OT ? Sorta? "Modern" truck s, kinda long


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Posted by Sean on Monday, July 22, 2002 at 8:45PM :

This is not brand bashing! I am just trying to understand what is going on here. I have only owned 2 trucks, (so far!) so bear with me. First was an 84 F**d F-150 I inhereited and my current 1942 WC-54.

In March I rented an 18' U-haul, F-350 (I think) and found it abysmal to drive - SLUGGISH, mushy steering, mushy brakes, etc. Everything workerd, but it was as if someone had slipped it a 10,000 miligram dose of Benedyrl or something. It worked fine, but it was like it didn't want to DO anything.

This weekend I rented a F%%d F450 14' box truck - it had all of 1475 miles on the odometer and it looked it. No stains on the seat covers, no cigarette smoke smell, wood in the box was still bright and shiny...

It had the Triton V-10 and automatic transfusion, power steering and brakes and so forth. 2001 model year, still had the "MUST SERVICE AT 6,000 MILES" sticker on the windshield on it.

I figured the Uhaul had simply been used too much, poorly maintained, etc. and that this truck would respond better. I was WRONG! it too felt like a 20k modem on a 10Hz hard drive or something...

Yeah, it worked, drove it 500 miles, mostly highway, in a little more than 24 hours, sustained speeds of 65~80 when necessary - but it was "mushy" - depress the accelerator, engine thinks about it, decides, "O.K. I guess he wants to go faster. Hm... Maybe I should add a little more fuel?...."

Got home after dropping of the Triton and jumped in my "daily driver" - an '89 Mazda 626 with a salvage title that was given to me gratis. It was like I suddenly had a new car! I swore it was looser than a goose with steering and brakes and acceleration and so forth. But after 500 miles in the F**d, the little rice-burner felt TIGHT!

Now I have not put more than 1,000 miles on the Dodge, but it drives the best, IMHO of all threse vehicles. The steering was adjusted and I installed a steering shock absorber, the brakes have been adjusted and new front cylinder, but are otherwise stock, and it has the original (AFAIK) stock 230....

But even though it's SLOW, I can FEEL it work, feel what happens when I steer, feel the brakes engage, feel (and hear) the engine work as I accelerate, feel the transmission and transfer case work...

What is going on here? Are those two F**ds examples of what you folks are talking about when you say that trucks are becoming more "car-like" in the way they drive/handle?

If the Triton had a standard transmissin and no power steering, would it have felt better? Am I nuts? Am I comparing apples and oranges? Are ALL modern trucks this mushy-feeling?





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