What has been missing from trucks nowadays???

It's the same for us Scout guys.

 

A proper V8. Step sides were kind of neat too.

 

• No computers
• Ball chiller vent
• No nanny aides like BSM, adaptive cruise, etc
• High beam switch on floor
• Manual transmissions
• Manual lever to engage 4x4
• No catalytic converters for idiots to steal
• Thicker steel sheet metal
  
• Dog dish hub caps
• Bench seats
• Single cab, long bed
• Solvent based paint (thanks epa for water based junk paint)
• Side vent windows

 

old trucks definitely didn't have that!

it wasn't until the late 80's that engineers actually went out and figured out how construction workers used their trucks!!!

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/remember-how-the-1994-dodge-ram-broke-the-rules/

 

There it is.

Genesis.

The truck that made everyone throw away their countach posters and start idolizing pickups instead. The small headlight/big hood design language that would ignite an arms race across all brands in an ever increasing show of fabricated "toughness". The one that Bill Pullman drove through a tornado.

The 2nd Gen Ram. The very first pickup that was called "cool," the very first one that somehow shed itself of the adjectives redneck, hillbilly, or hayseed.

Blame that one if you don't like modern trucks. They started it all. It's all Helen Hunts fault.

 

miss:

direct feel of all the driving inputs. Steering, throttle, and braking all had great feedback.

Whatever quality of steel they were using before everything would rust though in a handful of years.

the boxiness, utility and visibility. Felt like sitting in a lookout tower with 360° view.

rubber floors. Who ever thought carpeting was a good idea in the floor of anything but a luxury vehicle?

mechanical controls that never seemed to break.


Don’t miss:

the defrost and defogger, and heat were terrible. Interior smells and exhaust leaks.

cold uncomfortable seats.

sloppy steering and body roll.

cabin noise.

terrible tire compounds that lost traction in wet/snowy road conditions.

 

^^^this^^^
Grew up in those old trucks, age of 10 I learned to drive in a ‘76 F250 which my dad bought new. Almost dragged one home, was going to restore it for nostalgia reasons. Took it for a test drive and realized how barbaric those things were, then all the memories of all the work we did with it came flooding back, it smelled just the same, we hauled everything from firewood to gravel to building materials to cow shit in it. Then remembered my dad yelling at me “just get it done boy!” That test drive brought back nightmares. Then thought why in the hell to I want to relive that!!?? nostalgia is best left in the past. lol!

They look cool and that is about it…

 

My uncle bought a v10 ram because of that movie. He loved shania twain and chrysler products.

My dad owned it for its final years, nearly 500,000kms. Cant imagine how much fuel it used.

 

I miss listening to my 78’ International Scout rust, you could almost watch it.

 

I remember using the bumper on a 1990s GM 2500 plow truck to straighten out a a fence post on my property in Wyoming. Can’t do it today with the shitty plastic bumpers and parking sensors. You can pretty much kick a hole in modern plastic bumpers with your foot.

I also do recall beds being a little bit stronger that the first time you drop your toolbox it won’t gouge it, dent it, or simply punch a hole in it.

We live in an age of car-like trucks, in the worst way possible.

 

Lol! Think my dad and I would do body work every winter on the ‘76 F250. It had a hole in the passenger side floor board for the longest time. Gone through 3 beds in its lifetime. It finally succumbed to rust and the frame broke in half. They had the market cornered on rust long before Toyota did. Lol!

Sure do like the composite bed Toyota has been doing.

 

Nothing says "truck" like a 60" bed that's made of plastic.

 

That’s fine and all, but they can’t figure out how to get it to flex with the metal without something breaking. The fact that we have aftermarket “bed stiffeners” proves it.

 

Yeah not crazy about the plastic fascia. Have an ARB on my 1G, have used that to push stuff around. Though think it used more to set a coffee cup on. Lol!

Can’t seem to bring myself to toss one on the 3G.

 

That’s because some guys like to see how much shit they can attach to a bed rack or topper. Though do agree with you. Had bedside tool boxes and a ladder rack on the ‘76, new trucks can’t really handle that.

 

I would kill for an Australian style Ute flatbed that doesn’t cost half as much as the truck.

 

fun fact-- a few months ago, i finished watching all the seasons of Walker Texas Ranger.

i had always associated him with the brown Ram truck


but it turns out that truck only was in the last few seasons. the majority of the show, he had light blue extended cab silverado, that interestingly enough, stayed dirty in the majority of scenes it was used in.


until the show cut a deal with dodge to use the new ram as the hero truck, all the bad guys, or people he helped that were shown to be in a damaged/blown up vehicle in the show, were all exclusively dodge products that were normally damaged in some way.

and during the time he used the silverado as the hero truck, he had a bit where he'd pull up to the bad guy's hideout, calmly get out in the middle of the chaos, and drop the tailgate for later when he dragged the bad guys out to the truck...

 

Ford smallest truck, the Maverick, offfers a 54" bed. It's a tiny truck, right?


In that picture, my LWB 1st Gen Taco is hiding behind it. And has a 72"+ bed.



My truck is a V6 5 speed 4WD base model. Bench seat. 2 speed wipers. Crank windows. No tach. No clock. No tilt wheel. No power mirrors. No cruise.
Luxuries include A/C, sliding rear window and AM/FM/cassette.
Seats still look like they're brand new.

 

Yeah it is damn shame we can’t get the Workmate here.
AUS to USD is roughly $37K. Instead we get $60K BroDozers, that are as about as useful as tits on a bull…



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzogVam658M

 

Exactly, You've said it.