Mod my offroading truck or buy a commuter?

[Gealii]

I would also buy a car as those 35s cant be cheap plus if you get a commuter car you can make your truck more hardcore offroad

[razor02097]

Originally Posted by Ryland

He also has tires on his truck that could very well cost $1,000 for a set and if they are anything like the truck tires we have at work, you replace them twice as often as car tires.
It's not just the fuel that makes trucks expensive to drive, but as it is, 15,000 miles per year at 15mpg is $3,500 in fuel, even 40mpg is $1,300 or a $2,200 savings just in fuel!

As an owner of a lifted Jeep and a commuter car I gave my advice based on personal experience. I thought I should pass it on.

Just going out and laying down a grand or 2 on a car doesn't necessarily call it done. After I bought my tracker a tune up, brakes and fluid change all around easily ate $500. I had to insure it, buy registration and put a tag on it. All said and done I have a great little commuter but it is going to take quite a while to pay for itself with fuel savings. Remember registration, inspections, maintenance and insurance are all reoccurring costs.

Before you say something about inspecting a vehicle before you buy it remember you are talking about a cheap commuter typically bought from an individual. There is no warranty, no certified pre owned nonsense. Even if it's in great shape it would be unwise to rely on it without establishing a maintenance baseline. I for one wouldn't rely on brakes every day if I had no clue the condition of them....or a battery if it is questionable... etc.

[northroad]

Thanks for all of the replies. At this point I'm pretty set on getting a gas saver. Right now I am daily driving the truck, it's kinda fun to drive in its own way... but man those fill ups are depressing. I think that even with the associated expenses of another vehicle, the gas savings will bring me even, if not in the black. I am at about 15,000 miles a year. I am already driving eco consciously and getting 16mpg, so aero mods may get me 18? 20 maybe? That is 750 gallons a year, at 20mpg. Or $2,500 at current gas prices. A 40mpg average car will consume 375 gallons for $1240/year.
I do all of my own maintenance and work, including rebuilds and whatnot, and I'm a freak about replacing all the worn out items on my (new) used cars. So yeah there will be that expense. If I grab a civic I'll almost certainly be doing the timing belt plus going over the whole thing, probably several hundred dollars all said and done.

I won't deny the fun of getting a new car, even if it is a beater. And learning to do eco mods, projects like that are fun. Get to refine my glass skills

I am going to look at a '96 HX tomorrow. I saw from the pictures it has a fart can but otherwise unmolested. If the entire exhaust from the header back is hacked up I may pass.

Would be better if you could do both, modding the offroad truck and getting a commuter. You could consider a Diesel engine swap for the truck.

That's not a good option here in the states. We only have big diesel engines, inline 6 or v8 that weight nearly 1k lbs, or VW tdi's. I have a hilux, mini truck, so VW is only choice that fits. Expensive and takes custom machining of a bell housing adapter. There are guys that have done it, but it is $$$$.

He also has tires on his truck that could very well cost $1,000 for a set and if they are anything like the truck tires we have at work, you replace them twice as often as car tires.

They're about $750, I wait for the sales. But yeah, expensive! My last set did last 55k miles, not much different than passenger tires. I will say that hardcore rock tires or certain mud terrains are way soft and will wear accordingly. Wear faster on road = better traction off road, typically.

[War_Wagon]

Ya good idea on sticking with the small car plan. Toys are toys. We spend money on them to make them the way we want them, but as soon as you try and get it to do something you didn't modify it to do, you are wasting your time and money. My old Vette would probably get decent MPG, but I wouldn't try to do that with it, that's not what I intended it for. Get an eco friendly ride and have fun modding it for more MPGs, then have your modded 4x4 toy for going wheeling. Problem solved lol.

[RandomFact314]

At 16mpg... I would go buy a cheap saturn or something small to zip around in. Even with ecomodding the truck you be busting your tail working for 25 when a random small car will be getting ya 25-32

[War_Wagon]

Just noticed you are in Texas. So rust shouldn't be an issue with older stuff. Man you should be able to find something like a late '80 early '90s Civic or Tercel or 323 for cheeeeeap. I am biased towards cars from this era, but having owned a lot of older stuff I can say that if you find a "good" one it will be as reliable and efficient as something much newer, for a fraction of the price.

[roosterk0031]

Could even stick with a 2wd 4c 5 spd truck and cut you fuel use in half.

[northroad]

So after a three week long search I found a '96 Geo Metro for $700. 1.0L 3cyl 5 speed, 150k miles. Throws egr and o2 heater code, small exhaust leak, and malfunctioning a/c... which is why it was cheap.

Ran my normal route and got 52mpg trip per my laptop obd2whiz. So pretty good, don't even know what psi the tires are at yet. Should be solid after a tune up and some aero mods. I laughed when I saw this thing doesn't even have a trip odometer, but it drives better than I thought metros did, and isn't particularly uncomfortable.

I'll throw some pics up tomorrow.

[Frank Lee]

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by northroad

So after a three week long search I found a '96 Geo Metro for $700. 1.0L 3cyl 5 speed, 150k miles. Throws egr and o2 heater code, small exhaust leak, and malfunctioning a/c... which is why it was cheap.

Since you're in Texas, I assume you probably never considered an A/C delete. If your intention with the Metro is all about fuel-savings, why not to consider it, replacing the A/C with an evaporative cooler?