nirion

How about a Mega cab third gen? and then a tonneau cover?

BBA

Either way i dont think a tonneau cover will work for him since he will be haulin his dogs but thats just my observation.

Dave88LX

Wow, how time flies. Needless to say, I have since returned from that trip out to Iraq (and another trip later that same year). I got out of the service in April of this year ('09), and am working as a gov't contractor now in the Ft. Meade area.

I still have the '97 2500 (now 312K miles), and the '88 Mustang. We have since purchased an '08 Mazda 5 that my wife drives, and we also have a little tricycle motor who will be 1 on the 10th of January!

We took the Mazda 5, the baby, and the 2 dogs up to NY and Mass over the Christmas holiday, which was when I realized that this Mazda just doesn't cut it as a family vehicle on road trips with dogs. Especially once we have a 2nd child, there will be NO room. A rooftop carrier is one option, but not the option that I think would be the best.

I am still driving that '88 Mustang 5.0 every day, filling up the tank twice a week. Driving in the 20-30* weather, with no heater core. It's a cheap fix, albeit a pain in the rear to do.

I wanted a newer reliable dependable car for the 50+ miles I drive to/from work every day. I was pretty set on picking up a new Ford Fusion Sport, or an '06-'07 Acura TL.

But, then we took this trip, and I realized that we would be $25K or so in the hole, but still in the same situation when we had to take a trip. Too-small Mazda, or a 312K mile truck without the room for everything we need.

I mentioned to my wife "You know what, maybe I should just get a newer truck instead of a car. An Excursion would be nice, but I think I would miss having a bed. Even though I don't like the camper top, I think if it was painted to match it would be tolerable, I could build a portable dog house for the dogs in the bed, plenty of room for luggage, it gets slightly worse mileage than the Fusion Sport or Acura TL for commuting, and we would now have plenty of room for all the trips we take." It would be chaper to drive one truck than it would be to drive a new car and have the truck be used only when we needed it.

I think she likes the idea of me getting a new(er) truck now better than I do. :lol: She also seems to agree that it would be better to get a truck/topper than the Excursion.

So here I am again, about ready to pull the trigger on a new car, and find myself researching trucks.

I am thinking I (we actually) want the Mega Cab, I need to look around and see who likes/dislikes what about them. I have always had a long bed, not sure how I would like a short bed. I do a lot of home improvement projects. I'd like to get another stick, but there doesn't seem to be many Mega Cab sticks around. 4x4 is a must. I need to look up what exactly the Laramie has over the SLT and if it's worth holding out for.

Thanks for listening to me ramble, I'd be interested to hear any of your thoughts.

Dave88LX

Now...how about some pics.

My current truck:


Her Mazda 5:


Our little girl:





Current daily driver:



...and here she is riding in the Mustang. Not a great commuter/babyhauler.

Dave88LX

Our trip back from Massachusetts after Christmas. I can pretty much guarantee this every year or every trip we take. I took careful precaution to pack so nothing would come flying forwards or slide and land on the baby. Carrying handle was up just in case. Either way, the plastic bag was some legos and stuffed animals.



Poor dogs did not have much room left.







So, there's some pics. We all love pics.

Dodgezilla

LOL! Yeah, you need a bigger cab!!

Well, I posted way back in 08 in this thread. I ended up with a fully loaded 08 Megacab and other than the emissions junk I absolutely loved it. It does take some getting used to having that short bed but you can always get one of those bed extenders where you put the tailgate down and fold it out. The interior room in the Mega is great. Throw a cap on it and you have almost what you would get with an Excursion or Suburban.
Unfortunately for me the last couple of years have not been good at work and I had to sell that truck early last year. That was a very sad day but there's a guy in Texas that totally loves it now too. I ended up finding my current truck and the QC really is not that bad compared to the Mega. I am glad to have a long bed again though. Either way you go a cap or a nice rollup tonneau will help you store all your stuff in back without having to crowd the cab like you had to do in your pictures. This winter is looking kind of bleak so far and I may have to end up getting rid of this truck too. I hope not but it shouldn't be too hard to sell it when it only has 35000 miles on it plus it has a DVD player and full factory warranty for a couple more years...
Check Autorader.com and Craigslist. There are Megas out there if that's what you want. You just have to keep checking everyday....

