Chevy vs Ford Diesel Shootout

[crazyal]

Here's my favorite Ford truck picture:

Exactly how many horse power is a steer?

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have no different feelings than you about what should have happened to GM & Chrysler. The free market should have taken over and the cards should have fallen where they may. I don't agree with the gov't taking them over, but I do care about the products, the rivalry and the competition continuing on for all our own good.

However, if the only truck was Ford, the world for the truck owner would be a dark and dismal place because there would be no competiton. They would build junk and tell us they were the only game in town and stick it up your rear and buy a mahindra if you don't like it.

Therefore, I like that the competition was saved. As much as you and Drago want to see a world with no GM, you'd only make your beloved & worshipped hero Ford motor company a worse truck product.

I prefer the competition be there so they make each other better.

There's your lesson in economics.

We actually see eye to eye on something. The one fact you have wrong is assuming I dont want to see GM in the game. I fully agree if Ford or any other company was the only game in town the product would suffer. Just look at the phone company. Mine never works right. My cell phone is great because I have the ability to chose between many players and get whats best for me and my family. Same is true with autos. In the diesel truck world there are only 3 players. GM and Ford are battling it out right now and I am on record saying GM has a real winner now. Same is true with Ford. They must be innovative to keep GM at bay but only time will tell who wins this battle.

As for auto as a whole the introduction of foreign vehicles has changed things for ever. Lets face it, GM, Ford, and Dodge were making junk in the 70's and 80's. The only thing that keep them selling was they were easy to work on and US loyalty. Now with today's global economy that is gone. Its still a battle. Fords quality has been on par with the major imports for a few years now and in the last couple GM is now there also. The new battle is on price. Quality cars from Hyundai and Suzuki plus a few others will make it tough on the US manufactures to compete. How them and the UAW handle it is left to be seen.

So to sum it up I do not want GM to go away. I am smart enough to know competition is good and if one manufacture is left standing we will all suffer. That being said I will not support them for one reason only, the bail out. But for those who do that is a personal choice and none of my business. Buy what you want and I will buy what I want.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Exactly how many horse power is a steer?

A good 10 HP more than a comparable GM steer...

Had to do it. You set yourself up.

Chris

 

[PoorMansCat]

My biggest problem with Ford is that most work that needs to be done to it requires the cab to be pulled off the chassis. My coworker who has an 08 3/4 ton got a recall for the injectors and the dealer used a two post lift to raise the cab then roll the frame out to work on it.

A friend who works for the local town was trying to find a spot under the hood of a 09 1 ton Ford to install a relay for a plow and couldn't find a spot. There's no reason for an engine compartment to be so crowded.

I'm the type of person who keeps things long past the warranty is out and do work myself. After about 7 to 8 years things like cab bolts don't come out too easily if the truck has seen winter. Everything extra you need to do to an older vehicle is just more chances of having to repair something that didn't need it.

I can't say I know if the other two brands are any better.

You think the 2002-2010 Fords are bad, pop the hood on a 2011 Ford SD... you can open the hood wide open and STILL not be able to see anything!!

 

[crazyal]

You think the 2002-2010 Fords are bad, pop the hood on a 2011 Ford SD... you can open the hood wide open and STILL not be able to see anything!!

I still remember the good old days when I could to climb into the engine compartment of my 79 Chevy while changing the plugs.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I still remember the good old days when I could to climb into the engine compartment of my 79 Chevy while changing the plugs.

Where them really the good old days? Changing plugs every 10,000 mile or less, rotor, cap, points, wires, belts, hoses, ect. The worst vehicle I have owned has not needed any of that crap for 100,000 miles.

Just about everyone could work on cars back then because it was necessary.

I will take a new one that needs none of that stuff routinely and take it like a man if it has to go the dealership for something that breaks.

Chris

 

[Dargo]

I still remember the good old days when I could to climb into the engine compartment of my 79 Chevy while changing the plugs.

Well, my '77 Chevy pickup was just old enough to not have any EPA stuff on it and it ended up with a 502ci/502hp engine in it. It still had a little room, but not nearly as much as it once had. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but if you could imagine, that truck in long bed regular cab configuration had almost no weight on the rear tires. After showing a friend how hard it would pull at 60 mph and doing a 360 degree turn a dry 4 lane highway (fortunately nobody else was around and I hit nothing), I sold it at the next car show. Without tubbing it, it was just a tire spinner.

 

[Egon]

Some folks away back figured out how to work on the engine by simply removing it. and going to real Horsepower!:thumbsup:

 

[Dargo]

We're talking about what once was one of the world's largest corporations for what 50 years, and you laugh when I suggest they provided employment benefits & retirement for millions of people?

Talk about a laugh........:confused2::confused2::confused2:

Competition my friend, competition. It is totally foolish to prop up a company that has totally screwed it's own loyal customer base (me and my family). If you think there would have been a void, you should have gone to college.

 

[Dargo]

I think it started before that, but then, all the US automakers were guilty. Lee Iaccoca had stated in his book that if we could put wheels on it and it would roll under its own power, we could sell it. Only problem, nobody saw the 1955 VW in the rear view mirror or cared about it.

You are probably right. I'm simply thinking about when I recall GM products, particularly their pickups, rusting apart in a heated and air conditioned garage without ever even hauling a load in them. Screwing the loyal consumer opened the door for foreign competition to get into this country and develop vehicles that we wanted and were are of better quality than what Detroit offered.