Dixie Chicks

[CanuckBock]

The old muscle cars had a way better suspension then what's marketed today (at least for what they were intended for ) , full frame underbody , steel , and they were made for speed , plus if you did have a bang up , chances were better of walking way ....Nothing like a finally tuned full throttle motor to get your heart racing .Around here we still have the late nights on Main when the sleepers come out , some you can feel long before you see them , hairy cams etc , sound like they are going to stall , but put the peddle down and you have a new appreciation for what muscle is .Never owned anything but American , never had a desire to drive any import , just always seemed to fall short of my ideal of what a car should be .The cars I owned were set up for speed , a lot of the older factory cars were built for it as well , but unless you understand your car I would never condone speeding , you have to feel the car in all it's ways and how it reacts , we built them up and knew what we had , brakes, steering , suspension etc

Hey thar you old prairie dog you!

I figure the old stuff is like a mammal with a skeleton...the new stuff is like an insect with an exoskeleton...bang up and tres dif to fix it based on not jest a frame straightened affair!

Funny you mention one has better chance of walking way after a crash in the old stuff. I just listened to a fella that does alot of detailing and listened to him talk about how the new stuff is designed to crumple all around you the passengers (resulting in nothing left of the vehicle...wonder how that benefits the new vehicle market, eh??) and you walk away whereas the old stuff can hit something and survive the fender bender but the humans inside get all banged up. So why I find it funny...not sure which is true but I am with you in that old ride is where I wanna be. New stuff sucks...

My mom was an under the curlers speed demon. Picture us young kids and Mom taking us shopping in the next town over...she had a grey 1969 T-Bird with a 429 stock. Suddenly us kids on the Nor Van Isle twisted highway note she is doing 120 miles per hour on the speedo. Yikes Mom...WT?? "Just burning off the carbon," she would quip... Sure Mom...sure you were!

​

Personally, moi, I hate speed...hated downhill skiing, liked cross country...don't care where the destination is we are headed...tis all about the ride and smelling the clover blossoms on the wind and the longer it takes to go get an ice cream, the longer the enjoyment of jest the going.

Rick's 1984 4x4 Red Chev HyBlade (what gradermen are always accused of doing!)​

I use to be a purist too and despised the rat rodders and hot rodders but in my old age I have given in a bit. I don't mind pimping a truck out a bit with things like LED lights and after market funkies like license plate lights and some chrome glitz. Jewlery for rides. I want us to be seen (better headlights and lighted up markers and such) so others can avoid smucking us as we go for our sunny day cruises to nowhere's and home.

I also still hold a special place in my heart for the challenges that bang up restos back to factory condition mean. Hold your head very high and lookin' way too good, flat out at fifty K, eh!

​

Love the old stuff...bring out yer junk and we'll want to sort thru it.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[minihorse927]

Just a quick stop by but we just purchases a 1974 ford f250, from the original owner. Truck was well cared for to say the least

 

[bamadude]

Going over 160 in an old us made muscle car must be terrifying. Those things are basically a cart on wheels with a huge engine strapped to it, no one has thought about handling, or breaking, or suspension. I mean even the modern day Mustang is still made with leaf spring suspension in the back. That's insane.

Bama, that Hayabusa is a crazy thing. Friend of mine had a 600 cc version of the GSX-R, but now he has a MV Agusta F4 1000 R. Crazy piece of machine, the workmanship is crap (Italians make pretty things, but my god some of the engineering shortcuts on that) but the thing will go over 180 mph. He's lost his license a handful of times on that thing...

I h
ave always dreamed of owning a Ducatti. They are awesome

 

[Beer can]

Just a quick stop by but we just purchases a 1974 ford f250, from the original owner. Truck was well cared for to say the least

Awesome truck mini. My dad just retired a '76 f-250 4x4 highboy. He might fix it back up but I doubt it.

