Posted on 05/13/2012 8:41:05 AM PDT by waterhill
ahhh, international. Love me some international loadstars. Last friday I was wishing I had one. I had to move a 3 axle trailer that had been sitting for 12 years loaded with 25,000lbs. Wheels sunk into the ground. brakes rusty and stuck. Nothing I hitched up to it could budge it. I set two old lincoln pipliners on the back of a one ton chevy for traction, hitched it up...nothing. Then did the same with a Ford. Nothing.
those old loadstars where the bomb!
I had a 2009 totally tricked out Ford F250...masons black...stiched black hides....very very nice
45,000 dollar truck
it got 12 miles to the gallon with a performance chip...the red one?
add a couple of mpg for hwy...horrible mileage
at 25,000 miles it burned out this weird diesel pollution filter down by the cat..
3500 dollars to repair and install and you could only get it then from the dealer
lousy mileage...lousy performance...slowest truck I ever had even with chip and headers etc...i’m serious...slower than my stock 04 dodge megacab after all that and nearly half the mileage and for someone like me who drives 60,000-75,000 per year that is a lot of money
Fords do look good though and are macho styled and good ride ...great trim pkgs
and the old 7.3 was a hoss ...no doubt and reliable if thirsty
but a Cummins is what it is...the best and my Dodges unlike what some here claim have not fallen apart
I’m driving a gas 2007 6 cylinder crew cab now...reliable as a mule...just routine stuff...180k
Dodges are firmer ride...better off road I think...and not as many bells and whistles as Ford or the GMCs...GMC is like a Town Car truck...plush essentially and great hwy ride...fathered my now 5 year old in a 2003 GMC3500 that was like driving a fine leather couch
but for me...I will never own any other truck but Dodge
or...yes....I admit it...a Yota....we have company 4 cylinder Tundras and they are cheap and extremely reliable little workhorses with great gas mileage
“I want to buy the last truck I will ever need.” “I am 41”
That’s rather naive. Name a single truck that is still running 40 years later that isn’t a rebuilt classic. Extremely few. Wow, you are just sooooooo old. *sarcarsm*
If you really want a pickup that will outlast you, find yourself an good condition 1970 ford F250 2wd with a 300six and a stickshift. If they don’t rust, they don’t die. Ever.
Uh, Laz, this isn't a "hitting it" thread.
*snicker*
Ford Has My Vote:
Bot a 1997 Ford Ranger w/ 187,000 miles for $3000 9 years ago. Just routine maintenance and no problems. Now has 225,000.
I’ve heard that the sulfur provided some lubricity and the lack thereof has caused problems in the widely-used Bosch high pressure fuel pumps. This is happening in the passenger car arena as well.
Hubby has a 2004 Ford F-250 Turbo Diesel Super Duty, Extended Cab, pickup with a tonneau cover on the bed, and LOVES it. It is a very comfortable truck for long trips. We have the ‘Lariat’ interior package, which has leather seats, fanny warmers and electric controls on both front seats, and most important for me, LUMBAR support on both front seats. He calls it his F-250 Global Warmer with the middle-finger option. ;o)
Laz, did you hit-—sorry, I mean do you, um, know this fine lady?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXy0tZ5eCG4
LOL! I just told my wife about this thread, and your response.
When she starts a conversation with “I want a ______”, I often respond with “I want a pony!”
She gave me a sheepish look and I exclaimed back “See, I’m not the only one!”
I’ve been thinking about the natural gas idea myself for several years now. you would still need a gasoline vehicle for long trips though.
My idea was to put a storage tank in the back yard behind the garage with a compressor in the garage. I would refil my car from the storage tank and it would not take long.
THe compressed CNG tank is a bomb with enough explosive power to probably level you house. You will want to get a high pressure tank and by all means bury it.
I’m not a fan of rear disk brakes on a truck. I’m also not a fan of independent suspension on a truck. I like straight six motors and stickshift transmissions and two wheel drive with limited slip. I like motors with lots of torque at low RPMs and fewest cylinders, valves, and cams as possible. If someone would build a massive 4 cylinder for a half ton truck I would go for that. like say a 4.5 liter turbo 4 banger with pushrods and 2 valves per cylinder...peak torque at 2000RPM and a six speed stickshift.
>>Plugging in is mandatory for the diesel along with synthetic oil.
Do you use the Shell Rotella T6? I know a bunch of guys who use that in high performance Euro car engines. Sure beats buying M1 0W40 Euro car formula, or the equivalent Castrol product. Wal-Mart carries the gallon jugs of the T6, not of the 0W40, at least around here.
yeah so? every CNG car driving around is a bomb on 4 wheels.
Pretty much. The tanks are thick walled and pretty tough. It still is a bomb.
Ask a question and get a book
I could understand if you drive maybe 100 miles per year. Such a vehicle, if properly garaged and cared for, can last 40 years.
However, by your own admission, you are driving a lot. Sure, you can buy a vehicle that will last 4 million miles and 40 years, but it will cost far more than several different vehicles, all bought new, that last only 400K miles and are driven for 4 years each. The cost of a super-reliable truck rises exponentially, not linearly. But the cost of a number of disposable vehicles rises linearly. Since no vehicle in existence can last 40 years without maintenance, you need to include cost of that maintenance into calculations. You may need to buy spare parts because they will be out of production within ten or twenty years. This won't be cheap.
There are also other problems with buying a vehicle "for the rest of your life." There is always a possibility of a major problem that is not worth fixing. Something expensive fails; someone hits your vehicle, or you do it. Flood, fire, lightning, bad tires, bad fuel, bad road, corrosion - there are millions of reasons why a perfectly good car may become not so perfectly good. Cars are outdoors animals, they live in a hostile environment. Overpaying for "your precious" does not make much sense. Owning workhorses, one after another, is more practical.
Finally, do you want to drive a 30-40 years old, beaten up truck when you are older and hopefully more wealthy? Chances are that you will dump the vehicle as soon as you can get a better one. In 30 years I expect all vehicles on the road to be driving themselves. Your truck may be not even street legal anymore, not without a very expensive upgrade. (If your truck didn't come with servos for steering and brakes then it will cost a fortune to put them in.) Maybe even hydrocarbon fuels will be illegal by then, and everyone will be driving on electric power made by a pocket-sized fusion reactor. You are talking about a distant future.
Hey screw you, I don’t know how old I am gonna be when I crap the bed. It could be tomorrow for all I know...
Naive my ass, screw you.
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