I talk a lot about colors of cars here, and that’s because I have always preferred colorful cars. I know white and silver are the most popular, but they’re always the last choice for me. Even when it comes to rental cars, I’d rather have a colorful one; this past weekend when I was back in Portland, I had my choice of two otherwise identical Nissan Sentras for a rental car – one white, the other electric blue. Guess which one I chose.
But today, I want to talk about fleet colors, those paint jobs you only see on vehicles owned by a specific agency and used for a specific purpose. Even after they’ve retired from that old job, such cars are instantly recognizable: ex-cop cars are usually black and white, former taxicabs are typically yellow, and old US Forest Service trucks are (or were) painted in Federal Standard 595, color chip 14260 – commonly known as Forest Service Green.
Regular readers know that I own such a truck, and I love it dearly, but it’s driving me nuts at the moment. It has developed a severe misfire/stuttering problem that’s just getting worse, to the point that it now won’t go much over 20 miles an hour. I’ve replaced the whole ignition system – plugs, wires, coil, module, pick-up coil, cap, rotor, everything – as well as the fuel pump, fuel filter, and pump relay. The next step is to tear apart the throttle body, replace all the gaskets, clean the injectors, and rebuild the fuel pressure regulator, to see if that helps. That’s Friday’s project for me.
So I thought, since I found two other ex-Forest Service trucks for sale this morning, that I should feature them, as a show of solidarity, or for good karma. If nothing else, it’s a good excuse to show off my favorite color for old fleet trucks. Let’s check them out.
1987 Dodge Ram 250 – $2,950
Engine/drivetrain: 360 cubic inch OHV V8, four-speed manual, RWD
Location: Salem, OR
Odometer reading: unknown
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Truck body styles tend to have long lifespans. The basic requirements for the design don’t change much, so the only reasons to upgrade are new regulations or fashion trends. Dodge kept this body style in production from 1972 until 1993, with only some minor changes. Lots of flashy stylish variants were offered over the years – Lil Red Express, Warlock, Power Wagon Macho Edition – but I always thought it looked most handsome as a plain-jane work truck. It’s an honest, no-nonsense shape that doesn’t need a lot of adornment.
This truck is a 3/4 ton model, powered by a 360 cubic inch V8 and a four-speed manual. For many years, all Forest Service trucks were manuals, I assume for durability and simplicity reasons; a box of gears and a dry-plate clutch are far less likely to leave you stranded in the boonies than even a simple automatic. This one is only two-wheel-drive, but honestly, I have found that I hardly ever put my truck in 4WD, unless I encounter mud or snow. It’s just not necessary for most stuff. The seller doesn’t give us the mileage, but they think the odometer has only rolled over once. It runs and drives well enough, anyway, and that’s more important than the actual mileage.
Not only are these old Forest Service trucks all green outside, they are all tan inside. I have no idea why. This one is modestly equipped, as befits a working truck, with a bench seat, rubber floors, and manual everything. I imagine that bench seat is tan vinyl under the cover, but we have no way of knowing what condition it’s in. The rest of it looks fine, though, so the cover might just be there to keep the vinyl from getting too hot.
It has some dings and dents outside, and the paint is faded in that blotchy, uneven way that this color always seems to fade, but it isn’t rusty. A lot of the bed space is taken up by three locking tool boxes. If that’s overkill for you, and you need more space for things, you could probably sell the tool boxes and recoup some cost.
1999 Chevrolet Tahoe – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 350 cubic inch OHV V8, four-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Tacoma, WA
Odometer reading: 191,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
I get what the Forest Service used pickup trucks for: grounds and facilities maintenance, mostly, I imagine. I have a harder time understanding what use they might have for an SUV. But I’ve seen plenty of Blazers, Broncos, and Cherokees painted this color, so I suppose a Tahoe is just a newer version of those. Is it just a more comfy way for a park ranger to get around?
This Tahoe breaks the usual Forest Service truck “rules” in one regard: it has an automatic transmission. But Chevy never offered a four-door Tahoe with a manual, only the two-door, which went away after 1995. Its Vortec 350 V8 feeds a shift-on-the-fly 4WD system through GM’s good old 4L60-E automatic. The seller says it runs and drives great, and calls it “quick,” but my guess is they haven’t driven very many truly quick vehicles to compare it to. Hopefully they haven’t been running too many stoplight drag races with it; that’s hard on any car.
It’s definitely a step up from the typical pickups inside, with power windows, locks, and seats. And since it has a back seat, there’s plenty of space for the park ranger to put his pic-a-nic basket. It also has air conditioning, but the seller says it doesn’t work right now. It’s up to you to decide how important that is to fix. Otherwise, it’s all standard GM plastic and mouse fur; not fancy, but durable and comfortable.
I may be biased, but I do think the GMT400 bodystyle wears Forest Service Green particularly well. This one is dull and faded, like they all are, but it’s rust- and damage-free, except a couple of dents. The only problem the seller mentions is that the doors sag and are hard to open; this is a very common issue with a lot of GM cars. It just needs new hinge pins and bushings. They’re cheap and easy to replace.
Old trucks are cool, and while I agree with Matt that two-tone trucks look fantastic, I will always have a soft spot for old fleet trucks, and Forest Service Green will always be my favorite, followed closely by that yellow-green color you sometimes see on old brush fire trucks. If you agree and you want to join the elite ranks of former Forest Service truck ownership, here are two flavors to choose from. Which one is your favorite?
