? when to call it quit's?

[turnkey4099]

I bought my 1989 Laredo F150 2x, 6, stick right out of the paint shed back in the 90s somewhere. Pristine and cherry all the way. Today? It looks like it has been through 3 wars but other than scratches it only has two dings. Passenger door where I hit it falling a tree (changed my mind which tree to cut and didn't look to see where the truck was parked. Just missed the truck itself but took the mirror and mount off. Then a bad one on the rocker panel behind the driver's door (guy borrowed it and asked "was that there before" when he brought it back. Pant scratched from brush, faded out, bed beat up with deep dishes between the support. Had to replace the tailgate when it got so dished in it would latch anymore. All that truck has ever hauled for me has been wood and it is still going strong at 160k - starting to burn a bit of oil now. A showroom condition truck is one that hasn't hauled much wood.

Harry K

 

[Dogsout]

When you start trading paint with trees I think it is time to throw the towel in.

 

[lefturnfreek]

In my area there nice trucks, then there are wood haulers. Those 2 ideas don't mix well.

 

[alleyyooper]

I have tire chains for all four corners of my truck but I an'nt taking it in the woods summer or winter. I have tractors and trailers to haul the wood with. The truck earns it's keep hauling the tri axel equipment trailer, bee hives and honey supers and all my hunting gear to deer camp.

Al

 

[TeeMan]

That's an impressive haul with the F-150 though.

 

[Jim Timber]

Getting a scratch or dent doesn't qualify as abuse to me - it's life. Haven't you ever gotten cut or bruised? Were you abusing your body at the time?

I had a mint e39 BWM 540i (bought used instead of the $54,000 original price) which did raise my blood pressure. It was a sweet ride, but I was always worried about that lady with the 3 kids coming towards where I just parked, or the old lady who's almost hitting every car she parks next to. It wasn't worth it.

I had a beater rust bucket suburban in college and I loved that thing. If something would've ever happened to it, the insurance would've paid me a profit, because I doubt the adjuster could find a comp that ran in as bad of external shape as that beast. Inside was nice as new, but the body from the belt line down was swiss cheese. People feared me in parking lots, not the other way around. It was incredibly liberating going from the cherry cars and my jeep I had before getting that POS. No one messed with me on the highway either. It was awesome!

My Tahoe is far from a beater, but it's got a couple dents and scrapes, and it's starting to rust at the door seams. I don't care in the slightest, and I love that.

 

[turnkey4099]

Treating a truck as the tool it is is not abuse. I liked the comment in IIANM Tobacco Road movie as he kept damaging the new Model A he bought "I don't hurt the running of it any". Of course what he was doing _was_ abuse. Getting scratches, dirtied up, dinging up the bed tossing wood in is not abuse.

I laught at the guys who buy a $40,000+ truck and then are scared to haul anything in it. I call the trucks
P@#$y wagons.

Harry K

 

[Whitespider]

My truck ain't got dents (well, other than the dents it received in a hail storm).
The paint is pretty scuffed up, but it ain't scratched through to primer... most would likely would rub out.
The rust is gettin' bad, and the boy got a hold of an orange buzz-can and did a little paint work on the bumper and fender for me a couple years back.
I ain't never got a bucket of soapy water to wash it, just hit it with the pressure washer... ain't never waxed it.
I keep the inside spotless though... after all, that's where I sit.
Mechanically... maintained to a tee.

"Taking care" of a machine ain't washin' and waxin' it in my book, that's just washin' and waxin' it... I mean, you can scrub a pig with lilac soap and it's still a pig, still even smells like a pig.
"Taking care" of if means openin' the hood and crawlin' underneath, gettin' your fingernails dirty.
That's where I was goin' with the "vanity" post earlier in this thread... I ain't gonna' rub out scuff marks, clean wheels with a tooth brush, or polish the chrome so it looks like I take extra care of it when I can better use that time actually taking care of it. Glossy paint and sparkling chrome ain't gonna' mean squat when the damn thing throws a U-joint 'cause ya' didn't grease it.
But no... I don't "bounce it off everything in the county, I don't "bounce" it off anything. At the same time, if a stick rubs along the paint while driving it down to the fishin' hole I sure ain't gonna' sweat it... for that matter, I won't even check to see how big the scuff is. (shrug)
*

 

[c5rulz]

There comes a point in the life of a nice truck used for firewooding when you realize you no longer have a 'nice truck, you have a beater wood hauler.

Harry K

Hey Harry,

Does a Suburban wood hauler fit your description?

 

[turnkey4099]

Hey Harry,

Does a Suburban wood hauler fit your description?

Nice truck or beater? Can't sed the outside. My old man's last woodhauler was my highschool car I gave him when I went in the AF. 37 chev 4-door That for sure was in the beater category.

Harry K