Even if it’s a beater, a man just knows.
The best part is when you are in a hurry and that pussified soy boy in his Prius sees you coming in his rear view mirror and gets the hell out of the way because he can’t be sure if you have insurance or not and he knows deep down that even if you do, you just don’t give a damn.
Hows the “new to you” Dodge doing?
I’m loving it. It’s literally the truck I have been wanting for the last forty years.
I have slowly been fixing little things here and there that were neglected and changed the oil and anti freeze in it yesterday.
I have the hinge pin kits and striker in a box, waiting on it to not be either freezing ass cold or raining, to take care of the drivers door that doesn’t want to shut right.
Compared to my old Chevy, this thing is a tank.
It’s heavy, rides rough and has about half the acceleration.
It also has twice the turning radius but I have already gotten a lot of compliments on it from people I run into and I am extremely happy with it.
Years ago, had a deputy sheriff in a Crown Vic back into my 70 Chevy PU. You wouldn’t believe the damage done to his cruiser and my truck didn’t even have a S&T bumper. Damn I miss that truck.
had a old 89 4runner with a big ARB bumper on it with a winch. cars moved out my wat after seeing that bumper. had a cop ask me one time if it was good for ramming. I told him, I guess so, slid into a steel pole in a parking lot one time and
bent the hell out that pole. out here in the countryside, about 1 in 12 trucks has some sort of big bumper on it. I bought a 1994 4runner because it would take the bumper off the 1989 4runner. the 94 has a auto trans in it, knee started giving me hell after driving the 89 for more than 30-40 minutes
still I do miss it. that old 22re engine had heart.
My oldest daughter had to drive the Super Duty for a couple of days, when I had to wait on a fuel pump driver module for her Escape. She said the biggest thing she noticed; was that the number of people that would pull out in front of her, or cut her off, dropped to almost zero. I guess 8800lbs of rolling death made people question their normal driving habits.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
There’s power in driving a beater truck, where the whole truck costs less than it would cost to fix a scratch on most people’s cars. And they know that.
Bad thing is, one wreck and it’s totaled. I had an ’05 sequoia, rear ended someone that cut me off, blowing the airbag. Poof, instant total.
I still miss that truck.
And the 64 chebbie shortbed I had.
And the 63 chebbie I had.
And the 68 Dodge van, the 67 dodge van,
the 74 F100,
and even the frustrating 83 chevy van I got for free a few years ago. Had neighbors complain about that one I dubbed the silence of the lambs van.
I want another but even beat to death trucks with 300K miles are through the roof these days.
And THAT, boyz ‘n girlz, is why I’m rebuilding the 03 Jeep that is my wife’s.
Total outlay is under 4K, but that’s because I bought a 1800 dollar Quick Lift, which I wish I’d had years and years ago!!
STILL comes out ahead. Priced a new Jeep lately?
The Ford can’t be a beater, has matching hubcaps.
Back in the day of bias ply tires I had an insurance adjuster say that the mismatched tires on my vehicle was proof that it had already been in an accident.
I have 2 trucks. The work truck is a 2016 F350 Lariat 4×4 crewcab FX4 6.7L Diesel with a gooseneck hitch. The beater is a 2004 Ranger XLT regular cab stepside. The Ranger is the parts runner and general transportation to keep miles off the F350 and to provide a second vehicle for the insurance discount on it and the wife’s car. The F350 has commercial insurance and a class B CDL is required to drive it. The F350 does everything a pickup needs to do. If the Ranger drops a transmission or engine I will have it towed and junked without a second thought. But the Ranger is just as tough as the F350 but in a reduced size and comfort level.
I keep telling the wife that there are plenty of times where I wish I had an old Power Wagon like on the old Simon and Simon TV series. There would be a lot less people pulling out in front of me, and those that made the mistake of doing so, would run the risk of paying the price for it.
https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Q9rWRi0VoHv3uMM7KqJcfgHaE7&pid=Api
THAT, m’boy, is a “I’ll beat the crap outta you if you press your luck” bumper. Why bother with padding, though?
I am working mine towards being a beater.
I love trucks, the good ones. I’ve driven my 1939 Ford truck for 17 years, thru 4 states, pulling a trailer that often has other antique trucks on it. A guy once asked, “what year is that truck?” when I had a 40 Ford truck on the trailer. I was pleased to ask, “which one?” I started driving my 35 Ford in 1992, pulling the same trailer, got my 1960 F100 with 460 in the year 2000. I have a Model A truck and a 1934 waiting on completion.
A beat up truck has built-in theft reduction.
One of a kind = easier to find.
Old trucks rule.
I ‘take it to the next level’ with an ’86 Chevy Military M-1028, which is a K-30 with a 6.2 Diesel and 24-Volt Electrical System. It Runs, It is Rusty. It has been painted Flat Black, has an Angle-Iron and Barn Board Bed, and best of all, Runs with “Farm Use” Tags….
Everyone thinks that stands for “No Insurance” but in fact it’s a Valid Category in Virginia, with some Limitations of Use. And it’s on the Farm Business Insurance (that covers Me if My Horse Bites you).
But most people don’t Know that, and boy, do they Get Out of My Way.
The light blue Chevy Scottsdale 1/2 ton reminds me of my old 1980 camper special, 350 , 4 speed ( actually bull low gear and 3 sped.) flat red paint and that same damn fold in the front hood. Bullet holes in the front grill from being used in the bush as a mechanics truck. I sold it to a buddy of mine dirt cheap as he needed a reliable running vehicle to get him to his pipeline welding job in eastern British Columbia. Funny story, I was the engineer on an eastbound coal train approaching a road crossing at grade and some crazy sob drove through the warning gates about 60 feet in front of us. It was my old Chevy p/u that my buddy had sold a few weeks earlier to one of his work mates. That would have made a good tale to tell my grandkids.
If I would have clobbered it, that is!