Faults:

Wrong? Parts wear out on a vehicle that is designed old school and is meant to be treated old school! I live in Michigan, which has vicious salt rust. This just doesn't count toward the quality of the truck's construction. I'm a mister "craftwrench" type, so I fix anything that strays from original usefulness. Nothing special has gone wrong, just destruction of parts from rust. It's an old-fashioned design, which keeps parts relatively cheap. It's rugged and fun, and I'm looking for a 4WD (without rust) to do some Frankensteining on, and make a cool truck. It's a heavy-duty drive train, and it's tough. A truck made for custom-crafters like me!

General Comments:

From a bottom-line point-of-view, I've always heard (like many other makes) that the smaller motor (2L) is disappointing. Duh. The 2.6, however, has been lovely. If a 2.6 will fit a 2.o chassis, then get an upgrade. Does anyone know of a club for these vehicles? I'd like to chat with experienced persons. Classic styling, tough gearing, and RELATIVELY TOUGH, not considering rust or abuse (stop trying to use a mini as a full-size pickup, dummies!)

Faults:

I bought the car from my father in law for $100 with a blown head gasket and numerous other known problems. I fixed the problems before I started driving it.

Replaced: Blown head gasket, intake manifold gasket, Exhaust manifold, shocks, idler arm.

Since that time, the parking sensor has gone bad and the brake light comes on intermittently. I have not fixed this yet. I am sure it is simple, but have not gotten around to it.

The seat has a tear in it and the rubber on the steering wheel has started to fall off from age and sunlight.

General Comments:

The car was my father-in-law's work truck, and was severely overloaded most of it's life. It was on it's third rebuilt engine when I got it, and it had recently had the carburetor rebuilt. It had extra springs added in the back to handle the extra weight and 6-ply truck tires.

I have put about 15,000 miles on the truck. I used it as a daily driver for work for the past 2.5 years, and I occasionally collected firewood in it. My commute to work is about 2 miles, so comfort has not been a huge issue. However, I have taken several long trips in it (200+ miles each way), and it is a very uncomfortable truck.

It is severely underpowered, and it is very noisy on the road. The gas mileage, at about 20 mpg average, is not great for a little four cylinder engine. However, it has done a huge amount of work for me in the short time I have had it. I am amazed at how much firewood I can haul with it, even though I have to drive very slowly up hills.

I have not had any reliability problems with this truck since I have owned it, and I find this quite amazing considering the abuse and heavy loads it has taken.

Faults:

The truck had bad exhaust fumes when I first bought it.

The transmission got stuck at 4,000 miles.

Gas tank filter failed at 4,100 miles.

The u-joints replace at 3,000 miles.

General Comments:

The truck has excellent off-road abilities.

The mileage is 19 miles a gallon that's good for an engine that has 119 hp.