Looking for input on small trucks

[wmenorr67]

Would you consider a van or a mini-van?

I  can see fistful now in a van.  Shag carpets on the walls and floor with a mirror ball hanging from the ceiling.  To include a waterbed in back.

[Bogie]

Hey, just trying to think outside the box.

I have a friend who bought a truck. To haul stuff for the garden. Twice a year.

Could not persuade her that she didn't need a truck.
 
She doesn't drive it - it sits in the driveway.

[Perd Hapley]

Bogie,

It hit me some time after I answered you that you might not know what I need the truck for.  My current job (and I foresee the same line of work for the next few years) is apartment maintenance.  I spend a lot of time shuttling boxes, hunks of plywood, old toilets, tree branches, etc, between the seven buildings.  So, yeah, I need  hauling space full-time.  But I do appreciate the trailer suggestion, which would help every so often when I need to haul the really big stuff with the Tacoma or S-10 or whatever I get. 

I've thought about a hollowed-out minivan.  Wouldn't those be pricier? 

[Bogie]

Okay - minivan maybe not so good an idea. The 4x8 sheet of plywood thing.

[Tallpine]

fistful, if you're going to make left turns in front of suburbans, i'd suggest getting a full size truck

or maybe a peterbuilt bobtail flatbed

[Perd Hapley]

Good point.   

[Perd Hapley]

I have an uncle in Columbia, MO, that deals in used cars.  He just bought a 98 Tacoma 5-speed, 2W, with a 153,000 miles on it.  The as-is price is $2300.  It has some hail damage (like I care) and also needs a front bumper and probably an AC charge.  He tells me it has a noise in the rear end, and isn't sure what it is, yet.  Between him and my dad, I should be able to get those things worked out on the cheap.  I don't know what size engine it has, but I don't think it should be an issue.  Also, the truck is black, which I like.    

Update:

Dad checked out the Tacoma, and is pleased with it.  It has the four cylinder, but another uncle (also a mechanic) says the four cylinder is a better engine.  I'm actually kind of stoked to stray out of the GM fold and try on something different, foreign even.     That, and I'll finally learn to drive a stick shift.

Does anybody know why all these S-10s I've been looking at have been sticks? 

[mfree]

"Does anybody know why all these S-10s I've been looking at have been sticks? "

They aren't sticks, they're trucks. :p

No, seriously, if they're white standard cabs then they're likely fleet trucks... delivery vehicles. Very popular application of them and good indication of their longevity.

If not, then they were simply owned by people who know how to drive :-D

[Art Eatman]

The Toyota 22R 4-banger began as a forklift motor.  Bulletproof.  Even if you have a timing chain break, it won't bend a valve.  I'm still running standard bearings and good oil pressure at 290,000 miles.

Art