I love/hate my truck....

[55Redneck]

rswojo, that's the nice thing about our old trucks. They're so simple to work on. The only things I've had to do on mine in the last 5 years (besides oil changes) is a rad 4 years ago and a year and a half ago the starter kacked. I had another starter off a different truck that had a bad drive gear so I took them both apart and used all the best pieces from the pair and it works like a champ now. No cost to me but an hour or two of my time. God forbid if anything went wrong with my 99 Chevy Venture work van, I wouldn't know where to start. The fun ride that should be on the road in a year or so is a 65 Barracuda. LONG LIVE THE OLD IRON!!!:yes:

 

[Dingman]

I Love my S10 ZR2

I agree....its a 1960's design. But.....its very cheap to fix....

LOL, "60's".

Show me a torsion bar front suspesion for a 4x4 that was made in the 60's. IIRC, the first IFS\torsion systems came out in the late 70's, the LUV was one of the first.

And yes, the S-10 front suspension suks, no doubt. Mine is a 2001 with the factor lift and wider axles (the ZR2 package). Not easy to keep the front end together.
If a person likes the truck enough, a SFA swap can be done, and leaves you with a sweet, lifted wheeling truck that will track straight down the road.

Now, if you want something to thrash, that will hold up to the abuse - get a old Toyota-

Youtube vid of my rig climbing hill

 

[Bozzmonster]

Reading this thread explains my current situation 100%. I plan on buying a house in a year, likely one that will need a little work. I don't currently have a truck, but I want one for a second vehicle. That's all I want... a pickup. 2WD, standard cab, base engine, automatic... that's it. It's gonna haul stuff. I'll keep my car for a daily driver. However, it's hard to find a basic pickup in decent shape. Either you run into one of several scenarios:

The truck is way too optioned out for my taste and out of my price range.
If it is a basic work truck, it is worked to death and needs way too much work to be worth the price.
If it is a basic work truck in good shape, the seller ain't selling.

One of the craziest things I saw recently is that Ford discontinued the Ranger. To me, I think there is a market for a good durable compact pickup, if priced right. Ford's issue is they priced the Ranger close to the price as the F150, and make more money off of optioned out vehicles with all the bells and whistles. As for me, I'll keep looking. I'll find something eventually.

 

[PioneerGuy85]

Every vehicle goes through a wave of stuff needing replaced every ~100k that usually lasts ~20k or so. Once you get over that hump, you're good for another ~100k (unless you don't take care of it)

 

[usedto]

A++

Be interesting to find out how many people actually do truckish things with theirs?

I have a '97 Chevy Z71 Silverado that just kicked over 106,000 miles. A little light on the miles for it's age, but most of those miles were put on pulling either a 16' tandem axle car trailer with a load, or a 20' 14,000" GVW beavertail gooseneck.

It just had it's first tune-up.

 

[Dingman]

Another thing is the 4.3L engine (besides being a gas hog because it's basically a 350 with two cylinders loped off) is that it can run with only minor repairs for 3-400K miles.
The parts are WAY cheap and they are also easy to work on. Well, the newer ones aren't with the injectors and such but they are still TBI.
Good engine.

 

[RamblinE]

Another thing is the 4.3L engine (besides being a gas hog because it's basically a 350 with two cylinders loped off) is that it can run with only minor repairs for 3-400K miles.
The parts are WAY cheap and they are also easy to work on. Well, the newer ones aren't with the injectors and such but they are still TBI.
Good engine.

That explains a few things with the Sonoma I drive at work. Mostly off road. Lots of stop and go, lots of idling. I'm lucky if I get three hundred miles out of a tank of gas. I have to gas up about once a month, even though I only put ten miles a day or less on it.

 

[Dingman]

That explains a few things with the Sonoma I drive at work. Mostly off road. Lots of stop and go, lots of idling. I'm lucky if I get three hundred miles out of a tank of gas. I have to gas up about once a month, even though I only put ten miles a day or less on it.

Not bad, 300. Most people are happy to get 280. I'm running more like 240 (i.e., crappy mileage) due to some mods I've done to the truck (intake, exhaust, re-programmed, shackles, plates, tubes).

