Thursday, January 24, 2008

Truck

Here's the new truck

1979 Ford F-250 4x4 6.6L 400 cubic inch V8

The dual tanks hold roughly 26 gallons of gas apiece giving you 52 gallons and a lot of driving between fill ups. It has a fully rebuilt motor, transmission and super cheap insurance. This truck will go anywhere hauling anything. The bed is full sized and has a lockable topper. The truck carries a second battery dedicated to the overhead lights in the shell for overnight camping. The towing package will allow me to pull my escape trailer to any place in the country and setup up shop.

This truck is one of the most popular every produced and the 1979 F250 is arguably the best truck every made. The advantage to this is an abundant supply of spare parts for the 28 year old and plenty of mechanics skilled with this vehicle when it does need work.

The downside of course is the $156 fillup.

7 comments:

Ryan said...

Those trucks are great for BOV's with the only possible competition for parts availability being the same era Chevy's. Being affordable is also very nice. The only real downside is that they are not a practical daily drives because of fuel costs and to a lesser degree wear and tear. I have come to think a truck like that and a dumpy little commuter car to go to and fro is probably the best combination. I've got the dumpy commuter car so I am halfway there.

BigBear said...

Dumpy commuter cars are a must with those trucks getting at best 12 mpg. I also have a grand wagoneer that will go anywhere that only gets about 18 mpg, a little better but still very expensive. I am still looking for a compact diesel truck, VW maybe that I can leave at the cabin. Hope to someday start biodiesel production.

I wanted this truck as a BOV and something that could haul lumber. I am hoping to get some serious construction done this summer. Also need something to haul firewood with.

The Urban Survivalist said...

I've got a 79 Jeep J-10 that needs some work. Getting that tip top is one of my projects this summer. Once I get that running strong I'll get a topper for it.

I've toyed with the idea of getting an early - mid 90s Suzuki Samurai and dropping a diesel engine in it. That looks like the most economical choice for a diesel off road vehicle in both fuel economy and cost.

Anonymous said...

Big Bear,

I had one of these in the the mid
80's. It was a 4 speed on the floor (1st being a granny gear). It was built like a tank and got 9 mpg.
Great tough truck !

Anonymous said...

You simply cannot argue against a F-series. They are great trucks, and easy to fix. Chevys are good, too, but F-series have been the sales leaders for 31 years, so you can bet the will always be parts and mechanics around.

I've been looking for pretty much the exact same truck, but in extended-cab format or even better crew-cab format.

A couple years ago, I moved much closer to work so now my commute is about 10 miles each way. This makes a non-fuel efficient BOV closer to reality, though if I can find a diesel I won't mind the poor mpg.

I've also been thinking about building my own camper top and/or my own camper trailer. I've found a bunch of sites online with easy-to-follow plans and building my own would not be hard at all.

For me, the ideal vehicle would be a F250 crew cab diesel 4WD. Maybe 1980-1992 as I think Ford changed their diesels around 1993.

Good post...I'd love to see more posts if you decide to outfit your truck with more BOV-style stuff (like hi-lift jack, spare gas cans, or whatever).

BigBear said...

boodaman,

I really wanted a extended cab diesel but this can up and I didn't want to pass on it.

No outfitting in the near future...want to put back about a years worth of food supplies in February.

But, I plan on doing a Bug Out Test (sounds like fun doesn't it) this coming weekend. I am setting up the parameters to look at now. It should be interesting.

Anonymous said...

I had a '85 Surburban 4x4 with 350 engine that would have been an excellent canidate for this type of work. The man I had bought it from had used it as his hunting vehicle and made it pretty doggone great for field running. Instead of dually tanks, he reasoned he would just buy and install the 40 gallon tank and get it done - no empty tank to switch to in the boonies.

Unfortunately, I had to sell it - man, did it ever have a ton of room inside.