Truck rant. And don't know what to do.

[Dftodd]

Kind of strange how good, responsible people are and will be paying outrageous amounts of money to avoid saving the planet. I mean that in a very tongue-in-cheek way. The point being, those of us who want simple reliable machines are also people who care about the environment in reasonable common sense ways.

The whole emissions thing with tractors has created a used-tractor nightmare scenario. It reminds me of whatever legislation led to the gas can fiasco which created far worse safety problems than it was supposed to prevent and also led to dodgy but effective work arounds. Some number of years ago I was at the race track and the merchants there were selling 5 gallon "fluid" containers shaped remarkably like racers gas cans. They were even red. They had a wide mouth and a valve for venting. I bought four. I would like four more.

I think most of us would be open to electric vehicles if they met our needs and had ample options for charging.

At the moment though your limited to around town and close enough to your home to make sure you don't end up stranded.

Or carry a generator with you and hope some dingbat doesn't run off with it while your trying to charge your ride.

And don't get me started about tier 4 emissions

 

[Molalla1]

^^^^^^^ .

 

[dodge man]

For someone looking for just transportation, not a truck, pickups, SUV’s and crossovers are hot now. Cars are still higher priced but are much more reasonable. Some cars, such as a Ford Fusion, Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 can be found in 4wd.

 

[herm0016]

Murdoch's here stocks them if you have one around. or look up vp racing on amazon. picked up a yellow one just last week. very well made and cheaper than the compliant can.

Some number of years ago I was at the race track and the merchants there were selling 5 gallon "fluid" containers shaped remarkably like racers gas cans. They were even red. They had a wide mouth and a valve for venting. I bought four. I would like four more.

 

[fishman]

I did not read this entire tome of information but I wanted to add my experience with my 2018 Titan. I have 75k on it. It is the Platinum Reserve 1/2 ton with the 5.6. I did have a small issue with the AC unit as well as the rear window switch, both things that were mis-assembled when the truck was built. But they were taken care of with no drama. The seats are the most comfortable I have ever sat in, and I have sat in plenty of different truck seats, that's all anybody owns in Texas don't ya know. The transmission is rather vague, but the engine is silky smooth. The infotainment center is dated, it does not have Apple CarPlay, and the strident female voice has earned it the nickname "BroomHilda". I just don't use the voice functions and it works well enough, I can bluetooth a phone call at least. I guess the thing I like about it is that it is one of the last straight-forward V8 trucks being made, with no cylinders cutting out, turbo v-6's etc.

That said, a good friend has a 2018 F150 with the 3.5 twin turbo and it is much more responsive than my Titan. But the Titan is much more comfortable to drive.

Lest you think I am an import-only new truck snob, I replaced a 2000 Chevy Silverado z-71 with this Titan. Well, actually I still have it and it still gets driven quite often. It is closing in on 350k miles and everything works, although I've had to repair just about everything at one time or another. The engine hasn't been touched, but it is using a small amount of antifreeze, and it is present in the oil analysis. The cheap solution is to change the oil with synthetic every 3-4 k miles and keep driving it.

I did test drive the Tundra when I chose the Titan, and it was more costly, the controls were all in the wrong place, and it got much worse mpg, verified by friends who have them. The Titan feels like an American pickup when you drive it, the controls all make sense.

 

[not2old]

Lest you think I am an import-only new truck snob, I replaced a 2000 Chevy Silverado z-71 with this Titan. Well, actually I still have it and it still gets driven quite often. It is closing in on 350k miles and everything works, although I've had to repair just about everything at one time or another. The engine hasn't been touched, but it is using a small amount of antifreeze, and it is present in the oil analysis. The cheap solution is to change the oil with synthetic every 3-4 k miles and keep driving it.

You might want to try using some of the liquid head gasket sealer you put in the radiator. My Volvo 960 had an external coolant leak between the head and block that I temporarily repaired with the sealer. It needed to be redone after chemically cleaning the radiator and that temporary repair has now been there for more than a dozen years. After experiencing this I used it again when my 460 Ford showed signs of an internal leak with bubbles in the overflow bottle with cracks in the combustion chamber being the likely cause. I might have had to repeat this treatment on the truck too, as it was first done nearly ten years ago.

 

[Oaktree]

You might want to try using some of the liquid head gasket sealer you put in the radiator. My Volvo 960 had an external coolant leak between the head and block that I temporarily repaired with the sealer. It needed to be redone after chemically cleaning the radiator and that temporary repair has now been there for more than a dozen years.

I used to think that stuff was just snake oil (and I'm sure some of it is), but I have an old Dodge Dart that was eating antifreeze. Head gasket didn't fix it, so that leaves either cracked head or block. Saw a post on an old car forum recommending something called Zo-tite. I was skeptical, but for $20 didn't have much to lose. Seemed to work, 5 years later still working.