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Small pickups

C

coshoo

Well-known Member
Once upon a time, we only had one pickup. But every time I needed it on the weekend, Mrs. Shoo was off somewhere in the forest, with the horse trailer hooked to it. So we got another one- soon, it had a slide in camper on it about 9 months of the year. So I still didn't have a pickup. Now we're thinking of getting a small one to tow behind the motor home and for her to run around in (trying to make the diesels last for the duration, so don't want to drive them as much). Probably a Ranger or S-10- any thoughts? We'll probably get a stick transmission, but can you tow either of those if it has an automatic? I assume you can tow any stick transmission vehicle in neutral- am I wrong? How about the Japanese varieties? We're looking at used. Thanks for any thoughts.
 
A Toyota compact pickup with 4 cylinder engine would be fine; just don't buy one with a V6 engine.
 
Just curious why not a v6? I had the 3.4 in a 04 tundra for over 200,000 miles and no engine work other then one set of plugs, a thermostat and a O2 sensor.
 

Your best bet is to get a driveline disconnect. It goes between the transmission and the dirveshaft. You have a lever to disengage it and the axle and driveshaft freewheel. Ferry drivers use the on their towed return vehicles.
 
(quoted from post at 11:09:48 05/17/17) Not great gas mileage.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the V6 gets about the same gas mileage as a full size truck. You may as well have the room and the capacity if you're going to do that.

Most sticks come with the 4-cylinder anyway, what few are still out there. Can't get a stick on the new ones, and the old ones are getting farther and fewer between. The newest S-10 is 14 model years old now.
 
I have a 96 Ford Ranger 2wd with a 2.3L 4 cylinder, and a 5 speed manual. Can get 28 mph on the hwy, and you can't kill it (unlike a S10). Best way to tow it is to have the drive wheels on a tow dolly
 
I had a 1986 Dodge Ram 50 built by Mitsubishi. Had the 2.0 liter (wish I'd gotten the 2.6!) and was 5-speed stick. Great little truck, and I definitely put it through its paces! Hauled a Ferguson TO-30 from Dallas to Houston on a 16' tandem lowboy trailer. Not advisable, but I did it! Lost the truck in a house fire. Sure do miss it!!

Saw a nice little ext. cab Ford Ranger locally (well, 120 miles away!) over the winter; 4wd, I think manual but not sure, low miles. Was in nice condition. But, we don't go that way very often, so didn't get it.
 
I'd go ranger. problem is Rangers bring high $ around here. everyone likes them and they're not making them any longer so you get what's left. around here a 12 year old 2 wheel drive with 4cyl and stick with 100,000 miles will run $3000 plus. Check out the mazda versions as well. SAME exact truck but not as popular so the price might be a bit lower.

I would think short towing would be ok with a manual but long towing trips you still have things spinning in the transmission and may/may not have any or enough fluid splashing around to keep the bearings lubed well. Best answer there is to find a ranger owners manual and look. it should tell you.

the drive-line disconnect would be ideal but more $. then you could go auto or stick.

or go buy a motor home or RV trailer and free up the pickups.
 
(quoted from post at 18:33:58 05/17/17) Once upon a time, we only had one pickup. But every time I needed it on the weekend, Mrs. Shoo was off somewhere in the forest, with the horse trailer hooked to it. So we got another one- soon, it had a slide in camper on it about 9 months of the year. So I still didn't have a pickup. Now we're thinking of getting a small one to tow behind the motor home and for her to run around in (trying to make the diesels last for the duration, so don't want to drive them as much). Probably a Ranger or S-10- any thoughts? We'll probably get a stick transmission, but can you tow either of those if it has an automatic? I assume you can tow any stick transmission vehicle in neutral- am I wrong? How about the Japanese varieties? We're looking at used. Thanks for any thoughts.
Click to expand...
Ford Ranger any years 2.3 or 2.5 4 cylinder 5 speed
 
I would not buy a Toyota, here at the dealership we have seen so many problems with them, any we get in on trade go to an auto auction. Early s10 manuel trannys would self destruct without a drive shaft disconnect. Would probably go with a Colorado or Dakota.
 
