was and why her bad habits probably caused the clutch to fail.
Things changed when she inherited an '89 Nissan pickup from my brother. It was lower mileage and my brother had always been a stickler for maintenance.
Sure enough, 6 months after she had begun using it as her daily driver, the clutch went out. She called me for advice and I told her to first check the fluid. She was mystified as to what I meant. She was also mad that she had sold her '78 CJ5 and vented about the Nissan evidently being a poor quality truck.
After referring to the owner's manual (the first time she had looked at it) and talking to me some more, she understood what a hydraulic clutch was and why her bad habits probably caused the clutch to fail.
G0ldengirl68
Well-known member
I was never told about this, and didn't know anything about my clutch, but just read I have a hydraulic clutch as well. I usually leave my truck in gear at red-lights etc. I had to replace my clutch with the last 2 years, and one before that was burnt out by another person trying to back up my truck with a uhaul attached. I didn't know any better, and that was in 98 that clutch went, 94 truck. So this last one lasted me over 20 years with me doing that with the clutch. I don't want to do it again if it's wrong with a HC though??
highdesertranger
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There is nothing wrong with a hydraulic clutch. I prefer a mechanical clutch because I can feel the clutch better, with a hydraulic they are too easy you can't feel the clutch. There are also more parts to fail with a hydraulic clutch. I don't know if that explains it but that my 2 cents.
Again there is nothing wrong with a hydraulic clutch.
Highdesertranger
Again there is nothing wrong with a hydraulic clutch.
Highdesertranger
G0ldengirl68
Well-known member
I was concerned at the way I use the clutch, I sure don't want to burn another one out ;( The last one did last, what, 24 years?? Something like that. I really don't like pulling anything with my truck though.
I've gotten a message to the guy that painted my truck and he still has the canopy so his buddy is going to tell him I'll pick it up. We never made a deal so it is still mine. He was just going to do some buffing out of a teenie place the paint ran, and I was planning on taking the canopy to the dump. Not going to until I get more info from you folks about a way to put the old thing to good use
Hey HDR, do you know if the guy on here that's building his camper shell so it has the door in the back used wood on the sides to make the canopy set up higher? I'll get the link for you in case you don't know the one I'm talking about. I was thinking I could have that done with my canopy to make it higher too, and have a door in the back
Here's the link to that fella's thread: The #24 post has a pic of his rig https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=42867&page=3
I've gotten a message to the guy that painted my truck and he still has the canopy so his buddy is going to tell him I'll pick it up. We never made a deal so it is still mine. He was just going to do some buffing out of a teenie place the paint ran, and I was planning on taking the canopy to the dump. Not going to until I get more info from you folks about a way to put the old thing to good use
Hey HDR, do you know if the guy on here that's building his camper shell so it has the door in the back used wood on the sides to make the canopy set up higher? I'll get the link for you in case you don't know the one I'm talking about. I was thinking I could have that done with my canopy to make it higher too, and have a door in the back
Here's the link to that fella's thread: The #24 post has a pic of his rig
https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=42867&page=3drG0ldengirl68 said:
It's called 'riding the clutch' and it can be bad for any clutch. Holding it in while at lights may not be as bad as always resting your left foot on the pedal while driving which partially disengages the clutch and leads to overheating (see link below). Living where there is lots of traffic and spending a lot of time waiting for lights makes a difference.
The other cars my sister drove all had mechanical clutches that took X amount of pressure to engage and they (evidently) weren't affected. Full-size cars, pickups, Jeeps especially have stiffer mechanisms than a HC.
It takes less foot pressure to engage a HC so it's more likely they will be affected by someone who leaves their foot on the pedal as my sister did. That's part of the reason they went to HC's. Lighter effort required.
(Link to Google search 'riding the clutch'):
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=riding+the+clutch+pedal
