What Happened to Pickup Trucks?

Sorry... This is my idea of a self-propelled lawn mower...

 

Electric start.

 

New buyers to old trucks are guilty, too.

people dont understand why carbs, dizzy’s and mechanical pumps last forever at 7:1 compression. Or why the e85 only lasts a month or so. Or why their samsung knockoff doesnt flow with carplay and the remote start doesnt work…and why theres a huge hump for a chunk of nonfunctional scoop blocking the view above the hood too high to keep clean.

 

I read it. It has some points I have always agreed with. Rolling coal is fucking stupid and harmful to the earth. Giant grilles are ugly and stupid looking, raised hoods make it harder to see infront of you, trucks are getting too big... But there's also some stuff in it I disagree with too. I like my first gen tundra v8. I like it on road. I like it off road. It gets terrible mileage but I like it. Lol

 

The only thing I've taken away from that article and this thread is that it sounds like the mods have been cracking skulls, kicking names and taking ass.

Did the COC get updated or something?

 

“Giant, furious trucks”

“Gleefully violent styling”

“Petro masculinity”

What an absolute Twitter-word-salad dumpster fire of an article.

 

Show us on the doll where the pickup truck driver hurt you.

 

You dont have to overcompensate. Moderatly compensate and buy a truck that likes cheap gas and put an angry bumper on it.

 

Is that an I-beam?

 

Typical pansy @$$ skinny jean latte sipping drivel..... These f-ers are more dangerous to society than all the 'angry' face (oh my!) Trucks and SUV

I stopped reading it at:

"As I wrote in my 2020 bookRight of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America"

 

Shades of the late 1980's when the "white collar" guys (read: attorneys and accountants) got into Harley motorbikes. Froo-froo'd them to the hilt. Then either rode them 6 miles to the bar or put them on a trailer and took them to Sturgis. Coo-coo.

 

Not so much Angry as Indifferent to me!

I like too!

 

One of my co-workers once rode his bike to Sturgis without stopping. It was about 15 hours and 1000 miles.

 

My Ex was driving 16 horses to Calgary years ago in a nice Featherlite Horse Trailer pulled by an F350 Dually and they came across a Combine headed towards them near Jackson Wy. on a backroad and each were going under 25 mph as the story goes.

Yep they hit somehow and the Tack Room door on the trailer was wanged pretty badly and couldnt be fixed or opened again until getting to the guys ranch in Calgary where his guys removed and repaired the Aluminum in their shop.

And no she was not driving when it happened.

Shit Happens?

 

I have clients that bought a nice trailer so the bikes could be driven to outside of Sturgis where they would unload and ride the rest of the way in,I dont think they even drove them there but rather they flew in to get them.

I bet they fit right in too.

 

Hmm, pedestrians getting hit by yugegantic visible trucks on the road??

Natural selection??

 

Here is my take on the article. I read and digested every word. I think the inquiry into why trucks have gotten so big is valid. But their hypothesis is a bit of a stretch.

Their central thesis is that pick ups have changed in ways that are exclusively negative. The size, look, power, fuel consumption. Then the claim is made is that the size of these new trucks have made accidents both more likely and gruesome. Further that the power trains are sucking the life out of the earth.

There is alot to refute or straight contradict here.

1) Safety. Modern vehicles have 1000x the safety features of older trucks and cars. They show a picture of a farmer in his 50's pushing hay out of a long bed single cab Chevy/GMC.

That truck had drum brakes. Maybe front discs as a very expensive option. It may have even had manual brakes as power brakes in that era were sometimes an option.
There were no radar sensors, cruise control was on caddillacs and were a danger themselves using brake fluid that can leak and catch fire. It had gas tanks behind passenger bench seat. No tire pressure monitors. no air bags. no abs. seat belts were lap belts. No adaptive steering or blind spot monitoring. the interior was an impalement hazard at even a 30 mph fender bender. No crumple zones or other energy absorbing designs.

Yeah try again. The safety argument is toast.

2) Fuel consumption.

Modern trucks aren't actually that much more fuel efficient than that old GMC with a good tune up and new plugs. My Tundra gets about 4-5 mpg better than my old F250 with a raced-out 390 in driving the exact same conditions. With design and manufacturing improvements you'd think the difference would be at least 10...

Point taken here.

But lets look at weight difference: my 1972 F 250 was 3800 lbs, my Tundra is freaking 5600 lbs. My 2021 limited 4runner tips scales at 4800 lbs.

Older vehicles were bare bones. Most of the weight was in the engine, chassis, differentials, transmission. Modern trucks have a ton of mass in the cab area despite weight savings in aluminum and alloy engine components.