Nothing like my 4runner tho. Now, that rig is modified, but not so much that it's not recognizable.:yes:

 

[Lwrs10]

LOL, "60's".

Show me a torsion bar front suspesion for a 4x4 that was made in the 60's. IIRC, the first IFS\torsion systems came out in the late 70's, the LUV was one of the first.

And yes, the S-10 front suspension suks, no doubt. Mine is a 2001 with the factor lift and wider axles (the ZR2 package). Not easy to keep the front end together.
If a person likes the truck enough, a SFA swap can be done, and leaves you with a sweet, lifted wheeling truck that will track straight down the road.

the 2wd design is a 60's design. I have the 2wd....

 

[Dingman]

the 2wd design is a 60's design. I have the 2wd....

But that's a coil sprung A-arm, right?

 

[jdrum1]

I have a '97 Chevy Z71 Silverado that just kicked over 106,000 miles. A little light on the miles for it's age, but most of those miles were put on pulling either a 16' tandem axle car trailer with a load, or a 20' 14,000" GVW beavertail gooseneck.

It just had it's first tune-up.

I had a '98 Silverado that decided to slowly self-destruct at 80k. I blame it on the Dex-Cool antifreeze. I had already replaced everything it touched (minus the block), and was starting to have heater and radiator issues again.

 

[Dingman]

I had a '98 Silverado that decided to slowly self-destruct at 80k. I blame it on the Dex-Cool antifreeze. I had already replaced everything it touched (minus the block), and was starting to have heater and radiator issues again.

Yup. I did buy my truck new, and in the first month I got that DEx-cool out of there and put green in. Installed a cheap flush valve, I've flushed it about every 3 years or so.

The other thing I changed is that transmission vacuum switch. There was a flaw in the design, the vacuum switch MAY fail. IF it does fail, the normal first sign is, hehehe - get this - transmission fluid in your ashtray. har har har.

The switch fails, the vacuum sucks fluid out of the tranny and neatly distributes it thru the entire vacuum system. It's a bad thing. GM released a new switch and I changed mine out pronto, it's easy for anyone to to - $20 and 10 minutes.

 

[whoaru99]

I had a '98 Silverado that decided to slowly self-destruct at 80k. I blame it on the Dex-Cool antifreeze. I had already replaced everything it touched (minus the block), and was starting to have heater and radiator issues again.

Now that we're on the topic of antifreeze, just make sure when you're mixing it that you spend the extra $1 per gallon and use distilled water for mixing the blend. The properties of water in some locales cause (relatively speaking) rapid corrosion in radiators and similar heat exchangers.

 

[dread31]

1997 Dakota Sport.

I have a '97 Dakota short bed, regular cab with the 5.2 liter Magnum V8 (318) that I bought new.

It has 189,000 miles on it now. The only unexpected trouble I've had is the fuel pump went at about 30,000 miles, and it's been through two sets of ball joints......

Other than normal maintenance; That's it.

She has some rust , scratches, dents, and the headliner is falling off. But she runs as strong as a team of Clydesdales.:thmbsp:

Dave

 

[jdrum1]

Yup. I did buy my truck new, and in the first month I got that DEx-cool out of there and put green in. Installed a cheap flush valve, I've flushed it about every 3 years or so.

The other thing I changed is that transmission vacuum switch. There was a flaw in the design, the vacuum switch MAY fail. IF it does fail, the normal first sign is, hehehe - get this - transmission fluid in your ashtray. har har har.

The switch fails, the vacuum sucks fluid out of the tranny and neatly distributes it thru the entire vacuum system. It's a bad thing. GM released a new switch and I changed mine out pronto, it's easy for anyone to to - $20 and 10 minutes.

I also bought mine new, but didn’t know about the Dex-cool issue until a radiator shop told me about it (while replacing my water pump). Flushed and replaced it, but the damage was done.

It was also full of squeaks and rattles (even though I babied it). I traded it for a Honda and have never looked back.

 

[240sx4u]

Seriously, no pictures? I love modified S-10's.