Almost lost the Truck

[Mike Lewis]

[ QUOTE ]
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I keep reminding myself that dropping a grand or two on my schedule is better than $750 a month on someone else's schedule.
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[/ QUOTE ]


How true. I figure by the time I'm 65... in another 33+ years, I'll have enough cash to pay for a new truck. Ha!

So this truck must last another 33 years... Next new vehicle is gonna be a new body style Mustang Cobra or equivalent... whatever's the fastest one I can get. :-) Not planning on spending $50k+ for a truck to pull horses, who like to kick/run into trucks...

[V2Neal]

I'd say another factor is how much you drive. I bought a used 2002 Avalanche 2500. Nice truck (ugly, but nice)ton's of power, all the toys, etc, etc. BUT, it had it's niggles. Sucked oil around town, typical Avy leaks, and with the miles I put on, it was looking like by the time it was paid for, it'd be engine replacement time! Ack!
I sold it and bought my 90 F250, wich I've sold and bought my 90 F350. Maybe it's tha fact that I can't leave things alone, but I don't mind tinkering with the truck. I'm in the same boat right now, with my wife asking how much this engine rebuild is going to cost. I'm hoping not to get trapped by the "Three Prices Rule" 1. The price you pay for something. 2. The price you tell her you paid. 3. The price you pay when she finds out how much you really paid. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]


Good Luck.

[350camper]

Scotty, whatever you do I would say dont get out of your used truck only to get another used one. Even if it is newer, you wont know what you have. Knowing what you got, is worth a lot.
[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]
Ask Travis if he's had the head off his Goat since he got it. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Like most of us, your truck is also your hobby. These hobbies are expensive.

One option you may consider. You're approaching long block prices by paying 2k to have your HGs done. Maybe baby it along until you have the time to pull the motor, and drop a whole new LB in. 6.9 LB That's what I did a little over a year ago. I don't even open the hood hardly anymore. Only when I want to play with something.

[Fozz]

Another thing to consider, a newer used truck may have computer controls, and if they fail and is out of warranty, stand by! Injectors are pricey too. But then, I may be in the same boat when/if my tranny goes, I want a BTS. How am I gonna sell a 4k tranny, and a trip to the Midwest to get it, to my wife?! Alot of help I am...... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Birken Vogt]

Hate to be the sole voice of dissent here but in my experience once they get that old and you start dumping that kind of money into repairs it never stops no matter how much you think you've replaced everything, something more will always break. Not helped at all by the fact that you have added a bunch of power to a truck that should be babied, not raced. The secret to keeping yourself solvent is to hang it up before the truck becomes a money pit and not after. I have dumped tons of money into a 1970 Chevy truck, a 1982 F-350, a 1978 C-7000 (GMC), a 1975 C-9000 (Ford), and now the current money pit is a 1982 F-700, and others. It is the same old story over and over unfortunately. My advice would be to fix it and sell it to a sucker. If this is not possible, fix it and then drive it real slow.

Birken

[350camper]

I think Birken has hit the nail on the head. Though he and I seem to have different hammers. Bottom line is 3/4 to 1 ton trucks are expensive. I mean, new ones cost 35 - 50k. And you can easily spend 10 to 20k getting a used one setup like you want. I just think there are no bargains in the diesel truck world, let's not kid ourselves. Only way to come out ahead is not to own one. For most here, that isn't an option.

[Mike Lewis]

True. I think Birken's point may be a little harsh, though.

Wanna talk about money pit? How about the guys who race their cars/trucks at the track. They break something almost every time they show, only to go home and fix it and return the following weekend.

I really don't believe that once things start to fail, everything's going to go. The things that HAVE gone in my truck are the things that would have gone in ANY truck... often with fewer miles.

Alternator. Starter (only replaced for my own piece of mind). Transmission (the weak link--replaced by a BTS unit). Front end is new... that's not going to fail again. Frame isn't going to fail. Brakes are new and are going to wear just like they would on any one ton truck.

Everything that has been done to this truck has made it stronger than it was when it rolled off the assembly line. The only things I can't fix or upgrade are the interior parts--cheapy plastic dash, etc.

The only major component left to replace is the engine.

Birken and F350Camper are right that ANY diesel truck.. heck, ANY truck you work with, is going to cost you money. You just have to decide if you want it to cost you money while making payments on a prohibitively expensive (for most of us, even with well-paying jobs) truck AND pay for repairs at the same time... or if you want to pay cash outright for something used and fix it as you can afford.

Personally, I just don't see the logic in buying a $24,000 2000 model year truck, used, and having to sink money into it to get it up to snuff. I don't see putting myself on the line to make those payments for a truck out of warranty while risking turbo overhaul and replacement injectors, or flirting with a multitude of potential computer-control problems when Ford charges $80, minimum to even do a simple diagnostic before the REAL repair costs kick in.

[RedandWhite_69]

[ QUOTE ]
Like most of us, your truck is also your hobby. These hobbies are expensive

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You got that right! I don't think I could have justified all the money I've spent if my truck wasn't a hobby.

