Battle of the Half-Tons [REVIEW POSTED]

[jdripke]

15th - RAI Ponderosa x1 - 6.0L V8 - "1st Gear 4EVA!" - 49.98%

Not last!

[VicVictory]

April 1978

Titans of the Half-Ton World
The Cold War Creates Hot Competition

Short bed. Long bed. Six or eight cylinders. Extended cabs, jump seats, and cargo tie downs. Options abound when it comes to trucks. Every flavor and style of workhorse is represented when one travels the world. Granted, in a lot of areas of Europe and Asia, these vehicles run from cutesy to chintzy, and don’t offer quite the level of payload or towing performance that buyers at home in the States expect. But there are still a few surprises out there.

Take, for instance, the half-ton. A staple of farmers, construction workers, and adventurers of all stripes, they dot the landscape from the country to the city. Many owners have a die-hard loyalty to one brand over another. They may swear by what their fathers or grandfathers used before them. So then, would it surprise our readers to know that those who salute the stars and stripes share a common bond with those who hail the hammer and sickle?

It turns out we were. Our eyes were opened when we traveled the world, searching for the best half-ton trucks to match our own.

It seems that in our zeal to defend our driveways from an invasion from Japan, we completely ignored our so-called Soviet rivals. After all, they couldn’t possibly build a truck as strong or durable as the country that invented the tailgate just so they could go tailgating right?

Buckle up for a ride, then. We’ll be comparing the top four trucks in the world, based on overall design. And what you’ll find in these pages might shock you just as much as it did us; it’s dead split between the USA and the USSR.

Just for fun, we’ll present them in alphabetical order by manufacturer.

Bogliq Haulage

bogliq1.jpg (72.67 KiB) Viewed 4383 times

The first of our trucks hails from Chișinău, Moldova. Where, you ask? Our editor had to look it up on the map. Moldova is a tiny landlocked Soviet republic, right on the border of Romania. And Bogliq was a manufacturer we had never heard of until our third day on the ground in Moscow.

That’s because, by the Soviet’s standards, this truck is a decadent symbol of Western excess. That alone piqued our curiosity, and we had to hunt down a new Haulage to test.

Decadent indeed. The Bogliq Haulage comes loaded with features that are rare to nonexistent in American trucks. Most notably, it is the only model in this test to come with fuel injection, mechanically primed and feeding its 24-valve, all-aluminum 5.7 liter V8 via a unique performance intake. It’s good for 243 horsepower at the flywheel. Bogliq also includes power steering, and is the only model in the Soviet Union that we found with 4-wheel anti-lock disc brakes. It even comes with a rather nice 8-track player (imported from Germany) for those owners who like to listen to Vysotsky, or even smuggle in contraband such as Springsteen or Marvin Gaye. Furthering the image of inefficiency and waste, Bogliq put in bucket seats and a floor shifter for its 5-speed manual gearbox.

The resulting package is quite impressive. The Haulage can get up to 62 MPH (100 km/h, it’s how they measure things over there) in 11 seconds flat. Fuel economy isn’t fantastic, coming in at 13.1 MPG. Technically the Reds have its towing capability and payload rated at the equivalent of our three-quarter-ton, but our more practical standards have it in the half-ton range. Thus the Haulage could easily be considered a “heavy half.”

Desert Mountains Automotive HT78B

dma1.jpg (74.06 KiB) Viewed 4383 times

Next up is a homegrown thoroughbred from Desert Mountains Automotive in tiny Socorro, New Mexico. The DMA78B is everything you expect from a mainstream Red, White, and Blue manufacturer. Just enough perks to keep you comfortable, and none of the nonsense that comes with a high-end manufacturer. After all, this is a truck, not a luxury car.

