I'm still reminded (by questions from Sweet99Chevy) why GM has consistently low reliability marks... remember when all those trucks with 454's were burning up? The reason was that since they run so hot (poor cooling design), it was causing the tranny to overheat and boil ATF out the tube and onto the exhaust manifolds, and voila' - chevy toast! And remember how the GM engineeres "fixed" the problem cooling problem- they lengthened the tranny fill tube 2 inches so the fluid would not boil out!! Now has that for reliability?? This caused other problems...

 

I read the CR yesterday. I thought it was relatively unflattering for us F-150s. The Toyota is a fine little truck. But it went over the top based on reliabiity (which CR gave a highest rating, for overall score purposes)
There are some REALLY mad F-150 owners out there with piston slap. But This truck balances durability on road ride, work capability, comfort, and power well.

The new Chevy's must be nice to move ahead of the F-150 in overall rating this year, while falling apart. The only other truck I looked at (Ram 1500) is their worst ick. I think they put a lot of emphasis on newness of bodystyle and convenience of the cup holders (Bit*% PLEASE!)

I was sitting at a light next to a Lund poster dressed Ram 1500 last night. I thought "Oh no, I have to do this." as he crept forword every time he thought the light was gonna change. I hit it and could not BELIEVE how badly my baby blew him away...He was definitely trying and it was UGLY!. (By the way, this implies no skill on my part as I have an automatic and just floored it and held on!)
I felt better about CRs 3rd place ratin after that. Next up, can I attack a Silverado?

The Tundra? Its neato, but I'm 6'4" 220. I don't like using a shoehorn to get into my car, especially if it is a truck. I want to see the 150,000 mile Tundra. The engine is made for a Lexus coupe...I am surprised CR is so confident the a heavier (albeit not that much heavier, since it is so small) chassis won't take its toll on the lil motor. Well, Lexus motors are smooth and quiet, the Truck is nice and quiet. Whoopie! I'm going deaf from the stereo anyway.

We got the right truck folks. Especially if you want room and have a SCrew!

Joe

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2001 SuperCrew 4x4 Lariat 5.4/4-spd auto, 3.55 l/s, elec xfer case, Skids, Class III tow, Stock 17"s, Oxford White/Med Graphite leather capts chairs, Rhinolined
Planned: K&N FIPK (When they get the CARB # for 2001's), Superchip

 

Was at Home Depot yesterday and parked next to a Tundra. Full size truck - you have to be kidding. My truck is a 2000 XLT supercab 4X4 and next to it the Tundra looked like a slightly larger Tacoma (it was also a 4X4 extended cab). Looked at the frame and compared them - lets see how they last over the long haul as a work truck, and the bed is a joke.

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2000 F150 SuperCab, Short Bed, 4X4, ORP, 5.4L, Auto Trans, 3.55LS, Captains Chairs with power drivers seat, rear slider, class III towing package, remote entry with alarm and just about everything you can get on this truck. Added a Ford bug deflecter, floor mats, a K&N filter and a Dynamax Race magnum muffler.



[This message has been edited by Ron Kaltenbach (edited 03-26-2000).]

 

Sweet99, my info is based on consumer reports, NHTSA, my personal knowledge of acquaintainces with the new chevys, and several mechanics that are personal friends from chevy dealerships. Heck, I love the look of the chevy, and almost bought one myself, so I dont hate the name or truck. But based on the info I have seen, I am convinced that the Ford is more reliable, and I am grateful after spending 22000 bucks. I hope sincerely yours takes you 200000 plus miles, and it very well may.
I do not wish your truck to be a "turd".

 

My dad has the new Tundra. He is a die hard Toyota Fan. I even messed up and bought an SR5 from him back in 92. It was a 1985 SR5 4x4. Bad news. 4 wheel drive was going out. It was eating oil. The electrical had a short. I traded it in on a 1993 Ranger 4.0 5 speed that never gave me a bit of trouble.

Now I am short (5'8" w/shoes) and I feel cramped in the tundra Passenger seat. I don't understand the full size rating either but oh well. I don't want to be the one to tell him how he got cleaned up on.

My truck however is quite the ride.

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1997 F150 SC, SB, 5.4, offroad, K & N, Westin Nerf bars, trudual exhaust with Super turbos, Power Slider, Power sunroof, bug shield, window visors, black outs, door edge moldings, black, grey, bench seat towing package etc.

