Been looking at trucks...

[2kwik4u]

I would have to disagree here. Dimensions on a truck vs full size SUV are near identical.

Depends on which SUV you go with. I'll 1/2 agree.

1/2 Agree
A Suburban, Expedition, Tahoe, Sequoia, Land Cruiser, Armada vs a FS pickup, sure, they're nearly the same. I drove a GMC Yukon (NON XL) for a few years, as well as a GMC Sierra a few years later. The Yukon was fairly easy to park in comparison to the Sierra despite having similar width and height numbers. Reduced wheelbase, and tighter turning circle made life easier in the Yukon. The Sierra wasn't bad, the Yukon was just better.

1/2 disagree
Drop to a large version of a "mid size" and there are a couple that have svelte dimensions with similar capacity/capability. Durango R/T, Q7, GLE, Discovery, etc. Most of those afford the tighter turning circle, narrower overall width, and lower height to fit into more urban locations. Still have a 2nd row that is acceptable enough to take clients to lunch or dinner with, and enough tow rating to drag the boat around without any issue.

 

[BlkGS]

The way it "used to" work is the extended cab short bed trucks were about the same length as the extended wheel base suv. Our expedition feels a million times easier to park than my f150 was because it's not quite as long. The f150 hung over in most spots, the expedition fills them.out with a little space to spare.

I have given thought to a a full size suv vs a truck, but trucks are cheaper overall, and when taking customers out it would be easier to pull carseats out and throw them in the bed under a folding cover than it would be to keep the car seats in the 3rd row all the time. I could still.put them in the cargo area, and that wouldn't be bad either, but the truck seems more appealing for general use. If I end up going new, it'd be hard to not get an expedition max stealth performance though. Or a Durango hellcat, lol.

 

[2kwik4u]

The way it "used to" work is the extended cab short bed trucks were about the same length as the extended wheel base suv. Our expedition feels a million times easier to park than my f150 was because it's not quite as long. The f150 hung over in most spots, the expedition fills them.out with a little space to spare.

I have given thought to a a full size suv vs a truck, but trucks are cheaper overall, and when taking customers out it would be easier to pull carseats out and throw them in the bed under a folding cover than it would be to keep the car seats in the 3rd row all the time. I could still.put them in the cargo area, and that wouldn't be bad either, but the truck seems more appealing for general use. If I end up going new, it'd be hard to not get an expedition max stealth performance though. Or a Durango hellcat, lol.

How much longer do you have with car seats? By the time mine were 4 they were in booster seats that come in/out super easily. If you're within 18mo or so of booster seats, I wouldn't buy based on that.

Don't get me wrong, I 100% get the usefulness of the fullsize pickup. I loved mine, and I want another. I'm on the struggle bus on losing the sportiness and ease of daily driving with the medium SUV.

 

[BlkGS]

How much longer do you have with car seats? By the time mine were 4 they were in booster seats that come in/out super easily. If you're within 18mo or so of booster seats, I wouldn't buy based on that.

Don't get me wrong, I 100% get the usefulness of the fullsize pickup. I loved mine, and I want another. I'm on the struggle bus on losing the sportiness and ease of daily driving with the medium SUV.

Baby 2 is due early next year, so I will have car seats longer than the vehicle most likely, lol.

Yeah, the truck would be a big change for me again. I think with a belltech suspension kit and a tune I could be happy enough with it. The expedition doesn't exactly drive sporty, but it's not crap to drive either. I'd probably be happier overall in something Durango or explorer sized, but those are basically the same as a truck in cost right now for inexplicable reasons.

 

[Sherwood]

I got 2014 ram 4x4 5.7 with 66k miles and I can't believe there's literally nothing on the market that gets me excited enough to get off the coach to go see. This is the longest I have held on to a vehicle in my life.

 

[Farmdog267]

I had 2 F150's with crew cabs, 1 was a lease with a 2.7 and the other I traded the lease for a purchase on a 3.5 eco with FX4 and max tow. The 2.7 was leased from new and gave very few issues. It was a 2018 w/ the 10 speed. The 3.5 I went to was a 2017 and I aquired it with about 34,000 miles. The power difference between the 2 engines was big as the 3.5 would pull very well off the line. Cam phasers were done under warranty around 38,000 on it and then were coming noisey again but the truck was rear ended and totaled before I got around to it.

I'm now in a Ram 2500HD with the 6.4 Engine and what a difference. I like the ram interior alot and there seems to be fewer truck problems. The 2017F150 just had several issues, some of which were common TSB and some of which that weren't so common.

