I bought a new truck.

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,528
908
126
Here's a pic of mine:



And here she is hooked up to my trailer while loading for out first trip:


I plan on doing some work to a portion of our front yard that'll require rock and dirt, but I want to get the bed lined before doing heavy duty stuff.

There's $100k right there. You know, you can rent an RV for a fraction of what it costs to buy one right? Then you could afford to pay someone to do your front yard. :biggrin::p
 

joutlaw

Golden Member
Feb 18, 2008
1,108
2
81
I live in the south an drive a full-size truck. It's a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado regular cab short bed 4x4 Z71. It has the 5.3L V8 and 3.73 gears. We have 2 acres and it would hard to do my yard maintenance without it. - i.e. Last week I returned my FIL's John Deere 1520 back to their house that is 2 hours away. With trailer, I was right at 8K pounds and pushing the towing capacity limits. You can't do that without a full size truck and a 3/4 ton probably would have been better suited for the job. My truck did fine, but braking was a bit sketchy since the trailer didn't have brakes. I kept it slow and steady at 55MPH the whole way in 3rd gear. Surprisingly, I got 13.5 MPGs versus the 18-19 I typically get in my work commute.
 

rancherlee

Senior member
Jul 9, 2000
707
18
81
Nice truck, love my 12' XLT scab 4x4 5.0l. Easy on gas for a truck and plenty of power for towing my skidsteer and car trailer around. Seen a best tank of 22.7mpg crusing 72mph all day (721 mile on the tank) and a worst of 14.1 with a TON of warmup idle time in January during a typical Northern MN winter.
 

xBiffx

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2011
8,232
2
0
Nice truck, love my 12' XLT scab 4x4 5.0l. Easy on gas for a truck and plenty of power for towing my skidsteer and car trailer around. Seen a best tank of 22.7mpg crusing 72mph all day (721 mile on the tank) and a worst of 14.1 with a TON of warmup idle time in January during a typical Northern MN winter.

Yep, winter shreds my Ecoboost's mileage like none other. And here she comes again. :|
 

Yuriman

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2004
5,530
141
106
Hah all of the south coming out of the woodwork in this thread. Now lets see yall's pics with 2x4s, hay bails, drywall and gravel in those truck beds; or at least hauling 6K lbs worth of tandem trailer. All hat, no cattle...

In the case of my family, my father owns an (older) F150 and uses it for work and as a tool hauler, and he's torn it to bits. A few weeks ago we drove out to pick up a diesel engine for a tugboat, and carried it back in the bed, damn near scraping the road. There's rarely less than half a ton in the bed. Trucks are really necessary for some tasks, but they don't often make sense for individual ownership unless they're going to be used almost every day... and even then, you're often better off with a small truck. We share the truck in the family though, something like 8 people who use it occasionally other than him. As a family, we're getting close to $80,000 in gas that we've put in that truck, and we split the insurance.

For all of his other driving he uses a small car as the difference in gas cost alone would buy a new used car every year, and trucks (when purchased new) are also considerably more expensive than cars to replace. You won't see anyone commuting in it - the only time it's started is when no other vehicle will do the job, and that's surprisingly often.
 

MrCassdin

Senior member
Aug 7, 2014
210
0
0
Hah all of the south coming out of the woodwork in this thread. Now lets see yall's pics with 2x4s, hay bails, drywall and gravel in those truck beds; or at least hauling 6K lbs worth of tandem trailer. All hat, no cattle...

Jeezus Christ shut the "deleted" up already, no one cares about your self-righteous indignation.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
Now wash it and give us a proper quartering shot without the trash hanging from the rear-view.

He's got a point here but otherwise nice truck, ignore the troll who calls it "underpowered", he's probably riding the bus the BK every day..
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,575
126
Hah all of the south coming out of the woodwork in this thread. Now lets see yall's pics with 2x4s, hay bails, drywall and gravel in those truck beds; or at least hauling 6K lbs worth of tandem trailer. All hat, no cattle...

hay bales...

Mr. 13/15/19mpg 2007 S8 driver. :whiste:
 

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
6
81
Lulz. :biggrin:

My boss just bought an F150. Typical white collar dude, single, no kids, no reason at all to own a truck really. It will never go off-road and it will rarely be used to haul anything other than his dogs. What it will do mostly is carry him in his diesel jeans and pressed shirts to and from work every day. This is your typical truck buyer these days.

My boss bought a new truck too recently, although it was a Toyota Tacoma. Same story. He used to say that he was getting it in preparation for when he bought a boat and had to tow it, but now he joined some boat-sharing club, so...

Sad part is that he used to have an old 90's GMC Sonoma, full-sized bed, no crew cab beater. He would lend it out to anyone who needed to haul stuff, so it got used like a truck should. Of course he sold it, and now he doesn't want to get his nice new bed scratched.:rolleyes:
 

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
13,140
138
106
Now wash it and give us a proper quartering shot without the trash hanging from the rear-view.

