Truck - what do you drive, and why?

[flyfishdoc]

2024 Chevrolet 2500 HD Custom Crew Cab. Not Denali-nothing against that trim package but my friend who had one was constantly in the shop because all the electronic bells and whistles were always on the fritz. plus the leather vs my dogs claws-inevitable tears and rips. I added faux leather seat covers which are some sort of nuclear blast proof plastic polymer. added Weathertech floor mats for mud and cow manure. pull out and power wash then throw back i. plus I just don't need Denali trim- I am hauling livestock. This is my third one. got 250 k out of the previous ones. it is the gasoline version-hard to find. most are diesels but I didn't want the extra stuff that comes with diesels plus the costs associated. Purchased brand new from dealer in the mid 50s which was my price point. personally I am not paying over 60k for a work truck
my buddy has the Toyota- he cringes every time he has to go into shop for repairs as they rape his wallet. but they do run forever. Son had a Dodge Ram-always in the shop.
IDK fords-last one I owned was 1978.
YMMV

 

[yumastepside]

81' Range rover....because I always wanted one !!

 

[Franco]

Not exactly a truck - but I thought there might be a few who enjoy the pictures.

This is my 1953 Willys M38A1 (with a few mods), which I use for off-roading, as a course official on races like the California 300 and Mint 400, and as an off-road filming/camera platform.

These pictures were taken at the Mint 400 2023. The top picture shows two cameramen taking their positions at the line up for the parade. I thought it appropriate to include the billboard.

In addition to the cameramen on top, there will be one inside shooting rearward, one in the right seat with safety straps to allow him to ride outside the vehicle, and several fixed cameras attached to mounting plates on the rear, side, and front of the vehicle.

The body is all that remains of the original vehicle - and it's the result of two bodies cut, sectioned and rejoined to add an additional 17".

The frame was custom formed with 2X4 square tube, the suspension is 4 link, long arm, with quadruple by-pass shocks front and rear - with 30" travel.

Power is supplied by a custom built 383 stroker race engine putting out 500HP. The transmission is a Con-Diesel SM420 out of a Gamma-Goat, and a custom Atlas transfer-case supplies power to custom built Dana 60 front and rear ends. The tires are 40", and there is an independent right/left side braking system, and dynamic balancers on each wheel.

There's no shortage of lights - front, rear, sides, and underside; and that pod on top is FLIR. There's a "night vision" screen I can use to drive through the dust on the race course and an "acquisition & track" function. It is also equipped with satellite navigation and communication.

It is an absolute beast and a thrill to drive.

 

[VertigoBE]

View attachment 586277
View attachment 586278
Not exactly a truck - but I thought there might be a few who enjoy the pictures.

This is my 1953 Willys M38A1 (with a few mods), which I use for off-roading, as a course official on races like the California 300 and Mint 400, and as an off-road filming/camera platform.

These pictures were taken at the Mint 400 2023. The top picture shows two cameramen taking their positions at the line up for the parade. I thought it appropriate to include the billboard.

In addition to the cameramen on top, there will be one inside shooting rearward, one in the right seat with safety straps to allow him to ride outside the vehicle, and several fixed cameras attached to mounting plates on the rear, side, and front of the vehicle.

The body is all that remains of the original vehicle - and it's the result of two bodies cut, sectioned and rejoined to add an additional 17".

The frame was custom formed with 2X4 square tube, the suspension is 4 link, long arm, with quadruple by-pass shocks front and rear - with 30" travel.

Power is supplied by a custom built 383 stroker race engine putting out 500HP. The transmission is a Con-Diesel SM420 out of a Gamma-Goat, and a custom Atlas transfer-case supplies power to custom built Dana 60 front and rear ends. The tires are 40", and there is an independent right/left side braking system, and dynamic balancers on each wheel.

There's no shortage of lights - front, rear, sides, and underside; and that pod on top is FLIR. There's a "night vision" screen I can use to drive through the dust on the race course and an "acquisition & track" function. It is also equipped with satellite navigation and communication.

