In the same spirit of my earlier post about older cars, presented in “as they left the showroom” condition, I need to get some opinions on the following trucks (links in title):
All their details (engine specs, etc.) are in the links.
My question:
If you had to pick one of the above three to work with on your ranch, which would you choose, and why?
Though I am a Ford guy, I would pick the Chevy C10. The F100 has been hotrodded. The GMC is too expensive and has an automatic transmission. The C10 is more practical and has a manual transmission
Though I am a Ford guy, I would pick the Chevy C10. The F100 has been hotrodded. The GMC is too expensive. The C10 is more practical.
You could do any repair job on those old side valve trucks with only a handful of tools. Cylinder head gasket replacement, forget the torque wrench, just tighten it till it strips then half a turn back.
When I read the specs the GMC is the only Manual 4X4 of the three, so it is the only possible choice for a working Ranch Truck. The other two would be stuck out in the middle of some pasture within days of arrival. ( Unless, of course, that Ford was owned by Charles Bronson on a watermelon farm in Western Colorado as MR Majestyk )
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=mr%20Majestyk%20chase&mid=F98D6D2F2962F4625136F98D6D2F2962F4625136&ajaxhist=0
Back in the dark ages (i.e., the mid-’60s), when my aunt (mother’s sister) was earning as an architect/general contractor, she had a blue Chevy pickup (the color the Jimmy is painted in your example pic — that must have been somebody’s favorite color, as SO MANY GM trucks were painted in it). It was a family weekend project to build an oak stake body for it. One of my favorite childhood memories is sitting perched on that stake body as that truck sped down the back roads of Butler County, Ohio to and from construction sites.
Whichever one does NOT have the fuel tank behind the bench seat is golden.
Then again I have been working on and off for almost a year on a ’73 F250 ranch truck which sat for 30 years, everything deteriorated so has to be cleaned or replaced and getting parts is becoming a tad more challenging. Yeh, you did say if found in pristine condition, but then that is not reality, is it?
Whichever one has the gun rack behind the bench seat is golden for Kim. (Papa Come Quick)
I don’t have and not ever likely to have a ranch, but that Chevy C10 really appeals. In fact, I’d be loathe to use it on a ranch so it doesn’t get dirty.
Kim, your questions sure indicates that you’ve never spent any real time on a working ranch in Texas. This is a case where old trucks definitely are not the answer. As someone whose family has many ranching members, I can say that true “ranch trucks” get the shit beat out of them fairly quickly. My uncle bought the cheapest barebones truck on the lot every two years, trading in the old one which at that point was ragged out. Strictly 2WD only, too. He also said that 4WD was useless as it only got you stuck worse – if he actually needed to get into a bad area, he’d get his fucking 4WD tractor as that mo-fo would go anywhere.
The real answer here is to pick whichever one you like best (I’d like the GMC, but probably pick the Chevy based on cost) and use it as your Sunday go-to-town truck. That’s your baby. Then wait until the year-end clearance sales (ALL INVENTORY MUST GO!!!) and go buy the cheapest thing on the lot new. That’s your “beat it to shit anyway, it’ll get replaced in a few years” truck.
I wouldn’t wish for any of those three classics above to be subjected to true ranch duty.
Agreed Don. Our Family “Farm Truck” ( a Ford stake Bed ) was used for all sorts of jobs. Hauling bags of Oats from where the Combine left them in the fields back to the barn. helping to pull a stuck tractor from the mud or where ever Red left it after his last binge drinking episode. In the winter it was the snow plow. It was the work platform for fence and riding trail repair. We even ( Overloaded ) the smaller Tractor on the bed to take it to be repaired.
We tried not to beat on too badly but stuff happens and repairs are done in the fields with whatever you had with you ( the proverbial Bailing wire and chewing gum repair. ) So yeah, More than one Body work repair Job was done with a fence post and a big rock. It was a work Truck , not a show truck like the photos.
Don,
the trick is to mostly drive in 2wd, and reserve 4wd for when you get stuck. Unfortunately, most drivers are not good enough to stay in 2wd. The one advantage of driving in 4wd is that you can move much slower, which is easier on the vehicle (and driver), but when you get stuck, you are really stuck. Best hope for a winch, then.
I read once that a two-wheel drive truck with a winch can go anywhere a four-wheel drive truck can. A bit slower, since you have to place the winch and all, but you could still get to the same place.
I would take the 1969 GMC.
Great style. And older Chevy’s and GM vehicles ran great.
I had a 2004 Impala at one point. One of the best cars I ever had.
Rode good, got good mileage. Minimal repairs.
