How much do you trust your bump?

[ok68crewcab]

Good tires, brakes, belts and hoses relieve a lot of anxiety. Those are the things I worry the most about.

[hdpusher]

I daily drive my 68. Now that I have most of the bugs worked out of mine I dont hesitate to drive it any place.

I was just in your neck of the woods with it last month I drove from Bedford to Greensburg over Rt30 and averaged 16mpg.

[GreyStep]

Long Answer....From day one I have put huge trust in my BUMP...I bought it in Miami, took it to Fort Lauderdale had new brakes installed and all fluids changed while I spent a few days with friends, picked up some tools and gas can then drove it home to Bucks County PA.

Since then it has been in my daily driver rotation (Spring to Fall months) at one point doing 150 miles a day.
Frequent trips from NJ to VA, MD and NY most with no fan fare...I have 11" tool bag that holds ratchet/extension/sockets, screw drivers, vice grips, adjustable wrench set, wiring set (ends/splices and crimp tool), duct tape, wire ties and razor.
On long trips I throw a gas can in the bed (since my fuel gauge is posessed) so if I mis-judge mileage I don't have to walk ....oh and I never leave home without oil...typically a half full gal jug is tucked somewhere in the cab or bed.

Now major break downs, although I have been on the side of the road a few times testing my diagnostic and triage skills.
Two AAA trips were due to a inner front wheel bearing and a rear axle bearing grinding noises making me error on the side of prevention vs destruction. I have to admit I drove with the front bearing shot for waaaaay to long..when I pulled spindle
the only thing honding the bearing bits in place was the GREASE!!!

Short Answer... Yup Sure Do!

[Rust&Smoke]

I have found with these trucks that if you have electronic ignition,good carb,decent battery,and good battery cables, they will get you home. A few years back I was going through some tough times and had a rough 67 F100 with a 302 FMX 2wd and about 700,000 miles behind her. She never let me down in the 3 years I drove her, sad day when I had to put her down. Still brings a tear to my eye.

[Doug F]

Since I have replaced the alt and regulator, I trust it to start and run with no problems. I still have only driven it a few miles, but I am making progress toward the DD result. I just replaced all the rear axle seals, bought a new front axle with disc brakes, need to replace the trans and install my "new" deluxe cab too. Yeah, I still have some work, but it does drive good.
Over-all, like my old Mustang, it might be rude and crude, but it runs and will keep on forever!

Doug.

[R.Smith]

I have a love hate thing with mine. It's only stranded me once and that was last week, the result of water in the gas. Can't very well blame that on the truck. The fuel pump went out last summer but that's because the vented cap I bought at PepZone wasn't actually vented and caused so much vac that the pump literally burst trying to suck gas. As a matter of fact, I can't think of a single problem I've had with mine since I got it that wasn't the result of human error. The 71 I had before this one ran fine as a daily driver for 5 years. The only serious problem I remember was a radiator and rust in the tank. It's still being used by the guy I gave it too after the county said tag it or lose it.

I do keep a small parts dept in the side tool box and bed box. I have a spare starter, alternator, every hose, fuel pump, coil, points, condenser, cap, button, plug wires, cellonoid, voltage regulator, rad cap, about 20 bulbs, a headlight, carb kit, timing light, dwelol meter, fluke multimeter, vac guage and pretty much every hand tool I would need to fix it if it's fixable....unless it's freakin water in the tank! I also keep a well stocked Bump Bar...oil, brake fluid, tranny fluid, creepy oil...my lifes goal is to meet a hot chick with a bump stranded on the side of the road. Seriously, I likely don't need all that stuff but I tend to over prepare...like the S&W .357 I keep in a secret place...cuz, ya never know....most of the spare parts came from trucks gone by.

Sometimes people will ask me, in that incredulous tone, why I drive such an old vehicle. I reply with equal incedulity 'what do you mean? What's your 2008 f150 got that this truck REALLY needs...besides a NASA tech to change the oil? And besides, how many people have flagged you down to reminice about the 2008 f150 they wish they'd never sold?" Face it. Everybody loves a cool ol' truck!

[Farmall]

I'm feeling pretty good about mine. The entire cooling system has been replaced, rad, hoses, heater core and water pump.
I put an electronic ignition module on it and I think it's one of the best things I've done.
Rebuilt the carb, new coil plugs n' wires, new battery and cables but I still have the old VR and starter.
It had sat in a field for two years when my wifes grandfather thought it broke down when he was hauling stuff out to burn. It just ran out of gas. So I put a new fuel pump on it and changed the filter again already, it had some condensation and dirt issues.
I changed the oil and filter with Castrol high mileage when I got it running, ran two tanks of gas thru it and changed it again, ran a half dozen tanks through it and changed it again. I've also run some seal conditioner in it because the rear main was leaking and that seemed to fix 95% of the problem. When I pulled the valve covers off to change the gaskets there was no sludge on top.
Her Grandfather seemed to have had it well maintained, it didn't take more than a pump or two to get grease to push out of any place I put the gun. I got rid of the bailing wire on the shift linkage and put E clips on.
She got new shocks, tires, helpers on the rear springs, and new master cylinder (hence the bolt story).
Cosmetics is the area I'm no good at and, he owned a Ford tractor that was parked beside the truck in the barn, about 20 years ago he painted the tractor...... had some paint left over, well, now I have equipment enamel to strip not to mention the serious flaking problem it has. He didn't wash the truck, ever, and that includes before he painted it.

