Trucks and their inherent issues?

[Freebird]

I've owned a lot of trucks over the years and have to say that, for the most part, I've always been a chevy man. I've owned a couple of Fords over the years but it was a good while back. I think they were 1968 and 1969 models. They were OK and I never had any major problems with them but the 68 was using a good bit of oil with just over 100,000 miles on it.

 

The newest Chevrolets I've owned were a 2007 and a 2004 Avalanche. Never had any major problems with either of them but both had well under 100,000 miles on them. I sold the 2004 Avalanche a couple of years ago and with I hadn't. It was a somewhat rare 3/4 ton model with the 8.1 liter big block. It was a beast. I sold it after we sold our large boat and I never thought I would need it again. Then last fall we bought a 27 ft. camper and it would have been great. Only had 50,000 miles on it and was rust free and fully loaded. The downside was the approximate 10 MPG but it wasn't a daily driver.

 

So, when we decided to buy the camper, we needed another truck. I had decided that I would like to give Toyota a try and ended up with a new (owners demo) 1784 Edition Crewmax. It has about every option available from Toyota including heated leather seats, ventilated seats, all the blind spot monitors, adaptive cruise control, etc. Unlike Flyinfool, I actually love the safety features. Especially love the blind spot monitors and adaptive cruise control. Yes, it is something else that could need repair I suppose but truly useful features. It has the 5.7 liter and trailering package. There are a lot of things I like about it and I've had no issues with it but it only has 11,000 miles on it at this time. There are also some things that I don't like about it. To be honest, I don't think that the ride is as good as the Chevrolets. It is a bit firm but not harsh. I suppose if you want a truck with a trailering package then it has to be a bit firm. I will say that when we bought and pulled the trailer home from Grand Rapids, MI, it handles it extremely well. Pulling a 7,000 lb. trailer at 70 MPH was no struggle at all.

 

All manufacturers have had their issues. I worked at a Chevrolet dealership for a few years about 16 years ago. If we took a full size Dodge in on trade, we almost assumed that it was going to need the front end rebuilt. If we took a full size Chevy in on trade, it was a given that it would need a new intake manifold gasket. Fords had various issues as well and for me, they never seemed to handle/drive as well as the Chevy models. Nissan had their share of transmission issues and a few other things, at least with the first gen Titans. Toyota? WOW....major issues with the frames. They replaced a LOT of frames on trucks from the mid to late 2000's. The frames were made by Dana for Toyota and there was a lot of finger pointing over whose fault it was. It was determined that Dana did not make them to spec. Don't know if it was the steel, coatings, or what but in the end, Toyota won a 25 million dollar lawsuit against Dana. They ended up extending the frame warranty for something like 12 years but for me, I would be trading a Toyota of those year models. I am also not entirely convinced that the problem is solved. Some experts say that the box frame is the problem and allows water and salt to enter and not exit. They are still using the same box frame. It is a strong frame but has the rust issue actually been resolved? I guess only time will tell.

 

So, I am relatively happy with the Tundra but a bit apprehensive also. Gas mileage is not great but not nearly as bad as the 8.1 liter Avalanche. I expect that you'll see a total update to the Tundra within the next 2 or 3 years. It's about that time. One the negative about the Tundra Crewmax is that the bed is only about 5' 7" long. That's not really an issue for me but for somebody who uses their truck to actually haul, it would be a deal killer. If you buy one primarily for towing a bumper pull trailer, it's not an issue.

 

I'm not unhappy with my decision but if I had it to do over, I would do a better comparison between the Tundra and the new Chevrolets before making my purchase. I was pretty much settled on give Toyota.a try and really didn't look at or even test drive the new Chevys this time. I might have still bought the Tundra but only with I had did a full demo first.

[Flyinfool]

@Freebird, You misunderstood, I am not against tech like monitors, cameras, adaptive cruise (never had it but I think I would like it) and such, as long as they can be turned off when I don't want them. I am against any system that can actually take control away from me and leave my life in the hands of a computer. Like steering assist or automatic brakes, traction control and stability control. If it were not for the fact that the factories no longer make any attempt at building properly balanced brake systems, I would also be against anti lock brakes, but with the new lousy brake systems you need the anti lock to maintain control in a maximum effort stop.

[videoarizona]

Freebird, You misunderstood, I am not against tech like monitors, cameras, adaptive cruise (never had it but I think I would like it) and such, as long as they can be turned off when I don't want them. I am against any system that can actually take control away from me and leave my life in the hands of a computer. Like steering assist or automatic brakes, traction control and stability control. If it were not for the fact that the factories no longer make any attempt at building properly balanced brake systems, I would also be against anti lock brakes, but with the new lousy brake systems you need the anti lock to maintain control in a maximum effort stop.

 

Jeff,

 

I have all the bells and stuff on my pickmeup truck. BUT, they can be turned off...with the exception of anti-lock brakes. Let's face it, you can't do donuts in the parking lot full of snow with all that stuff on!

 

BTW, I read a nice write up on the differences between all wheel drive and 4 wheel drive on the GMC's. Quite interesting how you can use all wheel drive 24/7 on any surface at any speed since the front clutches are in "neutral" (so to speak). Great for people like you who drive in sometimes snowy roads. I didn't know that. The only issue is it takes a second or so for the truck to realize it needs all 4 working and engages the front clutches. But it does work well in snow and mud.

