KARNUT

He has his dad’s newer truck he’s put away. He has several old cars he rotates between him and his family. I’ve seen a restored square body and a SS Chevy truck he’s sometimes drives. He did raffle off a new suburban recently. As much as he is watched if he drove new stuff as a rule we’d know it. It would be fine by me. I don’t care what people prefer. I got one more new one in me. I’d rather my wife get one. I can’t get her out of the Genesis. Don’t tell anyone. I want her to get an electric truck. I want to put a generator in the back. Just because. She hasn’t bit yet.

It really is comical when people don’t agree or see the reason some people prefer the older vehicles. They become condescending. All the while they may be busting their knuckles on old vehicles. I have found memories of swapping out engines in my old GM cars in a weekend without much hassle. Unlike today. One wrong move a computer will shut you down. Even on something as easy as a brake job. There’s a pretty comical YouTuber called the car wizard. A garage owner who puts it all in perspective. Another Vicegrip garage that’s shows just how tough the old stuff is.

The opposite here 3.09 Kroger’s Montgomery Tx

By the way the 98 diesel with its 355 gear gets 25 mpg at 65 mph. The 2000 7.3 one ton diesel gets 22 with the more pulling gear at 65. The way my mother drove it to town on secondary roads usually at 45 mph got better than that.

Haha. This old man is in real good shape. If I wasn’t retired I’d still get a new truck every two years. I like the performance. My family business has a fleet of all the brands. Even performance trucks. I like the old stuff better. Too much glitter and intrusion. They don’t last like they used to. It’s a shame because the less fortunate second, third owners will pay that price.

Care to wager that those diesels don’t get better than 20 mpg? Those trucks are well kept and pristine. One is north of 250K the other is close to 175K. Never had any major repairs. It’s amazing how condensation you can get. The difference is I can back up what I say. All you do is get upset and spicy. Karen, that’s funny. Happens to be my wife’s, granddaughter and sister in law’s name. So much for originality.

Sitting at my parents house are two older diesel trucks not only getting the same fuel mileage that the mini diesel gets. But both have pulled a 14K tractor on a 7K gooseneck trailer. A 2000 Ford one ton diesel and a 1998 3/4 ton 5.9 Cummins. All original. I’m certainly not complaining about the power of today’s trucks. But the additional quest for fuel mileage and the additional pollution devices have taken reliability down to half what it used to be.

It wouldn’t have happened if the government hadn’t mandated outrageous fuel mileage standards. It does very little for the consumer. It adds cost. Back during Covid there was a chip shortage. They gave a rebate for your truck if it didn’t have the chip to turn on cylinder deactivation. It was 50$ because at best you may see 1/2 a mile increase per gallon. Splitting hairs each fuel mileage trick wasn’t mandated. The government doesn’t do the engineering work and say use this until it’s already in use and they like it. The fuel mileage was mandated. And those add ons the results. There’s a mandate and they are the results.

It has happened to me a few times. I carry a jumpstart-tire inflator with me.

It was all part of the tiny bit of fuel savings it goes towards what was mandated by the government. Much like cylinder deactivation. That was relaxed by the recent administration. All that doesn’t help the individual buyer. But as a whole helps the manufacturer to try to reach the previous ridiculous past mileage per gallon mandate. So yes it was mandated and added cost to the vehicle.

My brother in law was sitting in Houston Traffic during rush hour going to work. He forgot to hit the button. He was at a light his VW wouldn’t restart. It took an hour for a tow truck to get to him. He said it was the scariest hour of his life. It took him to an auto zone he put in a new battery. He was late for a meeting at work. All for another useless government mandate.

As much as I’m intrigued by the whole idea. As long as there’s a gas alternative for about the same price. I’m going to wait awhile. I was initially captured by the performance of electric vehicles. So I’m on the wait and see list.

We had two Toyota’s with that engine in the mid 80s. We had 50 gallon fuel tanks, a toolbox full of tools, an air compressor and assorted parts for our equipment. We beat those up and down pipeline ROWs until we started buying diesel trucks. Then they became parts runners and first vehicles for our teenagers first cars. Our shop Forman wrecked them both two years apart when we hired him out of high school as an apprentice. Good thing he’s an excellent mechanic. It took awhile before he could be called a good driver.