However I'll add that modern vehicles can maintain their efficiency over a much much longer time frame. 100k spark plug changes. Even Victor Shepards 1 million mile Tundra made within 5% of new BSFC on engine dyno. So in other words the variation of fuel economy has basically been neutralized with modern engine controls and modern engine designs.

The HD trucks though are modern engineering marvels.

With direct injection, turbos, sky-high compression ratios, beyond-NASA level engine controls, HD trucks can get stupendous mileage while towing loads that older 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks couldn't even sniff.

3) Power.

Modern powertrains are amazing and there is no real comparison.

280 hp is a tame number for a large bore v-6 nowadays.

381 hp is "ok" for a v-8. But the V-8s are smaller cubic engines.

The difference is that modern engine's have much better designs that maximize volumetric efficiency and thermal efficiency. Engine controls and engine mapping create efficiency and power and keep it that way for hundreds of thousands of miles.

More power to the people...amirite?

Not only is this a more pleasurable driving experience, but people can do more with their vehicles. There is an efficiency here that isn't accounted for.

4) Size.

Again people can do more with their trucks than ever before. The same truck that can do hay work also takes kids to school. and then to shopping for groceries. and it can be a work truck for 4 people.

In terms of the old single cab trucks, you'd need many more vehicles on the road to do all this.

4 people can get into one truck. That takes 3 single cab trucks off the road.

1 truck can fit a small family and run errands. That saves a station wagon, suv, or sedan from having to be on road as well.

5) Looks

this is all subjective.

The author wishes trucks resembled that older GMC single cab. It was plain and unassuming. Same as that farmer. The truck was tough as nails...same as the farmer.

trucks in that generation reflected values of that generation. Those folks from great depression era would actually hide their medals in their sock drawer. They were humble to a fault and looked down upon those who weren't.

When shopping for trucks they were interested in meat and potatoes things like engine power, how easy it was to work on, pay load, where to get parts, etc.

Now the first thing we consider is how it looks.

 

It's Bloomberg. People who choose to get their information from certain places agree with a certain perspective.

 

People writing these half assed articles need a reality check. Not every person driving a truck can afford a second vehicle, let alone have the space to safely store said truck or truck+family sedan/SUV from thiefs or nature.
Not every person live in beautifully, well maintained roads.... Or 100% paved roads.

I have 3 potholes in a 400 meter road going from my house to the highway, then potholes on the highway. Truck doesn't mind them, small cars get destroyed. Flooding happens to be an issue too, hurricane prone area, trucks get around while others can't, very important for getting groceries and water, sometimes not even for one self.

Yet again I was Santa's helper this year delivering food and toys for the less fortunate, a labor that can often bring tears and also joy, all thanks to my trusty petro-masculine steel horse.

Moving furniture around for friends and family, often get paid in beer and snacks. These angry trucks sure seem to bring people together.

I could go on and on about the horrible things trucks do, but typing on my phone is inefficient... Next Bloomberg article right there

 

Blah, blah, blah. The Tesla cybertruck has a "bioweapon defense mode". Blah, blah, blah.

I'll need to look into that.

 

you don't need to look into that. The model x has it and there are many videos on youtube that show the diff between the bioweapon defense mode vs standard filter. I have deposit down for 2 cybertrucks, the dual or tri motor. I was hoping to pick that up instead of the tundra but alas, I need a truck to do shit with vs waiting for who knows when and another 1st gen cybertruck that might be plague with panel gaps and other issues. Additionally, I'm going to give it 5 years before I buy it just so I can see what type of accessories will be available for camping, off roading, etc ...

having read the article, some of those points the author made are valid and some are batshit crazy. for example: the other night, I was parked in my tesla model 3, a truck pulled up with lifts and all that jazz, headlight was literally shining into my face. One of the reason why the model 3 will be my last small car, will go with suv or some other of truck in the future. I like my tundra but I don't like the mpg and the stink of the fume that come out of the rear. my neighbor on the other hand love that smell, different folks different strokes, we get along just fine.

 

People writing these kinds of articles are very judgmental . I can tell just by looking at them ! lol

 

Drivel.

The author of this article is wasting the reader's time.

 

The kick starter on my ‘68 shovelhead was not easy, lol

 

Yes, modern trucks are high in the front. In my drive today, I noticed that UPS truck, semi's, Amazon trucks, construction trucks, straight trucks, garbage trucks, cement trucks, and many SUV's are also high in the front. Gosh golly, we need more regulations. I also noticed that my refrigerator is also very high. Come to think of it, my stove is well above the head of my 4 year old. Think of all the countries that have regulated their way to greatness... yea, I can't think of any either. I ignore pinhead articles like this. It raises my blood pressure... hey, this type of journalism could cause harm to the health of many Americans, maybe it should be regulated.