Notes

A few months back there where those Real Estate ads I was looking at that said, “Picture Yourself Living Here” next to screenshot of various houses that real estate agents had for sale. At the same time, I got thinking about what 14 years from now will be – namely the spring of 2040. Indeed, I know most likely the pickup truck I buy now will be what I drive up to state retirement with 30 years in.

After driving my Mom and Dad’s little Honda SUV with all the electronic toys, and climbing back into my big jacked up truck, I realized it would be mentally hard to go back to the mini-pickup truck full of screens like those Toyota Tacomas and other mid-size trucks are. At the same time, I don’t want another half ton truck as I think they’re the worse of both worlds – all the EPA fuel economy and safety crap – but in a big an bulky, underbuilt package. If anything if I’m retiring Red, I want a bigger truck, something I can stuff 35 inch tires under without lifting. A big bed for stuffing a week or two worth of camping gear and traveling across the country. Simple, reliable components, traditional engines without Superchargers or boost to cheat the EPA standards and cause premature failure. A real truck, which you only get once you get above 6,000 lbs with the HD trucks.

You’d think I am set on getting a Ford SuperDuty. I don’t want to get a Dodge Ram HD or Chevy Silverado HD as I’m dubious on the reliability of both those makes which I feel like have too much high tech sensors, especially after my recent experience, and I have good memories, the bad brakes problems somewhat faded now of my old Ford Ranger. But I really am not. While at one level I’m not super concerned about fuel economy, as this will primarily be a recreational vehicle as I live in city, I do know at some point I’ll have to buy a house and commute though if the truck is paid for with cash I can always finance or buy a second vehicle for communte. And if gas prices really surge, it could put a damper on my trips. I also hate how challenging driving a big pickup truck in those occasional times I have to find a parking spot in city lots, though I suspect the backup camera well help with that, though big trucks still turn poorly and take a lot of room to turn. And those occasional times navigating narrow city streets and back country roads. Probably won’t off-road in my big truck, but anything nice I’m not going to bang it up on trail. Trails are best for mountain bikes and ATVs. If I want to motor-ride in the backcountry, I should buy a quad not a pickup.

And there is also the cost. HD trucks, even basic gassers, are much more expensive then high-trim mid-size and full-size truck. You’re getting a lot more steel and engine with a SuperDuty then a Ford Ranger or F-150. While $10,000 or $15,000 isn’t that much of a difference spread over 10 to 15 years, that is still money that will be gone, unable to be saved or invested. With my salary after decades of hard work, it’s not that big of a difference, it does give me pause as a frugal individual. But of course, this does give me a lot of room to camp, and I won’t need a lift kit if I decide to run 35s and only a leveling kit for 37s. And just the general added cost of driving such a big-assed truck with fuel consumption, especially if gas prices go back up. But then again, I’m no longer impoverished, I work hard and make good money. And it will give me a lot of joy, spending nights camping out back of it, and driving roads and trails. The money thing really bites me, knowing how much cheaper those mid-size trucks really are. And how the Taco trucks are supposedly quite reliable, though not as good as they once were before the adopted blown engines and all the electronic safety gadgets as required by the EPA and NTHSA.

Maybe I am too down on new cars and the mid-sized trucks for their blown, I mean supercharged, tiny engines that use boost to get reasonable acceleration while minimizing fuel consumption at least in the eyes of the EPA. All those sensors in the passenger trucks offer confort and safety, reducing insurance rates and making it less likely you’ll crash. I mean collision detection does seem like a good idea when it works. Getting hit on the expressway sucks. But I just worry they will break and fail, though those HD trucks even in their base configuration are still loaded with sensors and technology. The era of 3-on-the-tree is well beyond us even in poverty-spec Town Park Department trucks. Maybe I’m just getting too much into the mind of outdated mechanic thinking, when the high-tech wonder trucks technology baked into every Tacoma, Ranger, and Colorado really does save fuel and lives, while not greatly reducing reliability. But I can’t help but question that. But maybe it’s just an excuse in my mind to buy a Ford SuperDuty, the big truck I’ve always wanted and prenteded to have with my lifted half-ton Silverado.

And when I do own that homestead, a 8’2″ bed would be great for hauling hog and cattle panel flat in the bed, an HD truck could haul loads of feed in the bed or tow a horse trailer full of feeder hogs or steers with ease. Most of SuperDuty trucks I am looking at have the plow/camper package, so I would have the electrical and brackets to buy a snowplow for cleaning the driveway of future land I might own. A used plowed put on the SuperDuty when both I and the truck get close to retirement could be a good second life for the truck, even beyond when it’s still road worthy due to frame rot. That said, I’ll be fluid filming my truck and making it smell sheep farm come next autumn for sure. But maybe I shouldn’t invest too much in a future that is uncertain, when right now I’m still just looking at a reliable camping rig to see America before those days when I’m stuck at home shoveling manure, feeding hogs and breaking ice on water troughs. Really, I know my time to travel is limited, and I should get the rig that best suits my need to travel while I’m still young.