OK... Back in '89, when I was 16 and still had my paper license, I was racing my friends '68 'Stang Fastback in my dad's '85 F-150 302 Lariat XLT. We were racing down a residential street in North Dallas (Purple Sage was the street, if anyone cares) and the street comes to a dead-end with another street turning off to the east right before the guardrails at the dead end. Well my friend in his 'Stang was able to take the turn at about 40-45 mph and I didn't even think twice about it and tried following him at a similar speed. Needless to say, this was a mistake and the back end jumped out 90 degrees on me before I new what was happening. So now I'm on the east bound street and directly facing the house on the north side. I panic big time and spin the wheel to the right (eastward) as hard as I can and the truck catches and spins a quick 180 so that I am now looking straight at the side of the house on the south side of the street (which faces west). I realize that I have to turn the wheel slower to keep from spinning and I slowly bring it back to the left (eastward) and begin to regain control. It is too late, I realize as the truck hops the curb. I have started to straighten out, now heading kinda south-east, but I don't have enough room and am going too fast, so I stand on the brake. This does nothing much in the grass except rip some of it out and I proceed to hit a 9-10" diameter tree in the house's side yard. This took me from @ 40 mph to Zero, instantly, and completely severs the tree at the height of the bumper. I still remember the Ford emblem on the steering wheel rushing up to meet my face before the seatbelt caught.

A neighbor who heard the crash walks out with a cordless phone and I call my Dad. He and my brother show up a few minutes later and begin to asses the damage. The front bumper was pushed back and under the frame and was wedged against the front tires, the front of the frame is bent at the point of impact and it had driven the engine at least an inch back, the grill was, for all purposes, gone, the radiator had a crease, and the front right headlight was shattered (although the bulb was still burning, dangling on it's wires). My Dad and brother studied it for a few moments and then decided to just rip the front bumper off. It took a little cussing and some creative use of power tools, but they managed to get it off. Then my dad forced the hood open and surveyed the engine. When he didn't notice any damage, beyond the fact that it wasn't located exactly where it was supposed to be, he decided to try and start it. It started right up and my Dad smiled... surely it wasn't going to be able to move right? I'll never forget the pride on my Dad's face when he put it in reverse and drove it out of the yard. He said something like, "Now that's a goddam truck." He threw the front bumper in the back and drove it home. That's the day I knew I wanted a Ford truck. It was the toughest damn vehicle that I had ever seen.

I, of course, spent much of that evening apologizing about the wreck and hitting the tree until Dad told me not to worry about it and that I was lucky.
"Lucky?"
"Yep," he said, "lucky you were driving the truck and not something smaller and lucky that you hit the tree."
"How am I lucky I hit the tree?" I asked him.
He then pointed out what was about 5 feet on the other side of the tree that I had severed, there was a small fence and a pool.
"No tree and you'd have been in that pool," he said, "and then I'd have been really mad."

Note: I have left out the details of dealing with police officer and the owners of the house. Suffice it to say, that I had never imagined that replacing an oak tree was so damn expensive.

So, what's you best "Built Ford Tough" story?

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1993 F-150 SWB Supercab 4.9l 4 speed auto w/ OD, 3.55 gears, K&N fipk, Custom Exhaust w/ Flowmaster.

But to chip or not to chip? Hmmmmm...

 

My dad pulled a 66,000 lb. single axle semi with his 1978 F150 4x4. The semi was hauling a full load of corn when the tranny went out on the semi 13 miles from the grain elevator. Dad had to put the pickup in 4x4 to get the combo to move. Someone rode in the semi to run the steering and air brakes. Top speed was 40 mph, all the pickup's 400M/C6 could do towing 30 tons more than it was rated for. That pickup currently has 190,000 miles and counting.

When I was 16 I was driving Dad's other '78 F150 4x4 to high school one snowy winter morning and didn't realize just how slippery the road was. Instead of turning, the truck pushed, and high centered on the edge of the approach I was trying to turn into at about 10 mph. I dug snow out from under it, put in 4wd, and it hooked and went. Good thing the place where I went off into was a grassy area about an acre in size, so I had plenty of room to turn around and get back on the road. Some people at school wondered about the tracks that morning. The pickup was undamaged and currently has over 200,000 miles.

