Thread: The "Ranch/Farm/Work/Hunting/Tow" Truck !!!!

I have only had this a couple of years but I think I will die with this truck in my driveway or die in it while off road somewhere. I have always owned Fords. It is a family from Mich. requirement . I will say they have done me well and if you maintain em they last forever. This one gets about 18 around town and I may chip it someday to get more. It has the 6.0 that everyone is afraid of but once again a little knowledge will keep you out of trouble.

Mine is Blackie, a '92 S-10 with 113K (had 52k when I got it) on the 4.3 V6 5 speed I've had for 15 years. Every thing works, it rides and runs great and gets 27 mile per gallon while running AC. I couldn't replace it for what I have in it so I'll hang on to her and pass it on to my grandson.

Here's my "keep-forever" truck. 160K on this 5.2L '99 Dodge Ram Quad Cab SLT Laramie.
K&N FIPK
Holly 52mm throttle body
Hughes Edelbrock dual-plane air gap intake
Gibson headers
Double roller timing chain, gears, tensioner&cam thrust plate
Hypertech performance programming w/OBDII bluetooth monitoring
Corvette LT1 hi-po cat
custom high-clearance crossmember bar
Bilstein Heavy Duty shocks
Trans-Go shift kit

Truck Story: Several years ago early in the morning i pulled into a 7/11 for a cup of coffee to go. As I was leaving this 70's era GMC pulled in to the gas pumps. I don't know what he had under the hood but whatever it was sounded like a bunch of annoyed rattlesnakaes. There was a decal in the rear window that said, "I eat Fords and Chevys and POO POO Dodges. I backed my little four cylinder Ranger out of the parking lot and left. I didn't want my truck to get hurt.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I don't understand why we can't get the smaller diesel trucks here in the US.

My thoughts are thus, "OMG black smoke!" and motors that wont quit and be replaced, not enough profit in that. Europe and elsewhere are filled with diesel engines, they are more powerful, last longer without the tons of technical crap needed for gas engines and diesel is cheaper to produce, with almost 50% more efficiency than gasoline/petrol engines.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

My thoughts are thus, "OMG black smoke!" and motors that wont quit and be replaced, not enough profit in that. Europe and elsewhere are filled with diesel engines, they are more powerful, last longer without the tons of technical crap needed for gas engines and diesel is cheaper to produce, with almost 50% more efficiency than gasoline/petrol engines.

I thought that also until I bought mine with the 6.0 engine. The first trucks with this motor started having all kinds of problems from turbo to injector and yikes what the heck is going on. Well.. Ford had a better idea in bringing in some of the European engineers to design a diesel that would be the greatest thing on the planet. Better economy, better power/torque range less pollution. They did just that. The 6.0 is the last great motor you will see for awhile as far as I can guess. The problem turns out to be American fuel. The sulfurs and lack of refinement and filters in our diesel making process left our fuel way behind as far as quality goes. This created all the problems that gave this motor a bad name. Since they first came out several things have happened. You now have to get a smog certificate (in Ca. anyway) and the federal government mandated better diesel fuel filtering and refining standards. Of course this is one reason diesel is as expensive as gas now. Plus the demand has gone up over the years because of cars that run on diesel. Another problem is in parts like fuel ,oil and air filters. What you get at Pep Boys or even Napa is no where near within spec. for these motors. The water separation element in the fuel filter at Napa for example is the equivalent of say a Pakistani blade to a Double Duck. Water in injectors is bad bad bad news. So while what you think may be part of the problem (No money in it) I would say that this world economy ,everything being sourced out all over the place , has lead to a lot of head scratching and back peddling to fix things that were not completely thought through. Big corporations are good at giving you what you want (or what they make you think you want) it just isn't always what we need. Oh the new trucks are great on the air quality. You can suck on the tail pipe and not even get dizzy. They only get about 8 miles to the gallon and in the oil change there is a gallon of additive required (at least in Ca.) that runs another 30 bucks.
Oh and in a that long winded blah blah I forgot to mention a lot of Americans may run out and buy these small diesels and destroy them traveling 5 miles a day back and forth to work. As I recall there have been a few attempts at small diesel trucks that didn't go over very well. I think VW had a rabbit truck ? I here the same thing about my truck that most people hate or fear and that is maintenance cost. I just don't think Americans on average are ready for what's good for them.

If I ever, get rid of my truck or can't afford it, I will trade it in for a horse and maybe a buckboard. I will go to town once a year if I have to.

Mine is only a year old, but I've been waiting forever to actually buy a new truck. Just a plain Chevy 1500 4x4 work truck package with the engine upgraded to a 4.8 V8. I've already had 4 deer in the bed, and I've hauled a ton of gravel twice. I love throwing my 14' fishing boat in the bed, too. I got a good deal on it the September before last.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

My thoughts are thus, "OMG black smoke!" and motors that wont quit and be replaced, not enough profit in that. Europe and elsewhere are filled with diesel engines, they are more powerful, last longer without the tons of technical crap needed for gas engines and diesel is cheaper to produce, with almost 50% more efficiency than gasoline/petrol engines.

I have no proof but this idea has entered my mind!

My diesel truck gets approximately 25% better mileage than its gas equivalent. When I buy diesel it is about 25% more in cost!????? Is this just coincidence?

Here is my ride. A year or so ago and from the good side. I would have to untape the overdrive wires to short them and change the setting. The fuel gauge has not worked for years and I reset the trip odometer every time I fill it up. If it is below 32'F I have to open the hood and assist the fuel shut off selinoid on. It works during the summer when it is warm and i didn't fix it again last summer. I laugh and say it is my anti theft device.

I could go on and on about things wrong with it. My wife keeps telling me to get a new one. I stopped in a dealer a while ago and asked myself if I would spend $40,000+ to drive the new one rather than the old and the answer was no.

This is the first vehicle I have gotten tired/bored of driving but with 350,000 miles on it I wonder why? How many hours have I sat there?

A few years ago I switched the cushions from the drivers to the passenger seat side.

Now we're getting someplace gents... Getting some good stories and pics up here

I knew I wasn't alone here hehehehe

Originally Posted by 32t

I have no proof but this idea has entered my mind!

My diesel truck gets approximately 25% better mileage than its gas equivalent. When I buy diesel it is about 25% more in cost!????? Is this just coincidence?

Here is my ride. A year or so ago and from the good side. I would have to untape the overdrive wires to short them and change the setting. The fuel gauge has not worked for years and I reset the trip odometer every time I fill it up. If it is below 32'F I have to open the hood and assist the fuel shut off selinoid on. It works during the summer when it is warm and i didn't fix it again last summer. I laugh and say it is my anti theft device.

I could go on and on about things wrong with it. My wife keeps telling me to get a new one. I stopped in a dealer a while ago and asked myself if I would spend $40,000+ to drive the new one rather than the old and the answer was no.

This is the first vehicle I have gotten tired/bored of driving but with 350,000 miles on it I wonder why? How many hours have I sat there?

A few years ago I switched the cushions from the drivers to the passenger seat side.

Indeed. You could put half what it costs for a new one into that truck and smoke any new truck on the road - which is exactly what I'm doing to mine! Not only that, but the 20K you pony up won't depreciate at anywhere near the same rate.