 

[RobbieO]

I had 2 F150's with crew cabs, 1 was a lease with a 2.7 and the other I traded the lease for a purchase on a 3.5 eco with FX4 and max tow. The 2.7 was leased from new and gave very few issues. It was a 2018 w/ the 10 speed. The 3.5 I went to was a 2017 and I aquired it with about 34,000 miles. The power difference between the 2 engines was big as the 3.5 would pull very well off the line. Cam phasers were done under warranty around 38,000 on it and then were coming noisey again but the truck was rear ended and totaled before I got around to it.

I'm now in a Ram 2500HD with the 6.4 Engine and what a difference. I like the ram interior alot and there seems to be fewer truck problems. The 2017F150 just had several issues, some of which were common TSB and some of which that weren't so common.

I’ve been a Ford guy my entire life. I was a Union Ford Dealer mechanic for 27 years. I specialized in A/T, M/T and driveline repair. When I retired in 2021 there wasn’t a Gord truck to be had. Ended up purchasing a Ram 2500 6.4L. This truck is a beast. Never going back to Ford. I’m a Ram guy now. I concur on the interior. Excellent truck.

 

[84rzv500r]

My very pleased with my 2016 GMC Denali HD... it will pull anything I need to pull... 1 issues with it in 45000 miles the OEM badyear tires broke belts within a week of each other... so 5 new coopers 35" tires (and replaced the spare with a full-size matching rim), ditched the rancho shocks that fell apart for some Bilstein's. every thing else comes under personal preference... oh and replaced all the "Skidplates" with STEEL.... recalibrated for the tire dia and bumped the line pressure a bit to firm up the shifts, and added a Banks box to fix the fly by wire throttle calibration... after all this is a 6.0L v8 with 4.10 gears and the go pedal should act accordingly!! 18-20MPG below 55 MPH above that not so much LOL... no need for a new truck any time soon...

 

[Chrisbert]

I would avoid the F150 moonroof if you can. It seems like a neat feature until a 50 cent piece of plastic breaks and they have to disassemble your truck. Even better when it happens because you are closing the roof for impending rain. They've had the issue for years and won't change the design. Also, be prepared to have your driver's door lock pried open.

 

[Lawman25]

Yeah, that's been an issue with gm motors since they started adding AFM. Ram has the issue too, my dad's 6.4L in his 2500 had that issue.

I'm definitely all over the place. Part of me wonders if the smart move is to buy a 250 diesel, as those tend to hold more value at 100k miles or so than a gas 150.

We're all just giving our opinions here and personal preferences, but I think this might be the best option you presented. My first pickup was an F150 FX4 with the 3.5 ecoboost. Phenomenal truck, loved it, never had any real issues with it, and it towed like a dream. I did move up to an F350 last year. Prices and wait times were outrageous when I bought it last year and I found my truck for a really good deal. I do wish I had waited for a 250 I liked to become available, the 350 is made to work and tow a lot of weight so it's not the smoothest ride as a daily driver, but it's still a great truck, I'll never own anything I won't be able to tow with it, gets great fuel mileage for a big truck, and if you take care of it, do regular maintenance, the 6.7's will run forever. The only thing you might want to consider is the cost of diesel fuel compared to regular gas currently, and ever present talk of diesel shortages. I've also owned an Expedition I put 200k on and I have zero bad things to say about them.

 

[2kwik4u]

@BlkGS You any closer to making a decision? new job pan out OK for you? Survive the hurricane a month ago?

 

[BlkGS]

@BlkGS You any closer to making a decision? new job pan out OK for you? Survive the hurricane a month ago?

Yeah, we survived without issue.

Job is still in process. They are planning to do interviews in the next few weeks. They're kinda waiting to see how the next quarter or so shakes out, they're expecting to have a start date in April now. Works great for me as our 2nd is due in Feb. Supposedly they're going to make a decision and extend an offer to whoever before end of year, and then just have that person sit with a job contract for 3+ months, lol.

I worked for them before so none of this spooks me.or surprises me. There's always a chance they'll turn around and rush to have a start date this year lol.

In other news, I've been throwing suspension parts at the tbss to try to fix a rear clunking. Belltech 31.5 springs and massive speed system 5 links... it feels great now, but still clunks. I'm thinking it's the endlinks, which have been the bane of my existence with this thing since i first lowered it.