That’s not to say that the DMA isn’t unique in its own right. It has a coarse, rowdy 4 cylinder under the hood that displaces an insane 5.1 liters and puts out 205 horses. Not a misprint. If you were to take the head off this truck, a toddler might accidentally fall into a cylinder and get trapped. Don’t mistake its demeanor for lack of refinement, however. The DMA’s motor has tolerances that would make the Japanese jealous, and it is more than a decade ahead of California emissions standards for passenger cars. It is also the quietest of the trucks. Not a consideration for most owners, but those in the suburbs with cranky neighbors might appreciate the consideration.

On the flip side, unlike most 4-cylinder motors, this beast will only net you 12.9 miles to the gallon. Still, it manages 10.1 seconds to 62 MPH in a straight line, and has a manual locking rear end for tough off-road situations.

Other than that, the DMA features a bench seat with cloth seating surfaces, a five-speed manual, and an AM/FM/8-track player for those longer hauls. Speaking of hauling, it does quite well in that category, despite “only” four cylinders. We got to tool around the Sierras while pulling an Airstream. Not too bad of a feeling, other than a decided rumbling up front when downshifting.

[VicVictory]

GSI Homesteader

gsi1.jpg (70.85 KiB) Viewed 4382 times

Then we have the DMA’s fiercest competition at home, in the form of the GSI Homesteader. Proudly manufactured in Los Angeles, this beast could only be described as the sports car—or rather truck—of the group.

Its blazing 7.3 second jaunt to 62 is thanks to its 7.6 liter all-aluminum, directly actuated overhead cam V8 engine. With 267 horses and impressive 4-wheel disc brakes, the GSI also achieves a “heavy half” status.

Similar to the DMA, GSI’s Homesteader features a manual locking differential for offroad situations, and the same seating capacity and very similar interior packaging, with seating for 3, power steering, and an 8-track player. It’s a little louder inside because of the bawdy V8, but to my knowledge that has never deterred a single buyer.

What might have is the GSI’s road manners. It’s a bit squirrely, and of the whole bunch it is markedly the most unrefined cruising down the road. Offroad is a different matter, however, as is going through corners. One doesn’t expect a truck to handle particularly well. And if you were to stack it against, say, a BAM 3900GT, you’d be right. However, in-class it is clearly the best.

The Homesteader is also easy on the pocketbook, at least initially. At 14.1 MPG it’s not the best in class as far as economy, but good enough to be given overall consideration.

Romanov Galik

romanov1.jpg (66.77 KiB) Viewed 4382 times

Our other competitor from the Russians is built in Leningrad by Romanov, which is a house name over there. And it is the opposite of their countrymen’s contribution in every way. Where the Bogliq is decadent, smooth, and comfortable, the Romanov Galik is Spartan, coarse, and cramped.

Yet it still makes the top-four list. In the world. No small achievement, but it is earned nonetheless.

It is also very efficient, something that must be highly prized in Mother Russia. Coming in at 20.6 MPG, the Galik far and away makes the best use of what is put into its tank. While Romanov thought to put power steering in to assist with maneuvering of the heavy truck, it is devoid of most other features. No tachometer. No wall-to-wall carpeting. No radio of any kind, because that is only for us capitalist dogs.

High fuel efficiency, uncomfortable, and no frills. Not exactly the kind of thing that you would think makes it one of the best trucks in the world. Yet it is, and for many reasons.

First off, it is hands down the least expensive half ton on the planet. No exceptions. Second, it is also one of the least expensive to maintain, second only to the Ardent A100, which didn’t make the cut for this list. Third, of course is the aforementioned fuel economy. Add on to that a standard viscous limited-slip differential and uncanny reliability, and the pieces of the package begin to fall together.

Its 2.3 liter 24V straight-6 mill has the least power at 113 HP, and is the slowest of the bunch to the 62 MPH mark, at 14.6 seconds. But that doesn’t matter; its half-ton rating is verified against our testing system. It may not haul your utility trailer up hills with zeal, but it will haul it. And stop sufficiently when you’re done.

