New truck shopping

The aluminum ones will have a lot harder time rusting. I know, they still can corrode, but Ram/ fca/Chrysler have been pretty prone to rusting wiser than the other brands.

There's no doubt that none of the pickups are painted as well as Audi's. That's a shame really.

 

Lots of stuff was rusting under my truck. Strangely, the brake lines were still great. The fuel line was terrible and ready to leak any day now. Just goes to show, sometimes it's a crap shoot.

 

It is a shame when a vehicle rusts up and still had a lot of life left in it. GM had problems with brakes lines on the previous generation trucks than what you had. The newer trucks have coated brake line that holds up well. Coated lines are available for the older trucks from the dealer. They still use the same old trans cooler, fuel, and power steering lines that rust on the new trucks.

 

probably because they were forced to recall and replace them on the earlier models.

 

I went to a boat/sport/travel/hunting show yesterday and they had a bunch of new Fords in there. One of the 150's stickered for $67K and a 250 was $78K. Holy.

 

as long as people keep buying them the manufacturers will keep jacking the price...
(about $1000 per year)

 

and they'll continue to build them cheaper. (more profit margin)

 

My neighbor has a performance diesel shop and the other day he told me that are starting to see the aluminum bodies mounting points failing from electrolysis. Corrosion of where steel touches aluminum.
everything has good and bad points.

 

I always hated A/T period.
Best trans in trucks was the old 4 speed with the granny gear.
A 5 speed with a granny gear and O.D. would be OK too.

Manuals are better for getting unstruck, better on the brakes and it gives you the ability to kick start if needed.
We could argue about gas mileage, always used to be better than a A/T but now with 10 speed auto's?
No doubt a manual trans would be cheaper than a some of the high tech auto trans.

First vehicle I drove was a Ford F100 with a straight 6 and 3 on the tree, gives you an idea how old I am.
To me trucks are a poor choice for a daily driver.
Worst handling, worst gas mileage, bad braking, nothing good to say about them except being able to haul or pull something.
Which most trucks don't do any more.

I used to have to haul my garbage to a town dump.
Alot of the guys driving trucks tow a small trailer around for the garbage.
Don't want get their trucks dirty.
Or its too hard to get stuff out of the back cause they sit so high,
Or they have a cap on the back that makes it a PIA get the stuff out.
Then why own a truck, they suck for a daily driver.
Alot would be better off with something else than a truck.
But most are concerned about their "mancard".
If you think that what you drive some how reflects your masculinity it too late for you.

I know there afew out there that actually need and use a truck, probably 20%.

I'm working on my wife, when my car goes and I need a new vehicle I want her minivan.
Much better vehicle than a truck. I can get the occasional 4 x 8 sheet of plywood INSIDE it.
I have carried 2 x 12 x 10's and 12' trim pcs INSIDE it.
It can carry 7 adults very comfortably, gets 20-25 mpg ALL the time and with
good winter tires it'll better for winter driving than 80% of the trucks out there.
I've owned probably 1/2 dozen trucks in my lifetime, some for work only and some for everything else.
Believe me there are better vehicles out there.

Just my .02, rant over.

 

But, But, But,

 

My company van was getting serviced at the local Dodge dealership last week. I was walking around looking at the trucks and there was one for $75k. I have said it before, if anything happens to my diesel truck I will end up with a used gasser. 6.2 or 7.3 Superduty. $75k for a truck is crazy. People buy houses for less.

 

The issue with minivans is that they can't have the people in the vehicle AND tow the boat /trailer at the same time.

Also most minivans are fwd only, and even still they have low ground clearance. That can create an issue and get you stuck.

Yes too many people are not using they're trucks to anywhere near their capability. It's especially over the top when they have a heavy duty truck when they really can get away with a crossover.

Automatic vs stick, that's all due to mpg. However even a few years ago you could only buy 1 brand new ferarri with a manual transmission. That's because it's nearly all cases, and all cases of modern automatics, the auto is faster, and performs better.

 

Did you know 80% of statistics are made up on the spot?

 

I heard that 60% of the time, people believe it every time.

 

there's a reason you cant buy a hd truck in 2019 with a manual transmission

In the last few years the manual hd diesels have been derated. With Dodge/Ram 2007-later Hd's, the H.O. high output engines were ONLY available in automatic.


Modern 6-8 speed autos often get the same fuel mileage (or better) as the manual without the loss of exceleration/power between gears. This is really noticeable in the turbo diesels because of turbo lag!

 

My whole point is if you get rid of the extremes, which are the minority of cases, the minivan is a better vehicle.
In another words for 80% of the people a minivan is a better fit than a truck.
How many people who own a truck carry 7 adults and a boat/trailer? Can you even fit 7 adults comfortably in a truck?
I think of all the people I know that own trucks and easily 90% of them don't need a truck.
The vast majority don't pull a trailer or don't put anything over 500lbs in the box.

FWD is abetter all around drive setup than 4wd or rwd. Its cheaper to build/buy/maintain, its lighter which equates to better gas mileage and gives very good traction.
For winter driving fwd with the right tires is more than good enough.
What matters is the tires more than anything else. 4wd adds nothing when you hit the brakes, but the right kind of tires add alot even on ice.
All season vs winter tires are big difference. Ground clearance is minor concern in winter driving. Traction is much more important.
I'll take a minivan with fwd and the right tires over a 4wd pickup with the mediocre tires that are most of them use any day.

The reason you can't get a manual in most vehicles in the US is Americans are lazy. nothing to do being faster. Lot of vehicles available out the US with manuals.

 

ummm...this isn't the you don't need a truck thread! that topic has been discussed here https://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/the-car-hoarding-thread.25696/:rofl

 

if "we" only bought what we needed we would only have 1 car each, a 1000 ft/sq ranch home on 1/4 acre. We would work 8 hours a day 5 days a week and be comfortable.

Better yet imagine if we only bought what we could AFFORD we would all be debt free.

 

Clearly the right answer is potato...

 

The old 3 and 4 speed autos were not very good. Things have changed. GM really changed things the Allison transmission. It holds back very even at a low speed and will downshift to help hold back. The Fords in towhaul will downshift if they pick up too much speed or you tap the brakes. I have the trans in my 07 F-250 setup for the torque converter to stay locked up under decel. I also have the "jake brake" turned on in my tuner. It used the veins in the variable geometry turbo to help hold back. I have to stay on the throttle lightly going down all the hills around here. I got behind a GM with the durmax and he had to use his brakes going down the hill and I didn't. I was surprised my truck held back better than what the allison trans would. Then in tow haul mode it also shuts the injectors off under decel to help hold back. It holds back better than what a big block with a 4 speed would.