What was the percentage of 4x2 trucks of this vintage vs the number of 4x4s? When I cruise Craig's list I see a bunch of decent 4x2s but 4x4s are fewer and thrashed.

 

I don't have any data, but up here in the rust belt I've always seen quite a few 4WD as well as a lot of 2WD. Maybe 60 / 40 in favor of 4WD? But of course most of those trucks are long since rusted away. On the other hand, the guy that bought my '85 F-250 4WD with 183K in '98 was going to drive it down to Mississippi where he figured he could sell it (rust and all) for twice what he paid me for it. Because people wanted used 4WD truck for hunting but no one had bought new 4WDs 10 year before that.

Moral of the story, I think most of the 4WDs were bought where snow and salt ate them away, while most of the southern trucks were 2WD.

Of course the western ranch trucks were also 4WD, and rust didn't eat them. But there aren't that many people there to buy trucks to begin with, and ranch trucks live hard lives, so they don't live forever either.

 

And what was the outcome of this piece of buy low/sell high venture capitalism? Cause' 4-bys are all over creation down here, but it took me a month to find my 5.8, SC, auto 2wd. First one I found was outside of Nashville & I drove south of Atlanta to buy the one I got.

Just curious since I can't see anybody down here buying a premium priced, salt-eaten, yankee hulk just cause itz 4-by.

(On edit) Don't mean there ain't dumb as a box of rocks consumers, though...

 

It works great. Used car dealers by stuff that's starting to get rusty by northern standards, ship it down south and sell it at "good price" because people don't have the aren't looking under them to check for rust. Aftermarket fender flares do a great job covering wheel well rust. I like to think of it as a dumb fee. If you're so dumb as to no look under a used vehicle you're about to buy well then you had it coming.

 

Ummm... Oh nevermind.

 

Good as far as I was concerned! I had a buyer for my truck!