Airplane mechanics keep detailed service and maintenance records in the plane’s logbook — it helps ‘em prevent that long drop with the short stop at the end. But a logbook can also remind you to do routine maintenance on your car, or it can help you diagnose the reason for loss of gas mileage before a serious problem develops. For tractors, combines, bulldozers, graders, generators — the machines that run and build civilization — logbooks can save jobs and lives. Mechanic Support makes this Mechanic’s Logbook software that you can configure for almost any application.
You can put Mechanic’s Logbook on your computer for $16 — you might pay more than that for a dead-tree logbook.
There was a time in the US when you could buy a small truck. It’s true! They usually had a modest inline four, a bench seat, and A/C and a radio if you were lucky. They weren’t the gigantic, six thousand pound, glorified station wagons that lumber their way to soccer practice and make the yearly trip to Home Depot in order to justify their existence. They were big enough to fit at least a sheet of plywood and strong enough to get it where it needed to go.
Does bigger mean better when it comes to work trucks? Do you miss the days of the Ranger, the S-10, or the Nissan Hardbody? Trucks like the Ranger and the Toyota Tacoma are still in production, but they’re fairly chubby compared to their former selves. What do you all think? Drop us a line in the comments.
Once you humped that refrigerator down three flights of stairs, you’ve still got to lift it into the bed of your truck. But if you had one of Dallas Smith’s converted F-450 Deeps, it wouldn’t be a problem. Dallas Smith Corp. makes low floor, axle-less trucks for small business and personal use. Lowering the tailgate/ramp reveals a truck bed only 15″ off the street.
The debate is heated: to shell or not to shell. If you’re planning on carrying anything that might not easily withstand rain or moisture, a camper shell is pretty much a necessity. But at times they’re constricting, too; you’ll never move anything that sticks up higher than the cab.
What’s your take on this classic question? Is you’re truck equipped with a shell, or do you drive it au natural? Let us know in comments.
I have a friend who lost one of these, and misses it almost as much as his old dog. Of course, as fredboness says in comments, “Nothing runs like a Deere, but nothing smells like a john.”
I’m seeing more and more of these utility vehicles around lately. They’re made by companies like John Deere, Kawasaki, and Cub Cadet. Here in the commonwealth we don’t have as many farms as we used to, and I’m wondering why people own them.
I could totally see owning one if you had 3000 acres in Wyoming, but then again that’s what what pick-ups and tractors are for, right? The do look cool with their knobby tires, fancy independent suspensions, and roll cages, but does anyone really use them as serious work vehicles or are they mostly the toys of people with too much money?
So what’s your opinion? Useful as heck or over-hyped golf cart? Let us know in the comments.
I posted this a few days ago over on FullOnCustom, but apparently the car guys aren’t into work trucks. Here’s the deal: the exhaust system on my F150 — yep, the one in which we replaced the heater core a while back — is fine, but the chrome tips someone installed before I got it are so rusted through that they’re about to fall off. I’m happy with the exhaust system, so I just want to have some new tips tacked on.
What should I expect to pay for them, and do any of you have recommendations as to sources? Let me know, if you would, in comments — here or on FullOnCustom.
Note: Yeah, that’s a stock photo. My F150 is a ‘97 three-door with a camper shell — like I said, a work truck.
We found these stars and stripes themed grilles over at AutoAnything.com. They’re precision cut from 1/4″ stainless steel that’s then polished “to a brilliant shine.” The manufacturer claims they install on most trucks with just a 9/64″ hex-key wrench (included). Our only concern: that doesn’t look like much airflow, and I’d guess rocks would slip through the star-shaped holes pretty easy.
Note: In competition with our friends at The Hardware Aisle, we’re posting lots of patriotic tools today and tomorrow. Look for a post on Wednesday (the 4th) where you can vote for your favorite. And don’t forget to submit your favorite patriotic tools! If your suggestion is the reader favorite, we’ll send you a tool from the test pile — something nice.
Still, it’ll certainly set your truck apart from the others at the jobsite. Pricing runs from $86 to $211 depending on your truck’s make and model.
Here in Texas I’m seeing more and more of these on the road: extended-cab, short bed trucks. Sure, they look cool. I can’t help but think, though, that if you can’t put a full sheet of plywood in the back, it’s not really a work truck. But I’ve been wrong before.
What do you think? Are these trucks or truckars? Let us know in comments.
Thinking about picking picking up an ‘08 Nissan Titan? You’ll definitely want to check out this awesome first drive article by our friend Mike Levine over at PickupTruck.com. Mike knows more about pickup trucks than anyone I know, so I take what he writes seriously. In this article he runs down the ‘08 Titan models in great detail and even places them in a historical setting to give you a good idea of not just what Nissan did with them, but why.