 

[Beer can]

I h
ave always dreamed of owning a Ducatti. They are awesome

I loved my subaru brat I had yrs ago, did a lot of baja'ng on four wheeler trails with it. Came across this vid checking out brats and old gl wagons. Australian version, brumby, racing a ducatti 996 Lol, awesome.

 

[Alaskan]

Deb, I am sure the story your dad told was true.

I was once driving the plow truck back home, and felt a bit of a bump.... But it kept going forward just fine. I however was worried about what I had heard, and wasn't sure why the handling suddenly felt different.

So, I stopped the truck.



After the truck came to a complete stop, it only THEN fell down on the back left disk break...... Because both of those tires had come off and rolled down the road.

I wasn't even drivng that fast.... But I am sure with the engine in the front, AND the plow on the front, and the fact that I was driving perfectly straight ahead.... It was fine until I stopped.

 

[Cold Canadian]

Everyone has a preference , and as long as you like and understand the vehicle it's all good , but myself although my truck right now is a 98 GMC which is doing fantastic , I am keeping a eye open for a 64 to 67 Chevy , my son is a couple of years away from getting his drivers and I'd like to fix up one for him , brother had one and they are such a pleasure to restore , no electronics , climb into the hood department and work on the engine ......these days I don't do anything as it is all unfamiliar ! and the interiors are so nice to redo , pull the few gauges ( metal dash ) ,pull the seat ...bench ( can put buckets in ) and they were actually designed to take to a car wash and you could wash the floors with a pressure washer .....sweet ! . Once I find one ( would love the oak plank for the box floor ) I'll look for a 350 to maybe blue print and balance .....400 some ponies should do it .....and hopefully if he ever is in a accident he will walk away , maybe bruised , but not in a small ball .I'm glad he wants a truck instead of a car , very outdoor oriented so with quads / dirt bikes / camping etc it should be ideal .......plus they go for some good coin once fixed up in case he should want to get something else once he has some miles behind him

 

[perchie.girl]

I like Fords but the truck i have now is a Dodge Cumins one ton. Bigblock six and a five speed. its geared so low I have Start out in second gear. When I bought it It had 185,000 miles on it.

I bought it at a work truck dealer. My first couple of years was spent stamping out issues with oil leaks... The dufus that owned it previously had replaced the oil pan gasket with RTV. It cost me almost a grand to have that replaced. While At the shop I had the injectors done saved me some money.

But All the stuff engine wise has been gone through. Love the Cumins Hate the Dodge body. 500,000mile engines don't belong in a 100,000 mile body.

All that being said its got 300,000 + miles on it and I am still getting around 20 miles per gallon.

The next thing I want to do is pull the bed and replace it with a flat bed. The Original bed is cracked down the middle and the side walls wobble when i go over bumps or hit wind.

I cant afford a big chunk of change for a flat bed. But I was thinking of building up a wood platform bed. Just for hauling hay and stuff that can be strapped down. But Tara mentioned it might not be legal to build one...

I guess i need to dig a bit more on DMV laws to find out.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Ok here is one and its a dodge



I can imagine that I would have to keep the new bed at least as wide as the outside of the duallies and as long as the bed is now. So that would be eight feet long by eight wide according to the internet.

Now I have to consider construction substantial enough to pack 22 bales of hay.... Which is almost 3000 lbs. Yah I know more than the truck is rated for... But the suspension handled that sized load handily. and for the thirty miles ihave to haul it I can keep it in Third gear and walk the truck up the mountain

Here is the road I have to haul the hay up.




These pictures dont really show the grade. But loaded Semis usually do about 45 up the grade. I park the truck a respectible distance and follow them up. All along the road are water spigots for over heating vehicles. I been up that grade when it was 115 degrees out. NOT a place to break down.

Toms Hay farm...


Toms hay farm in perspective.



technically Toms hay farm is only 30 miles from my house but Toms place is about at sea level... I am at 3200 feet. Hence the grade up the mountain.

Again not a place to break down.

deb

 

[Beer can]

@perchie.girl flat beds are common around here. Most bluestone quarrymen use them. Racks or no racks.