So what does all of that mean? How do they stack up against each other? With two Soviet models on opposite ends of the spectrum and two American models seemingly so close to each other, how can a winner be chosen? It boils down to a lot of complicated math. We won’t bore you with that, so we’ll give you impressions of their performance in several categories, and sort them all out at the end.

[VicVictory]

The Tests

On The Inside

For some, their truck is a tool, and anything beyond the basics is just a waste. For others, options and features are scrutinized, as they provide entertainment and comfort for a long journey. It’s no surprise, then, that there is an equal range of taste represented in these four trucks.

There is no doubt that the Romanov Galik caters to those who like things simple. After all, the Soviets take issue with excess even more than a Depression-era farmer. Inside, this shows quite plainly. You get a steering wheel, three pedals, two door handles, and two window cranks. Romanov did install something that vaguely resembles a glove box, though it is hardly useful for anything more than papers. Its bench seat is slathered in drab gray vinyl, but there is enough hip room for three, albeit barely. Don’t bother complaining about the carpets matching, either. It doesn’t come with them. Just a pair of heavy duty rubber floor mats. And forget about tuning in to your local news. No radio, because that would add weight and decadence, comrade.

So how, then, is its Communist brother, the Bogliq, so wildly different? As we mentioned before, the Haulage has bucket seats, a center console, and a tachometer, all unique in this test. The floor is carpeted, and a nice Rotenfalken stereo pipes out tunes for the passengers. The seating surfaces are actually corduroy cloth, though the backs and sides are vinyl, an expected cost cutting measure. A few small cubbies are found throughout the cabin, and the center console holds almost as much as the glove box. As it turns out, the answer to the Bogliq riddle comes in the initial design phase. It was intended for export to European markets, as well as South Africa, though never actually ended up making it out of the Communist Bloc.

On to the American contenders, we see two interiors that are near twins. So much so that, other than interior color scheme, we had a hard time distinguishing the two. Adequate room and seat belts for three, though the center position can get rather uncomfortable with the floor-shift manual transmission versions of either model. Seating surfaces on both are comfortable, but the materials seemed just a bit thicker and better put together on the DMA than the GSI. That also carried over into fit and finish on the dashboard, which lets the HT78B just barely edge out the Homesteader in this category.

Winner: Bogliq Haulage. You may be sacrificing the ability to carry an extra passenger, but it gives plenty of room to for both the driver and passenger, and its stereo was absolutely top-notch.
Loser: Romanov Galik. After twenty years of hard use, it’s probably going to be the only one that still has its original bits in working condition. But it was just a bit too cramped, and we like our stereos too much to give them up altogether.

Nuts and Bolts

At the heart of every machine lies the soul of the engineer who designed it. Countless hours of design, testing, and redesign are poured into every part of a truck. Here’s a breakdown of what was offered to us.

Desert Mountains Automotive wants to make it clear from the get-go that they are serious about offroad capability. Even the rear-wheel drive HT78B comes with a manual locking rear end and wide, tough M+S rated tires. Its 5-speed transmission is clearly overbuilt, as is the clutch. Its engine is very unique in this category, being a 5.1 liter inline-4, with dual cams and 4 valves per cylinder. It is the heaviest 4-cylinder we have seen yet; its cast iron block has extra webbing for strength, and the head also comes with dual siamesed cooling passages. That’s right, folks. Twice the usual passages per cylinder. Nuts, right? It’s all in the name of giving the 205HP mill adequate cooling and higher reliability. It works, too. Extended bench testing projects DMA’s motor to be the longest lasting of the bunch.

Similarly, GSI equips its entry with a manual locker, 5-speed, and durable tires. Its transmission is up to the task, but not quite as burly as the DMA’s. GSI decided to go “light” under the hood, with an all-aluminum 7.6 liter, 16 valve direct overhead cam V8. Though more powerful than the other American offering at 267 horses, the GSI falls a bit short on reliability. This may be due to material choice or a lack of engineering detail on the level of DMA. Projected reliability is good, but not stellar.

