I just gotta say.......

[sargentrs]

...that this is the best forum and community on the internet! Spent the last couple of months on some other forums relating to my "new" '74 Dodge Dart. Sadly disappointing at the lack of information and comradeship compared to Fordification.com. We join forums, usually, because we have issues with our vehicles and need technical information or help fixing a problem. Sometimes that problem means we won't get to work or be able to do something until we get it fixed. If you put out a question here, you're going to get a response and get it quickly. If it's a "I don't know but I feel your pain" comment, you WILL be answered. Maybe other people aren't as obsessed with their vehicles as we are with our trucks? Also, here, you'll be assisted without a condescending/patronizing attitude or be made to feel silly for asking an uninformed question. Over at the others it's usually, get a manual and don't come back until you've read it cover to cover. Then you get a "did you get the manual like I told you" kind of response. Don't get me wrong, I did find a handful of friendly, helpful, people over there but not many. And as for technical data, NOBODY has the resources on their forums like Fordification does on it's tech pages. My thanks to Keith and the moderators for providing us with such a great resource and community of followers and to all the members of Fordification.com that make it the greatest resource on the web! All of this reminded me that I haven't made a donation lately so contributed what little I can a minute ago. I encourage all reading this to make a donation to Keith and thank him for giving us such a wonderful place to hang out.

[Mancar1]

Well said. Thanks for the reminder.
I do not have a clue what the cost is in keeping up a site, but it sure isn't free. It has been a while since I have contributed, so mine will be sent also.
Keep on Trucking......John

[duaneo]

Here Here! I completely agree. Being somewhat new to the community, I have found it extremely helpful, and have felt obligated to contribute where I can.

Cheers,
Duane

[jimmy828]

2 words,

[sykanr0ng]

2 words,

[Damon23]

One thing I've noticed is that you will have a very hard time getting help if you are the new guy. I was into fullsize pontiacs for a very long time then moved to camaros and trans ams. I was part of two forums and was a long time member going back to 2001. I watched newbies get disrespected but some of them brought it on themselves. I'm shadetree at best and could help if I've had experience in what they were doing but sometimes I couldn't do a thing and posting "good luck" or "wish I could be more help" is more aggravating than getting bad advice cause when you see a new post in a help thread sometimes you get excited cause someone has the answer you are looking for only to be let down.

Since I've moved to trucks I've had to join a couple different forums and now I'm the newbie. People come to the forums looking for answers and sometimes the search features on the forums really don't help cause usually people ask for help with a problem but rarely come back to post what fixed the problem. On the other hand you ask one question and you'll get 10 different answers and sometimes you'll see a pissing contest about who is right and who is wrong. You also have a mix of guys with a shoestring budget trying to find a way to make things work on the cheap and others that the sky is the limit and sometimes those guys don't understand what the other is going through. I can't stand the "Go get a manual" or the "Did you read the manual" guy. Maybe you don't have the means to get that manual, or it is the weekend and no one has one and you have to order it but need help now. My thing is if you know the answer then answer it. I don't care if I have to answer it a bunch, it actually feels good to help.

What I've found here is a lot of info in the lit library and tech tutorials. I'm still a newbie, on my second truck. It probably won't be my last either. Oh, and if you want to feel unwelcome don't go to thesamba.com and ask for help without reading your "Bently" manual. They will light you up. Kind of makes me wonder why they have a tech section cause if everyone has a manual then there would be no need for that section. That site is the VW site I go to when I need help with the wifes vw camper bus.

Keep on keeping on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sykanr0ng]

The only good things about a "good luck" post are that it bumps you to the top and since it isn't you doing it doesn't come across as self-serving.

[ToughOldFord]

You guys makes some good points. It is true that many forums have a cliche and being the new guy can be difficult. Some forums are far worse than others though.
Specifically to Randy's findings though, I know what he means about slantsix.org, that's why I warn people about that site when I recommend it. I do recommend it as it has TONS of useful information there, but the attitudes from the primary members is like sink on poop. Chuck and Doug own the site and are good guys as far as that is concerned, but they do allow the abrasiveness from the senior members.
I've bumped heads with the attitude a couple of times and told them (members) basically 'why do you think this forum is so damn quiet? New guys get attitude, cold shoulder, and flamed so they leave." They replied once that they like their small group of people.
So the bottom line is, it's a good site for lurking for the info, but not for passing the time with the locals.

Haven't had much issue with FABO myself, but I've not participated much over there to really form an opinion.

Agreed with the sentiments on the 'read the manual' crowd, if that was a option/solution why would we be at XYZ forum??? Duh. And people that have been working on a certain item for a length of time have ways to repair and/or improve beyond what the manual shows. And manuals are often incomplete and in error.

I agree that Fordification is special, the interweb atmosphere is friendly and you rarely see a flame or a new guy get ignored. We did have a flood of ass-grabbers join a few years back that drove a bunch of us away, but it looks like they're all gone now.
It is a shame though that Keith abandoned us, he put a lot of himself in this site and forum.