Recomendation on reliable company truck (off-road)

The small non-profit I work for is trying to get some funding for a company
work vehicle. We work all over the state of Nevada in remote/offroad
conditions so one of the most important things is high clearance and
off-road handling. Not so much mud/snow as just bad/no roads and
uneven/steep terrain. Here is our desired specs.

High-clearance
4x4
Low/cheap maintenance (company truck so will be all mechanic repairs)
Reliable (this is a large state and we will be criss-crossing it ... LOTS of
miles)
Decent gas milage (with gas heading to $2, I'd sacrifice some power for mpg)
Doubt we will need towing
Truck preferred but will consider SUV suggestions
$15,000 has been put into the budget for a slightly used model
Large enough to carry equipment/dogs around with us.

My boss thinks that only a full-size truck like a F-150 will do. I'm
thinking a small truck would work just as well as long as we aren't towing
anything. Something like a Tacoma or similar. I doubt a F-150 has any higher
clearance than a Tacoma with same sized tires but I haven't looked it up. I
own a Geo Tracker personally and I've never been on a road that a full sized
truck could handle and I couldn't....the Tracker just keeps on chugging
through the worst off-road areas.

Anyway, suggestions welcome.

DH wrote:
>
> The small non-profit I work for is trying to get some funding for a company
> work vehicle. We work all over the state of Nevada in remote/offroad
> conditions so one of the most important things is high clearance and
> off-road handling. Not so much mud/snow as just bad/no roads and
> uneven/steep terrain. Here is our desired specs.
>
> High-clearance
> 4x4
> Low/cheap maintenance (company truck so will be all mechanic repairs)
> Reliable (this is a large state and we will be criss-crossing it ... LOTS of
> miles)
> Decent gas milage (with gas heading to $2, I'd sacrifice some power for mpg)
> Doubt we will need towing
> Truck preferred but will consider SUV suggestions
> $15,000 has been put into the budget for a slightly used model
> Large enough to carry equipment/dogs around with us.
>
> My boss thinks that only a full-size truck like a F-150 will do. I'm
> thinking a small truck would work just as well as long as we aren't towing
> anything. Something like a Tacoma or similar. I doubt a F-150 has any higher
> clearance than a Tacoma with same sized tires but I haven't looked it up. I
> own a Geo Tracker personally and I've never been on a road that a full sized
> truck could handle and I couldn't....the Tracker just keeps on chugging
> through the worst off-road areas.
>
> Anyway, suggestions welcome.

Toyota Tacoma, Tundra even an early '90s 4WD pickup would be a good choice. A few months ago we took some stock and nearly stock Toyotas over the Echo Canyon trail from Death Valley NP out to Beatty NV, they did fine, a few pictures below:
http://c-24-7-120-215.client.comcast.net/Photos/102_pana/DeathValley11/22.html

You can run ~31" tires stock and 33s without too much work on those type of trucks:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/BodyLiftKit.shtml#FAQ10

--
Roger

PINZGAUER!!!!or a UNIMOG both under 10K

The Dirt Weasel
"JEEP..........It's whats fer' Dinner"

"DH" <dana_hartley@(remove)hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> The small non-profit I work for is trying to get some funding for a
company
> work vehicle. We work all over the state of Nevada in remote/offroad
> conditions so one of the most important things is high clearance and
> off-road handling. Not so much mud/snow as just bad/no roads and
> uneven/steep terrain. Here is our desired specs.
>
> High-clearance
> 4x4
> Low/cheap maintenance (company truck so will be all mechanic repairs)
> Reliable (this is a large state and we will be criss-crossing it ... LOTS
of
> miles)
> Decent gas milage (with gas heading to $2, I'd sacrifice some power for
mpg)
> Doubt we will need towing
> Truck preferred but will consider SUV suggestions
> $15,000 has been put into the budget for a slightly used model
> Large enough to carry equipment/dogs around with us.
>
> My boss thinks that only a full-size truck like a F-150 will do. I'm
> thinking a small truck would work just as well as long as we aren't towing
> anything. Something like a Tacoma or similar. I doubt a F-150 has any
higher
> clearance than a Tacoma with same sized tires but I haven't looked it up.
I
> own a Geo Tracker personally and I've never been on a road that a full
sized
> truck could handle and I couldn't....the Tracker just keeps on chugging
> through the worst off-road areas.
>
> Anyway, suggestions welcome.
>
I drive all over the southwest desert and while I opt for the sealed comfort
of an SUV I had a Chevy Z71 pickup for two years that was absolutely
wonderful. The 5.3L V8 and Z71 suspension will haul a lot of stuff and will
handle everything short of extreme rock climbing. There is plenty of
clearance for even the worst roads and you can probably pick one up around 3
or 4 years old with 50, 000 miles for around $15,000.00. There should even
be part of the warranty left at that point.