 

Bck in January, my friend and I were driving to Las Vegas, so we had to drive up north before we could head south. About 300 miles into the trip we have this conversation about flying vs driving. My friend says he was glad we were driving, but I say look, we forgot the shovel, this is a 2wd truck, its -45, your cell phone quit working, midnight, haven't seen a car for a 100 miles, I'd rather be flying, but ohwell. Not 10 minutes later, a moose comes trotting out on the highway, and we are only doing 50 mph. Needless to say we hit the moose and spin about 3 times. Somehow we stay on the road, and I tell him to shut off the truck so I can inspect the damage. We get out and the entire front end is ruined. Then I smell antifreeze. Thats when I wake up, I tell him to get back in the truck 'cause we don't have much time left. It started right up, and even-though we had a hole in the windshield, and cracked all over, we made it to the next town 20 miles away. Its a damn good thing it started again. We spent the next 4 days waiting for a tow truck in a 50 deg. F motel room w/ 3 channels. 2 of them were christian channels. Ohwell, its my story and I'm sticking to it.

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99 Black Lightning
created 8/17/99, bought 9/25/99
#3681/4000
CD changer, Tow package, factory tonneau cover
100k mile warrantee, bed/under liner, paint protected

 

a buddy of mine has an older style fullsize BRONCO..he was driving home when his engine blew!!! he pulled over and looked underneath to find a piston rod hanging out the oil pan..he was around 3 miles from home so he started it back up and drove it the rest of the way home..without any problem...

 

Lets see, My dads 1973 F150 (not sure about year) with a 302 and 3 speed on the column. We travelled from Hemmingsford to Granby (2 hours) in a helluva snowstorm. Thats not mpresive you say, well the truck had a fully loaded tandem trailer with 12 cords of wood and not to mention the 5 or 6 cords in the box (My father made some box looking thing out of 2x4s and plywood to hold more wood inside the bed). The rear bumper hit the road on bumps and I bet the "GVWR" was maxed out Anyway multiply this by 2 trips per day for a week. No problems with the truck.

Ford freaking tough
yeah baby (uh..sorry)

 

Not a truck story but a Ford nonetheless:

I was sitting at a stop light in Northern VA one hot summer day in my 1990 Ford Probe. The air conditioner wasn't working so I had the windows down. I was changing the radio station when all I could hear was the screech of tires. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the grill of a Mercedes heading toward me at a rather high rate of speed. The old woman was talking on the cell phone and not paying attention. Needless to say, she hit me. Rather hard, too. I got out of the car to assess the damage. Damage to my Probe: muffler got pushed forward and pinched a brake line, Mercedes symbol pressed into the bumper cover. Total $300. Damage to the Mercedes 500SL(what I could see): hood, fender, grill, headlight and radiator (coolant leaking out everywhere). Total $ I can't even guess how much. I bet her husband never let her drive the company car again!

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1997 F-150 4X4 ORP, pacific green, 4.6L, K&N filter, DeflectaShield bug shield.

 

My 2 "Built Ford Tough" stories....
1. September 1996...driving my 1986 Toyota Supra home from work down Bloor Street in Toronto. SURPRISE....Two kids jump off the sidewalk to run across the road...Brake, Swerve to the center lane and right into the back on a Ford Taurus waiting to make a left turn. Damages = my Supra is toasted to the tune of $6800 in front end work..the Taurus??? Well the officer and tow truck driver picked up the bumper cover and after a few kicks and hits have it popped back ONTO the car and the lady drives away...
2. August 1998...My 98 F150 STX vs 1993 Acura Integra. I'm behind her at a red light. Light turns green...she pops the clutch...stalls the Integra. Embarrassed and in a hurry she restarts the car, pops it into reverse, floors it, drops the clutch and proceeds to smash into the front of my truck. Damages = my license plate holder and smoked plastic cover --- her...$2000 of rear-end damage which she tried to say was me hitting her. Good thing there was a officer across the intersection who saw it all and her husband who was behind me in their other car...cop was laughing, hubby was steaming!

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2000 Lariat SuperCab 2WD Flareside 4.6L 3.55LS, Class III Tow, Black/graphite int, Rear Slider, Keyless Entry, Captains Chairs, Fibertech Hard Tonneau, Ford Cab Bars/Steps, Tinted Windows. Pretty stock right now!

 

wmcd,

lol! Did she do it on purpose or was she an idiot?

