Quote:Dartz wrote:That's what I've been hearing about these machines - so robust that Ford had to discontinue them back in 2012 due to dropping sales.Quote:Me, for example... My beloved '98 Mazda B2500. It's no luxury liner. It's a small, compact truck with a 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine and a 5-Speed manual transmission. No power windows, locks or mirrors. However, despite its size and lack of creature comforts, it works hard. Just like I do. You ask it to haul a load cross country and it says, "No problem, boss. Where to?" Much like myself, it's ready for pretty much whatever, whenever. And before I started having suspension problems, I swear this truck loved cruising on the highways.Sounds like an honest car. There're very few of those around these days. Look after it and it'll last an age.
Although one of the things I think speaks loudest about it is that pretty much everything that is likely to break is something that I am capable of fixing. It's just a matter of getting the parts and, in some cases, borrowing some specialty tools. Granted, now and then I gotta take something to the machine shop to be ground down... brake rotors and drums, flywheels, and the like. And doing tires is specialized enough that I leave that to other people. But for everything else... Let's just say that I honestly am looking forward to being able to do my own engine and transmission rebuilds. I fully intend to keep this truck - my first vehicle - for the rest of my life.
Heh, now that a REAL truck - not one of these giant-ass luxury liners that crowd the roads nowadays. They'll probably only last about ten years anyhow until 'planned obsolescence' takes its toll. I'm already starting to run into the that problem with mine - they no longer make a lot of the specially designed brake lines for my truck, so I'll have to buy special brake line kits and do it myself if any more of them fail. Fortunately, though, that's a relatively simple thing.My biggest dread is if something happens to the ignition control computer and it has to be replaced. They definitely do not make those anymore and I have never heard of any third-party after-market manufacturer making them. And B-series/Ranger pickups do not last very long in the you-pull-it scrap yards once they wind up there. They get stripped faster than a carcass on the Serengeti. Therefore, I'm already making plans to acquire difficult-to-find parts just in case. That include having a spare engine- and transmission-core to rebuild.
Fun fact - all I really need to do to make my truck an effective 4WD is to install all the appropriate equipment - there is virtually no difference between a V-6 B3000 4WD and its 2WD B2500 cousin besides engine displacement. The suspension is all the same and the front brake rotors on mine even have the splines to accept the CV-axles. They even use the same transmission. Hmmmmm.... >:{)
Anyhow, really... swing by here sometime in Winter and I'll take you out camping in the Hill Country and we'll have some awesome hard cider and other local brews. You'll never regret it.