Looking for Tow rig suggestion at about $5K?

[Blanco1]

Diesel preferred, yet realize that probably cost more?

I'm thinking about selling my beloved 2007 Cadillac CTS & figure I should get $5000.00 for it & hopefully get a worthy Tow rig to tow my future 30' MAX TT that I plan to buy soon.

I do have a curent tow rig so that not a major issue.
But was looking for a non-dually auto trans 3/4 that is less hard core as my current Dually.

I'd like to have an optional tow rig besides my 1 Ton Dodge 4x4 5 speed diesel with about 500 HP & 4" straight pipe exhaust

Maybe something more comfy & less loud?

Yet that can still tow my TT

Looking for suggestions.
Not brand loyal.

[jerem0621]

Several years ago I bought a nice Dually F350 Crew Cabwith a V10 for $5,500.00. Just keep your eyes pealed and on craigslist.

[Edd505]

sold a 2000 F250 7.3 165,000 miles 2 weeks ago for 14,500. It was setup to tow w/ rails, Tekonsha break controller, & air bags.

[LanceRKeys]

I bought a 1999 dodge 2500 regular cab with the 360 v8 and nv4500 trans, very dependable truck and I bought it for $3500. It pulled my 32’ fifth wheel ok, but 4.11 gears would have helped that a lot. Be patient, your truck will come along. Be sure to get on here and show it off when you get it. I like cheap trucks! FYI I just passed on a 1995 F350 diesel for $6,000 it would make a good tow vehicle, the deals are out there.

[Blanco1]

danrclem wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
For five thousand dollars? To supplement your 21 year old Dodge? To pull your 33 year old Lance TT? Possibly remove the straight pipes? Foam cushion on the seat and ear protection?

There's no need to be rude.

Thanks for backing me up!

The thing is its not that I need another its just that I normally have about 6 cars at any given time & am selling a few to help with getting my new TT & was thinking it might be nice to have a back up in my fleet.

[danrclem]

Lwiddis wrote:
For five thousand dollars? To supplement your 21 year old Dodge? To pull your 33 year old Lance TT? Possibly remove the straight pipes? Foam cushion on the seat and ear protection?

There's no need to be rude.

[burningman]

Most guys here think only new $50,000+ trucks are able to carry anything.
I went lots of miles over mountains in trucks that weren’t worth more than $5k and were loaded to 12,000 and towing another 10,000.
The early 5.9 Cummins will not quiet down with a muffler. Most of the noise is the engine itself, not the exhaust.
My Spidey-sense tells me anyone with a 500-hp 5.9 has some amount of mechanical knowledge and can handle an older truck that might need something freshened up here or there.
At that budget, gas is definitely the only option especially with an automatic trans. The diesel/auto you’ll get for that will probably need a fairly expensive trans real soon, or fairly expensive something else.

They’re getting hard to find now, but those old “square-body” Chevys (‘73-‘87) are really good trucks.
When you’re dealing with an older and cheaper truck, you really want pre-electronic era stuff.
I’ve also got a high-powered hot rod early Cummins one ton, I planned on “offing” my old Chevy but I just can’t, that thing ALWAYS runs and if it did fail, nothing on it is expensive or difficult.
The two wheel drive models (if that’s an option) drive really nice even when old and worn. Clean nice ones do still exist, and everything is available for them. I just GAVE AWAY a fairly decent 2WD crewcab dually Chevy that needed a motor (ANY GM V8 goes right in, it started as a 6.2 diesel and I’d had 455 Olds and 500 Caddy engines in it) just for having the kid who wanted it haul out some junk from my rental house yard.

I’d be a little sketched-out about buying an old and cheap computerized-era truck.
I think you need to stay with something super cheap to fix, the problem you run into with older trucks is finding yourself with a problem that costs more to fix than the truck is worth.

I’m also a bit curious, why NOT just use your Dodge?
My daily-driver car was lost to an accident three years ago and I just started driving my truck instead of replacing the car. Seemed to make more sense.

[Groover]

Having sold a 1991 F250 (22 years old) 4 years ago for $7000 and a 2003 E350 3 years ago(13 years old) for $7,500 and with people fighting over both of them I think that you are going to have to up your budget quite a bit. Right now I would be delighted to find a Ranger or Tacoma in decent condition for 5K.

[colliehauler]

Depends on your mechanical skills and knowledge. I just bought a 2006 Ford F-250 CCLB 5.4 this week but it needs some repairs. I will put another 2k in repairs but I will know the work was done, plugs coils u-joints tires along with changing all fluids and some minor cosmetic issues. A lot of people don't have the skill set necessary to deal with such issues.I purchased this at a decent price and with repairs will still be under blue book value with a good solid truck.

[Grit_dog]

Older Triton motor fords are a good choice.
If I had 5k to find the best value pickup truck, I’d be searching hard for a 90s GM, preferably 2500, 350 engine/nv 4500.
But I’d take a half ton with the aluminum 5 speed too.

[vjstangelo]

Anything with the Ford V10, would be the first choice. Second would be an older Expedition with the 5.4L, provided it has the tow package and higher tow rating. Also look for Lincoln Navigators (twin to the Expedition) as these came with the 32 valve 5.4L that put out over 300hp.

[George3037]

$5K would be a nice down payment on a decent truck. Not going to find a 5K truck that isn't going to be a money pit.

[camp-n-family]

You want a decent diesel truck to tow a tt that size for $5k? Be ready to add a zero to that number.

[valhalla360]

Not sure about the SoCal market but in the midwest it can be done.

We picked up a 2001 F250 with gas V10, 3yrs ago (14yrs old) for $6k. Other than some rust to clean up (it's michigan), it has done fine. There were diesel options for similar price.

So you are probably looking at something in the 15-20yr range with 100-150k miles.

What I don't get is you have a good tow vehicle, so why get a 2nd one? As mentioned, put a better exhaust on it, if it's too loud.

[LIKE2BUILD]

Blanco1 wrote:
Does not have to be diesel, was just a fantasy it seems.

Yep, $5K is not going to get you a very worthy tow vehicle. That price gets you a truck that's 15+ years old and probably 200,000 miles or more.

KJ