My Ford Truck Project (And Other Projects)

[joesregalproject]

Don't you mean it's the START of truck season? What the heck do you drive in the salt and snow? I like 4wd and big tires having the ability to pull my dumbass out of the ditch....

Hell naw I don't drive this thing in the salt and snow after all that welding and bodywork! I have too much sweat equity in it for it to rust out again. I drive the Subaru in the snow, just have to make sure it doesn't start ghostwalking on me! 🤣

 

[olds307 and 403]

Exactly, I am not a huge truck guy, only one on the prairie's. The only reason I have a truck is winter and towing the boat. Our AWD Challenger will take over that duty. My Dakota is barely a truck. No locker available for the 8" Chrysler front diff. Too light to pull anyone out but too heavy to float over the snow and tracks like sh*t. My 94 Olds 350 powered Z71 even with the garbage 8.25" aluminum open front diff would easily push snow over the bumper, just keep moving and you were golden, I miss it.

 

[joesregalproject]

Exactly, I am not a huge truck guy, only one on the prairie's. The only reason I have a truck is winter and towing the boat. Our AWD Challenger will take over that duty. My Dakota is barely a truck. No locker available for the 8" Chrysler front diff. Too light to pull anyone out but too heavy to float over the snow and tracks like sh*t. My 94 Olds 350 powered Z71 even with the garbage 8.25" aluminum open front diff would easily push snow over the bumper, just keep moving and you were golden, I miss it.

I don't really consider myself a "truck guy" but I find it to be a huge inconvenience not to have one around. It seems like I always have a dresser or a mattress or lawn tractor to move.

My truck is 4wd, has limited slips front and rear. Still it sucks in snow. It's too light in the back, too heavy in the front, it's RWD most of the time, it only has rear ABS and the ABS that it does have sucks. No traction or stability control, if you slam on the brakes, the *ss end tends to step out. It makes enough torque (and has relatively low axle gearing) to make the wheels spin fairly easily from a dead stop, making it easy to dig yourself in.

Meanwhile the Subaru kicks *ss in the snow. It has full time 4wd, can split the power up to 50/50 front to rear, it has traction control and 4 wheel ABS. It stops short and straight. It's not very powerful so it's pretty difficult to break traction, which makes it easy to avoid getting stuck. It also has 8.7" of ground clearance which never hurts.

The truck would still win hands down if it got to a really tough off road situation, but as for snow the Subaru walks the truck.

I'll still probably wind up using the truck once or twice this winter when I need to move something big, but the salt is enough reason for me to park it.

 

[DRIVEN]

Subarus were made for winter. No further explanation needed.

 

[joesregalproject]

I just wish it had plaid seats.

 

[fleming442]

How can the Subaru be any good with it ghost walking all over the place? 🤣
I had an 02 Outback; slowest car ever. I wasn't necessarily impressed with its snow performance. Never could get rid of the stupid EVAP code out permanently. It did stay out long enough to pass emissions. Got it at an auction, drove it for 5 years, wrecked it, and broke even on full coverage.

 

[DRIVEN]

Haha, when I was a kid we had friends with an '84 Olympics ski team wagon. Oddly, it was a total lemon.

 

[joesregalproject]

How can the Subaru be any good with it ghost walking all over the place? 🤣
I had an 02 Outback; slowest car ever. Never could get rid of the stupid EVAP code out permanently. It did stay out long enough to pass emissions. Got it at an auction, drove it for 5 years, wrecked it, and broke even on full coverage.

My 2015 OB is slow as hell. With 175 HP through a CVT, I went in with low expectations. Short on-ramps can be a little unnerving. Still it's by far the best thing I've ever driven in the snow.

 

[joesregalproject]

"Proof of life" post as Driven might call it. I miss driving this thing. My left foot is getting twitchy without a clutch pedal to work. The truck has been parked untouched and unmoved since I parked it at the beginning of November. Yesterday I decided I should start it up to charge the battery and circulate the fluids but the battery wasn't having it. It wasn't totally dead, it cranked the engine a couple turns but was ultimately too weak to start it. So I pulled the battery out, brought it inside and put it on the tender like I should have done 3 months ago. Then since I was out there I decided to pull the bed mat out and clean out all the twigs and leaves that had fallen in the bed since November. I used the leaf blower then hosed it out and put the mat back in. The battery should be back to a full charge by now but I haven't checked it. If it is I'll try to start it up tomorrow.

Since I got rid of the Camry I've been window shopping Craigslist and FB Marketplace for a new beater. I'm not even close to being ready to buy anything just yet but I've been mostly looking at F-250s with 7.3L Powerstokes. I wouldn't mind going newer but I've been itching for a diesel for a while, and I know Ferds too well to want to waste any time with a 6.0L or even worse, a 6.4L. I'm not sure if I want to stick with the OBS trucks or go with a Super Duty. The OBS trucks are marginally cheaper and easier to work on and I already own a hoard of parts for them. But the Super Duties are a lot more comfortable and modern (in comparison) and a lot more capable as far as towing and payload.

Whatever I buy, I don't want a pretty truck. I want something that is solid, but "pre-dented". I'm tired of stressing over scratches and door dings on this truck. I want something I can Fluid Film and drive in the winter like anything else. Just a good ole work truck.

 

[fleming442]

I'll believe that when I see it.