This last week was a little muddy with all the rain we had early in the week. I wound up with a fuller than usual Thursday and Friday when it came to my "to do" list. A couple of jobs I won't be able to get out to 'til the roads dry up, but I took care of a handful of them that were on hard surface roads.
Friday afternoon I wound up almost 50 miles from town down in the SW corner of my utility company's service area. It was a little R/W job for new aerial service to a mobile home. These make up about 30 or 40 percent of the work sometimes, but I don't complain; they all pay the same.
Even though the property was on hard surfaced roads I was wanting to place my base in the interior of the property for security reasons. The proposed line ran almost 1300' feet up in the property to where a still vacant but brand-spanking new trailer house was sitting with brand new cinder block piles under it. Being the lazy butt I am I decided to attempt to drive up to the site instead of leaving my truck on the road and lugging my gear up the hill. I made it in even though it was a slippery trip. I was cautious not to get stuck.
I set up and located the trailer and all the engineer's proposed facility stakes. I carefully turned the truck around and headed out onto the section line road to locate a couple of corners I had already dug up. Everything went great and I pulled back up the hill to the trailer and boxed up my base and gear. I guess my previous trip in had given me some false security about the condition of the muddy trail. I was trying to turn around to nose the truck downhill and dropped a rear tire in a soft spot....sh*t.
I alternated forward and back and realized I wasn't really getting anywhere. A quick eye-ball survey from out of the truck and I realized my front tire was against a rut. A little shovel work and I should've been able to free myself and back out instead of turning around. It worked, but my progress was slow. I found a couple of soft spots and had to rock the truck forward and backwards, but I wasn't stuck. I kept after it.
I've never hidden the fact that I can't hear real well. And with the truck roaring and spinning the tires my hearing was impaired even more so. I thought I was alone until I had put the truck back in drive and gunned it. As the tires spun I hear someone hollering at me. Scared the hell out me.
I turned and looked out the window and saw a Grady County Deputy Sheriff's Tahoe behind me about 20'. The driver door was open and next to it was a uniformed young man. The grille, his door AND his uniform were speckled with quarter size dollops of bright red Okie clay...
I heard him holler "WHOA!" and saw him putting up his arms and turning his head. I splattered him pretty good.
I turned off the truck and opened the door to talk to him. He didn't look happy. I casually joked and told him "sneaking up on people playing in the mud" wasn't such a good idea. He had left his sense of humor at home apparently. He was all business with wanting to know what I was up to. Lots of thieving goin' on lately and all that stuff. I gave him my standard answers and showed him all my ID.
I have magnetic signs on the truck and wear a safety vest just to keep from looking nefarious but I guess he just had to drive 300 yards up a muddy trail to see what I was up to. In just a few minutes I had convinced I was in pursuit of company business. I also apologized for slinging mud all over him and his car. He backed his car up a bit and I finally freed myself. He backed his truck out first. After he had made it to the blacktop I then backed out.
After we were both back on asphalt we chatted window to window. I think I apologized about a half dozen times and offered to pay for a car wash and the dry cleaners. He declined....BUT....He and his wife just bought a place about ten miles south of there and he can't find a couple of his property corners. You know..."it's already been surveyed, I just need to find the markers" kind of thing. I got his card and he wrote down my email address. His wife is suppose to email me a copy of the deed...
I would have rather paid for the car wash and the dry cleaners. I don't know how I get myself into these things.
My son, the ex-paratrooper, used to seek out experiences like that. After he finished radio school at Fort Gordon, GA, he decided to go airborne. His reasoning was that, as a paratrooper, he would make $112 more each month and be able to buy a truck.
He special-ordered a 1997 Chevrolet work truck with a V8 engine, manual transmission, and 4 wheel drive. Took almost a year to get it, but it was a beautiful beast, shiny black.
That truck went down every tank trail at Fort Bragg. We live a couple of hours from Fayetteville, so he came home fairly regularly. One of his favorite ways to rankle his mom was bring the truck home covered in red mud with the only clean streaks being the wiper paths. Then he would hose it off in the driveway, leaving a red mud trail down the street to the neighbors yard. Often, he would bring a soldier or two home with him and they were the nicest young men I ever met. They sowed my yard one fall and did one heck of a job. Their only pay was a home-cooked meal on Saturday night and a whopping big breakfast on Sunday morning. Tragically, one of them suffered a broken back on a night-time jump at Bragg.
