Advice to young truckers

[StarDust]

Originally Posted by sdewolfe

StarDust,

If you are not working after school and mom and dad are paying for insurance and gas all that, tell them that some old fart on the forum says you should rebuild the brake system immediately.

If you are working, rebuild the brakes.

I do not advocate spending money just to spend money. New brake hoses, cylinders, and caliper seals may very well save your life or some other person's life. This is especially important in Houston. There are no courteous drivers here. If you try to leave a safe following distance someone will fill the gap.

well i don't have a license i see no point in getting a permit if i'm already about to turn 18 lol i HAD a job for 2 years making pretty good money for a teenager(10 an hour)
I already took care of all that did it before i went on my first pretty far cruise with some truck crews to galveston got new brakes pads, rotors and stuff just didn't take pics because i started my build thread after i did it.. but I did start off pretty bad spent money on my interior, paint, rims, ect until i blew my tranny and driveshaft lol..

[arrover]

Great thread. Mine isn't a daily driver but I did just buy the truck so I'm going through the items you mentioned. The steering was awful so that was first, then some driveline work, and now it's on to the brake and fuel systems. I would say that once you get the main safety items taken care of, throw an inexpensive, fun upgrade in there once in a while just to keep you motivated and enjoying the project.

[meter swinger]

Originally Posted by sdewolfe

Brakes. Stopping is much more important than going. Replace the brake hoses immediately. Do not put this off. I had a brake hose fail under pressure on a '51 Chevy pickup; a single circuit brake system. The failure made for an interesting 30MPH excursion under the canopy of a service station (we had those before convenience stores) to avoid rear-ending a car that was stopped at the traffic light. I made it home by driving very slowly on back streets using the engine for braking. The truck got new brake hoses that night. That was in 1973; the rubber was 22 years old. Do the math on your truck.

Replace or rebuild the master cylinder, the calipers, and the cylinders in the drum brakes. This job is expensive in both time and money but it is absolutely necessary. Do not let another day-off pass without doing it. While you are there, service the bearings and renew the seals, .

Been there done that and it was not all that fun. Blew a hose on a single master brake system going down a steep hill at 60+. There is no way to put that feeling into words. I was so pissed at myself because I knew better.

[sdewolfe]

Originally Posted by StarDust

well i don't have a license i see no point in getting a permit if i'm already about to turn 18 lol i HAD a job for 2 years making pretty good money for a teenager(10 an hour)
I already took care of all that did it before i went on my first pretty far cruise with some truck crews to galveston got new brakes pads, rotors and stuff just didn't take pics because i started my build thread after i did it.. but I did start off pretty bad spent money on my interior, paint, rims, ect until i blew my tranny and driveshaft lol..

StarDust,

I don't know how to respond without p*ssing you off. I don't want to do that, I just want to stress the importance of doing things right.

You don't see the need to get a license?

Operating a motor vehicle is a huge responsibility. Automobiles are dangerous. We take that for granted. Every year more than 30,000 people die on US highways. If any other activity had a death toll like that we would ban it. But cars are necessary. We justify the carnage. Somehow we manage to ignore the danger and trust that we will not encounter the guy texting at 70 MPH or the drunk who should have stayed put. Or, if we do get tangled up in an accident no one will be hurt and those involved are all insured.

With no license, any liability insurance you have on your truck is null and void. If you run in to me you are responsible. But without insurance or a thick wallet, how are you going to repair my vehicle? What if I get hurt? How are you going to pay my medical bills?

You may think you can bootleg it until you are 18. And you just might get away with it. What if you don't? Your parents are responsible for you and your actions. They will have to come up with the money to cover the damage, medical, legal, and no telling what else. They might have to mortgage their home. And, because you now have a record you will be a "risk" and it will cost you an arm and a leg to get insurance in the future. Depending on circumstances, you may not be able to get a license until you are 21. If someone gets killed, you do time.

That little card is pretty important.

OK, rant mode OFF.

Back to the topic, I read your Father (son) 86 thread. What caused the tranny to blow up?

[StarDust]

Originally Posted by sdewolfe

StarDust,

I don't know how to respond without p*ssing you off. I don't want to do that, I just want to stress the importance of doing things right.

You don't see the need to get a license?

Operating a motor vehicle is a huge responsibility. Automobiles are dangerous. We take that for granted. Every year more than 30,000 people die on US highways. If any other activity had a death toll like that we would ban it. But cars are necessary. We justify the carnage. Somehow we manage to ignore the danger and trust that we will not encounter the guy texting at 70 MPH or the drunk who should have stayed put. Or, if we do get tangled up in an accident no one will be hurt and those involved are all insured.

With no license, any liability insurance you have on your truck is null and void. If you run in to me you are responsible. But without insurance or a thick wallet, how are you going to repair my vehicle? What if I get hurt? How are you going to pay my medical bills?