If you get a 4WD with a conventional transfer case you can put the transfer case in neutral to tow it, that opens up the possibility of an automatic equipped vehicle if that's a factor.
 
You cannot tow "any of them" with a manual trans. Some, yes. Do some research before you buy. I don't claim to know much about newer "almost small" trucks. I still have my 1985 Isuzu 4WD diesel and love it. I also have a 1978 Toyota Hilux and a 1988 Toyota pickup. ALL excellent trucks but getting a little old.
 
I had a b2000 mazda great truck no power steering no radio manual transmission 30 plus miles per gal . Ran that for a long time nice truck.
A guy i knew was towing behind a camper the same kind of truck somehow it dropped into gear pistons went through the block apparently they were watching the scenery not the tow.
 
There used to be a good choice in small pickups, not any more. What we now call "small" are closer to mid-sized trucks. Apparently the Rangers are coming back in 2019 ..... Ford says 2019, others say 2018, and then others say 2020. I think they never did stop selling them in some countries, but the US and Canada hasn't sold them for a while. Mind you, these will be brand new units. I had an '86 Dodge Ram 50 (like somebody else down below here) with the 2.6L 4 cylinder 5-speed (I think it was), that was a great truck, regular cab with a 7' box.
Ford Ranger Coming Back
 
We bought 75 of the Toyota compacts for the ADOT fleet. Toyota changed some of those v6 engines 2-3 times. They were still a durable truck. When we put them on the auction, even beat up pretty bad, they would bring $2000 t0 $2200, while the Rangers & S10's would only bring $800 at best.

My Toyota 4-cylinder just kept on running. All it needed was oil changes, although I had the AC compressor re-sealed at 173,000 miles.
 
If you get a used Toyota make sure it has the 2005 or later four cylinder equipped with variable valve timing. When they did this they got rid of the EGR valve which carbons up the intake and puts a lot of abrasive carbon in the cylinders. I speak from personal experience.

Also check the towing capacity of the smaller trucks. I like the Toyota automatics. I don't like having to change the worn out clutch disc on manuals while a well maintained auto will still be going and going.

The earlier Toyotas did not have a high towing capacity unless specially equipped. The Nissan trucks generally have a higher towing capacity if you need it. I don't know about the egr valves on other engines or other brands.
 
I bought a 2011 Ford Ranger,with the V-6 and a 5-speed manual transmission. It is my go to work/auctions vehicle. Bought it with 17,000 miles on it-now has 54,000. Saves wear and tear on my Ram diesel truck. Really happy with it.
 
The Ford Ranger and Chevy S10 were pretty decent little pickups. Not much power, but for a runaround vehicle to pull behind your motor home they should do fine. Can you flat tow them with a manual trans? Don't know. Seems most of the later transmissions like the front input shat turning, but I don't know for sure. Call your local trans shop and ask them. They should know. I had a buddy that towed a car behind his motor home and all he did was start it up and put it in neutral and let it idle while he went down the road. Seemed to work. Check out some of the RV websites and see how people are dealing with towing a driver behind their motor home. I see lots of them doing it. I have towed a couple of cars on a tow dolly backwards and did not have any issues, but I may have just gotten lucky. A front wheel drive car on a tow dolly should not have any issues at all loaded facing forward.

Greg
 
look for a toyota tacoma, newer than 06. its when the body stye changed and they went to the 4 litre v6. solid dependable engine, manuals were/ still available but only on the shortest box trucks. got 321000km on my 06 and still drive it every day. have no hesitation going on a road trip. don't know about towing it behind a motorhome, but its only 4 bolts to undo one end of the drive shaft then you could tie it out of the way.
The 4 cylinder was available in a standard too, but they had a very small towing capacity compared the the v6 at 6800lbs.
 
Nissan. They may've changed now but I towed my 5 spd manual 1989 Nissan p'up from Orlando FL to Clarksburg W. Va. w/o taking off the driveshaft, everything in neutral. Drove it for 10 yrs after that, no damage. Had '86 Chevy full size 350 engine w/manual trans. Had to stop frequently & start the engine cause part of it lubed with the engine running & you could burn up the trans. just towing it, so the towing company told me.
 