AWESOME vehicle at an AWESOME Price.
GM does not built the greatest quality these days (No one does since Covid), but in the past, GM (Chevy, GMC) was WAY better than Ford.
I had a couple of Ford vehicles in the past, liked them at first, then the problems they had were expensive and rediculous. FUCK FORD. The last straw was those cock suckers at FORD had a recall on a part that was expensive to buy and for labor to install it. Manifold that was plastic. Recall said that they would fix it free if it happened, and if you had it fixed at either a dealer or independant mechanic previously, they would reimburse you. This was around 2004 time frame. Guess what the slippery cock suckers at Ford did? They refused my claim.
I kept emailing them a few times – and someone emailed me back and said – this would be the last email from them, and they would no longer reply to me.
NEVER bought another Ford after that.
HEY FORD – FUCK YOU FORD! – I HOPE YOU COCK SUCKERS GO OUT OF FUCKING BUSINESS!
FORD – YOU BUILD JUNK AND FUCK YOUR CUSTOMERS OVER.
DID I MENTION I HOPE YOU GO OUT OF BUSINESS YOU SLIPPERY COCK SUCKERS!
# Found On Road Dead
# Fix Or Repair Daily
# Fuck Over Rebuilt Dodge
# Driver Returns On Foot (Backwards)
## FUCK FORD AND THE HORSE THEY RODE IN ON ##
(Henry Ford might be rolling in his grave if he knew the GARAGE Ford built after he passed).
GARBAGE NOT GARAGE. STUPID SPELL CHECK
SIDE NOTE – AI IS RETARDED AND ALL THIS TECH IN CARS DOESN’T MAKE ANYONE ANY SAFER OR BETTER OFF.
I WORK IN IT HOWEVER I WANT TO DRIVE A MACHINE NOT A FUCKING COMPUTER DOWN THE ROAD.
I blame auto-correct (auto-complete, if you prefer) for that. If the computer doesn’t read the word as an actual typographical error, you’ll never notice the error because there are no little red dashes under the word. Auto-correct has been making us all look stupid and careless since its inception.
Auto-correct is the work of the Devil, and whoever invented it should go straight to Hello.
We had a ’69 C10 on our farm and it was a mule of a truck. My Dad bought it in ’70 and finally scrapped it in 2016. It had the 292 cubic inch inline six and was easy to wrench on. We also had a 1962 Studebaker Transtar tow truck that we converted into a stock truck. That was a real mountain climber and stump puller.
Grew up on a ranch. By dad owned all of the above. Memories
Wouldn’t take any of them for a ranch truck.
They’re WAY too nice.
If I needed a work truck for a ranch I’d go out and find something with a completely beat up body, and an engine that’s still got 10 or 20 thousand miles of life left.
Those I’d save for driving around.
The Ford axle ratio is silly for a working truck. Of the three I’d go with the GMC for a work truck.
Not much I can add at this point except to pile on.
Ranch truck? None of the above. All far too pretty. A ranch truck needs to be bone stock simple. In line six cylinder, low ratio rear end, M/T, power steering, hand crank windows, period. Ignition coil, distributor, carburetor. None of that computerized shit. Like this (I was driving one on our ranch by age 8)–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihgnrDBcKUE
Of the three choices, I would choose the C10 for a daily driver, but only on pavement.
GMC. Manual. AWD. Six cylinder.
Personally I’d go find a https://truck-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/japan/Toyota-land-cruiser-J45.php
I have had poor luck with GM products. I always bought the models that had the problem transmission, computer/sensor issues, or sub-standard main bearings.
I will take the Ford with a 3 on the tree and the 360 FE engine. I had a 70 Ranger with that setup. It was a tougher truck than my ’16 F350 6.7 diesel and got about the same fuel mileage.
I owned and drove a 1970 Ford F-100 Ranger for a few years. No ranch, I had more hat than cattle.
three on the tree, rwd, V8, it had been a ranch truck before me.
I bought it from my friend’s widow. The manual transmission made it a good one for hauling loads and towing. The only problem I had was that it was a terribly hard starter if the engine was cold (I hesitate to think what would have been if it lived in a cold climate. Someone had installed a jerry-rigged choke into the dashboard and even in sunny So Cal I had to use it to get the devil started. I kind of miss it, even though It did drive like a truck. I still kind of miss it, you could find parts for it anywhere, unlike Volkswagen water-pumpers that lose their dealer support after 20 years.
None of those are work trucks. Every work pickup I’ve ever owned had a Dana 60 rear end and was called a three quarter ton rather than a half ton truck. A half ton truck you try to use as a work truck will be trash in two years or less.