You may think you can bootleg it until you are 18. And you just might get away with it. What if you don't? Your parents are responsible for you and your actions. They will have to come up with the money to cover the damage, medical, legal, and no telling what else. They might have to mortgage their home. And, because you now have a record you will be a "risk" and it will cost you an arm and a leg to get insurance in the future. Depending on circumstances, you may not be able to get a license until you are 21. If someone gets killed, you do time.

That little card is pretty important.

OK, rant mode OFF.

Back to the topic, I read your Father (son) 86 thread. What caused the tranny to blow up?

I understand your rant, i had a lot of close calls from other people. a friend of mine got Tboned yesterday hes same age as me no license so i see what you mean . I need a way to get to school so i take my chances my school is like 2 miles away and the reason i said i dont see the need to get my permit is because it takes 4 months to get a permit which is still illegal to drive technically without someone 21 years or older then i need to wait out 9 months to get a provisionall license by that time im going to be 18 and wasting 300 bucks. The friend i took it to says my driveshaft wasnt straight and caused a joint to fail forgot what you call those cross things that connect the drive shaft to the tranny but he said he doesn't really know y my tranny split in half..

[motornut]

Originally Posted by StarDust

I need a way to get to school so i take my chances my school is like 2 miles away ..

your kidding right,
If you hit somebody without a licence thats gona be the shortest walk of your life.
I have a younger friend who did that and wasn't lucky,first time he got caught,how? a burnt tail light.
he got big fines,couldn't pay them,got caught again ,driving to work, more fines
caught a 3rd time he told the judge I can't afford the fines,judge said "no prob "
he's now 30,married with 4 kids,banned for life

good luck with the no licence,it can snowball on you quick

[nekkidhillbilly]

a new truck ends up needing the same sh!t replaced. but you get a payment too. ask me how i know. 500 bucks a month and something repaired every 6 months. big difference the old truck is cheaper and easier to repair.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by nekkidhillbilly

a new truck ends up needing the same sh!t replaced. but you get a payment too. ask me how i know. 500 bucks a month and something repaired every 6 months. big difference the old truck is cheaper and easier to repair.

There is no more panicked feeling in the world that to be making stiff truck payments and sweating having to do repairs on top of that. I went down that road for part of my life before I learned.

[66Submarine]

Not sure if I agree with all the expense. Brake stuff, etc, is cheap and not at all hard to do. For me (being able to do the work myself, obviously), I could have several of my old trucks driving for the cost of payments on one new one that will eventually blow up, and cost an astronomical amount to repair.

I personally don't find that much constant crap to deal with. Maybe that's why I deal in the older trucks; less rubber to go bad, lol.

I also feel the need to defend the unloved 3/4 tons a little. Most stuff isn't all that much more expensive, it's plentiful in junkyards, and it's hard to break it. (If you are killing 3/4 ton rear ends commuting you have much larger problems)

BTW, "Wind whipping through the cab will remind you every morning on the way to work that the doors and windows are leaking." I personally find the giant holes where cab corners used to be on a winter's day much more noticeable, lol. Getting rained on inside the cab is when I really notice that the window/door seals aren't what they used to be...

[king-918]

Glad I just went with a most new rebuild

[Axle]

Good thread.

And in interesting side bar to boot. Stardust, so what you are saying that in texas, if you wait until you are 18 you can take your drivers test (and pass) to get a full drivers liscense? Up here, doesn't matter if you are 16, 18, 48, if you are a new driver, age does not matter, you go through all the same steps/provisional liscense grades until you do the appropriate time for each stage. And please stop driving on public roads until you get your liscense. Ride a bicycle if you can't walk two miles.

Alex.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Originally Posted by Axle

Good thread.

And in interesting side bar to boot. Stardust, so what you are saying that in texas, if you wait until you are 18 you can take your drivers test (and pass) to get a full drivers liscense? Up here, doesn't matter if you are 16, 18, 48, if you are a new driver, age does not matter, you go through all the same steps/provisional liscense grades until you do the appropriate time for each stage. And please stop driving on public roads until you get your liscense. Ride a bicycle if you can't walk two miles.

Alex.

In the state of Texas you can get a provisional, or learners permit at the age of 16 and you hold onto that for 6 months and have to be with someone of 21 years or older to drive after that 6 months you get your license but can only have 1 passenger in your car at a time unless it's a family member. If you wait till your 18 you can go to your local DMV tell them you want to get your license and you'll have to do the driving and written test. I got mine exactly 6 months before my 18th bday but I did the home taught in which you can exempt the driving test and just do the written.

[sdewolfe]

The friend i took it to says my driveshaft wasnt straight and caused a joint to fail forgot what you call those cross things that connect the drive shaft to the tranny but he said he doesn't really know y my tranny split in half..

