tell us cheapo... what is the beast that transports all these mismatched heaps and causes you so much ranting and carrying on during snowstorms.
it must be something you enjoy to gander at while it's parked in the drive.
Nope, it is just normally reliable. I have put a grand total of about $60 in my Toyota Corolla that now has 275,000 on it pulls my Menards special trusty trailer. However all is not good as the CV joints have been cursing at me for the last 50,000 miles. I know I need to change them but its cold man, that can wait until spring. Besides the are the inside ones so they are not too apt to blow. Most of the time they just make noise. Sounds like a cheap hotel room
. While my car is a POS it has held up to more abuse than most trucks can. TRUST ME WHEN I SAY I AM NOT NICE TO THIS CAR! It stays more loaded than a garbage truck with bike parts and when the wife and I have a fight, it gets pounded. 6,000RPM burn outs for a whole city block. Good thing for the car we dont have too many of them
If I had a full size truck I would have had to rebuild the front end every 40,000 at well over $300 each time and thats with me doing the work. Trust me I know as I spent 15 years of my life fixing other peoples cars and trucks. The first time you have to put a torsion arm in a 1 ton Dodge it will make you wonder why you bought it in the first place. The part alone is $375, then installation, and alignment. Then you get to do it again in about 30,000 miles if you are lucky. Skip replacing it and it will try to steer your but into the ditch.
The only truck I would buy is a Toyota. And it would be the older ones in 4 wheel drive. Newer ones are just not all that good. Their full size truck = junk.
Chev S-10 and GMC S-15 = Upper and lower ball joints about every 30,000 if you use it like I would. Tie rods are notoriously weak. If you get an older one with the 4 cylinder or the early v-6, these motors were prone to blowing con rods as the rods were made and paid by ton weight rather than piece work. Gas tanks prone to rust. Cab mounts always rust out leaving you with lop side silliness.
Chev full size = Front ends are junk. Very hard to keep parts in them. The latemodel transmissions are weaker and prone to overheating. Same for the rear axle. I have to say I have hung about 400 Chev gear sets in my career.
Ford Ranger = No need to explain. I hate them in everyway. Just try to do a tune up with a cap and rotor change on an older ranger with the V-6. If you are a big guy you'll want to whip out the torch and just cut an access hole for the dist cap. The front end alignment in a 4X4 is hopeless. There is simply no way to get the camber right on this thing. Just look at one hanging from a rack as they change the oil. Looks like the damn front end will simply just fall off.
Ford Full size = ARRRGGHH!. Whats to like? Really. Front ends junk, Even the 2005's. I have done numerous motor swaps on these and they require the use of a lift to lift the cab off the chassis before you can complete the motor swap. The diesel "Power Joke" "Power Choke" or whatever you call them they are junk so many ways. The Triton??? God man just try to change the plugs on one of those monsters. Each plug has an individual coil, very expensive I might add.
Dodge = Look at me... do I look like a "Dodge Boy"? Not a chance. All I can say is that the only times I have had to stay late, use the torch, and the 12 lb sledge have been when I have been working on a Dodge truck. I have ruined several uniforms with Dodge products.
Diesel in anyway = NO WAY HOSE A or b for all that matters. The smell is sickening, change your own oil and it takes a week to get that crap off your skin.
I hate Diesels and for reference so does the guy who changes your oil. Looks like crap when it comes out and when you waste 21 quarts of lovely fresh oil and start it, it still looks like crap on the stick. I think these things are for churning mud.
I will begin my hunt for my Toyota truck this spring. 30+ miles to the gallon and runs forever without major rebuilds or other problems.
Heffay,
The links do work but they are template based so they will look the same until content is added. If you look at the URL in your browser they do change when you follow links. This is to keep it nice and uniform. I will get serious about the whole web page about Tuesday. Then there should be some differences that you will see. I was thinking of going with a glorified parts request form rather than attempting to show inventory on the web - this is enormous in the up keep. The only inventory I would show would be bikes due for dismantle and bikes for sale. Everything else would be on request = Much easier to stay accurate.
