No good deed goes unpunished...

[CPT Nervous]

All brands will produce an occasional turd. We all know this.

Miles and maint is across the board on "ALL" makes regardless.
I bought CKW a spanking new 2 door Yukon in 97. Last year of the full size 2 door. Loaded out with the full package. I knew the transmissions of the day were good for 85/95K regardless so I serviced it every year and squeezed 115K out of it. We towed with it and did not baby that rig in the least.
Normal issues with the Vortec or any other engine. Did the tune up at 95K....belts when scheduled. Water pump at 9oK....and of course the manifold gasket failure forgot the mileage but yes it failed. Put over 150K on the clock and it was standing tall when we let it go.

So how many moles was on your Chevy and what year was it. Cant call out a turd with out more back story.....

230k on my 1998 V6 Explorer 4x4. Transmission needed rebuilt at 160k, and it just went out again, I think it may be the transfer case. I am getting no power to the wheels at all. When I had it rebuilt in 2011, I could still drive it, but it wouldn't shift into 3rd. This one definitely has some "character." Sometimes I driver her just a little to hard, and she has the scars to prove it. I will absolutely be fixing the transmission issue. I love it too much to let it go.

135k on my 1999 V8 Explorer.

140k on my 2006 V6 Explorer.

 

[femurphy77]

And chasing the great luck others had can be elusive...

Had friends with nearly identical F350 diesels, both had perfect maintenance with open checkbooks. One was in the shop all the time, sensors, computers, you name it, the other was a champ all the time. Just cannot outguess this stuff...

Got rid of my Super Duty a couple of years ago after owning it for about 12 years. During which time I only dealt with routine maintenance stuff. It was pushing 275k miles when I sold it and by all indications was good for double that. The thing that killed my on it though was having it freeze out at least once during the cold EVERY year I owned it.

I kept it plugged in. I treated the fuel. I only bought good fuel (that I'm aware. Changed oil regularly. Yadda, yadda, yadda. But EVERY damned winter it would leave me stranded on a cold morning. I've had fellow diesel owners ask me why I was treating the fuel as we were both filling our trucks. Several said they NEVER added fuel treatment and had never had a problem.

Got rid of the freeze out problem and took on a payment problem, I hadn't had a car payment in 30 years and BOY had prices gone up in that time!

 

[churchmouse]

I will say this and it is by no means a knock on anyone but if we can go 150,000+ miles on a rig then yeah there may be a mechanical issue rear its ugly head somewhere along that well traveled path. I remember when a car/truck was worn out at 100K.
Yes these new units are damned expensive but compare them to what we had 20 years ago. Power/comfort/ability to roll serious miles before replacement is needed then some Mexican will snatch it up, get out the wire and duct tape and beat it another 100K.

Take care of them and run-em/work-em like they are supposed to be.

 

[Brandon]

Got rid of my Super Duty a couple of years ago after owning it for about 12 years. During which time I only dealt with routine maintenance stuff. It was pushing 275k miles when I sold it and by all indications was good for double that. The thing that killed my on it though was having it freeze out at least once during the cold EVERY year I owned it.

I kept it plugged in. I treated the fuel. I only bought good fuel (that I'm aware. Changed oil regularly. Yadda, yadda, yadda. But EVERY damned winter it would leave me stranded on a cold morning. I've had fellow diesel owners ask me why I was treating the fuel as we were both filling our trucks. Several said they NEVER added fuel treatment and had never had a problem.

Got rid of the freeze out problem and took on a payment problem, I hadn't had a car payment in 30 years and BOY had prices gone up in that time!

Back in my 10 years of driving a bus, a couple of cold winters we would add a treatment to every single bus, almost 200. As far as i could tell it made no difference. One would fire like a champ as it always had and the next identical one would have to be towed inside to warm up.

And the green drivers never failed to burn up starters on the stubborn rigs.

 

[CHCRandy]

Geeze. I have so many memories of being stuck. A few of my more memorable nightmares.

There was the time when I was about 16 and got my Uncles old 1968 Dodge station wagon stuck in the middle of a corn field while checking my traps one morning. Don't remember how we got it out nor do I remember what made me think I could take that old sled thru the corn field.

Another time.....probably been 25-30 years ago. Driving along on a cold winter night and a guy is stuck in a ditch and another truck trying to pull him out. I ask if I can be any help, somehow I let these guys talk me into hooking my truck up by the other truck that was pulling it out, you know....twice the pulling power. Sounded good so we hook my snatch strap and the other trucks snatch strap to this guys trailer ball. We take off at same time when the straps tightened our trucks slid into each other and wiped out each others sides of our trucks. Guess we should have used different lengths of straps.

Another time in blizzard of 78 my dad went to pull my cousin out of a ditch. Pulled him out with no problem but then my dad decided to be a wise guy and spin his truck in the road to head back home, slid too far and he went in ditch and rolled tire off rim. Tried getting spare off and it wouldnt release. Had to cut the spare off, then they couldnt jack it up in ditch...called tow truck. Took a day to get dug out of ditch. That road spin around cost my dad a day and a half he could have been out plowing.

