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Thread: What Has to be Done to Get What One Wants

  1. #16
    Word of caution on diesels - unless you're a) driving 40-50K miles/year or b) hauling a load the price differential is never going to pay off, except maybe at resale.

    Plus, maintenance is more expensive (my '97 Powerstroke takes 14 qts) and breakdowns can be VERY expensive.

    Check on it, but I think you'll find the MPG difference vs. fuel price doesn't compute to much savings.

    Why do you want an 8' bed? 6 1/2' + dropped tail gate = 8 feet.

    A crew cab with an 8' bed is how long??? Here's my old trusty "Big D"

    56047049347__E3367411-0D3F-48EF-8D8D-16DA43253421.jpg
    Last edited by Robert Engel; 05-03-2021 at 10:43 AM.

  2. #17
    My truck will always be a regular cab with a 8’ bed and 4WD. More stuff, less people. I probably own my last truck, 2019 Ford F-150. I like it.

  3. #18
    Join Date
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    A diesel can't be beaten for pulling a load. If I wasn't going to pull with a truck, I'd drive a gas burner.

    edited to add: I wouldn't have a pickup with less than an 8' bed. Hauling 16' lumber is no balancing act, and why would I want to make more trips for hauling hay. I wouldn't mind having a 10' bed, if they came as an option. The only good reason for having a shorter bed has to be parking, and that's no problem here. Even in a parking lot, I don't mind walking a few steps more. I don't like parking near other vehicles anyway.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 05-03-2021 at 11:40 AM.

  4. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Engel View Post

    Why do you want an 8' bed? 6 1/2' + dropped tail gate = 8 feet.
    dropped tail gate also = crap ending up on the highway \

    -- if you haul a lot of lumber, anything less than an 8' bed sucks... 'specially considering a whole lotta lumber is longer than 8'...
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  5. #20
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    Just went through the same process after my old Dodge Ram ate a second engine after 26 years of hard work. Not much to look at on dealer lots around here... mostly short beds in dark colors and one F350 regular cab diesel with an 8' bed . Ended up with a mid line Ford F250 Heavy Duty with a 6.5' bed, big gas engine, 4wd, 10,000# GVWR towing package, in a pretty red color my wife liked. Not everything I wanted, but it was the only thing that came close after a month of looking. Also bought a 5' x 10' utility trailer with a 2995# GVWR to do the dirty work. Not going to be squeezing into any parking spaces anytime soon, and my trailer backing skills really need work, but I'm back in DIY land again.

  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    My truck is 26 years old. Over the years my mechanical abilities have been able to take care of most of the problems. The first problem right after buying it used from a dealer was the fuel pump seized. This is supposedly common if the vehicle sits idle for a long time. It also happens if the fuel pump just decides to die. The windshield wiper motor was replaced a couple years ago and has stopped again. No trouble shooting on that so far to determine if it is the motor again, wiring, the switch, fuse or whatever. The heater is stuck on which according to the internet is common due to the plastic gate system to direct the heat to the cab or out to the atmosphere. What ever happened to having a water valve control the heater?

    Now the fuel pump seems to be back to unreliability. It scares me to think of driving it into town to pick up a load of soil and having it die half way home.

    So, a newer truck has been on my mind even before this one totally crapped out. BTW, the radio/tape player hasn't worked for years.

    My main desire was to have an eight foot bed, 4WD and one ton load capacity. It hadn't occurred to me these were not something the average Joe truck buyer was interested in buying. The one ton load capacity wasn't real important. The main reason for that was when we get potting soil one yard weighs in around a half ton and it would be nice to be able to pick up two yards at a time. The eight foot bed is for hauling lumber that is often in eight foot lengths.

    Candy talked me into getting a crew cab so we could bring others along. My preference was for gasoline fuel.

    Went down town to the car dealers and learned all things have been affected by the pandemic. Some vehicles are selling like hot cakes. Pick-Up trucks are like the new sports car. They may have a crew cab but a four foot bed? Six and a half foot is the new long bed? After talking to the sales person we were driving around, we did notice a lot of PU Trucks that looked like they couldn't haul a large load of groceries.

    After talking to the sales rep again on the phone and asking him to look around with other dealers in his ownership group, we talked again the next day and he said he got the listing on their next delivery of PU Trucks scheduled for later this month. Of the fifteen trucks they were allotted thirteen already have buyers. Of the two left, one of them was a one ton, crew cab, with an eight foot bed and 4WD. For me the only negative is the diesel fuel system.

    Oh well, guess we will be learning how to deal with diesel.

    Candy's only question, "what color is it."

    Almost all of the trucks that were on the lot the first time we visited were gone two days later.

    jtk
    Sounds like you are trying to talk yourself into buying way more truck than you actually need.
    Suggest you reassess your true needs.
    "Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."

  7. #22
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    If that's the heaviest load you need to haul, I'd just get a half ton, and a trailer.

    I bought the diesel dually to pull a horse trailer. We had always had gas burners. The first trip we took with the dually, I carried three 12 year old girls, and three horses to a Summer camp a couple of hours away. My Wife carried a book to read. When we got back home, she said, "It didn't even feel like we'd been on a trip". It was also no worries with four adults, and four horses parking in a field somewhere to go fox hunting.