 

The full size/compact size truck distinction confuses me as well. Not only with the Tundra, but the Dakota as well. I've pulled up to several Dakota's that are the same size as my F-150. Dodge claims its the only "compact" truck with a V-8.

 

Consumer Reports have always been down on GM vehicles. You ford guys are always bashing chevy for being unreliable and having lots of problems but it seems to me you choose to ignore the problems that ford is having. First of all this is only the 2nd year of the new chevys and they are going to have problems and it takes some time to iron them out. This is fords fourth year on the new trucks and they still havn't fixed the door crack problems and it took them three years to supposedly fix the piston slap problem. I don't think you guys that have the FQR motors have put enough miles on them yet to know how well they will hold up. I've read hear that some people are already having problems with them. I seriously doubt ford would be replacing all of these motors if they didn't think that there were going to be future problems with them. From what I've read here, ford customer service isn't that good for them to just replace engines with a little cold start engine noise. Think of how much money they are spending by doing this. From what I've read here most of you guys are not keeping your trucks long enough to know how well these new trucks will hold up. I come to this site to learn about ford trucks even though I don't own one. I really don't have a brand loyalty even though I've had GM for quite a few years. I've thought about getting a ford but after reading of all the ford problems I don't know. I go to alot of truck forums and ford has just as many problems as any of the others. Don't be so critical of other brands. As for Ford being the #1 selling truck, I can believe it. Around here, you don't even have to ****er on the price. Almost all of the dealers around here will sell you a truck for $100 over invoice.

 

You know, I am a psychotherapist. That was a long post, a fact that does not escape me. I would guess that you have more brand loyalty than you either realize or let on yourself. Apparently it would bother you if ford was a great truck! Otherwise, you really would not care about this thread. Well, as a therapist, I truly do appreciate transparency!

 

Analyze this!!!



Just couldn't help it!!! LOL

 

What does a long post have to do with brand loyalty. I was pointing out that the guys that feel the need to bash other brands of trucks refuse to see the faults that ford has. I've read posts here of people crying about the problems their truck are having and in the next sentence saying that at least they don't drive a piece of s**t chevy/dodge/toyota etc. Get real, love must be really blind. I never said or implied that Fords are not good trucks, they are just not any better than any other brand.

 

Analyze the dog or you? Either way, its
$90.00 per hour. I'll give a 2% f150 board member discount. Apply the saved money to a new F150 - LOL.

 

WTD,

Still here? You still care! My My My,
you speak volumes about yourself with
so few words. Let me challenge you , my friend. I am going to incite you on purpose, and challenge you NOT to respond. Prove me
wrong about you! Here goes....

NEW CHEVY TRUCKS ARE UNRELIABLE.

 

Andrew S,
Why don't you want me to respond? Is it because you know I'm right. You make a blanket statement that chevy trucks are unreliable, where is your proof. Give examples. And don't quote consumer reports, they are not the bible on vehicle reliability. I notice you didn't try to refute any of the things that I brought up in my post. Why is that? Are you afraid of the truth? After rereading your original post I notice you end the post stating that a friend of yours had to have an engine replaced in a new chevy. You must not have read the posts on this forum of all of the people who had engines replaced in new ford trucks due to piston slap. I bet they are all proud to tell people that their fairly new trucks already had to have a new engine. I think you need to analize yourself because you are in denial. I hope you like the long post, I did it just for you.

 

Like I said in my post above..look at the huge difference in complaints(problems) between the 2000 Chevy and the 2000 F-150 on the NHTSA web site. 52 to 7 is a clear indication that the chevy's are in fact having a greater share of problems. I am not a 'brand' only person...I stick with top rated and reliable vehicles through many sources of information.

Or is it that all of us F-150 owners are out driving our reliable trucks...and the Chevy guys are on the net trying to get their trucks fixed through NHTSA?

[This message has been edited by Dustoff (edited 03-29-2000).]

 

wtd,
I agree...good point. I will say though that the F-150 in its second year did not have a whole bunch of problems or reported complaints at the time..and this is why I bought my 98 F-150. Then the piston slap problem surfaced along with the leaking slider and door crack. Once FORD gets the piston slap(pre 2000 models)and the door crack problem taken care of...I think that should just about do it for the common "major problems" in the F-150.

With the 2000 model year, FORD supposedly fixed the leaking sliding rear window and the piston slap problem.

[This message has been edited by Dustoff (edited 03-30-2000).]