 

[2kwik4u]

@BlkGS

Glad to hear the jobs still on the hook. Hope it works out for you. Same with the little one. keep in mind the second kid isn't a multiplier, it's an exponent!

Never fought those battles with my lowered SS. Added lowering links to the air suspension and motored along. Ran Beltech shocks all around, and NorcalSS control arms up front. Only had that thing for ~18mo, so I might have just dodged that bullet. However, the rest of the truck was a basket case of poor maintenance, so I'm a little surprised.

 

[BlkGS]

@BlkGS

Glad to hear the jobs still on the hook. Hope it works out for you. Same with the little one. keep in mind the second kid isn't a multiplier, it's an exponent!

Never fought those battles with my lowered SS. Added lowering links to the air suspension and motored along. Ran Beltech shocks all around, and NorcalSS control arms up front. Only had that thing for ~18mo, so I might have just dodged that bullet. However, the rest of the truck was a basket case of poor maintenance, so I'm a little surprised.

It's probably my fault, lol. I think one of my endlinks is a little loose, possibly loose in the sway bar itself. As I recall, there was some emdlink and sway bar combo that required you to install a metal sleeve to get it to work perfectly. I also keep trying these "upgraded" parts vs a nice set of oem style links like moogs.

I also think I have a steering noise related to the struts binding up somewhere. It happens once per day in the morning when I turn through our cul de sac.

Speaking of trucks though, seems like the used supply isn't getting much better. Dealers seem to be slowly dropping prices, some are likely at their "we are underwater on this vehicle" point, but I'm not seeing an inventory improvement. One f150 I was looking at in VA has dropped their price to what they told me they had into it. Seems like no interest still. Next few months should be interesting.

 

[2kwik4u]

It's probably my fault, lol. I think one of my endlinks is a little loose, possibly loose in the sway bar itself. As I recall, there was some emdlink and sway bar combo that required you to install a metal sleeve to get it to work perfectly. I also keep trying these "upgraded" parts vs a nice set of oem style links like moogs.

I also think I have a steering noise related to the struts binding up somewhere. It happens once per day in the morning when I turn through our cul de sac.

Speaking of trucks though, seems like the used supply isn't getting much better. Dealers seem to be slowly dropping prices, some are likely at their "we are underwater on this vehicle" point, but I'm not seeing an inventory improvement. One f150 I was looking at in VA has dropped their price to what they told me they had into it. Seems like no interest still. Next few months should be interesting.

I agree on the used inventory front. I've been watching AT4's for awhile, and they're coming down in price, but still very scarce. Gonna be a 2-300 mile drive to get what I want. Not really worried about that, but makes the wife nervous after two bad experiences with used vehicles from out of town.

Her Rogue is showing signs of transmission (CVT) issues at 50k miles. It has the extended trans warranty until 80k, but she's thinking new something or the other. There was talk last year of a Jeep Wrangler 4XE. No idea if that will materialize, however with the recent loss of a close family member, she has a bit of a YOLO attitude on most things lately.

Big windfall didn't go through for us either. Company was going to get sold, I was going to cash out all my stock in the sale, CEO pulled the plug on the deal at the last minute. SOOOOO......My plans for upgrading have been pushed back a shade. Got a nice raise this year, but not enough to justify a new truck. Been looking at SQ7's quite a bit lately. They're the same price as a pickup, but run mid 12's out of the box, and most used examples are low miles and CPO eligible. We're not certain if we're keeping the camper (gonna give it another season to decide), and without the camper, the Q7 line from Audi will handle any of my future boats, and I've grown fond of the platform.

 

[BlkGS]

Yeah, my wife is kinda over used vehicles in general. She gets that new cars are insanely priced, even worse inventory, all that... but she feels like they're used up and need work. Which admittedly, the Colorado and tbss were both older, less expensive vehicles. All the parts I've put on the tbss would add up to like 3 or 4 real car payments... but it gets to be a hassle and a "time costs more than a payment" sort of thing. I'm trying to keep on trucking, Durango hellcat has started to creep down into thr 80s, all the pigs asking in the 100s are gonna get slaughtered. I've also thought about an Explorer ST a lot still, but it feels very cheap inside, I hate the digital gauges and vertical screen (which is an option), and kinda would wait for the '24 refresh if anything. Outside of that... there just not much I like. I like gl(s)63 with the 5.5L - those are getting uncommon and or expensive now, us theres the reliability concerns...,
SQ7 honestly I don't like the interior. It's like, all glass controls inside. Looks cool in reviews, but man..many... that'd be so gross in real life. Fingerprints and spilled drinks and crumbs and dog fur... it would be a full time side gig to keep it clean. I'd prefer a more typical plastic button interior for HVAC and stuff like that.