[CACWBY]

Mine moved me from So Cal to WI 17 years ago, pulling a 2 axle U Haul. Was DD from April to Nov. for many years, then apart & redone in 2002-2003. With 700 miles on new speedo in May 03 I got in & drove to F100 Supernats in Pigeon Forge, TN & Back, and have driven there Two more times since, and did the full Hot Rod Power Tour last year, Madison WI to Bristol TN. Really dig having a covered long bed to throw all the road trip stuff into. So with 22K miles since 2003, I can say -Yeah, I trust it. Especially since I put disc brakes on front. (Smartest thing you can do).Though now more of a sissy truck than a Real Truck, it still gets to be useful sometimes, recently hauled home a Barn Find 12' aluminum "Lund Ducker" a 2 hour drive north of here, and once again I was glad I had a Long Bed.

Hot Rod Truck Meets Lund Ducker.jpg

[Davids68F250]

I have replaced all the tune-up parts (cap, rotor, points, condenser, plugs, plug wires, air filter, oil filter and oil, fuel filter, belt), and a couple days later the fuel pump went out. Replaced that and a few weeks later I replaced the battery, starter and alternator. In the next couple weeks I will be replacing the battery cables and all the hoses. I would feel safe to drive it cross country right now. The gas cost would be bad, but I know the truck could handle it. I typically drive it 1 or 2 times a week, and tow with it.

[Jarred Hodges]

I trust mine to go anywhere just can't afford the gas.

[austin]

i dont really trust mine yet its nothing against the truck its just cause its got a new motor in it that i rebuilt (my first 4 stroke engine rebuild) and i want to make sure i get it fully broke in before i go on a big long road trip just to be safe

she's never left me stranded unless i forget to put gas in it

[ezernut9mm]

I put a lot of miles on my 70. I can think of 1/2 a dozen things that happened to it while driving it as my DD for 180K in 3 years. The cool thing to me is that never once did it strand me or break to where it wouldn't get the job done anywhere but in my driveway. Once, the old D24 transfer case literally fell out as I pulled in the driveway with a trailer I'd just towed 250 miles. I lost headlights coming off a mountain in ice once and the headlights would pop on just enough to see where I was at. Adding oil to the first 390 I had in it on the side of I-5 at 2 AM I dropped the oil fill cap and couldn't find it. So I duct taped the breather hole up thinking that would keep the oil in. 20 miles later I could make out a severe blue haze behind me and smelled oil. Pulled over to find the crankcase pressure built up and blew a foot of the pan gasket out. I poured all the oil I had in it, got another 20 miles, stopped at a minimart that was open and bought all the oil they had, about 20 qts. That got me another 30 miles Before the pressure gauge started bouncing to zero. I had to be somewhere or atleast have a life or death excuse of why I didn't get there and I was 30 minutes behind schedule already. I pulled back on the freeway and held it at 4500 (that was around 90 MPH). Watched the oil pressure gauge occasionally bounce off zero and hit 2 psi, cranked the stereo up to drown out the very loud lifter clatter. In 45 minutes I arrived where I needed to be 20 minutes early. A couple weeks later I put 5.5 qts in a 6 qt system to reach the full mark. It fired right up and I drove it 10 miles home and installed a new pan gasket and found the breather in the engine bay.

I could fill a book with stories like that, that's why the truck is important to me.

i have treated a couple of fe's that way.
the definition of forever is i-70 in december west of hays kansas with zero oil pressure and not an exit in sight with major knocking coming from under the hood.

[cdeal28078]

My 71 has been my DD since I sold the Bronco last year. Before that I drove it about half the time. I don't go that many places anyway but if I had to drive to the left coast tomorrow I would jump in her and take off. After loading tools and spare parts.
Good thing about them is parts can be found almost anywhere. Even if you are on the other side of the country from home and blow an engine as long as you can find a place to work it can be fixed. If you have a laptop or access to a PC so you can get onto this forum I am sure you could find help in just about any part of the country.
I am a member of a small NC Ford truck club. We are spread out between NC and SC. When any of us travel we always have the phone numbers of members in the area we are going. Would be a good idea for a large forum like this I think
clint

[FordTruck]

I bought my 70 from OK and drove it home to MO but along the way in rual AR the trans went out and after a cab/bed and a whole lots of work and now I've put an NP435 in it and I'm starting to trust to drive it around but I traded it off for a 69 4x4.

[heviarti]

Not so much. Seems like everytime I go to do something simple and am not worrying something goes boom.

October it was my front end. It ate $400 and still leaks after new seals. Last night something in my drivetrain started rattling, and I'm down to transfer case, shaft, or rear end as the culprit. any one of these is going to be bad.

Also, the radiator is patched over the patches, and I've got a rattle from 2100 to 2500...

so no, not yet. My PW has brought me through more than the Ford so far.