Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Show of hands, plain jane work truck?

Absolutely. The newer crop of 5-40 and 10-30 synthetics are made for it. Even Motorcraft has a 10w30 diesel oil, but I think it's just a semi-synthetic.

I ran Mobil 1 turbo diesel in my cummins 5.9. Seemed like good stuff and no issues in the cold.

Dave, all my customers running diesels get Rotella T 15w40 in summer & T6 5w40 in the winter.

& so does my 02 GMC Envoy clacker !

i have one close. 6.5' bed and power windows is about the only thing different from your spec. its the XL. it has manual transfer case and hubs, electric locking rear diff, plow package and tow package. it is perfect for what i wanted. the one thing i did not like about the base, base model was the front seat was buckets with no center console.

Sock Puppet and 99's, we usually switch to T6 5w-40 in the winter as well. Really seems to help in our old JD loaders that live outside year round.


The 6.0 always starts right up if it's plugged in but it takes forever to get the damn thing warmed up.

Backup camera is nice if you hookup to trailers. Heated seats and steering wheel is sweet.

Most options are great unless you don't have them,then they're just another stupid thing everyone else has,that's just another thing to break.

If you need room for cargo and/or passengers, a crew is the way to go. If you need a long bed, you need a long bed. I have a Dodge 3/4 with a quad cab and 8' bed. It's 23' long and takes a lot of room to maneuver, but I sure like the room.
Be aware that carpets are there for more than pretty. They cut the interior noise considerably. Vinyl mats are easy to clean but the truck will be lot louder. It costs more but carpets with good quality floor mats are a better choice.
I find that power windows are really handy. I hate to have to stop and crawl across the cab to roll a window up or down for whatever reason.

I'll be one of the contrarians I guess... I like the work truck package myself.

I currently have a 2000 GMC 2500 extra-cab with the 5.7 Vortec in the SL or work truck package. It has the rubber floormats, hand crank windows, no chrome trim other than the front bumper. It does have AC, CD player, and cruise control. My dad bought it new and drove it until 2010 when it had 125K on it. He was "worried" that it would not be reliable for longer trips with the mileage and gave it to me for a great deal so he could get a new one. Fast forward to now... it has 230k miles on it and takes me safely to Wyoming, Kansas, and Montana each year with little fuss. It still gets 16-19mpg depending on whether you can keep it under 70 or not. It drips no oil and has only recently begun to consume about 1 qt every 3-4k miles between oil changes. It's also easy on tires. Brakes not so much but that is about all I can complain about. It has only stranded me once when the fuel pump went out (probably my fault running the tank down near empty every time before I refuel). I wish they still built this same truck and I would buy one and drive it for another 20 years!!! It has been so easy to enjoy and care for.

I think it depends what you will use it for and how long you plan to keep it. My experience with older vehicles is that the electronics will "nickel and dime" you to death if you keep them too long. Better to turn those over earlier if you want all the city slicker stuff! They are all expensive, even the new work trucks and it is my experience that nice used work trucks are hard to find just because there are not that many sold to regular consumers anymore, just the fleet vehicles and many of those have been trashed by company employees. The good used ones sell quick here out West.

I've never felt that my truck is loud or uncomfortable, just simple, reliable, and functional... what a truck used to be before it became fashionable to drive one! I would definitely get a 3/4 ton if you get one. I've just been in to many 1/2 tons that seem "loose" and full of rattles as they get older. As lamented earlier, I just wish you could still get a "big 6" w/ a manual transmission/granny gear like the old Ford 300 or a more fuel efficient/properly geared V8 like the Vortec 5.3 in a 2500 instead of the thirsty 6.0. Unfortunately, demographic changes and economies of scale/profit motives will never direct production/design that way again.

I'm going to drive my old GMC work truck as as long as I can! Good luck with your decision.