Showing their differing taste from the West, both of the Soviet trucks come with viscous limited-slip differentials. Like the Americans, however, both gearboxes are 5-speed manuals driving the rear wheels. But that’s where the Reds’ similarities end.

Romanov puts a tiny, all-iron straight-6 under the hood. One cam drives all 24 valves in this 2.3L abomination. And we say abomination in the most loving way. For such a small engine to perform tried-and-true half ton work is absolutely incredible, especially with only 115 horsepower. It’s also sublimely smooth. But it’s so slow and wheezy, and that’s hard to get over.

By contrast, the Bogliq is a thoroughly modern engine. It is the only fuel injected one of the group, and the injection system is fed through a special high-performance intake system. The 243HP 24v 5.7L all-aluminum V8 is also the most raucous of the engines, and noise intrusion into the cabin is pretty significant at cruising speed. It’s been hard to piece together reliability data since the Haulage is a little bit of a rare beast, but it seems reasonable.

Winner: DMA HT78B. While it may have some vibration at high speed and fairly noticeable inertial rocking at idle, this 4-banger is an absolute marvel of power and engineering.
Loser: GSI Homesteader. This was a tough one, to call, but in the end the Romanov’s smoothness and reliability advantages edged out the GSI’s performance and offroad capability.

Road Manners

No one has ever accused a pickup truck of being a cushy road queen. It’s just not fitting. But that doesn’t mean that it should randomly wander off the road at a moment’s inattention, or be dangerous to throttle up or apply the brakes. Particularly when towing a trailer. These four have some very different attitudes on the road.

GSI’s Homesteader is pretty clearly the worst of the bunch as far as behavior on-road. It bounces over significant bumps at high speed, and bangs pretty loudly when it hits potholes at all but the lowest speeds. It also has a very wide turning radius. We figure that this is a combination of multiple factors, including box length, off-road suspension tuning, and oversized, over-sensitive brakes. For what it’s worth, though not the focus of this test, the Homesteader is superb off-road, even in rear-wheel drive configuration.

The middle of the pack is an absolute dead heat between the Romanov Galik and the DMA HT78B. The Romanov’s brakes are the worst out of the group, but that’s balanced out by the DMA’s rough, off-road tuned ride. Still, both are significantly easier to control than the Homesteader.

But head and shoulders above the rest stands the Bogliq Haulage. Control of this behemoth is actually pretty easy, suspension tuning that’s not overly harsh or sloppy, and well-balanced, antilock brakes. Yet another gadget that Bogliq decided to put on this technological gem.

Winner: Bogliq Haulage. The smoothest ride of the group, one of the best turning circles, and a phenomenal ABS system that wouldn’t be out of place on a luxury car.
Loser: GSI Homesteader. Rough and tumble may be great on the farm or on the trail, but on civilized roads it is a bit of a barbarian.

Safety

Preparing for a crash is something that most people don’t think of, often not even when they are considering a car purchase. It’s a shame, because researching safety is quite important in our opinion. While we certainly home none of our readers ever have to test the safety systems of their vehicles, we do want you to be armed with the knowledge of how vehicles compare in this category.

Recent industry crash tests indicate that there’s not a whole lot of difference between the two American offerings in this category. The list of safety equipment, such as outboard 3-point belts, energy absorbing steering columns, and 5MPH bumpers, is exactly identical between the DMA and GSI offerings. There was a slightly lower chance of injury to the crash dummy on the DMA HT78B, but both models grabbed reasonable marks.

We weren’t able to determine whether or not the Soviet government conducts any sort of crash tests. We certainly weren’t able to obtain any official results. We were, however able to get our hands on pictures and reports of accidents from both models that the Communists offer. Once again, the two models couldn’t be more different.