 

Well mine is from way back in 1987 my brand new Ford EXP vs a 83 buick 4 door sedan. I was going into the parking lot of the motor pool a few minutes before our 9 o'clock formation sometimes theres a parking space close to the front and sometimes there ain't. Well there wasn't one so instead of driving around I put it in reverse and pop the clutch when this dumbass backs out of his space to go some where. He saw me go by but he didn't look from the direction I was coming from when I hit him as it wasn't posted one way at the time. I hit his rear quater pannle and pushed his car into the bumper of a chevy chevette and smashed his other rear quater pannle and done some wheel damges as well and even his gas tank was damaged as it was leaking. My car just a scratch on the bumber and the chevette had just a little damage on its bumper. The MP tried to put the blame on me. I won in court since it wasn't marked one way at the time of the wreck and the other guy got a fine for unsafe backing since he didn't look both ways before he back out.

 

hmustang, thats the type of people who complain that big trucks and SUVs are dangerous LOL!!!



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Formerly known as 4byFord

Check out my site: eph1fifty.cjb.net My email: eph1fifty@hotmail.com

1997 F150 4x4 XLT with ORP 4.2L V6 and 5-speed manual.


What I have done so far: 265/75R16 Roughrider All-Terain tires, K&N filtercharger, switched to synthetic engine oil, Extang soft tonneau cover, Valley class III hitch, Profile tail-light covers, SportRack removable light bar, five 100watt off-road lights, F150Online sticker (coming soon).


[This message has been edited by eph1fifty (edited 04-11-2000).]

 

Your Probe story is kinda like when I was driving my '96 T-Bird and I got rearended by a Lumina. It was a little harder hit though, the quarter panel had to be pulled out, energy absorber replaced, and bumper cover repainted. The Lumina's headlights were aimed funny, the hood was ajar and the bumper was trashed. I bet that cost more than the $1200 it cost to fix my car (I went to the most expensive body shop, heh heh.) Turns out the Lumina was a rental from a body shop! The idiot driving it tried to blame me for it, too!


[This message has been edited by thunderbird46 (edited 04-11-2000).]

 

Ran over a street sign at about 20mph and just left a small dent and some scratches. Poor sign looks sad though.

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99 F150 ext cab, XLT, 4.2L V6, short bed, K&N filter,

 

A crazy high school friend had a '68 Ford station wagon with a 390 2 barrel. He would drive slowly up a hill, put it into neutral, and let the car roll backwards down the hill.
When rolling about 5-10 mph backward, he would throw the auto tranny into low and stomp on the gas! The car would just sit there, shaking, pouring out huge clouds of tire smoke from the right rear (non-posi rear end). He would hold the gas down for anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds, and go about 50 feet forward.

This was done many times, and that Ford 9" rear never complained, and neither did the U-joints or C-6 tranny.

Wasn't so easy on the tires. The melted rubber was about 1/2" deep at its thickest point on one especially good run.

 

Well I was in my 95 f150 when i was cruising down ocean drive in corpus when this really old guy in a mercedes pulled out in fromt of me. I turned the wheel the best I could and i ended up T boning him. My damage was 600 for front quarter panel damage. His expensive mercedes the whole passenger side was caved in windows broken and all. The mercedes was driveable though since he drove off right after it happened. Funny thing is though I got his license plate and the cops took the info but never called me back to say they found him or anything. So i called my insurance company they located him and i had my money within a week.

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TRUCK
2000 F150 Sport XLT 4.2L V6 Bright Red Flareside S/C. CD Player.

MODS
Code Alarm Surestart LX, Window Tint, K&N Filter. Flowmaster 50 series dual exhaust with 3.5" chrome tips, Superchip,Muth Signal Mirrors, clear corner lenses, ultra white halogen headlights, Lumi Logo In the front, Black Westin Nerf Bars, Pioneer DEH-P7000R cd player.

 

Once, my step father was having progblems with his 87 suburban so he asked if I could tow him to a local body shop. I told him it might not do it, because there is a great huge hill, but what the heck, its just a pickup truck right? Well, we hook up the tow rope, and it gets going easy enough, then the hill comes and goes and I stay in 3rd gear, doin' 45. We get there no prob, and his chevy got fixed, yet again.
funny thing is I didn't have a ford then, all I had was a 2.6l Isuzu spacecab. (120 hp)

your 1st vehicle, never forget them, usually wreck them. Ohwell, not a ford but it sure ran good. It's not as safe as one though.