HandLoad wrote:Short Wheelbase is Much More Useful in Off-road application. Diesel is Much More Survival Friendly. Manual Tranny is better in Survival apps. Pick-Up is More useful IMHO.

Ideal for me would be Mechanical Injection, Manual Tranny, ShortBed 3/4 ton suspension, 4X4 Jacked Up and with Bigger (High Clearance) Tires, with Manual Lock-up on Front and Rear Diffs, AND THE TRANSFER CASE DIFF, with Low, Low ratio (High Numeric) in Diffs, with Crawler First Gear Ratio.

But, that is just my wish list.

What I have is a Fullsize Blazer with Option (Slightly taller/wider) Tires, Automatic Trans and Electronic Injection, with Only Rear Locker Diff . Half a Loaf is better than None, I guess! I don't have the money to get up my dream rig - I am spending all my Discretionary monies on Chicken Coops, Raised Bed Gardens, Medical and Home Defense Preps.....

Other than short wheelbase, and diesel, my old truck fits the description. I have a, 73 - F-250 Trailering special with manual 4 speed, 3 speed if you dont count granny gear, granny is only good for pushing or getting going when pulling something, a 351M, (351 modified 400). I used to put my kids in it, and lock the front diffrential and put the transfer in 4 low, and they would pull themselves under the steering wheel to push in the clutch, then the one in the passenger seat would put it in 1st gear, or granny, then all the driver had to do was let the clutch out and the truck would just creep along down the road in the woods, and sometimes through the woods. When they got back to the house after a couple of laps around the farm, they would just press the clutch and pull it out of gear. It is set up pretty high from the factory and has the extra load leaf springs and on the rear wheels, all I have to do to remove an axle is, take out 6 or 8 bolts and just pull the axle out without taking the wheel off. I have a farm tag on it now and nothing under the hood but engine and battery.

i had a 1990 ford f250 extended cab diesel 4x4 diesel 7.3 idi. i loved it and i spent 7oo on the tranny, my only 2 issues here i was leaking fluid from somewhere and the truck even in the summer was a real hard start. I sold it and then found out i had a few bad oring gaskets and the truck runs great now. I should have kept it.

If your going with the powerstroke I would stay away from the 6.0. That engine has way too many electronic/emissions issues to be reliable in a bug out situation. I'd look for an older 7.3.