Re: OT: trucks

[Ba r r y]

I just ordered an '05 Tacoma. Let's hope they still make 'em like my old Toys.

Barry

[John McCoy]

Dave Hall wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I am not sure that I understand the "essentially useless" statement > above unless you are talking about really heavy duty payload trucks.

You can't haul 12 foot boards in a 5'+ bed, which is a common length for hardwood lumber. And you can't haul a motorcycle. In fact, there's lots of things which are more or less inconvenient in a extra-short bed truck.

John

[Ba r r y]

It won't help with a motorcycle, but hardwood, conduit, and pipe is moved nicely with a removable ladder rack. In fact, the Weather Guard Weekender:

and many of the track racks:

come on and off of the vehicle in seconds. They work great for canoes and larger kayaks as well, which still are a pain in an 8' bed. Either rack will work with 5, 6 or 8 foot beds.

I have always had 6' beds, as that's as long as Toyota and Nissan have recently made them on compact trucks, and the rack is essential. I've always needed good mileage when the truck is empty, or lightly loaded, so full size never fit my plan.

A motorcycle, mower, or other small motor vehicle fits nicely in my

5x10' box trailer, and it's MUCH easier to load. After owning a trailer, I'd never go back to getting power equipment up into a pickup!

FWIW, My Subaru Outback has hauled plenty of hardwood, including 10' boards INSIDE with all the doors shut. 12 footers go on the roof rack. While I would personally pass on an extra short bed truck, there's ways to accessorize them to conveniently haul a lot of stuff.

You payz your money...

Barry

[Ba r r y]

I used to ask the same question. I had an E350 14' cube van and a Mitsubishi like the Isuzu you write about.

I drove the Japanese truck once and it became bell clear why those things pretty much killed off the American cube van. Now the Sprinter (which is what, European Mercedes with a Dodge or Freightliner badge?) is doing the same to the typical full-size trade van.

One day, American vehicle manufacturers will put more emphasis on actually _designing_ revolutionary trucks, rather than spending all their money _telling_ us how "professional grade" they are.

Barry

[Ba r r y]

Depends on the size.

The company I work for replaced a bunch of 10', single rear wheeled, GM cube vans with the Isuzu / Mitsubishi equivalent cab-overs for company mail and material distribution. These are 3/4 to 1 ton capacity vehicles, with an empty weight around 5500-6000 pounds, truly not a medium truck. Some of them have been used completely through a life cycle, so a good amount of data's in.

The drivers, mechanics, and bean counters all absolutely love them. A very rare concurrence! I'm pretty sure they use rack and pinion steering, which is one of the reasons the drivers love them.

If a truck is being purchased to be genuinely used as a small truck, not a man-car, they're the bomb! More and more plumbers, carpenters, electricians, you name the trade... are seeing the light.

I've owned vehicles in the man-car category at times, so this term isn't meant to get anyone's panties in a wad.

Barry

[Bruce]

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 17:53:39 -0700, John McCoy wrote (in article ):

I have several homemade racks that slip into the box holes. These allow me to haul 20' stuff in my 6' bed 8^)

[Swingman]

Hey, not fair! ... after all, they actually have "real 'steel alloy' bolts holding the bed to the frame", and they think it's such an important feature that they design an entire TV advertising campaign around the fact.

Can you imagine, REAL "steel alloy" bolts??

... that's how stupid they think you are.

[Charlie Self]

Swingman responds:

Hey, not fair! ... after all, they actually have "real 'steel alloy' bolts holding the bed to the frame", and they think it's such an important feature that they design an entire TV advertising campaign around the fact.

Can you imagine, REAL "steel alloy" bolts??

... that's how stupid they think you are.

[Charlie Self]

I have several homemade racks that slip into the box holes. These allow me to haul 20' stuff in my 6' bed 8^)

[ranck]

Since you are a "truck guy" you may not like this idea. How about a nice 4-door sedan and a utility trailer? You get the comfort and drivability of a car, and hauling capacity when you need it. I did this for years and it really worked well for me.

Bill Ranck Blacskburg, Va.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I was waiting for the company pickup to be inspected yesterday and was BSing with the sales manager. He got delivery on the first Avalanche truck about a month after they were introduced. He figured it would be gone in a matter of days, what with all the advertising hype. Plenty of people stopped and looked at it, admired it, but did not buy it. He though they'd make a premium and ended up letting it go for less than he'd make on a Silverado. In spite of the hype, people mostly still tend to buy what then really need in a truck.

He also had an SSR and it did not move fast either. They will only sell them with an order, none will be brought in for spec.

[Robert Bonomi]

They're preferable to MAN-MADE "steel alloy" bolts, aren't they? *snicker*

[Ba r r y]

My sentiments exactly.

Barry

[Ba r r y]

I'm surprised they haven't decided to make certain bolts optional, available as part of the "professional" package.

Barry

[John T]

As the OP of this thread, I'd thought I'd let you know how its going. The only vehicles we've found that meet our needs is a Dodge Ram 1500 crew cab, with 77K miles, and a chrysler town and country LXi with 57K miles. Both are 2002's, both have "sale" prices of 15K. We thought about buying a trailer for the van, as its "too nice" to haul sheet goods and the like. We'd need a topper for the truck, so the extra expense is a wash.

Our big concern is the high miles both. We are going to look some more at vehicles with higher prices, hoping to find lower miles and that the bank will give use the extra money.

what to do, what to do??

John

[Kevin Craig]

"High miles"?

Cars have changed. Sixty thousand miles is just starting to reach the "settled in" point. I bought a 2000 GMC van last spring, with 67,000 miles on it. It's a full size conversion van, tricked out with leather, LCD screen, and all the goodies. I didn't hesitate at $14,900; didn't even haggle on the price. I expect this van to continue running like a top for at least 100,000 more miles.

In 1997, I bought a 1996 Chevy Lumina sedan with 79k miles on it. Today, with 215,000 miles, it's still my daily commuter. A bad thing happened to the transmission (unrelated to mileage), but other than that, my only repairs have been to replace the water pump about six months ago, and the A/C compressor (mandatory in Texas) at 175k miles.

Honestly, unless it's been used hard or abused, then anything under

90,000 miles just means you're taking advantage of someone else's lost depreciation.

Kevin

[George]

All such bets are off in the rust belt.

Not to mention being simplistic elsewhere. 30K on Dallas freeways is a lot more hours than 100K of my driving, where there are five possible places where I might be obliged to slow or stop in the 37 miles to work.

[Ba r r y]

I always thought "Rust Belt" referred to the areas that held America's lost steel industry, not that things actually rusted more in a certain area.

It's strange how geography changes the meaning of things.

Barry

[John T]

Two things...I do live in the rust belt (southern WI), and I put a higher number of miles per year than average, about 17-18K. My minivan reached 159,000 miles before the tranny and power steering gave out, which is the reason why I'm looking.

Both vehicles are local trades.

John

[Swingman]

Yep ... when used in reference to automobiles, I always thought of it as those areas where it was common to salt the roads in the winter.