[agnem]

Scotty, I feel for you. I know how important the support of a spouse is. Women tend to be very irrational though and don't think things through. Financially you will be much better off. We all live from paycheck to paycheck, and getting a 5 year loan to pay for a new superduty will have a long lasting impact that will prevent you from taking her out to dinner every friday, a whole lot more than what you might spend on your truck. You love your truck, and you love her. My wife understands that loyalty is a character trait that she has come to appreciate. Wanting to keep the same truck, and not wanting change is important. A man who enjoys mediocrity isn't going to go running off with another woman as likely as somebody always looking for the latest greatest thing. Being content to mold what you have instead of buying your way through life is far better in my opionion. Try to explain to her that you wouldn't throw her away if she got seriously ill, and you would spend more money on her than she might be "worth" just as well. If she got cancer, or a brain tumor, it would be easier to get divorced and get a new wife than stick it out with the old one. That's not the way men like us are! We put our hearts and souls into our mates and our trucks and our other passions. They are not things that can be simply discarded. Unless your like goat boy over there. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[DSBlack]

Scotty,
You also have to remember that as you push the envelope, you have more failures. I cuss and complain at my truck when I hit the hils with the TT in tow, I long for more power, But then I read about your experiances, and Travis, and though I long for the power I am not ready to risk the long term dependability of the truck. Yes, I too have more $$ in it than I should. But there is something special about these older trucks. And I love the room inside of them.
Will I add some of these upgrades to my truck? Someday, but for now I just take it real slow up the hills because that is all she will do. Maybe after you get her running again you should take a break from the mods and build a rep with the wife of it being a dependable truck.... Then hit the next mod with the the idea of what is this really going to cost? I have just about rebuilt my truck if you look at my sig. But the wife still likes it because I have not broken anything that was repaired or replaced..... yet....
Just my take on keeping the wife happy and the truck up and going.
Doug

[Mike Lewis]

Wow! Talk about hitting the nail squarely on the head!

Great post! So... philosophical. :-)

I'm going to go tell my wife all about how things are right now... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[Mike Lewis]

What side TT are you pulling?

My experience is that the vacuum behind the trailer really slows the truck down more than the weight. Horse trailer (7' tall inside)is 6000 pounds, empty... and I know it is back there when trying to pull at highway speeds. Added weight to it seems to make relatively little difference. Open car trailer was the same weight and, short of hills, I didn't feel it.

[beretzs]

Okay, Mel, you are right on, I love my truck, I have done pretty much everything to it since I have owned it. I know all the squeaks and everything. I really don't think I am hot rodding the truck. I realize the HG's went kind of early, but for a 6.9, they seemed to be the first things to take a crap on the truck. I have added the turbo and the Improved IP and Injectors and propane, but really, there are alot of others running the same deal. They have either already did their HG's. I think that was my major failure, but heck, I didn't know about them until after I had put the turbo on. Knowing now, what I know, I would have did head studs and then did the turbo. I wouldn't have really been money ahead, but I wouldn't have to tear the truck down. I don't really hit the truck hard, really, I have 4.56's so I keep my speeds under 70MPH with is about 2450RPMS, and maybe up to 3K once in a great while, while pulliing a huge hill, but since the GV's, I really don't run over 2600 Rpms, ever, not really any need, the truck pulls great right there.

Now, here is a question for you guys, with the new HG's and and only 138K miles, should the engine hold up for at least 100K. I can't think that is asking too much. That would be under 250K overall miles. Anyhow, the only other thing I could really think of going south would be the tranny. That is probably something to think about. But I really don't abuse the tranny and it shifts great. Other than that, the truck runs great. But, thanks overall for all the help. The truck is going to get fixed, hopefully I will be allowed to keep it. I am sure once I get it back and it is up an running, there won't be too much she can say about a paid for truck, that doesn't cost us really anything but fuel, oil and filters.. Scotty

[junk]

Saying these trucks are a hobby is right on. I think I have about 10-12k in my truck with purchase price & repairs. One major repair was a 4500 drop in engine. I am with the other guys on buying a newer used truck that needs repairs. I wouldn't want to have a 4-500 dollar a month payment on a truck with 100K plus miles. So what do you do then when the tranny blows up. Which is likely with over 100k. I have looked at several 1999 or 2000 crewcabs with over 100k miles. The least exspensive one I looked at was 16000 and had been beat. One thing I don't quite get is if it costs 10-15 grand to replace all the major components in our types of trucks why do they only book out at 2500-3500? When I get my truck painted up I feel like I have a 13000 dollar truck, but if it got wrecked I get about 2500 for it? Sorry for the rant.

My theory is to keep what you have. Atleast you know what's been done. There's no guarentee that a newer truck won't need similar repairs.

My 2 cents
Junk

[DSBlack]

I am pulling a 32 foot with 1 slide Fleetwood Widerness. It is about 10-12 feet high and a flat back. Really slows me on the hills. I think the truck should pull it easier than it does, but...