My mechanic kid was just by, yakking at me about work.
He does truck suspensions, lots of them.
F-150's to FD ladder trucks.
Heres what he says about the little ones, F-150's and GM 1500's.
The F-150's shorter than the 8' bed now have struts instead of coils.
All the 1500's have struts now. Very light duty tie rods.
Some disappointed guys thought they could put a plow on these trucks,
but they aren't suitable for plowing.
He's a GM guy himself, but if he gets a truck it will be a Ford.
He barely mentioned Chryco, and my brain basically shuts down then
anyhow, but I can ask if anybody cares.
So if you're shopping for a truck, know what you're getting.
I didn't get all the details, but that's the gist of it.
What surprised me is all the lame trucks he sees with 2 seats
and 4' bed.
I say lame because to me a PU without an 8' bed is lame,
but that's just me. I want to be able to throw sheetrock and plywood
in there.

--Vic

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:50:37 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

I say lame because to me a PU without an 8' bed is lame,
but that's just me. I want to be able to throw sheetrock and plywood
in there.

My Tundra has a 6 ft bed and handles 4 x 8 sheets easily with the tail
gate down.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:50:37 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

I say lame because to me a PU without an 8' bed is lame,
but that's just me. I want to be able to throw sheetrock and plywood
in there.

My Tundra has a 6 ft bed and handles 4 x 8 sheets easily with the tail
gate down.



How very wonderful for you.

1/2 ton P/u's have always been pussy trucks. Basically car components
in a truck body. Nothing new here.
Buy Ford.
F250.
My .02
JR

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:50:37 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

My mechanic kid was just by, yakking at me about work.
He does truck suspensions, lots of them.
F-150's to FD ladder trucks.
Heres what he says about the little ones, F-150's and GM 1500's.
The F-150's shorter than the 8' bed now have struts instead of coils.
All the 1500's have struts now. Very light duty tie rods.
Some disappointed guys thought they could put a plow on these trucks,
but they aren't suitable for plowing.
He's a GM guy himself, but if he gets a truck it will be a Ford.
He barely mentioned Chryco, and my brain basically shuts down then
anyhow, but I can ask if anybody cares.
So if you're shopping for a truck, know what you're getting.
I didn't get all the details, but that's the gist of it.
What surprised me is all the lame trucks he sees with 2 seats
and 4' bed.
I say lame because to me a PU without an 8' bed is lame,
but that's just me. I want to be able to throw sheetrock and plywood
in there.

--Vic
HOME PAGE:
http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
--------------------------------------------------

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
. com...
On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:13:05 -0400, Wayne.B penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

|On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:50:37 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:
|
|I say lame because to me a PU without an 8' bed is lame,
|but that's just me. I want to be able to throw sheetrock and plywood
|in there.
|
|My Tundra has a 6 ft bed and handles 4 x 8 sheets easily with the tail
|gate down.

Sheetrock. 4' X 12'



4' x 12' sheets are reserved for the 'pros'.

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
My mechanic kid was just by, yakking at me about work.
He does truck suspensions, lots of them.
F-150's to FD ladder trucks.
Heres what he says about the little ones, F-150's and GM 1500's.
The F-150's shorter than the 8' bed now have struts instead of coils.
All the 1500's have struts now. Very light duty tie rods.
Some disappointed guys thought they could put a plow on these trucks,
but they aren't suitable for plowing.
He's a GM guy himself, but if he gets a truck it will be a Ford.
He barely mentioned Chryco, and my brain basically shuts down then
anyhow, but I can ask if anybody cares.
So if you're shopping for a truck, know what you're getting.
I didn't get all the details, but that's the gist of it.
What surprised me is all the lame trucks he sees with 2 seats
and 4' bed.
I say lame because to me a PU without an 8' bed is lame,
but that's just me. I want to be able to throw sheetrock and plywood
in there.

--Vic


Even worse for the little 'Ranger' trucks. I have to use two 2" x 6" boards
stretched widthways in the pockets so that plywood/gyproc sits up over the
wheel wells.

