dmurphy317

Ididn't makeit to the range before I had to go out of town again. My wife said she was OK with me going shooting but she had that little thing in her voice that made me question her "excitment" about the trip. I still had several things on my list of repairs that needed to be done so I figured I better try to reduce the list instead of my powder supply. I know, that makes it official, I'm crazy and ready for the rubber room.

I also had a big hit to my finances this past week, my truck started having some issues that turned out to be transmission problems. $2100 later I've got a new transmission, ouch.

I did get a chance to try the drill method I mentioned in my earlier post, I didn't like the results but haven't tested the sabots yet so the jury is still out on it. I did try cutting off the cup portion of the sabots and that looks promising, will know after a range session.

cayugad

When it rains it pours, my father used to say.

Don't feel too bad about the truck. I have the worst truck ever made. I drive and still owna Ford F-150 as a work truck (if it gets dented or what ever, who cares). It has 119,000 miles on it and is 15 years old. I have gone through 8 clutches. Never once, have I wore a clutchout mind you. Ford Motor company hates to and refuses toadmit that they produced a big tuff work truck that can be disabled by a simple mouse... They won't even talk about it.

The mouse builds a nest in the clutch under the pressure plate and when the nest gets big enough, you press in the clutch one day and ... BOOM the clutch blows out.. You then have to replace the whole clutch assembly. Just the parts are over $300.00.

When I tried to trade it in, Ford offered me $800.00 for it. I had over a thousand in the new front end and again that in new tires... but they told me old Fords were hard to sell. At the time I had only killed four clutches, and the truck had under 65,000 miles on it. I guess their big sales pitch of how the truck holds resale value was kind of a lie.

Ford Motor.. where quality is job ONE as they love to claim. Refuses to even talk to me. When I complained they gave me a 800 number to call. They claimed they tried to contact me, yet somehow they never showed on my caller ID or call waiting , or call forwarding. So when you call their 800 number to talk to a representative, they put you on hold for 37 minutes and then the phone automatically hangs up. The second time I was on for 32 minutes and the phone hung up.

And they wonder why I bought a new Chevrolet Silverado and talked all my family and friend into not buying Fords.. Something to keep in mind if you need a new truck for work.

I feel much better now..

Sorry you did not get a chance to shoot your rifles, and your truck broke down.

Underclocked

Dave, which of those pickups gets the best mileage?

cayugad

My Silverado smokes them all.. it has a V8 and last fill was 21.2 mpg and it is four wheel drive to boot. The Ford will pull 19 mpg although it seems to be going down hill with age.

dmurphy317

Sorry to here that Dave. My truck happens to be an F-150 also, 2001 and 149,000 miles (you must not drive yours enough). Mines an automatic and gets 19.5 to 22 mpg depending on the trip type.It's just a 2WD model so your 4WD Chevy is doing better. I've driven Fords most of my life but I do like the mileage and ride of the Chevy better so I may have to rethink the next truck I get.

cayugad

My Ford is a 1993. Other then it eats clutches, it runs perfect, has the big six cylinder and plenty of pulling power in the woods, and starts at -40 below sitting in a snow bank. The real kicker is how Ford refused to admit that there is a design flaw in the truck. I started complaining the time the first clutch went out, while it was under warranty. And every time the clutch goes out, I complain again telling them how many miles I got on that clutch. But since they fail to admit they have a design flaw,they do not have to accept any responsibility for the problem. Because of their lack of trying to solve or at least work with this problem, I have vowed never to own another Ford. Actually for years, that is all I every drove was Ford trucks, Crown Victoria's, Turbo Thunderbirds, Ford EXP sports cars, etc.. but never again.

If the clutches were not going out every year and a half, I would have never bought the Chevrolet. What happened is I took a trip to visit my folks, and when I got down there, the clutch blew out stranding me. Well I was so mad, I could have spit bullets. I finally got someone to fix it, and I then vowed that when I got back home, I would buy a new truck and sell the Ford. Trouble is, no one wants to purchase old work trucks.. they want trucks with no rust, and moderate mileage. So since it was fixed,I haul wood with it, drive it through the woods, and haul garbage, and pull my boat around. In fact my Silverado is two years old this September and I just turned 6000 miles on it...

Semisane

Hey Dave, sounds like you have a faithful old wife who, though she has a few flaws, you really love - and a sleek new girlfriend on the side.

dmurphy317

And I thought I was the crazy one.

Are you sureyour just Semi...sane

frontier gander

Dave, you should be happy that you did not buy the mid to late fords with the powerstroke and the auto tranny

Brother in law had new at the time, 95 ford ranger. 3 clutches in one year. Not sure if it was the parts or the place that installed the clutches.

Best truck we have now is our 98 f250 with the gas 5.4 v8, auto. 270,000 miles on the ticker and she's still going strong with only normal wear on parts.

Funny thing is, the few parts that we have replaced, all came with a lifetime warranty!

18mpg, wasnt built for hauling fast but it gets you there reliably. Now to change out the crappy autolite plugs. Never use them again!

SteveBNy

Mousetraps

Steve