I kept an exploration truck down in Mexico, since I would fly in to do my work as a geologist. I got an ex-Forest Service F350 for a stupid cheap price. I actually needed the ability to tow a backhoe from time to time. I am personally over digging holes and it takes minutes for me to get a trench done with it. Kind of how we see below dirt to see what is there. It was perfect, since it had every option frame down you could want including 4WD, but absolutely nothing in the cab. Couple what looked like a really vanilla work truck and that god-awful color green made it essentially theft proof. Nobody in Mexico would consider sealing it, even joyriding teens. My contemporaries that worked the same routine that got beater trucks in normal colors all had them stolen. Really, I have gotten sick drunk on tequila and crab and puked up a better color scheme.
Both!
The Tahoe would be the practical choice in this household but I can’t resist a pickup.
No both? No vote.
The truck looks infinitely better in that color. Plus old pickups that aren’t rotted out are rare around me, deep in the Land of the Tin Worm.
Indeed, both!
Insert both.gif here from the road to el dorado
GMT for me! I had a 1999 GMC 2500 with the same engine and I can only imagine that the seller calling it “quick” just means it’s “alive” (as in quicksilver or the quick and the dead). It’s a fine truck though and you’re 100% right about this color. Fix up that mismatched fender and enjoy the utility of it.
Both, which offsets yesterday’s Neither.
Of all the times to not give us a both option!?!
I have more use for the Tahoe, so I’ll have that (and fix the AC), but I want them both!
This is the correct answer.
The Mandalorian says” This is the Way”!
Why not both? Start your own Forest Service for under $6k
Witht way things are going, you might have more staff than the USFS!
Maybe we can get a billionaire to buy the trucks for us with some of the money they pocketed at the USFS’s expense.
There’s something about the Tahoe that looks…off in that color. I went Ram.
I’ll take the Blodge Dodge.
Time t’ get back to the garden.
We’ll take the Tahoe, because GMT400, but I hope that Dodge goes to a good home; it’s really sweet.
A 360/4 speed first gen Ram?!
Someone call Stone Cold, I need a Hell Yeah!
The Tahoe is more useful, so that’s how I voted.
Interesting that the 4wd has its own shifter in the center there, growing up we had a 98 Suburban that had the fancy buttons so this being a year newer but having the older style is weird to me.
The buttons were optional. Lower trims levels for the shifter on the floor for the transfer case. It stayed that way in the GMT-800 pickups too.
I wondered if that was the case, I was just thinking ours was pretty basic for the year but that makes sense, especially given that this is a former forest service truck so they likely didn’t add many options to it.
The Dodge is a work truck; the Tahoe is a boss’s car. I need a truck and there are better car choices out there, so Dodge it is today.
I’d rather have a Suburban (go big or go home), but Tahoe for me.
I lived through a similar issue with a 4.3 v6 in a ’91 GMC, and it ended up being injectors.
Oh, and the Ram is a beaut, Clark.
I picked the Dodge, even though the Tahoe has AC. It doesn’t work, but it’s there. Unknown on the truck.
But especially in that color, the truck just looks better, and I don’t need 4wd.
Damn, this was a heart vs mind vote. I want that truck, but the Tahoe is infinitely more useful for me family-wise.
Still, I’d love to have that truck.
Someone more eloquent than me can try to explain it, but the Tahoe looks sketchy in faded FSG while the Ram looks honest.
I’m glad it is 3,000 miles away, because I love that truck.
I thought the same thing. I think it’s because these Tahoes are a dime a dozen and we’ve become accustomed to seeing sketchy ones with bad paint jobs or covered in plastidip that’s been left on too long, possibly even in a similar shade of green.
Tahoes with threatening auras (it is all of them)
Well put. I can even imagine worrying about how rusty the brake lines are on the poorly maintained Tahoe right on my bumper
It’s a GMT400?
It’s cheaper?
It’s 4×4 auto instead of 2wd manual?
Sorry, this isn’t even a debate today.
It’s the better choice, but a Mopar 360 with a bumpstick attached to a 4-speed would just be a fun going-to-town rig and general work truck.
Plus, I enjoy sliding a stick shift around in winter more than an auto. Something so satisfying about bangshifting the 2-3 while you’re sideways.
Having had a 2wd truck (open diff) in the winter, you’d best have good (ideally) winter tires on it for those times you actually want to go forwards.
But, agree, on being able to use the clutch to give another control lever.
I mean, I’ve spent the last 20 Canadian winters exclusively in RWD vehicles, trucks included.
If my best friend, all 5ft 95lbs of her, was able to drive her 2WD open diff stick shift Ranger up to every ski hill in Eastern Canada and daily the truck for 5 winters without issue, I’m sure others can manage. She was not a car enthusiast, just very outdoorsy, so she drove that green POS everywhere she could fit it.
Sounds like some people need a driver mod.
I *can* take road trip vacations in a Dodge Viper, it’s just not the most suited for the task.
Similarly, I have also driven 2wd in the winter, and while I’m sure I *can* manage, it’s a needless tradeoff with no real upside.
Slideways is the best ways. I still miss my genesis coupe, specifically because of winter. I’d roll a miata or similar as a winter beater in a heartbeat.
My thoughts exactly!
I would love a truck/SUV in this color!