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which_chickI took the plow truck (1999 F250 V10) in to have it inspected. There was rather a lot of play in the steering, more than I generally like to have for driving at highway speeds, so I mentioned that to the shop when I dropped the truck off.
Shop called me (they saw me driving by, it's a small town and this is one of those small town things), "Hey, I just saw you drive by, you got a minute to come look at this?"
Sure, sure I do. Sinking feeling in my gut and all, I got a minute to come look at this.
The reason for the play in the steering, well, I'm not a mechanic, ok? I don't do car work. But there is a frame, right, kind of underneath the vehicle, that all the stuff bolts to. The cab and bed, the "upper" parts of the truck, those bolt to the frame. And the wheels, they also bolt to the frame. Where the wheels bolt to the frame, when you have someone in the truck turning the wheels, you can see the bolts move in the rusty holes in the frame. They are not supposed to do that. Well, shit.
Shop main guy is on vacation until Monday, so we're not sure if this is "buy a new(er) truck" or "drop 4K on welding the frame of this truck". The welding would be cheaper. A newer suitable truck will cost around 8 or 10K.
I know this because I went on Facebook Marketplace (danger, will robinson) to look at F250-sized suitable-for-plowing trucks. That's what I put in the search thingie.
Reader, Facebook Marketplace showed me some Ford Rangers. Now, I do like a good Ford Ranger. Not the new "I live in the suburbs and want to pretend I am an actual rural person with a pickup truck Ford Ranger", not that kind, the ones they stopped making in 2011, those Ford Rangers.
I had a 2000 Ford Ranger, green, manual transmission, for work. I drove it until we retired it at 300K on the odometer and gave it to brother the younger as a toy. It was a really good truck.
To replace it, I got a 2006? 7? Something like that. Ford Ranger, white, manual transmission, for work. It currently has 270K on the odometer, frame's been welded back together, it has a rebuilt Jasper engine (at 181K miles) because the timing chain went a couple of years ago, new clutch, rebuilt the rocker panels, but the bed's rusting out and it's gonna need either bodywork or a new bed in the not terribly distant future. I drive it to work every day and it is reliable.
But, Facebook Marketplace showed me an unasked for 2011 Ford Ranger, blue, manual transmission, with 140K on the odometer. To be clear, I did not search for this. I was searching for F-250 sized trucks (that's a lot bigger truck). I did not specify manual transmission. This just showed up on the search results for #reasons.
I was not trying to buy it or looking to buy it, and yet there was a drive to Morgantown WV (about an hour and change away) and test driving and purchasing of a fifteen year old pickup truck from an absolutely rock bottom floorplan used car dealer with plumber butt and an unzipped fly who nonetheless was easy to get ahold of and reasonable to deal with.
The truck I bought for $4800 had a solid frame and reasonable body with some small dents. Not wreck dents, dents that are "I am not good at reverse" or possibly "sometimes I drive while drunk, high, or way too emotional and then fail at parking". There's a difference. Wreck dents are way more impressive, these are very slow-speed minimal damage things that suggest driver was just not very good at operating a motor vehicle.
Dealer said they put a new clutch in it and it drives like a truck with a new clutch drives. (I have roughly twenty years of experience with Ford Ranger pickups and their clutches.)
The front end has some monstrosity of an asshole aftermarket bumper bolted on. It's gonna be bolted off soonest and replaced with a stock bumper. The front end of my truck does not need to indicate that I'm an asshole, the words coming out of my mouth do that just fine.
As expected, the tires were nearly bald and overly wide in the "I am a young man or a recently-divorced dad who wants to pretend he's still twentysomething" style. They need to be replaced anyway.
The rearview was growing a forest of Little Trees, Black Ice flavor. (Little Trees are "air fresheners" for a vehicle, typically sold in gas stations.) A forest of Black Ice Little Trees hanging from the rear view mirror means you smoke a lot of weed and have unpaid utility bills. I'd bet on it.
Neither the heat nor the A/C works. Blower fan is OK. There's no fluid in the windshield squirties.
The truck bed is rusted through (underneath the included Ford bedliner). That's fine, I can get a replacement bed. I've had my guy replace truck beds before, it's totally doable and not terribly expensive. Find a truck that was front-end wrecked, buy the bed off of it. No worries, they made about forty bazillion Ford Rangers, parts are easy enough to get.
The gearshift knob was replaced with one of those golf-club looking handles that means the driver is an asshole who over-performs masculinity like he thinks that'll cure his insecurity.
The radio is aftermarket and glows red when the truck is running. That's going to be replaced with the stock radio that came with the truck, soonest. I do not need a spaceship console when all I want is the two local radio stations and the buttons are too small anyway.
The rear window has a huge sticker of a pole dancer that says "I support single moms". I may keep the sticker for irony. As a landlord... single moms support me.
I cannot prove but strongly suspect that this truck was sold to pay a DUI attorney or to catch up on back child support. My money's on DUI attorney, but back child support is a strong runner-up.
Isn't fixing all this shit going to cost money?
Yes. The $4800 truck is actually an $8000 truck in disguise, which I knew when I bought it. Also, it's a work truck so all of that is deductible.