The rose cross stays. Memories.


I bought a truck because I grew up driving trucks. Learned to drive on an early 80s F250 RCSB with a 4speed and have just never felt comfortable in a car. Plus I am moving into a house that needs work, and will be getting reduced rent for doing that work. Need a truck for that.

I also needed a new vehicle, my old truck is 11 years old and has 140k miles.

Oh and there's also the fact that I'm currently commuting 10 miles a day to work in a truck pisses off guys like halik and Jules :biggrin:

Nice looking truck. No the 5.0 isn't the powerhouse of the lineup, but I believe in the long run it will prove to be the most reliable of the motors, and for an every day use truck, I don't think you could have chosen a better power plant. The 5.0 will easily break those tires lose :).

Love the supercrew too.

Got tired of doing the Supercab Shuffle, and the amount of room in the backseat is amazing! The 5.0 has tons of power on tap, but I need more. I'm thinking... Boss 302 intake, long tubes and a custom tune... sometime in the future maybe.

LOL. Now that you say that, every other vehicle in that photo is either silver or grey. So boring. :)

Haha, just noticed that. You can't see my Arizona Beige Metallic 2004 F150 on the left, though, or the big green Ram just out of frame on the right across the street.
 
Last edited:

Yuriman

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2004
5,530
141
106
The rose cross stays. Memories.


I bought a truck because I grew up driving trucks. Learned to drive on an early 80s F250 RCSB with a 4speed and have just never felt comfortable in a car. Plus I am moving into a house that needs work, and will be getting reduced rent for doing that work. Need a truck for that.

I also needed a new vehicle, my old truck is 11 years old and has 140k miles.

Oh and there's also the fact that I'm currently commuting 10 miles a day to work in a truck pisses off guys like halik and Jules :biggrin:


I was one of them, at one point, but I've come around. Not every decision in life is based around maximum economy. You wouldn't've bought a truck if you couldn't afford it, or at the very least you're not going to complain to others when you're broke, so what right do they have to get onto you about how you spend your money? Plenty of people have very "irrational" and expensive toys in this country.

As for the "environmental impact", basically every dollar spent eventually ends up coming out of a tailpipe one way or another, and a new truck is probably a relatively clean way of burning that money - it's not a diesel. :p

I grew up with and enjoy trucks, and whether or not I personally feel they're a good use of *my* money is irrelevant to your spending. I hope you have fun with it.
 
Last edited:

halik

Lifer
Oct 10, 2000
25,696
1
0
Would pics of a 13 speed Mack pulling 80000lbs work for you?

Aye; there's a time and place for a truck and it's when you're pulling stuff over ~6Klbs where most SUVs top out (or obviously where you need the open bed frequently).
 
Last edited:

halik

Lifer
Oct 10, 2000
25,696
1
0
Lulz. :biggrin:

My boss just bought an F150. Typical white collar dude, single, no kids, no reason at all to own a truck really. It will never go off-road and it will rarely be used to haul anything other than his dogs. What it will do mostly is carry him in his diesel jeans and pressed shirts to and from work every day. This is your typical truck buyer these days.

It is a nice shiny new metal box.

That's what I'm talking about, it's a really odd "the south"/ manhood cultural thing. People buy trucks and don't know why, all while the big 3 are doing their happy dance selling people $50K king/longhorn/laramie trucks with 50% profit margin.

hay bales...

Mr. 13/15/19mpg 2007 S8 driver. :whiste:

Noted.

I'm pretty sure I've hauled more shit in my S8 in the last 6 months than a parking lot worth fully-loaded late year F150s; I count 3 interior doors, 2 exterior doors, 100lbs of mulch, 400lbs in ikea countertops, one ducati motor and ~4500lb ski boat.
 
Last edited:

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,893
5,524
136
Hah all of the south coming out of the woodwork in this thread. Now lets see yall's pics with 2x4s, hay bails, drywall and gravel in those truck beds; or at least hauling 6K lbs worth of tandem trailer. All hat, no cattle...

Wish I'd seen this post yesterday, I'd have taken a picture for you. Had 60 92 1/4 2x6 studs in my tandem axle dump trailer, and the same amount of 2x6x14 strapped to the racks.

My truck works for a living.
 

Meghan54

Lifer
Oct 18, 2009
11,677
5,211
136
I'm pretty sure I've hauled more shit in my S8 in the last 6 months than a parking lot worth fully-loaded late year F150s; I count 3 interior doors, 2 exterior doors, 100lbs of mulch, 400lbs in ikea countertops, one ducati motor and ~4500lb ski boat.


