Love the F150 Raptor. Fantastic truck for the first 60,000ish miles then things start failing. If I could afford to trade in my trucks every 3 years I'd take the Raptor every time. Unfortunately I don't have that luxury. My vehicles need to go 200K+ without too much headache that you are not getting in anything Ford, Chevy or Dodge makes. .
For my money it's the Tundra.
My 2004 Ford Ranger EDGE has been pretty good for the most part, but at some point I've replaced just about everything on the truck and I'm at 185k right now. I agree I prefer manual transmissions. Just wish my truck was a 4x4. Not even sure correct me if I'm wrong if you can get a 4x4 with a manual transmission? I think a lot of them came with automatics? Not sure? My sister has a Ford Ranger like mine, but's a few years newer 2007 I think that hopefully I'll be able to buy it and its a 4x4. New rangers not real excited about the body or the price.I don't know about the new ones. I probably will never own a new truck my remaining years.
But my "98" Range is closing in on 400,000 miles. Many of those are 80mph on the freeway when I was working.
Faithfully changed the oil every 3000 miles (about every 3 weeks).
Gave it what it needed when it needed it. Tune ups, tires, alignment.
Grease jobs are very important, weekend ritual. Still has the original U Joint in it.
I've never had good luck with automatic transmissions. So I've stuck to manual for decades.
But now they are getting as rare as dinosaurs!
I can't knock Ford, for lots of reasons.
When the bail outs were handed out, Ford passed and made it just fine.
I will say deciding to stop sales on cars in the USA and turn more to the SUV lines was probably buyer motivated, I think they still should have a class of cars including station wagons.
But...I guess that's just because of the era I grew up in, and we always had a station wagon.
3 seaters were cools where the 3rd seat faced backwords.
But my Father was a MOPAR man, until I talked him into a Taurus Wagon.
Then, he too, was hooked on ford. That's all he bought in his final years.
But, while the F-150's are put together in South Africa, Toyota's are put together with American Hands.
It all comes down to the individual and what they want, how they drive, and how they go about maintenance.
Everything needs maintenance, if you do it yourself or you opt to pay to have it done.
I've always done what I could do (including rebuilding engines), but I won't mess with computer stuff.
I'd love to have my "65" Impala back. 4 door, straight 6, 3 on the tree, 30mpg...
The Tundra's 5.7L V8 is a great engine but its horrible for gas mileage. I was getting 14.7mph average on mine over the 9 years I had it. Few years ago a co-worker got an F-150 with their Ecoboost which is a 3.5L turbo-charged V-6. He was getting the same power out as my V-8 but he was getting 21mpg average. Adding the turbo will shorten the over-all life but if you're only expecting 5 to 7 years on a modern F-150 anyway...
Seeing Toyota drop that 5.7L V-8 in favor for a turbo V-6 is probably a good selling point for them. They had to make some kind of change since the 2012 Tundra I had is almost exactly the same as the 2021 Tundra that you can buy now. I'd rather see them switch to a turbo diesel but that's not going to happen.
I though carbon fiber corroded aluminum. Is that not the case?Here is my Desert Assault Tundra parked next to a Taco. It's a 2018 TRD/SR5 5.7L with the 10,000 pound towing package. Bed cover is solid carbon fiber coated Aluminum that "Back Flips" open.
I though carbon fiber corroded aluminum. Is that not the case?
Best -- Terry
Awesome truck. But where does the drone swarm hive fit?Here is my Desert Assault Tundra parked next to a Taco. It's a 2018 TRD/SR5 5.7L with the 10,000 pound towing package. Bed cover is solid carbon fiber coated Aluminum that "Back Flips" open. Can hold 400 pounds on top of it. Back Rack and under the cover a Flip Box tool box that can be moved anywhere along the internal rail or emptied and folded up all the way to the rear. In the Cab the rear contains under-seat lockable storage with purpose design to also be able to hold 2 long guns [passage way between the two compartments allows the barrels to go all the way across. A bed extender allows you to keep the tail gate open and "Solid Fence In" cargo, say a very long surf board.
I discovered shortly after getting it home that it has a "Haul" button on a YouTube video, when pressed it takes out the Factory "Nannies" in the engine tune and gives you a high performance Torque Tune that makes the Truck Roar and Haul; so no need for an aftermarket engine tuner. But of course that makes MPG go down when activated.
Equipped with Yaesu ftm-400xd vhf/uhf FM and Fusion Digital 2way ham radio, ft-891 remote head for 1mhz-30mhz SSB/AM HF Two-Way radio. The 5' antenna on the back bed rail is for while mobile. A telescopic 18' whip can be installed parked in mins. Also have a standard 102" whip can be installed for mobile use and attach a small dune buggy flag.
Not shown is the 4 bay automatic elevation Box Rocket Launcher mounted to the bed top
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