Looking for a pickup truck for the homestead? You should be.

Alabama Prepper's Network

If you are a prepper, farmer, homesteader or whatever and don't yet have a pickup truck for whatever reason, I suggest you start looking for one now, preferably an older one of the type that was simpler and built to last indefinitely. I predict that the prices for such trucks are going to rise substantially when people begin to realize the true impact of Obama's latest declaration.

For several years now, city-dwelling leftist-greenies who neither know nor care about the realities of the world beyond their immediate view have been demanding that the automakers either build pickup trucks that get the same fuel mileage as their tiny little Prius, or preferably, stop building them altogether.

The reason this didn't happen is that, as a private business (Oh horrors, there's that nasty capitalism!), the automakers had to build what their customers needed and wanted. Sorry, but a truck that can haul cattle to the sale, or haul bales of hay across muddy pastures to feed those cattle, for a couple of examples, doesn't get 30 MPG. That is just a fact of life.

Now that the automakers are being nationalized, however, this no longer matters. Pickup trucks will get 30 MPG, or they won't be built; it's as simple as that. The result is that pickup trucks will no longer be capable of performing the chores so many farmers, small business owners, etc. have come to expect from them (and will cost substantially more, to boot).

It is democracy at its worst: you and I are in the minority, so our voice is drowned out by the majority who don't understand the need for a fullsize pickup truck, especially a 3/4 or 1 ton.

Of course, it's not going to work. The government knows that, and they don't care. Big government has been doing its worst to eliminate the small family farmer for years; do you think they are concerned that this is going to further that cause? In their view, it's a good thing.

So what I predict will happen is that existing pickups will become unobtanium.That is why I recommend that you get one now, and get one that will last.

A good way to do that is to look for one that has a good old all-cast-iron engine, a carburetor, and a distributor. You want a 350 small-block Chevy, Dodge 318 or something like that, not a 4.6 liter computerized, fuel injected whizbang motor with aluminum heads. Yeah, it may go 300,000 highway miles. But let the aluminum radiator build up a little internal corrosion, then get it stuck in a muddy field in July, and chances are, you will be up for a $5000 rebuild, if you don't have to replace those aluminum heads (they can't be milled like the old iron ones could).

But that's okay because by that time, the c-clip rear axle that is in lots of even 3/4 ton trucks these days will also be ready for replacement, along with lots of other things that were only designed to last until the warranty ran out.OTOH, that 1971 3/4 ton Chevy, even if it does need a rebuilt engine, is only gonna cost you about $1000-$1500 for a fresh 350, and it can be rebuilt 3 or 4 times instead of the zero to 1 time a modern engine can be rebuilt.

And the tranny, whether manual or automatic, can be rebuilt for around $500 as opposed to hitting you for $3000 like the newer ones are likely to do. And the newer ones are more likely to fail in the first place, too.

Also, the rearend, if you service it regularly, will probably last a lifetime: yours, that is, not the 5-year lifetime automakers build new trucks for.

Of course, in my opinion (based upon experience) you as a prepper should be looking for this kind of truck anyway, even without all the current socialistic shenanigans. But the point is, before long a lot of people will be looking for such a truck. Probably most people who need a pickup will initially choose something only a couple of years old. But 5 years down the road, when most of those trucks are starting to need expensive work to keep them going, those truck owners are probably going to be wishing they had bought older.I already got a jump on the demand.

Perhaps you should consider doing the same.
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