Bogliq, being the technological marvel that it is, extends the list of safety features to include side intrusion beams in the doors and a driver’s side air bag. Seriously. An air bag. The parts list on the Haulage sometimes looks like it was ripped directly from a European luxury sedan and slapped on a truck body. The couple of crashes we could find showed pretty bad damage, but relatively minor injuries.

The Romanov, on the other hand, is a death trap by Western standards. It’s only been within the last couple years that the lap belts were upgraded from airplane-style belts to metal-on-metal buckles. Tempered safety glass is also relatively new. Its bumpers are mostly for show, and the cabin generally less padded and more lethal than any of the others.

Winner: Bogliq Haulage. Air bag. Enough said.
Loser: Romanov Galik. It was pretty easy to find evidence of the trail of carnage left behind in the wake of this model. Granted, American trucks lag behind passenger cars as far as safety, but the Romanov actually scared us a little bit.

Down To Business

But what is it that pickup buyers are really looking for? Grunt. Versatility. Hauling a load of dirt or scrap metal. Towing a trailer. Climbing a rutted forest road. This is the true measure of worth for trucks.

It should be self-evident from what has already been written that the Romanov Galik draws the short end of the stick when it comes to competency as a work truck. Yes, it achieves true half-ton ratings, but only barely. Its motor is pretty underpowered for the application, and its brakes are marginal at best when fully loaded. Trailer sway isn’t bad, but only because you can’t get the thing going fast enough for it to matter.

The DMA is far more competent, “despite” its 4-cylinder motor that happens to displace more than twice the Romanov’s six. Performance is more than adequate in a straight line, braking is fair, though trailer sway can get a bit concerning on rutted roads. A brake controller and electric brakes are highly recommended for towing applications on this model.

This leaves the GSI and the Bogliq vying for the top spot. Both have incredibly high ratings, bordering just on the low end of the three-quarter ton category. The Homesteader actually has both higher tow and payload ratings, but the Bogliq is better mannered, even under heavy load.

Winner: GSI Homesteader. Let’s face it, if you’re a pro who hauls tools, trailers, and cargo all over the place, chances are the GSI’s rougher on-road demeanor is not a huge deal to you. The ability to handle extreme cargo is.
Loser: Romanov Galik. Barely making it to the half-ton mark, it is clearly at the bottom of the group in this category.

Cost To Own

With the rise and fall of the Oil Crisis, there is a new focus in the auto industry on economy. It’s something that has been on the minds of Europeans for decades, and even traditional pickup buyers have been forced to think—even just a little—about the sting we all received just a few short years ago. And of course, there’s insurance and maintenance to consider, and the up-front cost to purchase.

And this is the category that the Romanov absolutely runs away with. It is cheap. Cheap to own, cheap to fix should it break—which we would like to point out is almost never—and cheap to fuel. It tops all contenders with over 20 MPG, costs less than $1100 in maintenance, and is about 20 percent cheaper to buy than its nearest competition, exchange rate compensated. Does it look and feel cheap? Absolutely. Because it is.

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum is the other Soviet entry. The Bogliq is the single most expensive to buy and maintain, though not to fuel. In fact, both acquisition and maintenance costs are both about twice those of the Galik. Also, the Bogliq is the worst of the bunch as far as reliability. While it’s not bad per se, it’s definitely not great.

DMA’s entry is also a spendy purchase, as might be expected from a smaller manufacturer with such an intricately engineered motor. It also scores the lowest marks for fuel consumption, only garnering 12.8 miles from a gallon. But it is reasonably inexpensive and easy to maintain, and has the advantage of bulletproof reliability.

The GSI Homesteader is significantly less expensive to buy than either of the previous competitors, and marginally more than the Galik. Its expected 5-year maintenance costs are almost identical to the DMA’s, but it uses a little less fuel. Reliability is the lowest of the three carbureted models, so that might cause owners a little consternation.