That truck was ultimately traded for a Toyota Tacoma in New Orleans. As I recall, it had just over a hundred thousand miles on it. He had it detailed before he traded it. I know that Kent is partial to Toyotas, but my son hated his. He traded it for a used F150. His ride now is a Chevy Silverado four door, V8, 4 wheel drive, automatic. It's never been close to a tank trail or anything like where Paden was. It does pull a bass boat, though, and carry a car seat in the back. Different stage of life now.
Another of his favorite things to do was to muddy the truck beyond recognition and then find a church or school group having a car wash to raise money. The teenagers' reaction was always the same and he always supervised them closely. Then he would pay them ten tines their asking price.
All in all, the truck and the army helped define him as an adult. And they made a pretty fine one at that.
MathTeacher, post: 421452, member: 7674 wrote: ..All in all, the truck and the army helped define him as an adult. And they made a pretty fine one at that.
Probably due to the pay most of the deputies I run into out there are really young. I bet some of them aren't four or five years out of HS. But they're all fairly professional and polite and almost every one of them I've talked with lives locally. This fella was a young'n also. I got the feeling he was madder at himself than at me for pulling up that close. He'll know better next time. Glad I could help. 😉
There's no book that teaches young people stuff like that. It either happens to them or they see it happen to someone else.
You are a good teacher!
Hell, us old geezers sometimes continue to learn by doing stupid s#it.
MathTeacher, post: 421452, member: 7674 wrote: As I recall, it [Chevy pickup] had just over a hundred thousand miles on it. He had it detailed before he traded it. I know that Kent is partial to Toyotas, but my son hated his. He traded it for a used F150.
I'd say that your son's mistake was probably not buying a Toyota Tundra with a V8. My 2005 has been a much better truck than I deserve and has gone places that I would never have even considered trying to take the GMC/Chevy 3/4-ton 4WD Suburban it replaced. To summarize:
- drives like a car on the highway,
- very rugged chassis and running gear,
- goes pretty much anywhere,
- only requires adding gas and oil, and
- looks much better than any of the American trucks (although I wouldn't say the same of the super-sized Tundras being sold now).
Kent McMillan, post: 421543, member: 3 wrote: ....looks much better than any of the American trucks (although I wouldn't say the same of the super-sized Tundras being sold now).
Kind of an oxymoron there Kent about "American trucks". By American I'm assuming you're speaking of the long-gone Detroit era of light truck production such as Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet. About your "imported" Tundra:
"Initially built in a new Toyota plant in Princeton, Indiana, production was consolidated in 2008 to Toyota's San Antonio, Texas, factory and is the only full-size pickup truck manufactured in Texas. The first generation Tundra had many similarities with the older Toyota T100 and the compact Toyota Tacoma."
As for, say Chevrolet's C cab trucks, a mere 40% or less of their parts are even manufactured in North America, let alone the United States. Most Chevy C series cabs have a final assembly en Mexico.
It is hard to tell nowadays what is an "American" automobile and what is not.
paden cash, post: 421546, member: 20 wrote: Kind of an oxymoron there Kent about "American trucks". By American I'm assuming you're speaking of the long-gone Detroit era of light truck production such as Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet. About your "imported" Tundra:
"Initially built in a new Toyota plant in Princeton, Indiana, production was consolidated in 2008 to Toyota's San Antonio, Texas, factory and is the only full-size pickup truck manufactured in Texas. The first generation Tundra had many similarities with the older Toyota T100 and the compact Toyota Tacoma."
As for, say Chevrolet's C cab trucks, a mere 40% or less of their parts are even manufactured in North America, let alone the United States. Most Chevy C series cabs have a final assembly en Mexico.It is hard to tell nowadays what is an "American" automobile and what is not.
My 2005 Tundra was *assembled* in Indiana. It's a safe bet that very few of the actual parts were really *built* in Indiana unless you consider assembling pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and a mostly-beef patty to be *building* a hamburger.
As for American trucks, if you think that engines and subframes made in Mexico are better than ever came from the Ford and GM plants in the US, I might not give you an argument ... but I still wouldn't buy a Ford or Chevy if something better was available.
Kent McMillan, post: 421547, member: 3 wrote: As for American trucks, if you think that engines and subframes made in Mexico are better than ever came from the Ford and GM plants in the US, I might not give you an argument ... but I still wouldn't buy a Ford or Chevy if something better was available.
I'm not venturing an opinion about whether one or the other is any better. I'm just saying the term "American Made" when talking about pickups is very misleading. Probably "North American Made" would be a better descriptive term.
