How Has Your Truck, Van Or Suv Made You Proud?

[hdeatsprius]

As truck owners, we all have at least one story about how our truck made us proud. Maybe about performed exceptionally well, is still running after 1,000,000 miles, or how well it took some incredible abuse and kept right on going. Give us your best. GM, Ford, or Dodge. I dont want to offend anyone who owns a foreign make, but as a fiercely loyal American truck buyer I'd like to reserve this topic for the domestic trucks...Thanks....Ill post one of mine to get it started.

[hdeatsprius]

Back in 2005, I was living in Michigan, but worked as a long-haul trucker. After coming home from 4 weeks on the road, my only thought was getting home. At the time I owned a 1998 Ford E-150 Cargo Van. It was used in a fleet as a delivery vehicle and had racked up over 200,000 miles. It was white, fairly ugly, and had a number of problems that were more annoying than anything. The transmission had to be coerced into engaging when it was cold the first time, and you had to beat on the dashboard to get the headlights to turn on. The ball joints were pretty much shot, the door seals were mostly worn off, and the bumpers and wheels had to be spray painted twice a year to cover up the rust and Fords crappy factory paint that they used. It was well worn out after 6 years of use as a fleet vehicle. The white color, along with almost no windows in the back earned my pride and joy nicknames like "The Serial-Killer Special" and "The Rapin' Wagon" Yeah, it was a peach. But I loved the old girl, and despite the few interesting mechanical issues, it never let me down. So I get back to our yard, and am more than ready to go home. Its late February, its 2 in the morning and it about 8 degrees outside. My van has been sitting for nearly a month in snow, ice, and single digit temperatures. It was always a tense moment wondering if it would fire up when I got back. But I got in, turned the key, and it fired right up like it always did. That in itself never ceased to amaze me. It would take about 15 minutes to hack away at 4 weeks worth of ice buildup on the windshield, but soon enough I was ready to go. I throw it into reverse, and as was normal, had to tap the gas a few times before the trans would engage. Then I was off. After a couple stops the brakes finally stopped grabbing. On the way home there was one dirt road about a mile long that eventually would end and come to a "T" at another dirt road, where I would make a left. The road was rough as hell, thanks to the winter season, but it was clear of snow and ice....so I thought. I was going about 25 and as I approached the "T" I went to make a normal stop like any other time. Only the van wasn't stopping. It wasn't even slowing. It took me by surprise because the road appeared completely clear and dry, and at first I thought the brakes had failed. I realized that there was no way I was stopping. Both sides of the roads have 7 foot deep drainage ditches that during the winter are nearly filled with half frozen runoff water. I decided to stay straight, slow it down as much as I could, and just hit the ditch on the other side of the road square on. That way I wouldn't flip into it sideways. As predicted, I slid through the intersection, and crashed head-on into the frozen water. The water completely submerged the front of the van past the windshield wipers. Hood, engine, front wheels, half the drivers door, and water was leaking into the footwells. I actually had to kill the engine myself, then exited the van from the rear doors. Once outside, I noticed the rear tires were just on the very edge of the road, and that the chassis was completely bottomed out from the steep ditch angle. The road was a sheet of clear ice. The frame had been dragged the entire distance between the front and rear wheels. And as an additional stressor, my tags were expired. I was unable to get in to get the new ones because I was always on the road Mon-Fri. So now would not be a good time for the police to drive by. So after a few phone calls, a tow truck finally extracted my van from the ditch, in the process dragging the frame some more, the other way this time. I quickly surveyed the damage and was shocked when I realized that the only thing that had broken was the plastic grill. Both glass headlights, the bumper, hood, and windshield were all totally unscathed. My exhaust sytem, driveline, and underbody were more or less in one piece. Other than being jammed full of mud and branches, everything seemed OK. I turned the key, and the damn thing fired up like nothing had happened. All of the lights, the dashboard, radio, everything worked perfectly. I started out driving slowly, still in utter shock that this thing was even running let alone rolling. I finally got it back up to speed on the main paved road. No pull from the steering, no noise from the brakes, and not even the slightest shudder from the drivetrain. I still am amazed almost four years later that that van came out of nearly complete mechanical and electrical submersion in water,mud, and ice with not one, single, solitary problem. Especially since it was a beater with almost a quarter million miles under it. The water cleaned out easily from the inside (vinyl floors), and a new grill cost me $35 and less than ten minutes time to install it. I was convinced that night that the domestic automakers can still build one hell of a truck.