Faults:

There was a nest of little fuzzy bumblebees in the frame behind the driver's side front wheel, which I finally got rid of.

The front turn signal socket in the bumper was bad, causing the left turn signal to stay lit constantly & the blinker not to blink.

General Comments:

The truck is great, even though I can't really drive a manual transmission. I liked it, but I wish it was an automatic with 4WD.

Faults:

Starter went out at 168000 miles.

Clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder both needed replacement.

Rubber around both doors shrank and no longer fit.

Headliner fell down and had to be removed.

Heater did not blow warm at all.

A/C did not blow cold air.

Lock on passenger door would stick and you could not always get door to open.

General Comments:

This truck was a workhorse! Other than minor things and basic maintenance you would expect from a truck with close to 200K miles on it it ran great and never gave me a problem.

Engine was pretty gutless, but I could load the bed up and it always made it to where I needed to go. Never spent much time out of the slow lane on the highway, but I never worried that I wasn't going to make it to my destination. It never needed anything more than basic maintenance and was really bulletproof. The tranny always worked flawlessly.

On the down side the paint was totally shot after only 13 years and the interior was not much better. The weather seals around the doors had shrunk and no longer fit. The dash had numerous cracks, and the headliner disintegrated.

I would buy another in a heart beat, though, because of the reliability. These are great work trucks.

Faults:

Starter motor went at 88,000.

Fuel pump at 110,000.

Bench seat is in sad shape - I ought to replace.

Vehicle has several electrical anomalies that I can't be bothered to trace/repair (in cold weather, e.g., dash lights will inexplicably and intermittently cut out).

In extreme cold, speedometer cable screeches like a banshee being castrated with a rusty can opener. When vehicle warms up, sound stops.

General Comments:

Unless you're pulling out tree stumps or hauling silage, this is all the truck you need. Sure, it is quite underpowered, but that little 2.5 liter 4 cylinder is an absolute "anvil" when it comes to reliability.

I have done numerous DIY jobs on my house and have used this truck to haul lumber, sheet rock, doors, windows, appliances, wall-stone, bricks, sand, concrete mix, plantings, mulch and firewood. On several occasions I know I exceeded the rated half-ton payload.

Faults:

Wiring harness for oil pressure sender and fuel pump melted on the exhaust manifold. This caused the truck to quit running because the fuel pump no longer worked. Weird way to wire it in my opinion.

Blown hose (not trucks fault by any means) Very cheap and plentiful parts a real plus.

Auto tranny fluid pan much harder to remove than it needs to be. Just a minor quirk.

General Comments:

Let me start off by saying that despite a few issues, I really like this truck.

I believe that an engine should at least get good gas mileage if it doesn't have much power. This truck has neither! Gas mileage is approx. 16-19 around town.

The overdrive transmission is always hunting for the right gear, probably due in part to the overworked engine, and these early 700R4's are notorious for this as well. I prefer stick shifts anyway.

Other than that I have to say this is a really good little truck, it will haul a lot, is comfortable to drive, and the air conditioning/heating is second to none!

I do all my own work and would have to say this truck is one of the simplest vehicles to work on and cheapest. Parts are plentiful and available everywhere making it economical to operate.