But as for your Tundra purchase, you've hit a home run for keeping your money at home. Although the stats include Canadian manufacturing, the Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra rank the highest in being assembled with "homegrown" parts. They both utilize between 75% to 80% parts being manufactured somewhere north of the Rio Grande.
paden cash, post: 421548, member: 20 wrote: I'm not venturing an opinion about whether one or the other is any better. I'm just saying the term "American Made" when talking about pickups is very misleading. Probably "North American Made" would be a better descriptive term.
But as for your Tundra purchase, you've hit a home run for keeping your money at home. Although the stats include Canadian manufacturing, the Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra rank the highest in being assembled with "homegrown" parts. They both utilize between 75% to 80% parts being manufactured somewhere north of the Rio Grande.
I'd say that the key concepts are engineering and quality control over manufacturing processes. Toyota figured out how to make reliable truck engines even as Ford and Chevy were preoccupied with how much wood-grain trim to put on the interiors of the cabs.
Kent McMillan, post: 421549, member: 3 wrote: I'd say that the key concepts are engineering and quality control over manufacturing processes. Toyota figured out how to make reliable truck engines even as Ford and Chevy were preoccupied with how much wood-grain trim to put on the interiors of the cabs.
I bought my last Chevy truck in 2007 and have grown disappointed in the platform comparing it to "Chevys in the Past I Have Owned and Loved". I still drive it today with 190k on the Hobbs. I've actually had very little trouble with maintenance; it has been a reliable vehicle. But as with many other automobiles, it is put together with a modular system. A good example is the heater/ AC fan switch. Just a gang-switch with a nylon connector. The switch itself is unavailable. The switch "assembly" (complete with bezel and wiring harness) is available for around 150 bucks. And as far as I'm concerned Chevy is to this day continuing with their disguise; I've always said that Chevy 1/2 pickups were merely Impalas with a bed screwed on the back. Like I said; I've had good luck with it, but I believe I was purchasing based on memories in 2007. I won't buy another GM product.
My next purchase will probably be a (Fiat) Jeep Cherokee. They are assembled in Ohio with a fairly high rating of American manufactured parts, around 71%.
paden cash, post: 421550, member: 20 wrote: My next purchase will probably be a (Fiat) Jeep Cherokee. They are assembled in Ohio with a fairly high rating of American manufactured parts, around 71%.
I'll bite. Why a Jeep? I realize that there is a certain nostalgia billowing the sails of the brand, but at this date more than 60 years later, why?
Kent McMillan, post: 421551, member: 3 wrote: I'll bite. Why a Jeep? I realize that there is a certain nostalgia billowing the sails of the brand, but at this date more than 60 years later, why?
I've owned something with "Jeep" written on it for about 25 years now. From experience I've found them to be a good reliable vehicle; screw the nostalgia. As a matter of fact I turned down my nephew's "first dibs" offer to purchase his pristine 1952 Willys Overland CJ-3. It would have been a yellow hole in the drive way to throw money into....Jeep suffered over the years after WWII being passed around and eventually being produced by American Motors...what I affectionately refer to as the "Rambler" years.
But when Chrysler picked them up I believe they began a long term effort to produce a quality 4wd vehicle. I've had various Wranglers above 12000 ft. on trails most mountain goats would avoid. My last "field" Jeep was a '93 Cherokee. Everything else has been various Wrangler models since the '90s. And although they've all actually been Money Penny's main transportation, I have used them in the field a lot...you just can't get crazy with cargo; there is no room in them.
As for the nostalgia billowing the brand, I think the days of WWII are waning quickly and that ship has sailed. Jeeps are a good off road contender. I've had really good service and use out of all my Jeeps. My newest (2011) Wrangler has the words "Since 1941" emblazoned on the passenger side "oh my God" bar, I guess in a last attempt to remind people of its unique conception. It did spark my grandson's curiosity enough that he Googled the Jeep model and is now a fountain of facts when it comes to the model. I am just not that into the Jeep's pedigree, just it's utility value. I was a little disappointed when they discontinued their in-line six engine. It was a good power plant with lots of low end torque. Their v6 is not as powerful, but is still a good serviceable model.
paden cash, post: 421553, member: 20 wrote: I've owned something with "Jeep" written on it for about 25 years now. From experience I've found them to be a good reliable vehicle; screw the nostalgia.