As a side note...that truck was a brand new 1978 F-250 Explorer, my dad purchased it brand new off the lot for under $7000 with a snow plow, upgraded tires/rims, fiberglass camper shell and tax. He bought it fall of 77. He paid it off in blizzards of 78 and 79. He would roll over in his grave if he knew that same truck today could cost $60-70K to buy and $7500 for a snow plow alone, $2-3K for tires and $5000 in taxes. He could have bought 3-3bdrm ranch homes then for what a truck costs today.

My favorite was several years back my buddy called me to plow his 1 mile drive thru a cornfield and 2 foot+ drifts. I ended up getting stuck bad, told the neighbor guy I need a tractor or backhoe to get me out. He says hell I can try pulling you out. I said in what? He pointed at his brand new 2 wheel drive F150. I was like, man...you will get stuck getting to me. He says "I dont care, it can stay stuck until Spring...I have other vehicles to drive". I said then go for it.......this guy gets in his truck and proceeds to plow thru these drifts in his yard like they were not even there. He pulls out in front of my jacked up F250 with a big V plow on it, hooks up a chain and drags me down the drive way! I was amazed. I couldn't believe it. Come to find out he had a factory installed locking differential. I left that day after being towed out, went to Avon Transmission and priced locking axles for my truck, at $1500 per axle I didn't get them, but I am a believer now. A lot of todays 4x4's are really 1x2's..... 1 tire spinning on each axle.

A true 4 wheel drive, or even a true positrac.......is money well spent if you have to deal with snow and mud. Of course if you are on ice, nothing works. I use to have an old Toyota Landcruiser, that thing could not get hung up. I had it in mud up to the windshield at Camp Atterbury....on tank trails, and never got stuck. It was a true 4x4....wish I still had that thing.

That was a ride down memory lane......you all have a good weekend.

 

[IndyBeerman]

I will say this and it is by no means a knock on anyone but if we can go 150,000+ miles on a rig then yeah there may be a mechanical issue rear its ugly head somewhere along that well traveled path. I remember when a car/truck was worn out at 100K.
Yes these new units are damned expensive but compare them to what we had 20 years ago. Power/comfort/ability to roll serious miles before replacement is needed then some Mexican will snatch it up, get out the wire and duct tape and beat it another 100K.

Take care of them and run-em/work-em like they are supposed to be.

Heck I can remember my 75 Olds Cutlass that I bought in 1980 had to have the NYLON toothed timing gears change at 60,000 miles. I said screw it, rebuilt the engine, re-stroked, head work and when I put the timing gears on, went with double toothed timing gears. Sold my Cutlass in 1997 with over 250,000 on the rebuild to my cousins son, still was running strong. That was until he thought he could drive it between two concrete parking pillars at the White Castle where Shelby and 31 merge. Made it to the doors, They had to cut the poles to get the car out from them.

Man I LOVED that car, just didn't have room for it. Two years later I had a 24x36 garage built @ the old house. I wish my current garage was that big, 21x24 is a little tight with all I have in there.

 

[churchmouse]

HR if you are pushing snow having a full time posi up front is a nightmare. The beast I posted pics of up thread had warn locking hubs up front. I would only lock in 1 of them if the plow was going to be down because the truck would want to push out of the work depending on what I was doing. Having 1 wheel off the power acted like a rudder in the deep stuff.
JMPE but with all 4 locked in it was pretty much unstoppable.

 

[blackenedman]

This was my Daily driver in the early 80's. I got it stuck once deep in the woods and doing dumb chasing a buddy in his bad ass jeep in the tight stuff where he was easily going and my rig not so much. But the power take off rear winch saved me further embarrassment from him having to pull me out of my idiocy.
We had a ball pulling folks out of drifts etc. Until an issue we had when I was cold/tired up all night plowing and was not getting out to crawl under this cats 2WD pick up and hook him up. The snatch strap was draped on the blade rack so easy enough. Told him to hook it and I would pull him out. I have to say it was a surprise when as I snatched him the bed came half loose and the hook dislodged and came screaming through my windshield.
That was an interesting next 30 minutes.

This thing was a beast. Rolled on 44" MM's
Thats CKW at the wheel. She loved driving it.

Crappy polaroid's.

That truck is awesome. My dad had a 63 pickup when I was younger. Built 327, Muncie rock crusher. Loved that truck.

 

[CHCRandy]

HR if you are pushing snow having a full time posi up front is a nightmare. The beast I posted pics of up thread had warn locking hubs up front. I would only lock in 1 of them if the plow was going to be down because the truck would want to push out of the work depending on what I was doing. Having 1 wheel off the power acted like a rudder in the deep stuff.
JMPE but with all 4 locked in it was pretty much unstoppable.

I have never though of that. I don't think I have ever plowed with a true 4wd....other than a tractor, and now that you mention it, I think I know what you mean. It was almost like it had no steering. My old Chevy had the rear end that would slip one wheel then the other wheel would lock in, not sure what that is called, limited slip maybe? It always did pretty well. I am not sure if the front did it as well.....it had no lockouts and I never remember seeing both front wheels spin.