It is an absolute beast and a thrill to drive.

What a machine!

Did you design this vehicle yourself? (being a course official I assume so)

What is that FLIR and acquisition/track function that you are mentioning?

And is satellite nav any different from a typical GPS?

 

[Rafiki]

Those new electrical trucks look nice.

 

[rnovi]

Those new electrical trucks look nice.

I can’t tell if you are trolling or not.

 

[Franco]

What a machine!

Did you design this vehicle yourself? (being a course official I assume so)

What is that FLIR and acquisition/track function that you are mentioning?

And is satellite nav any different from a typical GPS?

Thanks.

I took part in the build, but the majority was done by some very knowledgeable and talented folks.

FLIR stands for Forward Looking Infrared - basically thermal imaging or "night vision"

Satellite nav is GPS nav.

 

[VertigoBE]

Thanks.

I took part in the build, but the majority was done by some very knowledgeable and talented folks.

FLIR stands for Forward Looking Infrared - basically thermal imaging or "night vision"

Satellite nav is GPS nav.

All I can say is congratulations, sir. What a ride she must be.

 

[Rafiki]

I can’t tell if you are trolling or not.

"Trolling?" Nope just trying to point to the ridiculous; guess I missed the mark.

 

[cash_tx]

Congratulations @mdwest ! I will say she is definitely a looker, and hope you get many years of joy and good service from her.

PS - I'm sorry that it is raining around these parts on your first weekend with your new truck. Oh well...

 

[mdwest]

Congratulations @mdwest ! I will say she is definitely a looker, and hope you get many years of joy and good service from her.

PS - I'm sorry that it is raining around these parts on your first weekend with your new truck. Oh well...

Raining… as I drag a trailer and utv to waxahachie for a sporting clays tournament lol..

The good news is while this mornings drive really sucked… it was far more pleasurable than the last tournament I had to drag the UTV to with the old beater chevy..

 

[CoElkHunter]

I can accommodate!

View attachment 586048

Congrats!

 

[hoytcanon]

Dodge Ram... my last two F150's were lemons, had enough and switched to Dodge... so far, so good.

 

[Tucketed]

Loved my Ford Expeditions. Then moved into a few Chevy pickups. My sons all have Ford pickups give me grief but to be honest I love the Chevy step in the bumper corners. I never realized how many times I get into the bed and I really don’t want a fold out step. So come spring a new Chevy again.

 

[uplander01]

Obligatory tool box in back cuts down on payload space. The old saying comes to mind "An English car requires a driver who's either very handy or very rich."

LOL, I'm neither one. But this truck has done nothing but impress me so far.

 

[uplander01]

This graph can tell you a lot about dependability:



Mainly, to avoid Land Rovers and Ram's...






View attachment 586218

The fact that JEEP isn't at the bottom of this list negates its validity to me, I've literally had 5 times the amount of trouble with Jeeps as anything else I've ever driven, and I drive 35k miles a year for the last 25 years

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I'd be interested in knowing from this elite group of truck owners, their thoughts on a few maintenance issues. It seems whenever I take my truck into the dealer for something, they print out a long list of recommended maintenance items. I come from a generation of changing out spark plugs every year or so (due to leaded gas) and remember when mufflers only lasted 3-5 years. Stuff lasts a lot longer now!

The question I have has to do with front and rear differential lube, transfer case and transmission. Regularly changing motor oil is a given. I am a believer in changing out the transmission fluid, at least once in the life of owning a truck. The other lubes, I'm not so sure. I've looked at YouTube videos on the subject and learned a few things. Most rear differentials don't have a drain plug. Rear differentials have a magnet inside the bottom of the housing. The magnet serves to collect and hold metal particles and theoretically keep the lube clean. Videos show pulling the cover off a rear differential and a muddy, grease like goo is on the magnet. The front differential and transfer case do have a drain bolt (on GMC). The drain bolt is magnetic and the metallic goo can simply be wiped off. If I were towing or hauling heavy loads, I could see doing differentials and transfer case more frequently (30k to 50k miles). Since I use my truck just to run around in and occasionally haul stuff, I am thinking if I service these items once, I am probably good for quite awhile.