Thanks for all the input- I'll get on an RV board and find out which are OK to flat-tow. Did not know about the driveline disconnect thing- I thought the driveline disconnect would be me on my back with a half inch wrench- not really what I want to do.
 
had a 02 Ranger Edge with V6 and a manual trans as my driver the last few years. Retired it last Oct. Gonna give it to my son/grandson so the grandson can learn to drive a standard.
Good little truck, no issues, only $ I put in it was a battery.
As the other poster said, there are about a zillion Rangers out there, but...they are very popular and bring a good price, especially if they have no rust damage here in the NE.
Can't help you with the towing question, the little Ranger always ran...I never needed a tow :)
 
Can't go wrong with a toyota. Had a ranger company truck that i drove, never again. Seems like i always had to fix something on it.
 

Try to find an older Toyota 4cyl. I put over 300K on 2 of them and the 2nd one with the V6 was a dog compared to the 4 cyl. Same feel as far as HP but lots harder of gas.
 
You can't tow a manual transmission in neutral,because only the mainshaft turns when being towed.The countershaft only turns when the engine is running,and it lubes the mainshaft by slinging the oil/grease up on to it.If you have a 4wd you can put the transfer case in neutral,though.Mark
 
The "new" Ranger will be a midsized pickup all with quad cabs and extremely short beds. Much bigger than the original, and a little bigger than the Dodge Dakota was. Price wise I wouldn't expect them to be much cheaper than a full size - actually an F150 "regular cab" long bed with the same equipment will probably be cheaper than the new Ranger.
 
another vote for the inline 4 cyl Ranger. I had one 15 years ago when I had a motorhome. It towed fine with wheels down. Just make sure you put it in neutral, and brake off, should be fine. We got the kind of tow bar that can swivel up to the hood with a little latch. Never took it off the truck. If you get one with AC(pretty common now), it doesn't have much power over 5-6000', but it'll do the job. My only complaint was it was noisy inside, not much insulation in the cab.
 
One more thing. When I saw the price and complexity of the base plate that attaches to the truck, I went down to the metal store, bought some 1/4 plate, got out the drill and the torch and saved about $500.

If you are not a metalworker, then buy their product. If you can drill steel, heat and bend it, spend the $35 at the metal store, and a couple hours in the shop.
 
(quoted from post at 08:21:21 05/18/17) You can't tow a manual transmission in neutral,because only the mainshaft turns when being towed.The countershaft only turns when the engine is running,and it lubes the mainshaft by slinging the oil/grease up on to it.If you have a 4wd you can put the transfer case in neutral,though.Mark
Click to expand...
ide generalization there......is it really applicable to all truck & car manual transmissions? Reason I ask is that at least in the Ford 8N tractor, there are gears on both the main & counter shaft that spin with only the output shaft spinning.
 

Most of the country you'll pay a fortune for a small truck; they get exported so the supply is low.

Plus it cost almost the same to make a small truck as the full size one, but couldn't charge as much. So they inflated it's size and price closer to the full size....and they're huge. My '70 Camper Special is the same size and weight as a Tacoma...
 
(quoted from post at 14:56:54 05/18/17)
Most of the country you'll pay a fortune for a small truck; they get exported so the supply is low.

Plus it cost almost the same to make a small truck as the full size one, but couldn't charge as much. So they inflated it's size and price closer to the full size....and they're huge. My '70 Camper Special is the same size and weight as a Tacoma...
Click to expand...
he size thing is really getting ridiculous! A 2001 Chevy/GMC 1500 is 78.5 inches wide. The same models in 2017 are 80 wide. They just keep growing. I think they all want to look like the /"Hulk".
 
Are you absolutely locked into towing a small pickup? It would be much easier to tow a small or mid-sized front wheel drive car or a hybrid SUV. A car or SUV would be lighter, would carry more people, and would be more secure for storage than a pickup bed.
 
The S10 should have decent power as that 4.3 was same engine put in full size 1500 pickups.
 
Google

PICKUPS THAT CAN BE FLAT TOWED BEHIND A RV

what vehicles can be towed 4 wheels down

flat towable vehicles (pick a year)
 
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