electrifried

My suggestion is a 99 Suburban diesel. Yea it has the 6.5 but as a daily driver it is not too bad. Ours is a wonderful family trip vehicle. Pleanty of room for ALL the stuff and people. Mine gets about 20mpg average on the interstate. I would loose the stang and start dailying the burb. They seem to be reasonably priced and were available. The 99 year had a lot of upgrades from the factory so are good to go as grocery getter as they sit.

I will not tow anything much with mine as it is gutless that way.....

Fronty Owner

first suggestion. stop letting the wife pack.
Dang, we dont pack that much for 5 people. Granted, babies have special needs and this was a christmas trip.

Dave88LX

Dodgezilla, sorry that you had to get rid of it, that sucks. I'm feeling the same way about the bed, but I'm sure I can get away with a 6' bed just fine.

electrified--I don't think I could ever bring myself to get one of those. If anything I'd get the Excursion instead. Towing is one factor in my decision so I need something with a little sack.

Fronty--Funny you say that. I told her that she sucks at packing, she needs a bigger suitcase, and to try to fit all her crap into ONE bag, not one bag, 3 grocery bags, and 2 smaller bags.

I did the actual packing of the Mazda to get it to all fit.

At least the main hurdle is out of the way: Wife is on-board and even encouraging I get a newer bigger truck!

RamPB331

Threaten to issue her a duffle bag and a Molle Rucksack. "If it doesn't fit in these two bags, it doesn't go." Then strap the rucksack to the roof rack. Nix that, I just saw, you have no roof rack. You figure it out. But call me before you do. I gotta see THIS!

RamPB331

Kinda misses the point of what the OP is looking for, doesn't it?

PistolWhipt

First off, I want to catch up ... thanks for your service, welcome home, congrats on the new job and finally ... congrats on the beautiful little crumb-snatcher (she's a doll !!).

Ok ... I would advise you go with the Mega cab truck and a full shell. My 1/2 ton was set up that way and I LOVED IT (so did my dogs). Extended cab trucks are fine for kids ... my oldest son (21) was in ext cab Dodges most of his life. Mega cabs would be like riding in a Cadillac !!
The toolbox issue can easily be resolved with a set of those sliding tracks that allow you to roll and lock the box to the front of the bed to store and then roll it back to the tailgate when you need to get to it. Do a google search on them ... when I get another truck this is what I will be doing.
The dogs and luggage can easily be stowed back nice and dry leaving lots of room in the people box !!

You will have the "sack" to tow ... still have a Cummins, the family will be cared for with a reliable vehicle .... the angels will decend from the heavens, music will play and all will be right with the world !!

.... and then you can put the stang up for sale on the DTR classifieds. I will be needing a project hot rod when I get my garage built !! hehehe

Good luck !!

Cheers,
PISTOL

Fronty Owner

saw a commercial for Diamond back truck covers.
Seems to give you the protection you want and you can still use the bed to a point since you can load a good 1/2 ton or so on top of the cover. any more and you should have planned better.

Rednecktastic

Ha after reading your post on the corral a while back I thought you had already bought a car. This is Joe from over there.



If you aren't driving a ton of miles then I'd get a 06-07 Mega 5.9. You can probably find one with moderately low miles for 25-30K. The seats in the 06-07 SLTs seemed uncomfortable so I'd spring for a Laramie.

If you drive a lot I'd get a 4 door car like an Accord or Camry and keep the truck as a tow vehicle.

Just don't buy the cheap lexus .


Also, have you thought about buying something like a Tundra or 1/2 ton crew cab or possibly an SUV. Depending on how much you tow that is.....

electrifried

I was thinking of loosing the mustang for the Suburban. KEEP THE DODGE for towing. The burb will get decent milage for a family hauling grocery getter......