Thoughts and comments are appreciated.

 

[mdwest]

only 250 miles into the new Tundra.. but Im thinking I made a good call with the new truck purchase..

It rained all weekend here, and I had to pull the trailer and UTV to a sporting clays tournament thats about an hour south of my location, and then get it all back Saturday night..

The turbo V6 pulled a million times better than the old chevy V8.. I was doing 75 MPH at only about 2100 RPM going up and down hills (North TX version of a hill isnt really much of a hill at all.. but.. you could really tell whenever the chevy had to pull anything up even a slight incline).. The tundra handles a lot better in the rain as well.. although a lot of that I am sure is tied to it being new.. the chevy's suspension was shot..

turning radius is a LOT better on the tundra as well..

the only downside I have found so far was completely expected.. it is a gas guzzling hog.. Im getting about 2MPG less on the highway than I was with the chevy.. and probably 3 MPG less on city streets..

Im going to install a bed cover/tonneau this afternoon after work.. supposedly that will get me about 1 MPG back.. and it will help keep all my stuff from getting soaked and/or sun baked around here whenever I am headed out to the deer lease, or traveling back east to see family for a few days, etc (we tend to travel like the freaking beverly hillbillies and have the entire truck bed filled with shit just to make a 3-4 day trip somewhere.. )...

 

[mdwest]

I'd be interested in knowing from this elite group of truck owners, their thoughts on a few maintenance issues. It seems whenever I take my truck into the dealer for something, they print out a long list of recommended maintenance items. I come from a generation of changing out spark plugs every year or so (due to leaded gas) and remember when mufflers only lasted 3-5 years. Stuff lasts a lot longer now!

Its funny... it seems every time I have taken a vehicle in for an oil change, they print out a list of a million different things that "really need" to get changed, swapped out, flushed, etc...

But with the last 2 vehicles we have bought new... both came with a 2 year service plan as part of the purchase.. where the dealership does all of your oil changes for free (yeah.. not free.. the value is definitely incorporated into the purchase price) and does all of your regular maintenance like swapping out filters, greasing, oiling, etc everything, refilling fluids, etc.. suddenly I dont need a new air filter to combat the high TX pollen problem every 7000 miles.. dont need a new PVC valve every 3 oil changes.. etc...

Its funny how much longer stuff lasts when someone else is footing the bill lol..

As a rule I HATE dealing with anyone else doing maintenance or repairs on my vehicles.. going to valvoline to get an oil change is worse than the initial car buying experience in terms of constantly trying to be upsold and told what you need vs anyone listening to what you actually want.. so I just do everything myself for the most part to avoid dealing with it all..

but that hasnt been the case with dealer service plans lol.. they just want to change the oil and send me on my way lol..

 

[Uncompahgre]

I saw this thread and found all the comments interesting. I've owned three Dodge diesel pickups, a 1995 2500 4x4, a 2001 2500 4x4, and a 2008 3500 Quad Cab C&C DRW 4x4 with 9 foot flatbed. I sold the 2008 and just purchased a new Ford F-450 Crew Cab C&C DRW diesel 4x4 that will have a 11 foot flatbed installed. I only waited 15 months for the F-450 to show up from the factory. The 2008 had its fair share of engine issues particularly the emissions to the point I had to do a complete delete to get the darn thing to run. At 70,000 miles the 3rd gear went out andI had to replace the 6 speed manual transmission. No parts were available to rebuild it.

Even though I'm now retired, I wanted the larger and heavier pickup to haul my toys on the back and pull my 32 foot camper trailer that weighs 13,000+ pounds when full of water. Yes, it is a very heavy RV. That 13,000 pounds equates to 1,300 to 1,500 pounds of tongue weight and that is where the Dodge 3500 had problems with the toys on the flatbed and the trailer hooked on. I installed two extra main leafs to the spring packs to handle all the rear end weight.

I'm really curious to see how this new combination works out.