Used Cars in America

[Scott CWO]

@Scott CWO
Those big merican jobs look the goods but just can't cut the mustard in the Australian bush. A lot of off road tracks I go on the wouldn't even fit up the first ten yards without a chainsaw.
Bob

Haha you need to cut your roads/trails wider. We take our trucks into unbelievable places. Nothing stops them with chains on. They are not much wider than your Nissan, actually. Looks are deceptive. Besides, they have way more power to pull our giant gooseneck horse trailers. Our horses and mules go places no vehicle can go.

My son had a Nissan Frontier crewcab pickup. Everyone loved it. Him and his buddies took it on ski trips, backpacking trips, hunting trips and fishing trips. They nicknamed it “Liam” after Liam Neeson, (close to Nissan) the movie star. Everyone was sad when that truck finally died. Lol.

My 2017 Ford F350 hooked to one of my aluminum horse trailers. I can put six horses and tack inside and can sleep in the nose. The side door to the left of the open tack room door is big enough so that I can load a Honda ATV in front of the horses and still have four horses plus the ATV. If I can’t get there with the truck, ATV or horses, I will walk!

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Similar to @Scott CWO we often have trucks loaded down pretty well. A pallet of 60, 50 pound bags of seed corn, plus 100 gallons of diesel fuel, spare parts, tools, log chains, and all the other crap that invariably ends up in a farm truck, will smash down a 3/4 ton quite a bit.
Sometimes we pull the seed tender with 300 bushels of seed beans, or platform for combine.
It all adds up to more than a Nissan or Toyota will handle.

 

[Rare Breed]

Didn’t @Tanks just take delivery of a brand new Lexus on and off road?

 

[fourfive8]

IIRC the last engine I rebuilt was either a 4 cylinder jeep or a flathead 8 when I was 19 yo- in the late 60s. Not a lot of fun then and way out of my league or interest now with modern engines. I’ll do basic “plug and play” mechanical parts, coils, plugs, brakes etc. if not too involved. But beyond that… nope. Modern vehicles/engines do have great peak performance longevity compared to what I remember from the 60s - 70s. But proper and regular maintenance seems even more critical with the new engines. Full synthetic oil of recommended viscosity and filter change at conservative intervals is a must do for modern engines, if you want them to last. Many should go 200-300k.

The only wild and wacky thing I’ve done on my 2014 3.5 Ecoboost is drill a 1/16” weep hole in the bottom of the turbo intercooler. Prevents blow by gunk and condensates from getting sucked into the intake which… is a known cause of rough acceleration and plug fouling.

 

[Tanks]

Didn’t @Tanks just take delivery of a brand new Lexus on and off road?

@Altitude sickness I keep hearing the hardcore off road guys raving about a GX too, whatever that is? I know it’s a Lexus, but they say they are hardcore off road Toyotas under the covers

Yep. GX 550, just got done getting a roof rack on it for my paddleboards etc.. It will also hold my Hi-Lift jack and Rotopax gas containers for road trips. I won't add mods until I actually use it off road. With 33" tires and rock sliders I might not need more stuff. It has no problems pulling an Airstream 20X.

 

[NikolaiFederov]

IIRC the last engine I rebuilt was either a 4 cylinder jeep or a flathead 8 when I was 19 yo- in the late 60s. Not a lot of fun then and way out of my league or interest now with modern engines. I’ll do basic “plug and play” mechanical parts, coils, plugs, brakes etc. if not too involved. But beyond that… nope. Modern vehicles/engines do have great peak performance longevity compared to what I remember from the 60s - 70s. But proper and regular maintenance seems even more critical with the new engines. Full synthetic oil of recommended viscosity and filter change at conservative intervals is a must do for modern engines, if you want them to last. Many should go 200-300k.

The only wild and wacky thing I’ve done on my 2014 3.5 Ecoboost is drill a 1/16” weep hole in the bottom of the turbo intercooler. Prevents blow by gunk and condensates from getting sucked into the intake which… is a known cause of rough acceleration and plug fouling.

Sounds like you’ve been wrenchin’ for a minute! Rebuilding engines back in the day? That’s some real-deal, greasy-hand work. These new rides? Whole different beast. Computers, sensors, and all that fancy tech—way too much hassle unless you’re deep in the game. I feel you on the "plug and play" stuff—coils, plugs, brakes, that’s the kinda work that keeps things running without a headache. And yeah, modern engines hold up way better than those old clunkers, but only if you baby ‘em right. Full synthetic oil, good filters, and not stretching those change intervals? That’s the secret sauce for hitting 200-300k miles.