"JG2U" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:08:39 -0400, Gene Kearns
wrote:

On Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:33:24 -0300, Don White penned the following
well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

|
|"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
re.com...
| On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:13:05 -0400, Wayne.B penned the following well
| considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:
|
| |On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:50:37 -0500, Vic Smith
| wrote:
| |
| |I say lame because to me a PU without an 8' bed is lame,
| |but that's just me. I want to be able to throw sheetrock and plywood
| |in there.
| |
| |My Tundra has a 6 ft bed and handles 4 x 8 sheets easily with the tail
| |gate down.
|
| Sheetrock. 4' X 12'
|
|
|
|4' x 12' sheets are reserved for the 'pros'.
|

Nah... that's the 4' X 16' sheets.... on the ceiling....

You're right about that. I've done 4x12 sheets on a 2 story vaulted
ceiling... not fun. 4x16? Fuggettaboutit.

Even with a sheetrock jack the 4x12x5/8 we used down in Slidell with Habitat
for Humanity sucked.

What ticked me off about the 1/2 ton series trucks is that MOST of
them (with extended cab!) come with either the 5.5 or 6.5 ft bed. In
the Ford class, you have to go down the the Work truck (XL class) and
even then they make you pay for a 'heavy duty' package, and that
requires a 4.10 rear-axle.

I just want a full size pickup with some interior room and capable of
carrying 8ft boards - that used to be pretty standard. Now you have to
go up to the SuperDuty range - and that's what I'm trying to downsize
from ! (I currently have an F-350)

I did find a Chevy Silverado that looked ok - maybe it's time I leave
the Ford brand.

------------------------------------
GDSmith
Harpers Ferry, WV

FOR SALE: 2003 Baja 242 Islander
http://ICanHelp56.homestead.com/Baja001.html
Two 2004 SeaDoo Supercharged RXPs
http://ICanHelp56.homestead.com/SeaDoo01.html

On Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:36:33 -0300, "Don White"
wrote:


"Vic Smith" wrote in message
.. .
My mechanic kid was just by, yakking at me about work.
He does truck suspensions, lots of them.
F-150's to FD ladder trucks.
Heres what he says about the little ones, F-150's and GM 1500's.
The F-150's shorter than the 8' bed now have struts instead of coils.
All the 1500's have struts now. Very light duty tie rods.
Some disappointed guys thought they could put a plow on these trucks,
but they aren't suitable for plowing.
He's a GM guy himself, but if he gets a truck it will be a Ford.
He barely mentioned Chryco, and my brain basically shuts down then
anyhow, but I can ask if anybody cares.
So if you're shopping for a truck, know what you're getting.
I didn't get all the details, but that's the gist of it.
What surprised me is all the lame trucks he sees with 2 seats
and 4' bed.
I say lame because to me a PU without an 8' bed is lame,
but that's just me. I want to be able to throw sheetrock and plywood
in there.

--Vic


Even worse for the little 'Ranger' trucks. I have to use two 2" x 6" boards
stretched widthways in the pockets so that plywood/gyproc sits up over the
wheel wells.

Truth be told, if I wanted to have something for light duty hauling,
that's the type of truck I'd get. Pretty easy on the gas, isn't it?
As it is, if I can't tie it up on the roof of my car (I'll pick up a
few 2x4's to support sheets that flex.) I just get it delivered.
For what I do now though, I can't justify a single duty truck.

--Vic

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...

Truth be told, if I wanted to have something for light duty hauling,
that's the type of truck I'd get. Pretty easy on the gas, isn't it?
As it is, if I can't tie it up on the roof of my car (I'll pick up a
few 2x4's to support sheets that flex.) I just get it delivered.
For what I do now though, I can't justify a single duty truck.

--Vic


The 3.0 V6 is a bit thirsty and underpowered at the same time (148 hp)
I can't justify mine either since I sold my sailboat last August, but I
still have one year to go on the Rangers lease.
We just signed the papers for a 2007 Dodge Charger SXT for my son tonight.
Maybe he'll let me drive that on occasion.