Quote:
Originally Posted by tucsonjwt
I think it is great that people posting here have trucks that have never let them down. i, however, have owned 3 old squares and all 3 of them have broken down on multiple occasions, even with diligent preventive maintenance. So, if I absolutely needed a reliable daily driver I would not trust an old truck. Judging from some of the other posts on this forum I think others have trucks with pesky persistent problems (starting, driveability, etc.) which bring into question reliability on at least some of these old trucks.
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If you have gone through the major systems of an old truck, they can be as reliable as the newer ones. The basic design of the trucks has not changed much. Fuel, air and ignition control have been changed for economy and emissions. The new systems are not inherently more reliable, but they have advantages for their intended purpose. Newer transmissions improve economy and performance, but the failure rate is not that different.
The decreased reliability issues on the older trucks come from one or two places: modifications and parts quality. When we start changing the design of the trucks it sometimes has unintended consequences. For example, I put in headers but the extra heat causes starter or wiring problems. Aftermarket parts are often lower quality than the original due to price pressure. Sometimes that matter a little, sometimes it matters a lot.
If you build one carefully, don't cut corners and think through the design issues, you can end up with a very reliable old truck. It won't be cheap but it will be cheaper than buying new, assuming you don't pay for or attach a cost to labor. It will have a higher operating cost than a new one. Many people don't want to go through that process and that is fine. If you need reliable and predictable and don't want to do a full build, buy newer. If you can live with the adventure of an old truck that has some mysteries, you can skip some of the build process.