Laura Doyle wrote in a message to Vicki Nichols:
LD> I'm just in the beginning stages of looking for a truck to
LD> haul the stuff I need, as well as haul a horse trailer when
LD> I buy one.  I cannot afford anything remotely new.  I was
LD> told that I needed a V8 engine, and that a manual
LD> transmission was preferable.  But, it's rather hilly here
LD> and I think that a manual transmission may not provide as
LD> smooth a ride to a horse in a trailer as an automatic
LD> transmission would.  Any thoughts?
     Well, we have both.  My dad bought my 1970 Chevy 1/2 ton swb in 1969 to 
pull our horse trailer.  It's got a 307 and a 3 speed manual tranny, with 
fairly low gearing...I think it's a 411 or something like that.  It did a 
good job back then, but now we use our R/T Ram Sport 1/2 ton with auto and a 
360.  It really burns up the road, even with 3 horses in the trailer, but 
it's really level here.
     Even though I mostly only haul one or two horses at a time, I prefer to 
use the automatic transmission for the very reason you suggest - I know it's 
smoother inside the truck, and that's gotta transmit to the trailer.
     We had good luck with the V6 we used to have in a 1988 GMC - we did 
things like haul all three horses up to my mom's house, about 90 miles north 
of here at a climb of about 3,000 feet altitude.  We just shut off the A/C 
going uphill, other than that and the fact that we didn't go 55 mph uphill we 
did fine.  We would still have that truck instead of the new Dodge if the 
paint hadn't started that peeling thing that white GMC trucks from several 
years do.  We also had bought the BIGGEST TRANSMISSION COOLER we could find; 
it had an automatic and we had no problems with it mechanically (okay, the 
glovebox thingy was broken, but that's all) when we traded it in at 90,000 
miles.  I know that we probably pushed it harder than we should have, but it 
did just fine.
     At the price of gas now, I ALMOST wish we had kept it - but an estimate 
on fixing the paint was about $1500!  And then we'd still have an 8 year old 
truck with 90,000 miles on it.  The Dodge seems to be getting about 20 mpg on 
the road with the air conditioning on and going uphill - that's what we did 
this weekend. But we also had the R/T computer and the headers added; they 
made a real difference in mileage, as well as performance.  (Oh, yeah, it 
sounds cool, too. But not sure THAT'S worth the payments!)
     You can find older Chevy trucks like mine for about $2000 if they are in 
GREAT shape - things out here don't rust.  The paint just fades, and the 
upholstery gets torn up.  But the nice thing about them is that there is 
NOTHING that can go wrong on them that will cost you anywhere near three 
months' payments on a new truck.  If you want an older one that is ratty 
cosmetically, look to spend about $1200 here in Phoenix.  Most of those will 
have V8's and long wheel bases, which is supposed to be more stable for 
pulling - but I think they aren't as eye-appealing as a swb.
     Anyway, I digress - did I answer your questions?  There are a LOT of 
people here with a lot more experience with this than I have...
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