I'll be in the market for a medium duty truck soon. I thought about getting a dually f350 or f450 but for the price I may as well step it up even more. I'll be looking to spend $4k to roughly $7k on a truck. I'll be pulling a 40' gooseneck and 2 mega trucks with this truck, roughly 26k pounds loaded. My problem is I know nothing about medium duty trucks. I know for the price range I will be able to get something decent to start with. From there I will make it exactly what I want it to be to serve my purpose. I'm a Journeyman Millwright so I have the tools and knowledge to do so. I'm torn between a gas or a diesel because I don't know much about the diesels in bigger trucks, I know my 3/4 and 1 tons quite well. What I'm looking for is knowledge of the bigger trucks. Is there an engine, transmission or drive line to stay away from? What combination would be best suited for me. I wouldn't mind having a manual or automatic trans. Currently I live in Michigan where everything is flat but in roughly 5 years I will be living in the Tennessee mountains. The truck will sit 95% of the year because it's sole purpose will be to tow the two megas when my wife and I want to have some fun. Honestly it doesn't have to be a Ford either because I am not brand loyal by any means. They all have their quirks and it comes down to which quirk can you live with. Reliability and being able to go up a mountain fairly easily is my main concern

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Go to truck trader and look at what that money will buy. More later. Which is now, for that price range I find in C & C trucks, '98s to '13s, 110,000 to 347,000 miles.

https://www.commercialtrucktrader.co...rice=4000:7000

Figure a couple thousand more to go through the brakes, (you gonna buy a 200,000 mile truck and trust the guy that the brakes are good?), maybe tires, and whatever else you find.

Then add your hitch etc,.

Wheelbase could be an issue too.

How far are you towing?

The OEM medium pickup seems to hold value quite well, about 4 to 5 times what you want to spend:

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...t/Kodiak+C4500

 

Awesome! Thanks for the link! I'll be saving that one. Is there an engine or transmission that I should be looking for above others? I have actually looked at that Kodiak online too and a handful of others that I drool over.
Wheelbase is something thatI don't have a lot of thought into. I figure if I could get a good platform even if it is too long I can just cut it down and make it a semi SWB truck to fit my needs.
Ive even thought about a dump truck or a box truck. Current plans on distance to be traveled will be no more then a 4 hour drive one way. When I pack up and head down to Tennessee that'll be roughly an 8 hour ride.
I hope with the initial purchase that will leave me some money to do all the things that someone put off like the brakes, tires, etc. Plus I figure a few thousand to do what I want to it to make it mine. I don't have tons of money to go out and buy a new or newer truck but the money I have I like to make informed decisions with and put it where it should be spent. I'm not afraid to have $10-15k wrapped up in it by the time it's said and done. Hell I had $10k alone wrapped up in my Cummins transmission...