    I also use it to pull a gooseneck flatbed trailer. If I need to rent a 10,000 pound machine, I just go get it. I use my tractor cutting the grounds of some museum houses. The tractor weighs 8,000 pounds, the mower behind it weighs close to 3,000, and the trailer weighs around 5,000. Truck just says: come on, let's go.

    When we used to go get a big load of hay with the gas burner 3/4 ton, we couldn't run the air conditioner, and they bale hay on the hottest days possible.

    A half ton will handle a ton of anything on a small trailer.

  8. #23
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    My wife came with a four-door truck. I often tease her about her truck not having a bed . . . its a purse. For the price of new trucks it is becoming reasonable to restore a 50 year old vintage truck. The cost to bring a 1970's truck up to modern performance used to be out of proportion for what you end up with. I'm not so sure anymore. A nice drive train with a manual tranny and no smog hassles might be refreshing ;-)
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  9. #24
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    The trucks came in to the dealer and mine came home today.

    That thing has more buttons, doo dads, bells, whistles and displays than my little old brain could imagine before seeing it all.

    Something with the GPS knows where the truck is and the display shows the vehicle's speed and the road's speed limit. The display can be set to be seen reflected in the windshield. Kind of made me feel guilty when going along with the rest of the traffic.

    It's a Chevy Silverado 3500 HD. Candy has expressed a desire to have a small house trailer for camping.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  10. #25
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    The vehicle industry is struggling really hard right now due to the chip shortage, cutting production and focusing on what most buyers want for obvious reasons. Inventories are low and in many cases, the "only" way to get something they way you want it is to do a factory order. (which I do normally anyway because I want what I want...)

    Do keep in mind that a big pick-em-up truck with crew cab and an 8' bed is going to be as long as a small bus. Maneuverability in tight places will be fun. But you'll survive!!! You'll be fine with the diesel...you'll just have to get used to picking the correct pump at the stations you frequent if they don't have it at every position.

    BTW, 6.5' bed plus a hitch receiver mounted bed extender worked really well for me when I last had a pickup and needed to carry longer materials. I use a 5'x8' utility trailer in lieu of that since switching to SUVs a decade and a half agp.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #26
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    That's a Real truck! Mine is a 3500 HD too. I've been enjoying driving it since Nov. 2000, for almost 350,000 miles. Did you get single rear wheels, or duallies?

    I'm a fan of GM's for multiple reasons, but I especially like the independent front suspension that let's the 7,000 pound plus truck drive like a Cadillac on the highway.

    It doesn't seem like it took That long to get it.

  12. #27
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    Do keep in mind that a big pick-em-up truck with crew cab and an 8' bed is going to be as long as a small bus. Maneuverability in tight places will be fun. But you'll survive!!!
    It isn't much longer than the shorter bed with the same cab. The Silverado has cameras all around to enable seeing how close the vehicle is to things around it.

    Did you get single rear wheels, or duallies?
    Single rear wheels.

    One of my reasons for a heavy duty truck is to haul dirt and manure into areas of my property. The ground is uneven from logging and ground heaving during the cold season.

    The suspension is a bit stiffer than most of my other vehicles.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  13. #28
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    It rides better with a load in it, but I don't mind it empty either. It is a 1 ton truck.

  14. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by andy bessette View Post
    Sounds like you are trying to talk yourself into buying way more truck than you actually need.
    Suggest you reassess your true needs.
    I don’t know whether somebody actually needs a truck or not. A lot of people think when they move here to Texas that they need a truck, for example. My biggest vehicle is a sedan, because it burns less gas, it drives really well, and when a truck is _actually_ needed, I can just rent one as big as I want. In the long run I’ve saved oodles of money, that I can spend on fancy boots and spurs (should the need arise. It hasn’t yet, so it just gets invested.) :^)

  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Dawson View Post
    I don’t know whether somebody actually needs a truck or not. A lot of people think when they move here to Texas that they need a truck, for example. My biggest vehicle is a sedan, because it burns less gas, it drives really well, and when a truck is _actually_ needed, I can just rent one as big as I want. In the long run I’ve saved oodles of money, that I can spend on fancy boots and spurs (should the need arise. It hasn’t yet, so it just gets invested.) :^)
    For me renting a truck would mean driving into town ~15 miles. Then finding a truck to haul what needs to be hauled on that particular day. Then getting the rental back to town. Sometimes it is easier to leave a load in the truck for a few days before fully unloading.

    Another thing my truck will be used for is pulling logs up from the hillside behind my house. There is a dirt road on my neighbors property that might be of help at times but only with 4WD.

    At times when only a dozen or so 8' pieces of lumber are needed we use our Chevy Tahoe. With the back seats down they can be loaded inside.

    Now, the truck gets better milage than the Tahoe.

    Also, a trailer might be in my future. Candy would like a small tractor.

    jtk
    Last edited by Jim Koepke; 05-18-2021 at 8:29 PM.
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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