Of course, regular 4 wheel drive is just that.

 

What I do really like is the slow speed hill descent. Flip the switch on that thing at about 4mph and watch my truck go down a steep, rocky trail at a few miles per hour without me having to touch the brakes. You can speed up or slow down and the truck maintains that speed. Pretty cool and don't even need to be in any 4 wheel drive mode!

[BlueSky]

Yea but them aint even full size trucks. Wont be long, anything under 1 ton will have an automatic except like the micro cars like the Focus and similar size.

 

Yeah, but the "small" trucks today are about the same size as the full size trucks of old. That's one thing I don't like about the new full size trucks. They keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger. It's like driving a dang bus. When I got out of my buddies 2013 F150 and got back in my 2002 F150, both supercabs, it felt almost like I was going from a full size to a Ranger.

[Flyinfool]

Bigger is better. I can load more "stuff". My extended cab with 8' box is still to small, I keep running out of room.

[Chaharly]

I did not want to continue to side track the WDYDTYVT thread so:

 

What are the various reasons to NOT buy a Ford, Chevy, Ram, Nissan, Toyota, etc. Truck?

 

I have had very good luck(so far) with Ford F150 trucks. Sure, the fenders and rocker panels disintegrated after a few years, but mechanically they have all been very good. I never bought one new and I never had what turned out to be the "problem" engines. Until this latest one, that was simply good luck. This one I specifically researched and bought one with an engine that had a good reputation.

 

I am leaning toward a Ram for my next truck. Hopefully my current F150 will last me at least another 6 or 7 years. So then I'll be looking at trucks manufactured from 2015 on, give or take. Are the Hemi Rams experiencing any systemic issues?

 

Same question for any other truck out there. What are your personal experiences?

 

My dad had a Ram. Probably an 04 with the Hemi. It was the newer body style. Anyways it was a nice truck on the inside but they're revvy. If you're gonna get a truck invest in a 2500 Ram Diesel. Dad has one with 250k miles on it and the body and interior are in amazing shape. As far as gassers go, I've never owned a truck newer than 97. I had a 97 F150 with a 4.6 for awhile. Thought I blew a head gasket on it but it turns out theres an oil cooler that could have possibly been leaking oil into the cooling system. Either way it would get bubbles in the coolant and smelled like gas and I drove that truck for thousands of miles like that. Worst thing about that was the heater didn't work because of that specific problem. The AC kicked ass in it though. I found that that F150 could turn sharper than my new truck which is a 97 Silverado with a 5.7

 

I absolutely love this 350 Vortec. Tons of pull with power to spare and it shifts super smooth. Rarely if ever shifts on hills with the cruise set but this truck is as rusted out as my ford. I bought it for 800 bucks with a bad rear end and put a junk yard one it in that hows real bad. I need to get this one fixed soon but maybe this is a sign that these chevy's don't have the best axles? This is just my experience with pickups. I think the late 90s ones are nice because they're still easy to work on

[Condor]

Hi Condor,

Not sure what year model your Titan is. Those dudes used to be gas suckers, but Nissan completely remodelled them in 2017, and they get a lot better mileage now. 2017 is the model year I have, and I just looked at the avg MPG before I came in the house and jumped on the forum. It says its averaging 17.9 on this tank of gas. But, I've been running quite a bit of city stuff the past few days.

 

It's an '06. Must be one of those gas suckers.... :-) I bought it used 6 years ago with 74K original, and it got 15-16 mpg, but lately along with this damn 15% ethanol fuel the mileage has gone to hell in a hand basket... Now I'm getting around 11. Good thing I don't drive it.. or anything else for that matter.. too much... I don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon... After looking at the price of the 2019's, equipped the same way, I can have a new crate 5.6 dropped in it, and toss a paint job on it for around 10 grand. A hell of a lot cheaper than a loaded '19 for 50....

[Sylvester]

It's an '06. Must be one of those gas suckers.... :-) I bought it used 6 years ago with 74K original, and it got 15-16 mpg, but lately along with this damn 15% ethanol fuel the mileage has gone to hell in a hand basket... Now I'm getting around 11. Good thing I don't drive it.. or anything else for that matter.. too much... I don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon... After looking at the price of the 2019's, equipped the same way, I can have a new crate 5.6 dropped in it, and toss a paint job on it for around 10 grand. A hell of a lot cheaper than a loaded '19 for 50....

 

 

I didn't know you could use 15% ethanol in an 06 vehicle. Thought it rotted the fuel lines etc.

 

[Condor]

I didn't know you could use 15% ethanol in an 06 vehicle. Thought it rotted the fuel lines etc.

 

 

If the 10% didn't get it, the 15 won't either... The problem is with the older pre-ethanol fuel systems. I'm not totally certain, but I'm pretty sure the 10% was around prior to '06....

[Sylvester]

It was around in 1974, at least 10%. That's when ADM started buying up midwest corn for processing. I remember farmers thinking the profit would make them rich. Land valuees skyrocketed and large corporate farming became the norm..

 

[Condor]

It was around in 1974, at least 10%. That's when ADM started buying up midwest corn for processing. I remember farmers thinking the profit would make them rich. Land valuees skyrocketed and large corporate farming became the norm..

 

 

That was a while back.... Way back when they switched from leaded to unleaded fuel that reeked havoc on our valves.... They're always looking to screw up our lives more because they know better.... :-)