90 percent of the people i know couldnt tell you what size engine was in their truck unfortunately, i feel the same though its a tool not a race car. i need it to reliably get me to work or pull my camper, whatever. i have a 5.3 which is the smallest engine i ever had and its got the most power and fuel economy of any ive ever had, it will get 20-22 and tow my 33 ft camper as fast as i want. the reliability for driving to work is the most important to everyone i know that has a new truck over anything else, you cant do the job at all if your truck is in the shop all the time. if that means less power or simple everything so be it
Half-ton pickup redux
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Ashful
Minister of Fire
If it moves, you can race it. Heck, I used to race Maryland blue claw crabs.
Reliability is a given, these days. I have some big displacement vehicles, including a sedan with a bigger motor than you can buy in any 1/2 ton pickup today, and these aren’t any less reliable than my pickup. These aren’t home-grown hot rods, a few hiccups aside, all of the manufacturers seem to have a pretty good handle on reliability.
and they are made of REAL METALI understand this and would love to have 800 ponies of non diesel under the hood.these trucks are not my daily drivers but work horses with out payments and this how I like to roll..I work these trucks pretty hard...I wouldn't dare put a new truck through what I put these trucks through..so I don't have to cry if I skin one up...
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Which rusts. The worst I’ve ever owned was a 1978 Ford... I could almost see that thing rusting, if I sat and watched it for any period of time. And while the dash and body were indeed made of metal, it was still filled with plenty of low-quality 1970’s plastic that just crumbled in your hands. I still have painful memories of rebuilding the instrument cluster, in that Ford, not to mention the horrendous heater controls.
If you’re going to compare materials, you can’t beat new. Materials science didn’t even exist, as an area of consideration, when some of these old trucks were made.
My face far prefers a modern airbag, to the unprotected metal dash of my old pickups, in event of collision.
Nothing beats my Former 1999 toyota tacoma for rust ,i swear i could "hear" it rust. Hard to believe in 1999 they (toyota)couldnt figure this out.
My 1980 King cab 4x4 Nissan holed thru on the body panel seams in 3 years. Carburetor jets went south in 6 months along with the # 8 wheel bearings up front. The front end had 8 bearings per side in the front wheel hub assemblies. Only reason I got that little truck was the big three had next to zero inventory on dealer lots- can't remember why though.
1970 that was apx when the companies started to switch over to electrostatic applied baked on coatings as opposed to the etching type primers ( one of the first EPA air quality suits) - problem was that the base metal was not sufficiently clean enough before hand. I remember the engineers at AO Smith having a devil of a time tracking that down - remember the big round rust spots that would appear - those were caused by areas of the base metal not being clean enough- it is better now days but still a problem particularly where body welds are. the paint line at Brigss and Stratton was close by my place of employment . There were days when you could not breath because of the volatile emissions from same.
1970 that was apx when the companies started to switch over to electrostatic applied baked on coatings as opposed to the etching type primers ( one of the first EPA air quality suits) - problem was that the base metal was not sufficiently clean enough before hand. I remember the engineers at AO Smith having a devil of a time tracking that down - remember the big round rust spots that would appear - those were caused by areas of the base metal not being clean enough- it is better now days but still a problem particularly where body welds are. the paint line at Brigss and Stratton was close by my place of employment . There were days when you could not breath because of the volatile emissions from same.
Most carmakers were doing a pretty good job by 2000 ,iv seen some pretty bad rusted out tacomas in the early 2000s too. Some of em it was falling off in slabs under the box and rear frame. Frames were rusting out bad too not just the bodys.
toyota- replacing frames under warranty used to be the japan steel wasn't to hot and the anti rust coatings were even worse, lot of the supply comes from the mainland chi-com area now- back to square one. case in point grade 8 or higher bolts from chi-com supply failing vs US made hanging in there. i can't remember a new building falling down on its own here - plenty of reports over there. Capacitors -another area. Dell had a heck of problem with those- may be still does.
ive never brought myself to buy anything foreign but fords and dodges ive had plenty and after 2000 they are terrible, ford work trucks leave me stranded a number of times was in the shop a few times a year on average it was much more the first few years for a week or two you cant work
the dodge had undersized wires one everything and stupid designed fuse box they use still because it makes them 1k every time they replace it, leaked every fluid, wheels fall off with no noise or worning. got traded in early
the chevies we had were work truck with plow, gas engine 2500 like the others, one had a cluster issue and intake gaskets, neither ever left me stranded any where they were you can drive it till we get the parts at the dealer, down for a couple hours
the dodge had undersized wires one everything and stupid designed fuse box they use still because it makes them 1k every time they replace it, leaked every fluid, wheels fall off with no noise or worning. got traded in early
the chevies we had were work truck with plow, gas engine 2500 like the others, one had a cluster issue and intake gaskets, neither ever left me stranded any where they were you can drive it till we get the parts at the dealer, down for a couple hours
Yes but at least toyota did something about their rust issues. All 3 american companies have serious rust issues with their trucks on frames break lines body etc and they do nothing about it.