Really? And just where did you source your Class III hitch for your S8 to pull that 4500# boat? All I can find anywhere is a Class I, rated at 1500#, so either you're joshing or you are one damned dangerous driver and no one should have to share the road with you.....overloading a hitch 3X and overloading a car with no tow rating whatsoever, but only a 1200# load capacity.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,893
5,524
136
Lulz. :biggrin:

My boss just bought an F150. Typical white collar dude, single, no kids, no reason at all to own a truck really. It will never go off-road and it will rarely be used to haul anything other than his dogs. What it will do mostly is carry him in his diesel jeans and pressed shirts to and from work every day. This is your typical truck buyer these days.

It is a nice shiny new metal box.

That's the way it is now. Trucks have become SUV's. The roads around here are littered with 4 door short bed pickups, and their getting more enormous every year because huge sells. It's almost impossible to buy a work truck off the lot.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,893
5,524
136
That's what I'm talking about, it's a really odd "the south"/ manhood cultural thing. People buy trucks and don't know why, all while the big 3 are doing their happy dance selling people $50K king/longhorn/laramie trucks with 50% profit margin.



Noted.

I'm pretty sure I've hauled more shit in my S8 in the last 6 months than a parking lot worth fully-loaded late year F150s; I count 3 interior doors, 2 exterior doors, 100lbs of mulch, 400lbs in ikea countertops, one ducati motor and ~4500lb ski boat.

Whats an S8?
 

xBiffx

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2011
8,232
2
0
I'm pretty sure I've hauled more shit in my S8 in the last 6 months than a parking lot worth fully-loaded late year F150s; I count 3 interior doors, 2 exterior doors, 100lbs of mulch, 400lbs in ikea countertops, one ducati motor and ~4500lb ski boat.

I'm pretty sure no one cares especially us F-150 owners.
 

CropDuster

Senior member
Jan 2, 2014
370
53
91
Just another southerner sucking down a gallon every 14 miles :$

2011-07-01_17-19-32_308.jpg
 

xBiffx

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2011
8,232
2
0
Just another southerner sucking down a gallon every 14 miles :$

2011-07-01_17-19-32_308.jpg

That's still less suck than the anti-truck sentiments posted here. I hate Chevys with a passion, but I hate that other bullshit so much more. That is still a nice truck even if it is sporting a bow tie. :thumbsup:
 

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
12
0
Been awhile since I've driven one of those. It's a boss's truck. Comfortable inside and handles really well for its size. That 5.0L V8 has power to spare. Don't know where anybody would get off saying it's under powered. It's on par with both the RAM 1500 and Silverado trucks with the same displacement.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,528
908
126
The rose cross stays. Memories.


I bought a truck because I grew up driving trucks. Learned to drive on an early 80s F250 RCSB with a 4speed and have just never felt comfortable in a car. Plus I am moving into a house that needs work, and will be getting reduced rent for doing that work. Need a truck for that.

I also needed a new vehicle, my old truck is 11 years old and has 140k miles.

Oh and there's also the fact that I'm currently commuting 10 miles a day to work in a truck pisses off guys like halik and Jules :biggrin:

I commute 70 miles a day to and from work. I've had my hybrid for 1.5 years and I have over 35,000 miles on it already. I really don't mind the drive but I'd have to be the biggest moron on the planet to do that in a pickup truck. It really would be the worst possible choice I could ever make in vehicles. My car costs me about $130/mo in fuel at current gas prices. An F150 would cost me $170 more per month ($300/mo total) and over $2k per year more. Plus, as gas prices increase, that disparity gets even greater. I'd be willing to go full electric at this point if there was a car with the range to reliably get me to and from work each day.

You guys should be happy I don't want or need a truck. One less guy who doesn't need a truck to influence the auto manufacturers into making bigger, more SUV-like, and less useful trucks. :biggrin:

One thing is for sure, they are definitely the most profitable vehicles for the big three. The marketing works I guess and hey, gas is cheap right now so fill up those 26 gallon tanks! Consume consume consume!!! :p
 
Last edited:

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,528
908
126
That's what I'm talking about, it's a really odd "the south"/ manhood cultural thing. People buy trucks and don't know why, all while the big 3 are doing their happy dance selling people $50K king/longhorn/laramie trucks with 50% profit margin.



Noted.

I'm pretty sure I've hauled more shit in my S8 in the last 6 months than a parking lot worth fully-loaded late year F150s; I count 3 interior doors, 2 exterior doors, 100lbs of mulch, 400lbs in ikea countertops, one ducati motor and ~4500lb ski boat.

How is your build going? I would love an update on that. :thumbsup:
 

thestrangebrew1

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2011
3,604
466
126
...gas is cheap right now so fill up those 26 gallon tanks! Consume consume consume!!! :p

My truck is 36 gallons!! lol

This isn't my DD though. We have a 2014 Corolla to commute with, and I work in the same office as my MIL. My wife actually works 2 blocks down from me. Our commute is 27 miles one way, but with 3 of us commuting in one car, I don't have to drive my truck anywhere except to do work and pull the trailer. love it!