Just can't get a good basic truck, like the old days!

[RB5]

Power steering with a broken belt and manual steering are two very different animals. The power steering hydraulics add a ton of drag, and the ratio is usually much higher, such that lock to lock might be half as many turns.

I wouldn't manual steering on a 4wd pickup truck, but on a Mustang set up for drag racing with 4-1/2" skinnies up front, it was an easy way to fit a larger motor with a higher capacity oil pan under the hood.

I know it is different. I had a 74 vega that was given to me. It didn't have power steering. Maybe because of that I despise non power steering. I had to parallel park that car to get my drivers license. It wasn't fun.

 

[paulsharvey]

I think we have pretty well mastered hydralic assisted power steering, and it is Rarely ever an issue, and adds virtually no maintenance or expense to a production vehicle. E-power steering, im less sure of.

 

[bcp]

View attachment 3945290


Bruce

You can still get a good basic truck, like the old days, if you use the right name for it.

Bruce

 

[deserteagle71]

amazing to me how inefficient gasoline ice are compared to diesel. Even towing a small aluminum two place snowmobile trailer. Weather it's a gas v8 in a pick up or a modern crossover or SUV with a v6 and tow package that when not pulling a trailer gets 24+ mpg. Tow a smaller trailer with it barely exceeding freeway speeds gas mileage drops to under 10 mpg. Meanwhile a diesel pulling same smaller trailer going 10 over on freeway only drops 5 or less mpg in my experience With my 6 speed automatic. I don't think I've ever gotten less than 10 mpg even towing a fully loaded (at speed limit) 20' tandem deck over.. will some buying a diesel truck ever see a payback in price they paid? Problaby not but for me anyway there's something about spending a lot of money for even a minimally option packaged diesel truck. Knowing if for some reason you ever needed to you could tow a house.

My experience has been the same!

Loved my F150 for road trips. All the power in the world and never needed to shift down going over 8000 ft mountain passes. And with a 36 gallon gas tank I didn't have to stop to refuel constantly. 400 miles since filling up - and over 400 miles left till empty!

But hook a 16' trailer loaded with my side by side on it, and the mileage dropped drastically. If fighting a headwind I've seen it drop below 12 mpg.

On the other hand, if I hook that same trailer to my old Dodge/Cummins the fuel mileage drops from 19 mpg to no less than 16 mpg!

 

[Renze]

I know it is different. I had a 74 vega that was given to me. It didn't have power steering. Maybe because of that I despise non power steering. I had to parallel park that car to get my drivers license. It wasn't fun.

My first car was a 1991 Volvo 440 with a 1.7 liter engine converted to LP gas. No ABS and no powersteering, but it weighed 1049kg including the LP tank... it would take some time to get used to when it steers like my 3011 whilst sitting in a car.

The same is merging on the on-ramp with a 90hp at 5000rpm with the gasser, versus pushing the pedal down to unleash that diesel torque with 163hp at 3700rpm but likely 3/4 of that available at 1800rpm...

Times were different... not always better.

 

[deserteagle71]

I would like to agree with you, but the electric ones are very reliable. Buddy of mine owns a truck shop and repairs floor shifters that tend to get jammed or stuck, especially if the owner don’t use 4x4 enough.
I love push button 4WD. Opens up space on the floor for more leg room in my truck, too.

Push button 4wd is convenient, yes. But I have to disagree with you as far as reliability. My experience has been the direct opposite. We have a couple county-owned GM rigs in our SAR fleet and we never know if they will shift into 4wd when needed. All too many times all we get is a blinking error light. One of my good friends just had to change out the whole electronic shifting module in his Superduty because it quit working. Only time I've heard of a manual transfer case shifter assembly not working is when the linkage came apart.

How'd you like to see this message come up on your dash just when you really needed 4wd??

 

[Eagle1]

That and you can often rig the linkage with something to make it work enough to get you home...

 

[jjeff]

So if I'm hearing some people's experiences correctly push button 4wd transfer case isn't desirable for some, problaby me also but it's all that manufacturers use anymore so I guess I'll study the manual and possibly watch some shade tree on YouTube to service it, I'll have my cheaters around my neck to quickly put on if I need to find the 4wd buttons and hope it works when I need it. Push button 4wd sounds like the old manual shift,vacuum solenoid mechanism on the Chevy and GMC trucks from the 1990s I've been told they were extremely unreliable especially in the winter. Please correct me if I'm wrong and not overblowing someone else's bad experience.

 

[jjeff]

That and you can often rig the linkage with something to make it work enough to get you home...

Driving home from a fishing trip with my dad in canada, drove over 500 miles in my dad's F-150 with me holding the transfer case shifter in 2wd cuz everytime I took pressure off it the trucks transfer case would go into neutral. It ended up being fried but at least we weren't stranded in northern Canada.

 

[deserteagle71]

So if I'm hearing some people's experiences correctly push button 4wd transfer case isn't desirable for some, problaby me also but it's all that manufacturers use anymore so I guess I'll study the manual and possibly watch some shade tree on YouTube to service it, I'll have my cheaters around my neck to quickly put on if I need to find the 4wd buttons and hope it works when I need it. Push button 4wd sounds like the old manual shift,vacuum solenoid mechanism on the Chevy and GMC trucks from the 1990s I've been told they were extremely unreliable especially in the winter. Please correct me if I'm wrong and not overblowing someone else's bad experience.

I had a Chevy Blazer from that era and you are correct! If it were cold and snowy the 4wd would not engage. But it wasn't the transfer case that was the problem - it had a manual lever that worked just fine. Back then GM had a front axle disconnect that used a heating element to heat gas which would then move a sliding collar to engage the front axle. And of course, when it was cold the gas would not expand enough to engage the front axle.

My understanding is that you can still buy a basic Ford Superduty with a lever-activated transfer case.