GM rust issues were fixed long before toyotas,(early 90s) . Toyota was the only major Mfg having seroius rust issues into the 2000 model year. Not to mention, weak springs ,lousy MPG and numerous gas ,oil leaks on my tacoma with only 76k on the clock. My older GM trucks were way more reliable without th erust issues back to 93. Im still using them today ,while someone else is suffering with that tacoma.
vechicle problems - i do not particularly blame US automotive engineers but i do blame the golbaly sourced suppliers of various assemblies. Course there are times that I would love to get a couple of those design engineers by the dingles. Course I am just an old grease monkey with a in-depth elctro-mechanical background.- what the heck do I know. had to repair something non automotive the other day- only cost me 4 stitches. unfinshed edge in a area that is touchy feelly only for .0001 cent that edge could have been de-burred. *&^%$#@%&%$##$#
Then why did the brake lines rust off of our 06 04 both 2500s and my 03 trailblazer all before they were 10 years old. Cab corners and rocker panels on the 04 were rotted out by 2010. And the frame on our current 06 has been patched twice and we were told we will probably need a whole new drivers side frame rail by inspection next year. And that is on a truck we bought in 2012 with 25000 miles on it and had been in a garage that whole time. Mechanically the 2500 trucks are great but they have electrical issues and rust problems.
Had a 99 F150 bare bones work truck (6 cyl) that I worked and overworked in the wood lot.
Do not buy one that has been left parked in the grass for long periods of time. Constant moisture destroyed the frame
Do not buy one that has been left parked in the grass for long periods of time. Constant moisture destroyed the frame
My extended family has at least 20+ GM vehicles ranging from 1993 to present experiencing none of these issues. I drive a 93 and a 95 GM silverado truck daily for work , no issues other then the occasional muffler and sometimes a sensor. So it appears this is not a country wide brand wide problem your having. I live in central PA as well so i get the same road salt in winter but wash the underside at least in spring. My GM trucks also had none of the other numerous problems i had with the toyota,and when they did need a part it was reasonable in price, unike the tacoma. After the rear main seal started leaking(tacoma) i got rid of it as fast as i could. IV had Mostly GM since 1974 ,only other rust problems i had other then the toyota was with 80s ford trucks.
I see many 2000 + gm trucks with bad rockers bad cab corners bad bumpers etc driving around. The cab rust seems to be worse on the extended and crew cab versions our 06 regular cab has no body rust at all. But the frame is bad. And the brake lines all needed redone long ago. Our mechanic said he has to do lots of gm lines because they used uncoated lines when everyone else had gone coated. Honestly my 1990 f250 has fewer rust issues than our 04 2500.
Oh and 4 different plugs in the dash of the 06 had wires melt off the back of them 2 of which had recalls issued for causing fires after ours melted and we fixed them. 1 did it on the 04. The headlight sockets keep melting on my trailblazer
All of that being said both trucks have been good work trucks and neither ever let us sit and the 6.0 has plenty of power and with a few minor changes gets decent gas mileage for a 3/4 ton gas truck. The trailblazer on the other hand not so great on many counts
will only buy gm because the the others are way worse, that said the are really getting bad. the newer the worse they are. cars and trucks. I will get it zeibarted and that takes care of a lot of the common issues
the wife has a Lucerne, a lot of dum engineering electrical issues on that. but worse on everything else so I'm stuck fixing it and trying to make it so it wont break again when I come across one, like the fuel pump and fuse issues with having it under the seat
the wife has a Lucerne, a lot of dum engineering electrical issues on that. but worse on everything else so I'm stuck fixing it and trying to make it so it wont break again when I come across one, like the fuel pump and fuse issues with having it under the seat
no matter what make its a 50/50 shot. The effort to lighten anything and everything has been and still is detrimental to the integrity of the units. The kind of hit my recent 2014 suv took( totaled) would have bounced off my 64 Galaxy - Course back then gas was 17-34Cents /gal so we really didn't care in that area. In 77 or 78 that became an issue. Ran my 85 f350 6.9 into the ground. I do not know how many miles, as that stopped working around 250k. Around 2006-8 the frame became an issue- not that there was that much left on the frame any way by then, snow plowing beats the h out of equipment. replaced with a 99- 350 sold that a couple weeks back more because i just didn't want spend a large sum on it and that v10 while strong as it ever was combined with 4.77 rear end just wasn't doing me any favors, bit of sellers remorse here but it was just sitting more than doing and that gets pricey in its own wright. I quit the plowing game this year and that was its main function. It has gotten too expensive to keep more than 2 units on the road. My minimum travel is 96 miles a day. That = apx. $550 in fuel cost per month. +ins and maintenance on my 250 which gets double the mileage of 350. Course it struggles a bit when towing 10,000 # but that is infrequent.
Your galaxy may have faired better but your body would not have.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Wow, a few of you guys have record-level bad luck. I think I'd give up on driving, if my vehicles broke down at that rate.
Its surprising how long they last with a little care. I guess thats why there are 100 year old model Ts on the road today.
Sean McGillicuddy
Minister of Fire
My 2008 Taco has over 328,500 miles so far ..
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