CNN is reporting that Ford announced a recall yesterday of “over 37,000 of its new 2008 model F-Series Super Duty trucks after reported tailpipe fires in the diesel version of the pickups.” From CNN:
“Ford said it had received reports of three cases where leaking fuel or oil ignited when trapped in a diesel particulate filter near the tailpipe of the new trucks. In one case in Texas, a truck’s hot tailpipe set off a grass fire when the driver pulled off the road.”
Considering how popular the Super Duty models are as work trucks here in Texas, I’d imagine more than a few Texas dealerships’ll be seeing these in the near future.
I’ve had a ‘97 F150 for quite some time now; I inherited it from my father who bought it used years before that. I’m sad to admit, though, that when my Dad bought it, I gave him crap about it. “You shoulda bought a one-ton,” I said, “It won’t tow enough.” Well, after a few years of hauling and towing (things I probably shouldn’t have) and even taking trips in it, I’m a fan. It’s rated for towing over 8k, and I’ve personally pulled more than 11k with it before. It drives like a car thanks to the modern front suspension.
I’ve even almost come to accept the red interior.
But now I see the 2004+ redesigned model, and I can’t help but wonder if all the same stuff’s still there. While it’s just a personal opinion, I’m not fond of the little “dip” in the window — modelled, I’d assume, after the F250 and F350. But what about usability? Does this model stand up to the previous one? Or exceed it?
With four-wheel independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, and an optional Caterpillar 3-cylinder diesel engine, think of Cub Cadet’s latest 4×4 utility vehicle as the ultimate ranch runabout or hunting camp transport. Of course, living in North Texas as we do, these vehicles are all the rage, so we thought we’d take a swing by our local dealer to have a look — and a drive — for ourselves.
Read on past the jump for our hands-on experiences as well as lots of great pictures.
Autoblog is reporting this weekend that Chrysler will likely issue a recall for over 86,000 Dodge Rams built between Nov. 7, 2005 and April 27, 2006. According to Autoblog:
“[The recall] amounts to little more than adding grease to wheel bearings. Unfortunately for 2006 Ram owners if this issue is left unchecked it can lead to road noise and vibration and can eventually result in a loss of control and a crash.”
Check Autoblog for additional coverage, or better yet contact your dealer. (And don’t miss the comments on AB’s post — they’re funny as hell.)
I posted yesterday regarding my, um, surprise when I discovered that I’d have to remove the entire dash to get at the heater core in my good ‘ole ‘97 F150 pickup. Well, the job’s part way done, and we finally exposed the heater core. The above picture shows what it looks like right now.
I always liked my F150, but this job has taught me a few things about Ford pickups. First, you obviously don’t want to own one long enough to have to replace the heater core. People aren’t kidding when they say it’s a big job. It requires removing the dash, the HVAC vent system (that’s as big as the dash), and — if you beleve the manual — the steering column. As you can see, we managed to leave the steering column in, but that’s not really all that much help. We’re currently 12+ hours into the job, and the hard part is yet to come. And this is a couple of guys who’ve done their share of car work sitting in a shop chock-ass full of tools.
I generally don’t like to whine on Toolmonger, but screw it, today I’m gonna get my whine on. It seems like every vehicle has an achilles heel when it comes to repairs. Sure, it might be easy to replace the water pump, but the fuel pump’s on top of the gas tank. Or the water pump’s behind half the front of the engine. You know what I’m talking about.
Well, I found one of those on my ‘97 Ford F150. Guess what you’ve gotta do to get at the heater core: pull the whole f*#$ing dash. I’m not talking about the instrument cluster, either. You’ve got to pull the entire damn dash out, including dismantling the passenger-side air bag. Apparently Ford decided that leaving the core accessible below the glove box — like all sane manufacturers have for years — isn’t the way to go. Instead, they decided to place it in the freakin’ middle of the firewall behind the dash.
What’s the deal with no tool ads during the Super Bowl? Wow. You’d think with all the additional focus on selling to individuals and DIYers right now that at least one of the big manufacturers would ante up to get in front of almost every living man, boy, and family thereof in the U.S.
But no tools ads. We did, however receive two ads from Toyota, who appears to desire once and for all to separate themselves from the “mini-truck” era of yesteryear.
More weirdness: Did someone forget to tell Toyota that viral video only works if you don’t “disable embedding” so people can, um, pass it virally?
Read on past the jump for our analysis and a stupid link to the second video, since the numnutzes at Toyota disabled it. If someone re-copies it (like the first one), we’ll add the link back in.
