Opinions on trucks

WH401 · Mar 30, 2009

Right now is definitely the time to buy a new vehicle and I too would have jumped on a deal now rather than later. From what you say it sounds like you got a nice truck. Even though there might be a difference in mpg with the 5.4, I still would have gone with it myself. You can never have to much power and these days the bigger engines tend to get better mileage than there smaller counter parts. Look at both the Chrysler 5.7 Hemi and the GM 5.3, they are larger and have more hp but they are rated for better mpg than there lower hp brethren when put into the same application.

Good luck with the truck.

Dmace · Mar 31, 2009

That F-150 is a fine truck, there is a reason it was best selling pickup for over 15 years straight.

I know you will be happy with the truck, congrats on the purchase and don't forget to put your "man step" back up before closing the tailgate.

jimmyj · Mar 31, 2009

Congrat's! You will never be without a truck from now on. Once you have one, there is no going back.

canoetrpr · Mar 31, 2009

Dmace said:
I know you will be happy with the truck, congrats on the purchase and don't forget to put your "man step" back up before closing the tailgate.

LOL! I guess one of the things about not having TV is that you miss stuff like this until you see it on you tube

WH401 · Mar 31, 2009

Dmace said:
That F-150 is a fine truck, there is a reason it was best selling pickup for over 15 years straight.

I know you will be happy with the truck, congrats on the purchase and don't forget to put your "man step" back up before closing the tailgate.

That's a good one, I haven't seen that commercial before.

Diamondpilot · Mar 31, 2009

You will be happy with the F-150. I have owned 6 F series trucks since 1997 and never had any real problems. Bad dash cluster on one but thats it. Sounds like you got a good deal to boot. Can't wait to see pics.

Chris

mjncad · Apr 1, 2009

I'll take a Ford with a man-step over a Chevy any day. I wish my F-250 had one of those as an option in 1999 as I would have ordered one.

Builder · Apr 1, 2009

mjncad said:
I'll take a Ford with a man-step over a Chevy any day. I wish my F-250 had one of those as an option in 1999 as I would have ordered one.

And I'll take a chevy with 403HP and more torque and a longer warranty than a Ford with a man step.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.....

All 3 brands are good choices.

crashz · Apr 1, 2009

After 17 pages of this thread, I am demanding pictures once it arrives!

But seriously, congrats and good luck with the new ride. The new Fords are definately good looking and solid trucks. I used an 05 and 06 F150 for contract vehicles and they were great trucks. Powerful, soild stance, good ride but firm, and reliable considering the beating they took.

riptides · Apr 1, 2009

crashz said:
After 17 pages of this thread, I am demanding pictures once it arrives!

But seriously, congrats and good luck with the new ride. The new Fords are definately good looking and solid trucks. I used an 05 and 06 F150 for contract vehicles and they were great trucks. Powerful, soild stance, good ride but firm, and reliable considering the beating they took.

I agree. It is picture time.

I have owned many a vehicle in my short time, but ONLY trucks from the big two.

The Chevy S-10 "deer slayer" has impressed. Mechnically sound, but magnetically (or by fate) inclined to attract fur. It is good I have the skill to pull things apart, getting them together again is another story.

Surviveability is a trademark of my S-10. It just keeps on ticking.

The Ford F-250, what a beast. Brute force, power and well it is a TRUCK. This class of vehicle is still strong in the big three. I don't want to knock the Asian market brands, and I cannot, but when I went looking for a truck, we didn't go very far. Too many big three trucks to look at.

You will do well with the Ford.

diesel_nut · Apr 1, 2009

Trade the Honda for a VW diesel car (average 41 mpg and 50 hwy) and then get a nice pickup

bwmarine · Apr 1, 2009

So when did ford change there design on the power steering pumps? For a while you could tell "its a ford" without even looking just by the ps whine... lol

NuBota · Apr 1, 2009

Good choice Canoe!

Now you can look down your nose at the other commuters in their little cars with complete disdain (or sympathy)

Ain't nothing like a truck.............

canoetrpr · Apr 1, 2009

Gentlemen - without a doubt there will be pictures here once I have my truck.