I still have to address the plow truck issue. *sigh* Problem for another day, it's still a ways to winter.
Shop called me (they saw me driving by, it's a small town and this is one of those small town things), "Hey, I just saw you drive by, you got a minute to come look at this?"
Sure, sure I do. Sinking feeling in my gut and all, I got a minute to come look at this.
The reason for the play in the steering, well, I'm not a mechanic, ok? I don't do car work. But there is a frame, right, kind of underneath the vehicle, that all the stuff bolts to. The cab and bed, the "upper" parts of the truck, those bolt to the frame. And the wheels, they also bolt to the frame. Where the wheels bolt to the frame, when you have someone in the truck turning the wheels, you can see the bolts move in the rusty holes in the frame. They are not supposed to do that. Well, shit.
Shop main guy is on vacation until Monday, so we're not sure if this is "buy a new(er) truck" or "drop 4K on welding the frame of this truck". The welding would be cheaper. A newer suitable truck will cost around 8 or 10K.
I know this because I went on Facebook Marketplace (danger, will robinson) to look at F250-sized suitable-for-plowing trucks. That's what I put in the search thingie.
Reader, Facebook Marketplace showed me some Ford Rangers. Now, I do like a good Ford Ranger. Not the new "I live in the suburbs and want to pretend I am an actual rural person with a pickup truck Ford Ranger", not that kind, the ones they stopped making in 2011, those Ford Rangers.
I had a 2000 Ford Ranger, green, manual transmission, for work. I drove it until we retired it at 300K on the odometer and gave it to brother the younger as a toy. It was a really good truck.
To replace it, I got a 2006? 7? Something like that. Ford Ranger, white, manual transmission, for work. It currently has 270K on the odometer, frame's been welded back together, it has a rebuilt Jasper engine (at 181K miles) because the timing chain went a couple of years ago, new clutch, rebuilt the rocker panels, but the bed's rusting out and it's gonna need either bodywork or a new bed in the not terribly distant future. I drive it to work every day and it is reliable.
But, Facebook Marketplace showed me an unasked for 2011 Ford Ranger, blue, manual transmission, with 140K on the odometer. To be clear, I did not search for this. I was searching for F-250 sized trucks (that's a lot bigger truck). I did not specify manual transmission. This just showed up on the search results for #reasons.
I was not trying to buy it or looking to buy it, and yet there was a drive to Morgantown WV (about an hour and change away) and test driving and purchasing of a fifteen year old pickup truck from an absolutely rock bottom floorplan used car dealer with plumber butt and an unzipped fly who nonetheless was easy to get ahold of and reasonable to deal with.
The truck I bought for $4800 had a solid frame and reasonable body with some small dents. Not wreck dents, dents that are "I am not good at reverse" or possibly "sometimes I drive while drunk, high, or way too emotional and then fail at parking". There's a difference. Wreck dents are way more impressive, these are very slow-speed minimal damage things that suggest driver was just not very good at operating a motor vehicle.
Dealer said they put a new clutch in it and it drives like a truck with a new clutch drives. (I have roughly twenty years of experience with Ford Ranger pickups and their clutches.)
The front end has some monstrosity of an asshole aftermarket bumper bolted on. It's gonna be bolted off soonest and replaced with a stock bumper. The front end of my truck does not need to indicate that I'm an asshole, the words coming out of my mouth do that just fine.
As expected, the tires were nearly bald and overly wide in the "I am a young man or a recently-divorced dad who wants to pretend he's still twentysomething" style. They need to be replaced anyway.
The rearview was growing a forest of Little Trees, Black Ice flavor. (Little Trees are "air fresheners" for a vehicle, typically sold in gas stations.) A forest of Black Ice Little Trees hanging from the rear view mirror means you smoke a lot of weed and have unpaid utility bills. I'd bet on it.
Neither the heat nor the A/C works. Blower fan is OK. There's no fluid in the windshield squirties.
The truck bed is rusted through (underneath the included Ford bedliner). That's fine, I can get a replacement bed. I've had my guy replace truck beds before, it's totally doable and not terribly expensive. Find a truck that was front-end wrecked, buy the bed off of it. No worries, they made about forty bazillion Ford Rangers, parts are easy enough to get.
The gearshift knob was replaced with one of those golf-club looking handles that means the driver is an asshole who over-performs masculinity like he thinks that'll cure his insecurity.
The radio is aftermarket and glows red when the truck is running. That's going to be replaced with the stock radio that came with the truck, soonest. I do not need a spaceship console when all I want is the two local radio stations and the buttons are too small anyway.
The rear window has a huge sticker of a pole dancer that says "I support single moms". I may keep the sticker for irony. As a landlord... single moms support me.
I cannot prove but strongly suspect that this truck was sold to pay a DUI attorney or to catch up on back child support. My money's on DUI attorney, but back child support is a strong runner-up.
Isn't fixing all this shit going to cost money?
Yes. The $4800 truck is actually an $8000 truck in disguise, which I knew when I bought it. Also, it's a work truck so all of that is deductible.
I still have to address the plow truck issue. *sigh* Problem for another day, it's still a ways to winter.