Winner: Romanov Galik. This wasn’t even close. If you live somewhere that you can get one, and cost is your driving factor, this is your only choice.
Loser: Bogliq Haulage. It could have beaten out one of the American entries if it were a bit more reliable and even just a hair less costly. Its reasonable fuel economy couldn’t save it from this fate.

Overall

We’ve laid out our findings for each model. All that’s left is to let the dust settle from our own little Cold War, and dole out the final rankings.

Fourth: Bogliq Haulage. This beast is a technological marvel, with more creature comforts than any of the others. It’s also very much a workhorse. Its main drawbacks are its awfully high price, coupled with insane service costs, and mediocre reliability. This is, pure and simple, a luxury truck. And that’s not something that seems to draw a huge market. That’s a shame, because it’s so good overall.

Third: GSI Homesteader. For the most part, the Homesteader is the most balanced of all the competitors. Reasonable cost, decent fuel economy and reliability, and top-of-class payload and towing abilities. It’s really sad that such a great truck fell this far in the rankings, but it should also serve as a warning that American manufacturers aren’t infallible when it comes to trucks.

Second: Romanov Galik. Can the Galik do the work of a half-ton truck? Yes. Absolutely everything else is gravy, be it low costs, high fuel economy, ease of handling, and sensibility. Yes, it’s cramped and ugly on the inside, and there’s no radio for entertainment. But we have to admit, it will do exactly what it was designed to do, and keep doing it for many years to come.

First: DMA HT78B. Yes, the DMA is the second most expensive to purchase. But it is absolutely reliable, and not a huge drain on the pocketbook as time goes on. Plus its competency as a workhorse goes well beyond the bare minimum. So crank down the window and crank up the Springsteen, baby, because the winner was Born in the USA.

[NormanVauxhall]

Very nice comparison at the end. It's a very interesting format to do. I will look forward for something similar in the future to participate.

[z2bbgr]

14th - SBA Archa Super Hauler - 10.9L V8 - "Over 10 Liters of Tire Burning Fury" - 50.53%
Highest Utility: SBA (Yes, its number was so high I'd consider this one a 3/4 ton, too... maybe even a 1-ton.)

I like this name, I've laughed so hard.

[oppositelock]

Thanks for the extensive review. The goal of the the GSI engineering team was indeed to create the "sports car of pickups", and in that aspect they succeeded 100% despite the bemoaning of the marketing department and the befuddlement of the customer base. Due to widespread complaints about the ride quality, however, the engineers responsible have been locked in a rat infested steel cage with slide rules and will not be allowed to leave until the 1979 Homesteader exceeds the class benchmarks for passenger comfort.

[SeriousSimon]

On behalf of Romanov Avtomobili, I would like to declare my sincere thanks for this review. We are proud and surprised about making it this far. We promise adding the option of an 8 track cassette player in the near future.
Also, we would like to encourage interested buyers from Europe to wait for another year. We are negotiating the possibility of having another 45,000 Galik build in our befriended Czechoslovakian factory.
For our comrades, we have a specialized offer where you can bring your old Lada and exchange it for a brand new Galik for an additional 12,000 Ruble. Only requirement is you must be member of a collective farm and be patient. Estimated delivery time for your Romanov Galik: four and a half years.

Spasibo.

(Translated into English by Olga)

[HighOctaneLove]

4th, I'm happy with that To tell the truth, I'm just glad that I made it to the final stage!

Looking forward to entering more competitions like this in the future!!! (Who am I kidding? I'll enter ANYTHING!!! )

[Zabhawkin]

When your slogging a load up and down mountain roads in 100+F you betcha we paid extra attention to cooling.

And when it can easily be 30 miles or more to the nearest building reliability may not be just your livelihood, but your life having a truck that can get
you there and back can be worth its weight in gold.

It was an interesting competition, I like the way you set it up and finished it off.

I chose the I4 mostly because of the numbers of I6 and V8 submissions and had at the time I was finishing up no I4's, so I made a monster of a 4.