So, at what point did the modern Jeeps become functional vehicles, or is the standard of comparison some other Detroit product of the day? I thought that the early 90s Cherokees had an unnaturally low oil filter that was designed to detect off-road driving so that by knocking it off and requiring that the vehicle be towed somewhere else the driver might be chastened against any further such warranty-voiding adventures.
Kent McMillan, post: 421554, member: 3 wrote: So, at what point did the modern Jeeps become functional vehicles, or is the standard of comparison some other Detroit product of the day? I thought that the early 90s Cherokees had an unnaturally low oil filter that was designed to detect off-road driving so that by knocking it off and requiring that the vehicle be towed somewhere else the driver might be chastened against any further such warranty-voiding adventures.
Never had any such problems. My oldest Cherokee did have an exhaust that was somewhat low-slung however. It got modified after the first time I flattened it on a high rock though.
I've just had good luck with the Chrysler/ Jeep products. And just so you don't get eye strain looking down your nose and wondering when they became "functional"...I might ask what luck you've had with the one's you've owned. hhhmmmm? 😉
paden cash, post: 421555, member: 20 wrote: Never had any such problems. My oldest Cherokee did have an exhaust that was somewhat low-slung however. It got modified after the first time I flattened it on a high rock though.
I've just had good luck with the Chrysler/ Jeep products. And just so you don't get eye strain looking down your nose and wondering when they became "functional"...I might ask what luck you've had with the one's you've owned.
Well, considering that there's unlikely to be anything in Oklahoma more challenging than a run down a dirt road to mail a check to a County Commissioner on a wet day, I don't think there's any basis for comparison. Texas has actual terrain to be negotiated.
I know that when I post photos of my truck on the way out of a ranch toward the end of the project it all looks like some magical world where all of the roads have caliche on them and are graded better than the Interstate through OKC, but if you look beyond those details you'd realize that this is simply the glamorous version of Texas surveying, posted for the benefit of the folks elsewhere beyond the far horizon. That would probably include all of the land North of the Red River, I'd guess.
Holy Cow, post: 421472, member: 50 wrote: Hell, us old geezers sometimes continue to learn by doing stupid s#it.
Sometimes, hell, I do something stupid at least once a day. The good part is that I can't remember what. 😉
Kent McMillan, post: 421543, member: 3 wrote: I'd say that your son's mistake was probably not buying a Toyota Tundra with a V8.
There's some truth to that, Kent. He bought the Tacoma whenever they did a major redesign in the early 2000s. His was made in California and it was bad. In the shop 17 times in its first two years. Last straw was the air conditioner going out 1500 miles past the warranty. The regional service manager happened to be in the dealership shop when my son took it in. The guy listened and declined to help. I learned later that warranty claims on that model were out the wazoo for Toyota, so avoiding one was probably beneficial for them. Of course, it cost them a customer for life.
My son currently has two positions on trucks. First, if you don't need one for work, then owning it is a waste of money. Second, if you must buy one, then buy a Ford or a Chevy based entirely on whoever gives you the best deal.
As an aside, he did own a Mitsubishi SUV for many years. When he first bought it, his twin brother's reaction was, "How dare you! How could you buy a car made by the company that made the airplane that strafed your grandfather in WW II?" The twin brother owns a Camry that is, I think, as tough as some trucks.
I've never owned a Chrysler product, but after Ford has screwed up the Escape so badly, I may consider one soon. Why on earth would the chase Honda and Toyota when they had a strong utilitarian vehicle to sell?
My wife, son, and I have owned a total of five Ford trucks - four F150s and an Expedition. The '97 F150 had somewhere in the neighborhood of 250,000 miles on it when my son traded it in for an '08. He loved that '08, but unfortunately some knucklehead t-boned him and totaled it, so he went and found another one just like it. Not sure how many miles he has but it's north of 100K. My wife's '08 has about 150K and still runs and drives beautifully.
The '04 Expedition was my primary transportation for several 30K - 40K mileage years when I was in sales. It has about 335K miles on it and it still runs great. But unfortunately it needs about $5K worth of work, so it's probably going to end up being donated to charity. But it served me well for twelve years.
In the process of racking up over 800K miles, we've never had a major engine or drivetrain failure. I'm pretty sure the tranny was shot in the '97, but a lot of that was due to it being taken over by two 17 year olds when it had 220K miles on it.
I've toured the Dearborn, Michigan assembly plant, it's pretty cool. Worth doing if you're ever in that area.