 

[2kwik4u]

$80k for a Durango seems like a lot. Even with the go fast bits underneath, it's still a Durango interior and exterior. I'm just not that smitten with that platform. I think the value there is the Tow-N-Go package on the R/T. Might jump for the SRT, but the hellcat becomes a bridge too far for me.

We bought brand new on the Rogue, and will likely get another brand new for her next car. The time value of money is the big kicker for her. She treats a vehicle like an appliance, and it needs to perform as such. Downtime is just another thing to manage for her, and she has no patience for it. She is decidedly NOT a car guy.

SQ7 honestly I don't like the interior. It's like, all glass controls inside. Looks cool in reviews, but man..many... that'd be so gross in real life. Fingerprints and spilled drinks and crumbs and dog fur... it would be a full time side gig to keep it clean. I'd prefer a more typical plastic button interior for HVAC and stuff like that.

110% agree there. I'm NOT a fan of the facelifted 4M Q7 interior. Have a coworker with an eTron, and it looks like dammit every time I get in that thing, and it has the same dash layout. My pre-facelift Q7 has a much more "traditional" interior, and I can even hide the center screen into the dash (which I typically do when I'm driving alone).

Been reading about guys running the stage 2 tunes on the Q7's. A few with pulleys and mild DIY intake mods are running the low 13's. Which is honestly plenty fast for a daily driver. One of the guys towed a 23ft travel trailer over 5k miles on vacation last year with that tune and said the vehicle didn't show an ounce of strain with the tune and the load. There's another guy that's on his 3rd '17-'19 Q7. He's a sales guy and buys them with 20-30k miles and CPO status, then drives 'em to 80-90k and sells and repeats. Has it down to a dang science at this point. He makes a good case for just recycling the platform as the miles come up.

 

[BlkGS]

$80k for a Durango seems like a lot. Even with the go fast bits underneath, it's still a Durango interior and exterior. I'm just not that smitten with that platform. I think the value there is the Tow-N-Go package on the R/T. Might jump for the SRT, but the hellcat becomes a bridge too far for me.

We bought brand new on the Rogue, and will likely get another brand new for her next car. The time value of money is the big kicker for her. She treats a vehicle like an appliance, and it needs to perform as such. Downtime is just another thing to manage for her, and she has no patience for it. She is decidedly NOT a car guy.



110% agree there. I'm NOT a fan of the facelifted 4M Q7 interior. Have a coworker with an eTron, and it looks like dammit every time I get in that thing, and it has the same dash layout. My pre-facelift Q7 has a much more "traditional" interior, and I can even hide the center screen into the dash (which I typically do when I'm driving alone).

Been reading about guys running the stage 2 tunes on the Q7's. A few with pulleys and mild DIY intake mods are running the low 13's. Which is honestly plenty fast for a daily driver. One of the guys towed a 23ft travel trailer over 5k miles on vacation last year with that tune and said the vehicle didn't show an ounce of strain with the tune and the load. There's another guy that's on his 3rd '17-'19 Q7. He's a sales guy and buys them with 20-30k miles and CPO status, then drives 'em to 80-90k and sells and repeats. Has it down to a dang science at this point. He makes a good case for just recycling the platform as the miles come up.

I actually really like the durango interior, especially after the face-lift. My biggest complaint was the lack of physical buttons for seat controls, and they fixed that in the refresh. No, it doesn't have baby seal skin leather everywhere, and stuff like that, but it looks nice, should hold up, and that's sort of what's important to me. Tow and go is a great package, but would feel like a step backwards vs the tbss. I know you think an rt should be equivalent to the tbss, but I've smashed enough of them in my tbss to know it isn't. I think an srt would be pretty close of a race, but those are like 65 to 65k used. May as well go whole ass on the hellcat imo, and have the more reliable and powerful engine for a minor tradeoff in fuel economy, cuz they both guzzle it.

 

[BlkGS]

I ended up fixing my clunk. Endlink on one side was torqued to like 50 lb ft, not 65 plus as needed. It was a real pain to get to, needed a bunch extensions and used a u joint... wished I'd had wobble extensions, so those are gonna get bought lol.

 

[HangOutdoors]

This looks pretty cool for a steering wheel. Would like to see it implemented in the trucks and SUV's
Ford has reinvented the wheel ... the steering wheel | Fox News