New England B.S. Thread

Interesting. I like my dually and bar setup, but its either going slow in the woods or curvy roads usually when they'll get used so LED is fine for me

 

So you guys are not happy with ADDING all these things to trucks. I was thought your issue was that there wasn't enough gadgets, which was why I was confused.

 

Nope. Just need a work truck to be a work truck. Another example. I hate that I had to undo a out 8 clips and remove a ton of plastic to change a light bulb on my 3500hd, especially after a 14hr day in the sun. Just make simple things you know you'll need to do, simple. Straight shot on. A real access hole. Anything.

 

Was with my FIL last year at a restaurant and he was bitching about the same exact thing. We had to really mess around and squeeze around a ton of shit just to replace a bulb on his GMC. I know my dads last HD truck he bought he had to go to Maine to get one that didn't have a CD player, power windows and locks, manual wheel locks for thr 4x4 etc... And that was like 15 years ago maybe. I am sure it hasn't gotten any better.


Now how do you feel about the mandatory safety features? I sure don't mind a backup camera, but I know some of the other nannies can be a PIA. Also added costs to repairs, usually a work truck you hit a few things with and just leave the dents.

 

I can't even stand the VSC and Traction control my 2011 Tundra has. I prefer my 2006 Tacoma, but really prefer 1988 Toyota Pickup witg no ABS and vent windows

 

Mine is a personal vehicle and not a work truck so I do like some of the gadgets that it came with, like SYNC, power windows, power locks, decent stereo, cloth seats and carpet floor. Where I start to lose it is, work trucks should be easy to work on. Similar to @m603holden 's experience, to change out a light bulb, I have to remove 14 plastic clips, take off the plastic cowl that covers the top of the grille and radiator, remove 4 screws, pull the grille (hoping I don't send one of the 16 plastic clips flying in the process), then 3 more bolts per headlight to remove the headlight. I'm also dreading changing the spark plugs when the time comes. It might be easier than it looks once I actually get into it, but the engine looks like it sits really far back in the bay and is tucked under the dash at the back. I see lots of 4 letter words in my future for that project... All that said, I would love to have my same truck with a stick shift. I hate how most of the new autos shift, especially when towing. This truck is tolerable, a huge improvement over the 150 towing, but still frustrates me at times. The 150, I would only tow in manual mode to keep it out of 3rd gear. This one will at least do that mostly on it's own.

 

Can't fight the world I guess. I don't mind them. I don't like them. I don't like them driving up costs for vehicles, or forcing the mfg to cut costs and quality to fit then in vehicles in order to keep the same msrp.

"Well I like blind spot monitoring because when I've been driving for hours non stop it helps as a safety net"

No. Get your ass off the road.

 

There are a lot of class 6 roads through that area but the one specifically that is directly on the other side of 77 across from sugar hill road is blocked off a bit into the woods for some reason. I think it's actually a privately owned farm road now. To get into Clough from your side of town go down to south sugar hill road and just keep driving straight to the dirt road. Or you can get to it from River Road. Don't get to excited, it's a class 6 that is smoother than most of the paved roads in town, but on the river road side there can be some pretty good mud puddles. And it's a great way to access the reservoir to do a little shore fishing. There are some side spots to get into some more technical wheeling but they continually get blocked off by someone, so obviously they don't want you off the class 6.

 

Haha figured.

 

I'm really looking forward to see how Fords new gasser holds up. Sounds like it's gonna be simple enough for someone with very limited skills like me to do alot of stuff if I wanted, and seems like it's built to last too.

Nannies almost make things worse in a lot of cases, it just lets bad drivers go into tricky situations or push things further than they should because they figure the car will save them.

 

Wow, the Sierra has a downright amazing slushbox for towing. One of the reasons I bought it was because it was a 6spd. But I don't tow heavy campers like you do.

 

I'm really curious as well. That's a beast of an engine, 7.3L! I actually think the 10 speed will do really well paired to the new engine. Lots of gears though...

 

Do any HD pickups have a CVT trans or is that not possible? Kinda surprised that hasn't become a thing.

 

Keep in mind, the camper I was towing with the F150 was a 4k lb single axle trailer. The large front area was just like towing a parachute though... The Ford had a lot of power but, if left to it's own devices, it kept trying to use 3rd gear on hills when it had plenty of ass in 4th to hold it's speed up the hill. It got a lot better after it was tuned but I still preferred to tow in manual mode rather than drive. The 250 is more likely to let the truck use more of it's available power, lock the torque converter and just let the engine to it's thing. The new trailer isn't really heavy either, I think it's around 6k lbs loaded +/- so I'm still in half ton towable territory.

 

Morning, peoplefaces.

@jethro, how normal is this?



Took the boat out on the lake over the weekend, just putzing along fishing, when the overheat alarm went off. Switched it off, let it cool down, and when I started it up I noticed that the tell-tale wasn't peeing. Dropped the lower unit last night and was greeted by an impeller that apparently ate itself, and the pump channels stuffed completely full of rubber. Backflushed the motor and got a few small pieces, but it looks like nearly everything got jammed up in the pump itself.
I just replaced the damn thing this spring, when I had the motor apart looking for that water leak. I made sure to arrange the vanes correctly when I installed it, and gave it a dose of dish soap before I reassembled everything, and it's worked fine ever since the install (until last night). I wonder if I picked up some sand at some point and didn't realize it? The water around our dock is fairly shallow, but I didn't think it was that shallow

 

I wouldn't buy it. Those things smoked out in the Ford Taurus, I can't imagine them doing well in a HD truck. They build heat too quickly. I'm waiting for an HD hybrid, I think that would be the balls.

 

Their transmissions have been a saving grace for GM's trucks, really. For instance, the 6.0 doesn't make a lot of power compared to most of the other plants out there (even my little 5.7 makes better numbers; the 6.4 Hemi and Ford's 6.2 blow the 6.0 out of the water), but the transmission mapping does a good job of using the power.

 

Wow, that seriously sucks. I'd be really concerned about rubber still stuck in the water jacket and I might even take it apart. Did you grease the impeller before install? You should coat the bottom of the impeller with marine grease like Mercury 2-4-C where it contacts the wear plate and inside the water pump housing as well. Lots of the highest quality marine grease you can get. I'd never use anything other than OMC or the 2-4-C.

What does the inside of the pump housing look like? Is it a new one that came with your impeller? (It should be).

Also, did you replace the thermostat(s)? That should be done every time you do the impeller, and if you run the salt, that should be done every year. They are usually cheap but they get severely corroded in salt water even if you flush regularly.

 

Yeah I can't even describe to you the shit that came out of my mouth over the course of 4 hours. My old highlander was bad the first time I changed the brakes after I bought it but the whole front end took 4 hours...not just one side. Didn't have any anti-seize at the time doing the DS...had to put off the PS but slathered that stuff on there so at least i know one side will come off easy next change....assuming she still has this suv by then...got about 70k out of the factories and pads still had some life just the rotors were chewed up

 

What is your outboard again?