Mid-Sized truck for College
 

I have a 03 Gmc Envoy I'm currently driving and getting 16 mpg driving at 55 mph or less. (The vehicle is paid for already)
The Colleges I'm looking at is cross state and was wanting to switch to a Mid sized truck(used) that has good fuel economy and good Towing (I have 3.42 gear ratio, I want somewhere between that and 4.10 gears). I maintain my own vehicle so I want something with readily available parts and is not a pain in the ass to fix or pay for parts.

I was thinking Ford Ranger or Toyota Tacoma (beggers can't be choosers; had bad experience with toyotas in the past: no offense)
I don't want a crew cab, I would prefer extened or Regular cab so the nissain frontier is unlikly and the Honda Ridgeline are too expensive.
I am wanting to alter this vehicle a little too(brushguard, front mount hitch).

So what is your guys oppion and why. Or would you suggest I just stay with what I got and deal with it??

CAUTION YOU ARE NOW ENTERING A NON-POLITICALY CORRECT ZONE: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED:confused:

Okay Let me rephrase this. What do you guys think would be a good Midsized truck for someone going to college who wants Towing capacity and fuel economy or would I be better off just keeping my old ride and running it till it is dead??:confused:

I'm looking for a truck also, Tacoma is good! Generally, a mistake at an automobile factory means something is about to explode. However, it sometimes is in the car-buying public's favor. For instance, GM went a bit overboard on truck production and as a result of making too many, there are several good deals accessible for

manual
 

I know manuals the way to go but I will be going to either Philadelphia or Cleveland so I don't know if i should go full-sized truck or mid-sized truck. So what are your suggestions and I know about gear ratio's and stuff makes a difference?

I have a GMC Sierra 1500HD with the 5.3 V8 in it. I get about 21 MPG out of it. I have to say, I love it. For what the truck will pull, the gas mileage is way worth it, and it actully does really well off road for being all stock. Its the only truck that I have ever had that i have never gotten stuck.