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Im not a big truck type of guy


Gary DuBois

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Messages
398
Age
34
City
Puyallup Washington
Vehicle Year
2002
Engine
4.0 V6
Transmission
Automatic
Total Lift
0
Total Drop
0
Tire Size
31 inch
I love my 02 ranger fx4 off road 4.0 v6 sohc 1/4 ton
I like my 93 f-150 4x4 5.8 v8 1/2
But im not a f-250 or f-350 type of guy i have thought in my lifetime it would be fun to own a bigger truck but then i always come back to i feel the most comfortable in my 1/4 ton ranger
 
i always wanted a diesel 4 door f350 4x4 with a five speed but when i actually got the test drive the exact one i dreamed of, i couldn't get myself to get it. i knew i didn't need a truck like that and knew i would never use it anywhere near what it would do so i passed on it. a mid size truck meets everything i need except that few times a year i have to tow the travel trailer around. if it wasn't for that, i don't think i would still have my 2017 nissan titan v8 crew cab 4x4
 
Same. It would be nice to have a big Supercrew F250 or F350 but I wouldn’t be using it to it’s potential. Heck, 99% of the time, I couldn’t use an F150 to it’s potential and justify the cost to purchase and operate over a Ranger. I got the right truck for what I need.
 
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🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰


Unfortunately, I'm too content with certain parts of my anatomy to own something so big. Perhaps in a next life.
 
F250's and 350's have jobs that they do well- our local Toyota dealer plows their yard with one- but I wouldn't want one to drive every day. The long wheelbase that makes them so useful sucks in tight spaces. E rated tires are heavy( I rotate my own) and expensive. Diesels make a ton of torque but have to be driven differently than gas trucks. We had customers buy loaded Super Duty diesels to tow their campers or horse trailers and also as a daily driver. Diesels don't like short trips and when the "drive to clean exhaust light" comes on and the customer ignores it, the DPF will die early and often.
And if the driver puts DEF in the fuel tank the whole fuel system needs to be replaced- and that cost $10,000+ when I retired in 2017. Not to mention, DEF stinks awful.
 
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I drove this truck for a week after we built it for a buddy. It’s fun to drive, but it’s way overkill for it’s intended use. (He built it to tow his 24’ enclosed car trailer.)

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F250's and 350's have jobs that they do well- our local Toyota dealer plows their yard with one- but I wouldn't want one to drive every day. The long wheelbase that makes them so useful sucks in tight spaces. E rated tires are heavy( I rotate my own) and expensive. Diesels make a ton of torque but have to be driven differently than gas trucks. We had customers buy loaded Super Duty diesels to tow their campers or horse trailers and also as a daily driver. Diesels don't like short trips and when the "drive to clean exhaust light" comes on and the customer ignores it, the DPF will die early and often.
And if the driver puts DEF in the fuel tank the whole fuel system needs to be replaced- and that cost $10,000+ when I retired in 2017. Not to mention, DEF stinks awful.
Thats what the godzilla is for
 
I have a love for trucks. My first was a Ranger. Within the first couple years the rear leaf springs were toast because I used it like an F-250. Not all the time, but often enough that the springs weren’t enough. It got custom spring packs which held up a lot better. For DD use, it got replaced with my F-150, which I promptly had to upgrade the springs in because I used it like an F-350. Probably 75% of the time I’m not running anything hard or heavy, but that 25% they get really worked. I also had a problem with the 6’ Ranger bed being a little small. Sometimes even the 8’ bed with ladder racks on the F-150 is a little small. Which is also part of the reason why I have the F-350 dump truck.

A few times I’ve seriously considered an F-250/350 SRW crew cab long bed. The lack of cab space in my F-150 and 350 sucks at times, being that both are regular cabs. But a crew cab long bed makes for a long truck that doesn’t fit some places. I can survive without the extra cab space and I’m not really sure I absolutely need that big of a truck right now. If I end up back to doing construction full time though, I can easily justify it. Most of what I’m currently doing is more side-job ish, and I can make do with what I have. I’m entirely comfortable in the bigger trucks, I’ve driven an F-350 dump since I was 17 since I was working concrete construction back then and was the only person besides the boss who could drive a manual so I was put in the “extra” dump truck for hauling tools and materials on a regular basis. The one thing that I’ve loved is that no matter what truck I’ve been in (of the ones I’ve owned or my parents), all the controls are in roughly the same place and that makes it really easy to find things like lights, wipers, seat adjustment, etc in the dark.
 
I always like cars better for DD duty. Usually more comfortable, easier to get in and out of, better gas mileage. Once I finish putting my mustang back together, she will be DD 365 again.

Rangers are great trucks, honestly no reason to own a F-150 with a ranger. The ranger will do 90% of a F150. For me, anything that is too big of a job for my ranger is better suited to a class three or four truck anyway. So a slightly bigger class 1 or 2 is not worth much more, epically for the price tag on some of them nowadays.


So many people out there buying big trucks for grocery getters using them for a couple years and trying to sell it like new. Hell, around here you see 250s and expeditions going to $25K with 200,000 miles on them.
 
a ranger does almost everything i need a truck to do, minus tow the travel trailer.

and people here buy big ol 3/4 and 1 ton trucks just to drive around town in. big ol 4x4 crew cab diesels with brush guards and heavy bumper, big tires and shiny rims yet the truck never leaves the asphalt. then in a couple of years they trade for another truck that costs as much as a house but gets used in a way a prius would meet their requirements. or they sell them with 200k miles and expect the same prices as a truck with 50k on it.
 

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