My truck just passed it's latest milepost,
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| Photo taken several years ago on a trip to the Oregon coast. |
It just completed 170,000 miles. I bought it brand new in 2007.
A couple of months after I went through the trauma of having my '96 Mustang fail it's smog test, I needed to smog my truck.
Like all my other cars, my truck doesn't accumulate much mileage, but it's steady. I use my truck at least once a week, and put 60 miles on it on that day. This is a pretty good use pattern, I drive it on a 60 mile round trip, plenty of time for the engine to reach operating temperature as most of the trip is at freeway speeds. This also helps me run through the gas in the tank. I don't keep the tank more than a quarter, to half full, so it isn't full of months old gas.
I figure that I put around 250 miles a month on the truck, that works out to about 3,000 miles a year. Though I drove it to the Sacramento area a couple of months ago to pick up a piece of furniture that my Wife had bought while on an outing.
It's been awhile since I had the oil changed, I try to keep the intervals to approx 5,000 miles, which is only once a year. I decided that would be my first step in my smog test preparation.
I thought that I would clean the MAF sensor, except that the V6 engine doesn't have one! ????
After the oil change I decided to put some better gas in the tank. I have to admit that I'm a cheapskate, and I always use the cheapest gas that I can find. I never had a problem with any of my cars. The '06 Mustang, as well as the Navigator, both suggest premium gas, but they run fine on the cheapest 87 octane. I also don't run my cars very hard, no constant heavy acceleration and high speed running, just occasional towing with my truck.
As I mentioned before, I let my '96 Mustang sit for months with some cheap gas in the tank. I didn't even try to burn it up or top it off with fresh stuff. I also didn't drive the car long enough to get it really warmed up before the test. After it failed, the tech advised me to run some premium for the retest, which I did. I don't know if it made the difference, but I didn't want to take any chances, so I put in a quarter tank of Chevron Supreme, which I consider the best gas. The odometer read 169,960 miles and I drove it up and down US101 before I took it to the Smog Hut for the test.
On the way home the odometer turned over 170K.
The weather has finally turned for the arrival of Spring and I ran the truck through the car wash. I sprayed some Castrol Super Cleaner on the tires, before I left, since I ran out of Bleche White. The tires were pretty grubby looking. The wash made a huge difference in how it looks. I spent some time applying preservative to the black plastic trim on the grille and bumpers as well as the door handles. I then wiped it down with water less car wash. It looked pretty good, but it still needs a good polishing and waxing.
I've got to clean out the interior, as my work truck, it starts to accumulate quite a bit of stuff.
A few months ago I spent some time trying to polish out some minor scratches, as well as polishing the headlamps. Some of the scratches in the clear coat show as white against the green color.
It needs the cowl vent grille replaced, some parts of it have deteriorated from exposure to the Sun.
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| The top is bulging a bit too much to fit the new top molding. That will take a bit of massaging. |
The tail gate top trim piece was a thin plastic molding and it fell off years ago. I bought a stainless steel replacement that was quite expensive at 169.00. I have to straighten out the top of the tailgate a bit before I can attach that. I backed into a post with the tail gate down, which put a dent in the top. That's why the trim became loose and later fell off.
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| Looks bad, but still comfy. |
The interior of the truck has held up pretty well. The driver's seat bottom is cracked and split, the steering wheel shows some wear at the top. I bought one of those cheap, stretch on steering wheel covers, but I will have to buy a replacement seat upholstery replacement. This will be an original OEM part, I can't stand those horrible polyester knit stretch on seat covers.
I've owned this truck for 16 years and it's been pretty good. I wanted a long bed, and the access cab is a bonus. I had considered a V8 model, but I wanted a base truck, and most V8s were equipped with more stuff that I didn't want. The V6 has been more than adequate, and only disappoints when it's towing it's max load of 6,000 lbs. up a mountain. The V6 also gets respectable gas mileage, I can get 20 mpg. on the highway at a steady 65 mph.
I wanted a truck with rubber floors instead of carpets, manual windows, seats, mirrors, and door locks. The real important good stuff was built in at the factory. It has power rack and pinion steering, power brakes with four wheel discs and ABS. It also came with the factory towing set up. I added a chassis receiver tow mount. A tilt wheel, FM radio (since replaced with CD player) and most importantly A/C. It has my favorite gauge layout with a big round speedo with the other four gauges surrounding it. Cruise control would have been nice, but it doesn't come with the XL work truck trim package, and I didn't want the more expensive XLT series goodies. I lucked out when the dealer had a Forest Green truck, most work trucks come in white. My mind was made up the instant I took a test drive in it.
It has really comfortable seats, is quiet, and rides very smooth. It handles surprisingly well and I love driving it. I've taken it on many long trips, for just my Wife and I, it's perfect. Carrying a third passenger makes everything miserable and cramped. I can see why crew cab trucks are so popular, but my truck was bought as a work truck. Luckily I've got other vehicles for carrying more passengers.
I don't have any desire to modify the truck with different wheels or a custom grille. It is fine just the way it is. I have no desire for a newer or fancier rig. I'm just going to take care of the truck I've already got.
At sixteen years and counting, I'd say that I've gotten my moneys worth.
It's a keeper.
The truck lives outside, like most work trucks. It sits under a large tree at the curb, which helps cut down on UV exposure. But there is also a downside. It recently got covered by dirt, Redwood tree pods and debris, and bird droppings, all cemented by an unusual late Summer rain storm. I pulled the cover off the housing for the roll up tonneau cover, and vacuumed out all the accumulated leaves and debris.
Time for another clay bar, polish and wax.
If it's going to be a keeper, I'd better take care of this stuff. I'll cover these procedures in future posts.
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