Everybody has their 2 cents to throw in so here is mine. Everybody wants 4-wheel drive. I don’t know if it’s an ego thing or they really need it. I have had my 77 for over 30 years and can only remember one time that I really needed a 4 wheel drive, so to me having the harsh ride, steering, weight and loss of gas mileage doesn’t warrant the need. My 77 really started getting tired so I started looking for a replacement. I am retired and couldn’t even consider a new one. I can’t believe the prices people wanted for the high mileage crap trucks that were out there. I decided just to restore my old faithful 77. I stripped it down to the frame, scraped and painted it myself, rebuilt the engine, put a TCI towing C6 in it. (It already had a sterling 10.25 in it) I put the body back on and took it to the local body shop for some work and paint. I rewired the electrical, put in two rolls of Dynamat and a couple of cans of undercoating. I put an air seat in the passenger side for my wife and $7500.00 later the picture is the end result. I get thumbs up from a lot of other motorist and hardly ever get out of a gas station with out getting visitors looking at the truck. The truck pulls my 7.5k 5th wheel like a beast and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Plus my wife loves riding in it.

 

Thanks for the input. Nice ride. As far as the 4x4, I live in Pennsylvania where it snows, sometimes heavy. This year I had to make it back my 1/8 mile long driveway in 8" of snow. No problem in the 4x4. 2x4??? Probably sitting at the end of the driveway.

 

On the 4wd thing, I can see both sides. I like having a 4wd, but like fasthauler said, the 2wds ride better. Also, it is generally easier to find a 2wd in better shape than a 4wd.

People always cite how they "need" 4wd in the winter, but I have gotten by for years with a 2wd. I just take it easy and when it snows, throw on the chains and some weight in the back. Last hunting season I was pushing snow with the bottom of the bumper with my 2wd with chains on.

I guess it depends on you. Chains can be a pain, but you will pay more (sometimes dearly) for a comparable 4wd.

 

Hmmm...well a LOT of good advice has been given, and in for a dime in for a dollar, so I will give you my 2 pieces of copper! Lucky you!
I currently am "down" to 4 classics, however, I also have the 02 F350 CC/4x4/7.3/DRW for towing our 5th wheel. <~~ it only has 83k on it, due to the fact that I drive my other trucks most of the time.
Can you keep your Chevy AND afford a SCab? in 2wd?
Me, I have a truck for each task!
02 for towin with family
79/73 F250 4x4 "Woody" for huntin, wood hauling, general bash around not worry about body dings/dents
77 F150 4x4 "Sid" is the pretty boy now, he gets about 1000 miles every 2 yrs
66 F100 2wd "Shrek" is my DD and all around pal, gets the most attention.
63 F250 4x4 "Mater" is a work in progress, 351C in the garage to be put in and all the other work that goes with it.

If you can keep your new, for now, find an older SCab, maybe out here on the left coast, drive it home and learn to wrench. The wrenchin is the easy part (for me!) I will have to pay someone if I ever want to have body and paint done. Heck, the wrenchin is the fun easy part,,, you CAN partake of the adult beverages of choice whence workin!

You can never really have too many trucks,,, says I to my wife!!

Welcome to FTE and Good Luck with your decisions, and don't worry, there is all kinds of support here waiting for you! So go find a truck and buy some tools and let the fun begin!

 

if you can live without 4x4 or convert it...
1978 Ford F350 Crew Cab 4 Door

 

My idea might be a little crazier but here it is.

If you're in need of a dependable vehicle it's unwise to count on one older truck, especially considering your experience level. *I* would but TWO trucks. Yes, you heard me right.

I just bought a little '98 Ford Ranger for 1k with 190K miles. It isn't the best in the world but it runs and drives and the AC works (important in TX). I resold it for a decent profit but what I'm getting at is that it is nice to always have something you can hop in and just go. If you do not have much mechanical comprehension now, what's gonna happen on that one morning you jump in the 70's model Ford and it doesn't start? You're screwed. Buy a decent, newer-model vehicle (car, truck, whatever) and a decent running 70's Ford 4WD of your choice. This gives you the option of learning how to work on it without the stress of making sure it's read to go on Monday morning when you need to be at work. I've been there before and it sucks.

Nothing is more satisfying that making a repair on your vehicle and then turning the key to hear it fire right up. Even if you have to do it once or twice or however many times it takes to learn, don't sell yourself short by having a shop do your work. (maybe body work but definitely not the mechanical stuff).

Josh

 

I'm in as well. I would say that given your desire to maintain most of your creature comforts and towing ability in a vehicle which will (IMHO) always win in the style category is not all that hard. It can be VERY expensive, if you're not doing the work. But heck if I can do it.....

On the high side, These trucks are the last generation of the truly simple. No computer and minimal electronics i.e. voltage regulators and engine electronic specific parts, but they are still available, and you'll only have to track down the specifics!

Frank is not the first truck I've "Built", but the process for me with NO paint or body work ability, and VERY LIMITED mechanical skills is this.
1)Find your frame 2 wheel or 4 has never been an issue for me, I take what I find, and I've taken 2WD farther down more mountain roads than most.
2)Find a local Mechanic and offer Beer and assistance for hands on tutorials.
3)Find your body. most of my trucks have looked like a bad acid trip, but if I find a rust free or straighter panel, i get it and put it on!
4) take your time. All of my trucks eventually get to the "Primer Grey" stage eventually, but I strip them down to bare metal first, Take pictures of anything you pull off the truck even things that you don't think belong! (this prevents you from having to go back out o a junk yard and hope the trucks there can show you where and how that part goes back!)
5)lots and lots of research! The build threads on this site have been my primary source of "ooh Cool" Ideas
6) get dirty,oily and grimy, dismantle that new whatever at the junk yard, and then come back and do your own.

Lastly and I feel most importantly, learn to trade time, labor, energy. I've changed Oil at my local shop in exchange for labor. he gets more cars through the door and isn't paying anything for a laborer, and I get to learn about my truck. I've worked at my local J.Y. stripping parts, partially for parts for me and partially to "see how it works" I traded labor with my last painter, stripping other peoples vehicle as well as my own, and block sanding, and cleaning the shop, and even buying lunch and the after work beverages for a couple of weeks. I have also built fence, worked cows, dug ditches, and all sorts of other menial and not so menial forms of work that my chosen skilled tradesman did not have the time or ability to do!

This forum is one of the best on the web I've ever been on because this group will help, with anything from advice to parts. It takes time, but heck at 1K miles per year you're not going to be shorting yourself, so jump in, tear one down as far as you think possible, farther than you think you can fix. It sounds as though you already have a daily driver the desire, so why not?