greg74

Its been a while since I've been to this forum. Still have the same truck. Here's my 09 Kawasaki Brute Force 650 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206345066211315&set=pb.1406981272.-2207520000.1489327252.&type=3&theater

Its been a few months since I've posted anything on this site. Here's my current quad, a 2006 Yamaha Grizzly 660

I wish they would just quit worrying about fuel economy. All these damn tree-huggers too concerned about a couple mpg, go save a whale or something. In reality people buy small cars for fuel economy and trucks for hauling and towing. No, you wouldn't want your truck to get 1970's fuel economy numbers that might barely reach 10mpg. It would be much simpler if GM didn't make all their gas engines with AFM. It should be an option, not standard. Then after a couple years when they realized nobody wanted it, they would no longer waste their time on it. Sad part is, they probably spent billions developing something that at the very best is annoying and at worst does very little if anything to improve fuel economy and makes the vehicle run worse and is bad for your internal engine components.

AFM seemed like a good idea at the time but from what I've read on here, its one of the worst things GM ever did to their trucks. Very minimal fuel mileage gains and premature engine wear. I have a 99 Silverado Z71 with 190K miles on it and it doesn't use a drop of oil. Neither does my 2004 Grand Am with 149K miles on it. All these newer trucks with 30K or less miles on them using oil, just makes me shake my head. Adding oil is what you do to an old, tired engine. Anything with less than 100K miles on it should never need any oil to be added unless you abuse the hell out of it. Makes me never want to buy any used GM truck with AFM.

Im probably going to get something similar to this soon. Sold the Polaris, it needed a lot of work done and it just wasn't worth spending the money on. I like the smaller utility atvs. I've owned a recon, a timberwolf, and a Suzuki Ozark. Probably get another recon, looking for one with electric shift. I like the smaller size being able to get in tight spaces easier and maneuver better. Most are pretty peppy, just lack top end speed but about 45-50 is probably as fast as they can safely handle anyway. The light weight makes them feel pretty sporty too and helps if you get stuck, just get off and push it out.

What's disappointing is that I'm assuming when AFM first appeared, it was simply an option not a standard feature. It appears that every gasoline engine GM makes now(4.3 V6, 5.3 and 6.2 V8) all have AFM. It would be nice if it were possible NOT to get it. If I were to buy a new truck, I wouldn't want it. I guess if I were to ever buy a new truck(highly unlikely as they cost too much for me) then that simple fact meant that GM wouldn't get my sale, probably just get an F150 with EB or a Tundra. Dodge Ram has a similar cylinder cutoff system for the hemi which would probably make me not want to buy one of those either.

I don't have a smartphone so I can't add pics too often but I have a 2001 Polaris Scrambler 500 4x4. When these things came out way back in the 90's, they were the fastest and sportiest 4x4 quads you could get. Not the fastest anymore but 60+ on a quad is fast enough for me most of the time. In the last couple of years, they updated it and now there's a 1000cc version. Had a 660 grizzly before that, wish I still had it. Never had a sport quad before but a couple friends had YFZ 450's and those things don't need any mods to be fast.

That's why my truck is a 99. I have an 04 grand am that I use for highway miles, the truck is just for a 2nd vehicle and for when I really need a truck like hauling and towing. I bought my truck about a month ago and paid $2500 for it. Spent some more money on new tires, shocks and getting some front suspension components replaced to make it drive better. Yes, it has some rust, interior has seen better days, etc. I couldn't even imagine spending 20 K on a truck, much less 40 K or more. Could I have spent more and got a nicer truck, sure I could have. This truck is nice enough for what I'll use it for and for the amount of miles I will put on it a year, probably 5000 or less.