The cross things are called U-joints. If the driveshaft was that much out of alignment you must have been living with noise and vibration. For future reference, do not ignore vibration and noises. You might have avoided this failure if you had investigated the vibration before the U-joint let go.

It took a lot of torque of to destroy that transmission case. Were you trying to light up those 20's?

[smashingchuck]

Originally Posted by sdewolfe

If you absolutely cannot afford at least $300 every month to refurbish your truck, do yourself a favor and sell it. If you do not have at least that minimum resource to spend, one of two things is going to happen: either the truck will break and sit until you decide to sell it at a loss, or you will end up broke down in East BFE. I have been in both situations. I hope to save you the trouble.

.

Seriously. It does not take $3600 a year to keep my Chevy on the road. That's slightly less than i paid for a rust free 80,000 mile sub.

100,000 miles and 10 years of driving might have me knocking on $1000 out of pocket in parts. in ten years. not $36,000 as you suggest.



if it makes noise and its not suppose to, fix it. otherwise, keep rollin'.

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by smashingchuck

Seriously. It does not take $3600 a year to keep my Chevy on the road. That's slightly less than i paid for a rust free 80,000 mile sub.

100,000 miles and 10 years of driving might have me knocking on $1000 out of pocket in parts. in ten years. not $36,000 as you suggest.



if it makes noise and its not suppose to, fix it. otherwise, keep rollin'.

x2, that's been more of my personal experience.

[Sodell]

Great post! I was in the military for 22 years and never made much money. I drove old cars or trucks because I had to. I built a couple cheap race cars including a 74 V8Vega, and they were fun, but still my daily driver. I kept my wife driving in a new car.
Now I don't have to drive an old truck but I still do (88 4x4) daily driver. I hate car payments...My 87 SWB is not my daily driver, and I have only had it since spring- but I gotta say the first thing I did was work on the brakes and replace the entire front suspension. It was wore out and extremely sloppy. I did not think twice about fixing the steering and the stopping, glad you put it to words.

[sdewolfe]

Originally Posted by smashingchuck

Seriously. It does not take $3600 a year to keep my Chevy on the road. That's slightly less than i paid for a rust free 80,000 mile sub.

100,000 miles and 10 years of driving might have me knocking on $1000 out of pocket in parts. in ten years. not $36,000 as you suggest.



if it makes noise and its not suppose to, fix it. otherwise, keep rollin'.

$100/year? OK. I have not been so lucky.

I came up with the $300/month by estimating what it will take to make this $1000 C10 I just bought safe and dependable. Then I assumed that this truck is average for something pulled out of the woods after four years. There is a lot to do: the driver's door is falling off the hinges. The shocks are worn out. The steering is loose. The hood is bent. There is rust everywhere you would expect and a couple places I did not expect. The u-joints are going out. The timing chain is loose and the water pump squeaks. Right off the bat, I had to have the TH350 rebuilt.

My $1000 pickup has already cost me $1200 in tires and repairs and I don't see an end to the spending for several months yet. Now once it has been refurbished, I expect to spend a bunch less. But I know I will never get to $100/year. If you figure tires every three years, that budget is already busted.

The point I was trying to make is that if maintenance and repairs are not done, the truck will leave you stranded or become a yard ornament. That is true regardless of how much it takes to make it right and keep it that way.

[78maliburat]

Originally Posted by sdewolfe

$100/year? OK. I have not been so lucky.

I came up with the $300/month by estimating what it will take to make this $1000 C10 I just bought safe and dependable. Then I assumed that this truck is average for something pulled out of the woods after four years. There is a lot to do: the driver's door is falling off the hinges. The shocks are worn out. The steering is loose. The hood is bent. There is rust everywhere you would expect and a couple places I did not expect. The u-joints are going out. The timing chain is loose and the water pump squeaks. Right off the bat, I had to have the TH350 rebuilt.

My $1000 pickup has already cost me $1200 in tires and repairs and I don't see an end to the spending for several months yet. Now once it has been refurbished, I expect to spend a bunch less. But I know I will never get to $100/year. If you figure tires every three years, that budget is already busted.

The point I was trying to make is that if maintenance and repairs are not done, the truck will leave you stranded or become a yard ornament. That is true regardless of how much it takes to make it right and keep it that way.

Sounds like you paid a grand for a 100 dollar truck and youre pissed about spending money...................lol

[crashz]

I think its more the timeline. When you buy an old car or truck, it has most likely been sitting around for some mechanical defect. It takes money to fix and then fix all the things degraded from sitting/time. Its always a big upfront expense, which tapers down to short money in maintenance.

