Bought a new truck

My buddy’s ‘09, 5.3L, 78/75, full exhaust, made this on an easy tune. It’s got the stupid 6L80E, which has given him fits, because of its internal TCM. If he can get control of that, he’ll be able to really lay into it. A 4L80 swap might be the only way forward.

 

Yes

I think hes on his 3rd starter, coil packs a couple times, 2nd rear axle, goofy shit like door locks and window motors, wheel bearings etc.

Trucks are a lot like boats. You can easily run them 20 years if you don't beat them up and fix things a couple times a year.

My vehicle means absolutely nothing to me.

Having a house on the water, with a boat lift in the back yard and a sweet boat is where I get my joy.

 

I have a 2009 Ford Escape that had 387,000 miles on the original engine and transmission when I quit driving it.

What killed it, I knew something was funky with the cooling fan relay. Not thinking left it running, went in my office, got distracted and was in there an hour.

It got hot enough to blow the upper radiator hose off and ran with no coolant. Put the hose back on, filled it with water. It ran fine but used coolant. Couple cans of K-Seal sealed it up but I didn't trust it enough to keep driving it. Truthfully it was about to die from rust anyway.

My plan was to run it to 400,000 which would not have been a problem had this not happened.

 

That's what happened to my 88 gmc that had been my plow truck for the last 15 years. A few years ago the cab had settled like 4 inches so I jacked it up and put some pieces of 2x6 under it. Hadn't had rear brakes on it in years, lines all rotted and not worth worrying about, vise grips on the brake line solved that. Last fall I think it got a vacuum leak related to the transmission, start and idle fine but as soon as tried to put t in gear it wanted to die. Everything was so rotted it wasn't worth the aggravation to try to fix it so I finally gave up on it.
I used my brothers tractor w/ blade on it that's in my avatar pic to plow last year. Put the plow on my 04 GMC this fall.

 

Personally, I use Fluid Film. There are others like PB shield and Crown. You have to take the inner fenders out and spray that shit every where, Every single spot you can get the nozzle and then drill holes where you can't.

Since we are talking about trucks, you see the fenders on the bed rot out. That is due to a foam they install for assembly and to supposedly keep it from rattling. Once the bed side is assembled, it doesn't do anything besides hold moisture and rot from the inside out. You have to get in there and get that foam out (talking about newer Ram trucks, but I think GM goes the same), then spray the Fluid Film.

Once you get Fluid Film, or under coating of your choice, you don't do an undercarriage wash during the winter months. The undercoating forms a layer between the metal and the salt. The salt won't penetrate it. Also, if you already have rust, the Fluid Film will prevent it from spreading further.

I bought the pro sprayer and did the truck myself, but when I buy a new car I will have someone else do it. The truck is easy to crawl under and around, the car needs to go on a lift.

Another note, don't get an undercoating that dries hard; the rust will form under it. You want something that will run into places and "self heal".

 

I had no idea shit could go that long. I always figured if you got 100k out of a vehicle you had done something special.

 

My '08 Tacoma is over 200K. And shockingly the frame is still intact. Mostly.

 

I still have one.. Ive had it since 2008. Its got much more appropriate wheels on it now. I was just a dumb kid when I put these wheels on it. I dont have any good pics of the current setup, but its got 20s with tires with some sidewall that work much better for a 2500. Just turned over 100k, it only gets used if its hauling or towing.

 

Gawd I hope not. That means my truck is done and the 'Vette is due. The JGC, apparently, lived a longer life than expected...165K+.

 

Before fuel injection, 100k would sound about right. No more gasoline running down the cylinder walls on shutdown anymore.

 

Contemplating if I'm going to do anything to my new truck. Finally made it to my dealer Thursday evening, but it's already been parked somewhere for 3 months waiting on electronics. Likely already some light rust on uncoated steel surfaces, and body is aluminum. Reading both pros and cons to every type of undercarriage treatments, so far. Waiting for a few accessories to be installed Monday.

 

I keep my vehicles for ten years, minimum, and live in the salt belt. If you get a new vehicle every couple years, I wouldn't mess with it. If you are keeping for the long run, it's 100% worth the cost.

Also, I've heard of those aluminum panels corroding, but someone more familiar with bodywork could chime in on that.

In the end, it all comes down to where you live, where you'll be driving the vehicle, and how long you plan on keeping it

 

I haven’t seen it on the new Ford pickups yet. I have seen it on older GM hatches on Tahoes etc… Also see it quite a bit on the older Buick and Oldsmobiles that used aluminum hoods and doors. The nice part is that it never seems to eat big holes in the panel, it just corrodes the paint off.
I have seen aluminum on the box of straight trucks get holes though. Ive seen it look like swiss cheese, with a gel-like ooze coming out of the holes.

 

It sucks doesn’t it!

Were you waiting on an amp?

 

I’ve never done any type of underlining. Hell I didn’t even know that was a thing.

I think I need it.

 

8 of the 9 vehicles I owned on 1/1/2022 had more that 100k miles. 4 over 200k; my current daily driver has almost 330k.

 

No, I've been amped enough in my life already, GG.

 

Fuckinhell

With my average yearly mileage, I would have to keep a vehicle 55-60 years to hit those numbers.

 

Pete: Challenge accepted.

 

Chris are you aware there's lots of big rig tractors out there with a million plus miles on them ?