Mine got 14.5 mpg combined hwy/city, 16 mpg in the desert fully loaded with
about 800 lbs of gear plus a several hundred lb. camper shell and as high as
18 mpg on the hwy alone.

It will be difficult to get a late model Toyota in decent shape for under
$15,000.00 and parts will kill you if you're on a budget.

Bob Walker
[email protected]
www.walker-entertainment.com

"R. Walker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:d6Obc.70244$1I5.31200@fed1read01...
>
> I drive all over the southwest desert and while I opt for the sealed
comfort
> of an SUV I had a Chevy Z71 pickup for two years that was absolutely
> wonderful. The 5.3L V8 and Z71 suspension will haul a lot of stuff and
will
> handle everything short of extreme rock climbing. There is plenty of
> clearance for even the worst roads and you can probably pick one up around
3
> or 4 years old with 50, 000 miles for around $15,000.00. There should even
> be part of the warranty left at that point.
>
> Mine got 14.5 mpg combined hwy/city, 16 mpg in the desert fully loaded
with
> about 800 lbs of gear plus a several hundred lb. camper shell and as high
as
> 18 mpg on the hwy alone.
>
> It will be difficult to get a late model Toyota in decent shape for under
> $15,000.00 and parts will kill you if you're on a budget.
>
> Bob Walker
> [email protected]
> www.walker-entertainment.com

Thanks for the suggestions. Money is definately tight so a low, cheap,
maintenance vehicle would be the choice even if it didn't meet other
requirements. I didn't realize that Toyotas have such high maintenance
costs.

The Z71 might be more vehicle than we really need as we will probably never
tow anything or haul heavy loads. Most of our work will just be carrying
people.

"DH" <dana_hartley@(remove)hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "R. Walker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:d6Obc.70244$1I5.31200@fed1read01...
> >
> > I drive all over the southwest desert and while I opt for the sealed
> comfort
> > of an SUV I had a Chevy Z71 pickup for two years that was absolutely
> > wonderful. The 5.3L V8 and Z71 suspension will haul a lot of stuff and
> will
> > handle everything short of extreme rock climbing. There is plenty of
> > clearance for even the worst roads and you can probably pick one up
around
> 3
> > or 4 years old with 50, 000 miles for around $15,000.00. There should
even
> > be part of the warranty left at that point.
> >
> > Mine got 14.5 mpg combined hwy/city, 16 mpg in the desert fully loaded
> with
> > about 800 lbs of gear plus a several hundred lb. camper shell and as
high
> as
> > 18 mpg on the hwy alone.
> >
> > It will be difficult to get a late model Toyota in decent shape for
under
> > $15,000.00 and parts will kill you if you're on a budget.
> >
> > Bob Walker
> > [email protected]
> > www.walker-entertainment.com
>
> Thanks for the suggestions. Money is definately tight so a low, cheap,
> maintenance vehicle would be the choice even if it didn't meet other
> requirements. I didn't realize that Toyotas have such high maintenance
> costs.
>
> The Z71 might be more vehicle than we really need as we will probably
never
> tow anything or haul heavy loads. Most of our work will just be carrying
> people.

Larger trucks are far more durable, I laugh when I read the four wheel drive
magazines and I see all the reports of broken u-joints, cracked frames,
busted steering boxes and the like, because I've never seen failures like
those with my 3/4 ton GMC. The only negative to large trucks are in places
such as ledges or narrow gaps, and even tight turns where they simply can't
navigate due to size. For open terrain though they will outlast any small
vehicle in hard use, the main componenets are so massive they will take
punishment unheard of by the Toyotas and Jeeps.
If you don't want the large truck I'd recommend a Cherokee, good passenger
room, very dependable and quite capable offroad.

"The Ancient One" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Larger trucks are far more durable, I laugh when I read the four wheel
drive
> magazines and I see all the reports of broken u-joints, cracked frames,
> busted steering boxes and the like, because I've never seen failures like
> those with my 3/4 ton GMC. The only negative to large trucks are in places
> such as ledges or narrow gaps, and even tight turns where they simply
can't
> navigate due to size. For open terrain though they will outlast any small
> vehicle in hard use, the main componenets are so massive they will take
> punishment unheard of by the Toyotas and Jeeps.
> If you don't want the large truck I'd recommend a Cherokee, good passenger
> room, very dependable and quite capable offroad.
>
>

Good points in favor of the larger truck. I'll probably go that direction
now that I've thought about it.