The combination of me wanting the 6.5' bed with the crew cab and some other options is resulting in the dealer having to factory order. They were not able to find me anything in the colour I wanted.

So I'm going to have to wait 4 - 8 weeks.

In the meanwhile I am pricing out some 2 hole slide in dog boxes for the truck.

mjncad · Apr 2, 2009

As a middle aged fool with an arthritic back and the flexibility of a turtle, a man-step is something I would dearly love to have when getting into my F-250 4x4's bed.

Builder · Apr 2, 2009

mjncad said:
As a middle aged fool with an arthritic back and the flexibility of a turtle, a man-step is something I would dearly love to have when getting into my F-250 4x4's bed.

Apologies for not going along with the Ford crowd, but I think the man step is a gimmick. It's too skinny & wobbly to help unload most bulky materials from my truck.

All flat long materials like plywood, drywall, doors, 2x6's are better off slid off the back, not walked down a ladder.

I guess it would be nice to get a case of beer out of the back or something small that slides to the front.
Most other brands of trucks sit lower so you can reach over the sides to get things. Fords sit so sky high. To make it worse, they have higher bed sides than the other brand, so it's no wonder they need to be equipped with a step ladder to get in/out.

jimmyj · Apr 2, 2009

canoetrpr said:
They were not able to find me anything in the colour I wanted.

So I'm going to have to wait 4 - 8 weeks.

Geez, I thought there were two or three pink ones on the lot at the dealer!

Isn't that what the deal was with the wife to get the approval?

:

Seriously, you will love the truck and never regret it!

canoetrpr · Apr 2, 2009

Builder, without a doubt I noticed the bed sitting quite a bit higher than the GMC as well. This was a bit of a negative to me on the Ford vs. the GMC.

There were other pluses and minuses as well among the brands. Having been driving imports only for the last decade, I have no affiliation or bias towards one or the others - Ford vs. GMC vs. Chrysler.

I'd be lying if I said that the uncertainty surrounding GMC and Chrysler added another minus in my book against them. This stuff becomes almost a self fulfilling prophecy. A lot of domestic buyers up here are buying Ford precisely because of the uncertainty, which makes it less certain that GMC and Chrysler will survive as their sales go even lower. Not a good situation for sure. I hope that regardless of a structured bankruptcy or not, they figure out soon which parts of GMC / Chrysler are likely to survive and be around in the long term.

diesel_nut · Apr 2, 2009

bwmarine said:
So when did ford change there design on the power steering pumps? For a while you could tell "its a ford" without even looking just by the ps whine... lol

Funny you should mention that..............
But after 160,000 miles I'll cut it a break.

mjncad · Apr 3, 2009

Builder said:
Apologies for not going along with the Ford crowd, but I think the man step is a gimmick. It's too skinny & wobbly to help unload most bulky materials from my truck.

All flat long materials like plywood, drywall, doors, 2x6's are better off slid off the back, not walked down a ladder.

I guess it would be nice to get a case of beer out of the back or something small that slides to the front.
Most other brands of trucks sit lower so you can reach over the sides to get things. Fords sit so sky high. To make it worse, they have higher bed sides than the other brand, so it's no wonder they need to be equipped with a step ladder to get in/out.

I've tried the man step out at the auto shows and they make it easier to get in the bed for access to items for tying them down, or shoveling rock and mulch out of the back, etc. Would the man step be in the way for plywood, lumber, etc? Sure; but that's when you keep it folded up and out of the way. I've looked at aftermarket man steps and they all have the problem of being in the way for removing the items you mention that are best slid out of the bed. Also I weigh in at 200+/- pounds and I never felt the man step was flimsy.

I suspect GM and Chrysler will offer man steps in the future just as I expect GM and Ford will offer built in cargo boxes like the new Ram's offer. I would love to have those cargo boxes on my F-250.

Getting old sucks and if a man step offers me convenience, I'll take it.