Anyone else like this out there?

[jhammel85]

Pretty cool to see everyone else in the same boat. Vehicle repair is a definite cost of ownership. Hell, one of the reasons I got the ranger was that I was tired of working on the shoehorned v6 under the hood of my probe (awesome car btw). I'm just in a rut I guess..... My truck and I will work it out lol. I love it.


Gave my truck some more love today....fixed those rotten body mounts with some fresh metal. Cleaned it up a bit too. I'm hoping to put together a build thread on here soon. What better time then now right?

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[holyford86]

I've been in the burnt out on the truck situation, I'm a fleet mechanic so changing my own oil or doing a brake job isn't on the top of my list of fun things to do on a weekend (although at one time it used to be). I still enjoy other vehicle related maintenance stuff and I still like to make stuff fit where it was never designed as well. I own something with 328,000 miles on it so maintenance is my payment... I have slowly been arriving at the realization that my 26 year old truck is not very practical for the 250-300 miles I put on it a week, although in the 9 years I've owned it it's never left me stranded. I find that it takes a different kind of person to fix, maintain, and drive old stuff, and be proud to do it. It's sad that so many people have the throw away mentality when it comes to this... I'll never sell the old truck though.

 

[scotts90ranger]

been there, done that...

My truck has been a constant battle since I converted to 4x4 6 years ago... little stuff keeps going wrong then I upgrade instead of repair and something else goes wrong, and sometimes I end up fixing something for the better... I opened up a whole BARREL of worms (a can doesn't describe it well enough) when I put the turbo engine in, but now I realize a few things I should have done the first time... like make triple sure everything is sealed and tight, and no 20 year old hoses are reused that hold pressurized fluid... I get to pull my engine this summer as fluids leak from, well, everywhere... Might as well do the large VAM and LA3 upgrade while I'm there, and modify the stock T bird intercooler to be air to water and so forth, along with the electric fan and redo the heater box, and put syncro's in the tranny

It's not just my truck for me though
-in December I noticed sparklies in the oil of the Justy, replaced it with a Tracker
-January the water pump looked like the gasket was leaking, resealed and changed timing belt, wasn't the gasket...
-February the Ex ran into someone in the explorer, was apparently my fault because the brakes were iffy (was still in parts gathering phase to fix), the clutch was shot too, about $400 in parts went on that weekend...
-March, bought new water pump for Tracker, week later an injector decided to short open, $125ish to get a serviced replacement and 3 cleaned (thought one was stuck open, which it was but that wasn't the whole problem), was out of service for ~3 weeks, truck was put to DD duty for that time (15mpg versus 27mpg...)
-day after tracker gives up temporarily the high pressure fuel line to the fuel rail breaks, have to fix that so I can get to work, day after that went to help a coworker move and a coolant hose split, lost most of the coolant and it's the little 90* hose from the oil cooler to the crossover tube buried under the intake, had to take inner fender off...

That's the majority of my car related "fun" from the last few months...

 

[19bonestock88]

yeah, i feel a little burnt out too... in my first year of college, all i've been able to do to the truck is to repair it... when i got it my junior year in HS, it was in perfect order, but now:

leaky intake manifold gasket
heater works when it wants to
rust killing pass fender and starting on driver cab corner
dents/scratches on (perfect when i got it) bed sides
pass door rattles
muffler rattles from inside... caused from backfire caused by leaky intake gasket
brake rotors could use replaced or turned(not on for 16 months)

 

[martin]

I just keep telling myself "I don't have to make payments on it". That always makes me feel a little better about things.

 

[cody93]

all cars will need repairs when they get used alot, its a fact, its just the older simpler cars are less of a PITA. but its always good to have a spare beater, thats what i may end up doing is getting another gen1 for good parts, swap my old worn off ones on it and use it as a back up/rented mule beater.

 

[FY549]

Day my Day---Piece my Piece----you get there----

 

[pillen140]

ever thought of selling my truck??? NO.... HELL NO! beating the wife and/or dog, maybe.... taking a dump in my bosses coffee cup, of course! but never EVER thought of selling my truck.

 

[87anger]

I have done nothing but repairs on my truck. The PO had hit a pole because of brake master cylinder failure. We pulled the front end out and replaced the radiator and the clutch fan with a metal F150 clutch fan. Replaced the master cylinder and a few days later booster went out. Replaced that. Brake switch went out. replaced that. Exhaust gaskets were leaking went to replace them and broke 3 or 4 bolts off in the head. Couldnt get to them. Pulled the engine. Broke of drill bits and taps and easy outs inside the head, after about 2 months working most days got it fixed and bought bolts and replaced the engine. Wouldnt start, replaced evry part of the ignition system exept the coil and found out a wire was swpped into the wrong socket somehow. Truck ran good for 2 weeks. Blew a U-joint. Changed that. Developed low end engine whirr. Then the engine blew right down the street from my house. Got a 2.9 out of a BII. Pulled it and replaced freeze plugs and put my good injectors on it. new oil and put it in and filled the cooling system. Checked the oil 1 more time before start up and it was white. 15 hours changing heads and gaskets and it ran for a few days and water pump gasket went out. put on new water pump and gasket. bent the power steering pulley putting it on. Changed pulley and belts. Developed an oil leak. Pulled the engine again to change oil pan gasket. rear main was perfect. put engine back in and now oil filter housing is leaking bout 1/2 quart a day( its a dd). Going to fix that tomorrow. All this plus fuel gauge doesnt work, shocks and front springs(F150) are all shot so it rides like a bull with a stick up its ass. No radio, seat leans back, also gonna try and fix that tomorrow. Electric 4wd doesnt work, switch and motor are shot, gotta swap in a manual. Rear end ring gear and pinion are slipping, wheel bearings are shot, and now my shoes are going. Oh and my tires are mismatched and worn really bad and spare rim leaks. That WHOLE thing is the short list as I have done more and need to do more. Somehow a part of me still doesnt wanna get rid of it. One day maybe itll be done and i can start improving it. Thanks all for showing me Im not alone.