My beater cost $1500. I have approximately a $1000 in tires, starter, filters, oils and exhaust. I expect that it will last two years without any other repairs. Thats $2500/2 = $1250/yr. If it lasts 5 years with no apprecaible repairs and I totally negect it, thats $500/yr.

[78maliburat]

Originally Posted by crashz

i think its more the timeline. When you buy an old car or truck, it has most likely been sitting around for some mechanical defect. It takes money to fix and then fix all the things degraded from sitting/time. Its always a big upfront expense, which tapers down to short money in maintenance.

My beater cost $1500. I have approximately a $1000 in tires, starter, filters, oils and exhaust. I expect that it will last two years without any other repairs. Thats $2500/2 = $1250/yr. If it lasts 5 years with no apprecaible repairs and i totally negect it, thats $500/yr.

you also have to factor in the region that the said vehicle comes from

[StarDust]

Originally Posted by sdewolfe

The cross things are called U-joints. If the driveshaft was that much out of alignment you must have been living with noise and vibration. For future reference, do not ignore vibration and noises. You might have avoided this failure if you had investigated the vibration before the U-joint let go.

It took a lot of torque of to destroy that transmission case. Were you trying to light up those 20's?

I didn't expierence that much of vibration and no i was going 70 when it just randomly decided to snap on the way to a carshow..

[KQQL IT]

[nlauffer]

I think the write up is great. I am 31 years old and finally got around to figuring this out. I always made sure the main family vehicle had new tires. First thing after purchase. 3 hours on the side of a busy highway, in 110 degree + humidity heat, with vulture sized mosquitoes changing a blown rear tire with a wife and kids will remind you that you forgot to buy new tires and now have to spend some vacation money on new ones.

Go fast and look good use to be first on the list.

My current 83 GMC SWB 2wd got all new front and rear brakes, all new tires, all new tie rods, ball joints, bushings. New alternator, starter.

I have now decided the leaky motor is getting replaced and all the sheetmetal fixed. So at this time the entire pickup is in pieces with an empty cab remaining on the frame sitting on wheels. At this depth of repair, you can really get a sense of how much wear and tear is happening. I have literally inspected every piece of this truck, and my list of repairs start out with the most important, most basic items first and then work outward to paint and weatherstripping last. Wiring is one item that I didn't think much about. But I am going to replace most wiring at this point just to be sure.

One thing I was thinking about when reading the post, is that there are some good upgrades to do, which will help in the safety department. One is headlight wiring. So, what I was going to say is to look at what you are replacing or repairing and look for good upgrades at the same time. If you can afford it, it will be cheaper than tearing it back apart to do it later.

Another thing, is to be realistic in your thinking about, "Can I fix this myself?" More often than I want to admit, I have caused myself grief because I had the knowledge, but maybe not the right tools or time. Some times you are much better off letting the shop fix it.

[nekkidhillbilly]

Originally Posted by sdewolfe

$100/year? OK. I have not been so lucky.

I came up with the $300/month by estimating what it will take to make this $1000 C10 I just bought safe and dependable. Then I assumed that this truck is average for something pulled out of the woods after four years. There is a lot to do: the driver's door is falling off the hinges. The shocks are worn out. The steering is loose. The hood is bent. There is rust everywhere you would expect and a couple places I did not expect. The u-joints are going out. The timing chain is loose and the water pump squeaks. Right off the bat, I had to have the TH350 rebuilt.

My $1000 pickup has already cost me $1200 in tires and repairs and I don't see an end to the spending for several months yet. Now once it has been refurbished, I expect to spend a bunch less. But I know I will never get to $100/year. If you figure tires every three years, that budget is already busted.

The point I was trying to make is that if maintenance and repairs are not done, the truck will leave you stranded or become a yard ornament. That is true regardless of how much it takes to make it right and keep it that way.

my 04 diesel isnt any better cept i had to pay double for it. exahust rust, brakes are always going out, front end breaks a part about once a month, exhaust rusted off, wheel bearings oh yes wheel bearings replaced 3 in 130k. 220 a pop for them. this truck cost 500 bucks a month for 6 years. is paid for now. i bought it when it was year old.

[rusty76]

In '97 I bought my old '76. It needed a radiator, shocks and the carb rebuilt. The tires were good, the exhaust was good. Pretty much the truck was decent. I replaced the radiator it cost me 100 bucks. Shocks were some where around the same price and the carb rebuild was 20 bucks. I drove the piss out of it. I did general maintaince and kept it pretty much stock. I did this until '04. I put money into it but never really a great deal of money. I fixed it up some but not much. Honestly was the best vehicle I owned. I could literally go any where in it. After three bad freeze plugs and gas prices going up I parked it. I'll put it back on the road and number one will be safety. It needs right much work but it's still cheaper than buying a new truck or somebody elses project. You just have to be willing to put the time and effort in. I also made money with this truck. So in all I think I broke even.