Sammo, what year is your 6.0? I think they all came with the provision for a high-idle, which was used in ambulance applications. I wired mine to a rocker switch on the dash. I let her idle for a bit then flip the switch to bring it up to 1250 RPM. Makes warm-ups much faster. The wires may be different depending on the year so jsut do a Google search for yours. Took about 15 minutes to do mine.

In the late 60's, Ford also had a 240 6 cyl. I had one in a half ton. It was identical to the 300 except with a shorter stroke. Most parts were interchangeable. It got better mileage but it sure didn't have the low speed torque of the 300.

Power windows, power door locks, and cruise have become a must for me....

My buddy in H.S. bought a '79 Ford 150 Custom 4wd Short Bed 300-6 w/ 4spd with 30K miles for $4900. It was tone metallic brown/cream. That truck was nice looking... I coveted that thing for a long time! It was a young deer hunter's dream. IIRC, it got around 16-18 mpg depending on how aggressive the tires were.

I later bought my grandfather's '78 Ford 150 ?Ranger or XLT? 2wd Short Bed 300-6 auto and drove it for about 3 years, taking it up and down the Alaskan/Cassiar Hwy two different times. While not quite as "manly" as my friend's truck, the old baby blue '78 performed admirably and never let me down. I think it got around 18-19 mpg on the hwy.

We had a '72 Mercury Comet that had a 6cyl/ 3spd on the floor. I wonder if that was the 240-6 you were making reference to? My dad used to put me in that when I was around 10 years old. That long throw clutch was tough on a little guy... I can feel the jerking right now!

Grandfather ordered just such a truck before his memory went and he can no longer drive.

Salesman looked at him like he was medusa when he asked for crank windows and the like. Grandpa just laughed and said "when it's 20 degrees outside and that truck's covered in ice, what would you rather do - burn out a 400 dollar window motor or crank the window down?"

And yeah - given the business he's in (was) - window down about 60% of the time. Need to be able to yell to the guys loading it....

Well we got this little half ton for my wife instead. We were going to get her into a new taurus and me into a new or newer gas superduty. But I decided to keep my 08 6.4:



And Pam is now driving this:



The little half ton has a 4 cylinder, lol! And it hauls ass!

I will switch to T6 this next oil change in my 6.4

I'll also likely go with different wheels, bigger tires, possibly a set of fender flares. My reason for wheel change is because these steel factury wheels are really bad for trapping dirt, ice and snow/slush on the inside of the rim, it's a PITA to clean out and it throws the balance off just terrible.

I had a 99 F150 work truck, winding windows, plastic seats, and plastic floor. It did have AC. I really did not like loosing the comforts of an upgrade package. The windows were my biggest concern, I like to hit a button when they are frosted or wet to see traffic when I pull out. Nice to crack the passenger one to ventilate with less noise than the driver side. Anyway my trucks are generally a second vehicle, and I got a replacement with more options and I found I drove it more.

If it's the 2.7 ecoboost then I think it's a v6. It's an interesting engine.

I bought a 2003 GMC SLE 1/2 ton truck. We live on a the small farm. I put good rubber mats in it, running boards to keep the gravel off of the rocker panels, splash guards for the same reason, and a brush guard to try to keep the deer hits from getting my insurance cancelled. The farm is out on a gravel road and gravel eats tires. The OEM tires went 24K, the second set about 24K. There are 66,000 miles on the truck (2003) and it is on its third set. The work truck concept appeals to me as I tend to keep trucks a long time and don't worry about resale too much. I would like to hose the floors out once in awhile. Like most I want power windows, a/c, auto, and better fuel mileage than the 5.3 litre in mine delivers.

Cruise on my pickup pays for itself several times a year by preventing speeding tickets. It's big and powerful and the speed creeps up when I'm not watching.

I stand corrected.

It came up in a conversation at camp the very day we purchased the truck. Someone said they think it's a 4 and I didn't doubt it considering the displacement.

Either way, it's a capable little engine!

So it should have the stop/start feature, right? What do you think of it Dave?