I got a new truck

ofblong · Dec 5, 2008

Day after thanksgiving my parents asked me to come over to help them move some things. So I packed up one of my 4 kids (hey each one of my kids needs some "alone time" with me once in a while) and drove over to my parents house. Now my parents bought a new ford explorer 2005 and well the old vehicle they never traded in. Anywho I get there and my dad hands me a "package". I open it and inside is the key to their old 1998 F-150 xl extended cab 2 wheel drive stick shift. They said merry christmas. So now I am learning to drive a stick shift 2 wheel drive truck with a mere 400lbs of sand in the back between the wheel wells. All I had to do was put the tailgate in the back goto a junk yard and pull the hinge off a truck they had in the junkyard and install it so I could put the tailgate back on. the old hinge rusted off. took me all of 4 min to get the hinge off and another 4 to put the new one on and another 2 to pry the old hinge ball out of the tailgate assembly hehe (gotta love wd-40).

What a way to learn how to drive a stick shift 2 wheel drive truck in the beginning of winter. Snowed around 6" so far tonight. I mean other than my motorcycle this is the first stick shift vehicle I have ever driven. If your asking how many times have I stalled it? twice, once at an intersection going up a hill and once because my foot slipped off the clutch hehe. Today is day 5 of me driving it. So I am excited about it.

Azurel · Dec 5, 2008

Congrats......One thing I have learned driving a stick shift truck is to always keep the gas tank full in winter as well.....A full tank of gas will add quite a bit of weight as well....

ofblong · Dec 5, 2008

hmm good point though I have only driven it a week and its only down 1/4 tank lol.

Saltysteele · Dec 5, 2008

sweet! good for you, ben! i know you were struggling with getting that avalanche a couple months ago. funny how things work out :)

you'll get the hang of the stick shift, i miss mine :( just get yourself some good snow tires for the rear, with the money you saved not having to buy another vehicle! :haha: some with really wide, open tread and narrow

GSXR · Dec 8, 2008

Nice truck Ben!!! You have some great parents. Not much different then the bike just backwards lol. bike you use your hands for clutch and gas and your foot to shift and the truck you use your feet for the gas and clutch and hand to shift. HA HA !! Maybe this is why they say we come from apes!!!!!!

The best advise I could give for winter driving a stick would be "creep". If the roads are slippery make sure you creep forward and dont break the tires loose. With a stick it is so easy to break the tires loose.

RyanG · Dec 8, 2008

GREAT sticker in the back window too. Sweet deal from super parents.

OneThunder · Dec 8, 2008

VERY NICE> I used to have a truck. Want another one someday!

ofblong · Dec 9, 2008

GSXR said:
Nice truck Ben!!! You have some great parents. Not much different then the bike just backwards lol. bike you use your hands for clutch and gas and your foot to shift and the truck you use your feet for the gas and clutch and hand to shift. HA HA !! Maybe this is why they say we come from apes!!!!!!

The best advise I could give for winter driving a stick would be "creep". If the roads are slippery make sure you creep forward and dont break the tires loose. With a stick it is so easy to break the tires loose.

lol i was doing that last night. 25mph and making the truck go sideways down the road. It was ***** fun. ill have to get pics when I am done but my bro-in-law gave me his old stereo he no longer uses as he pulled it out of his old truck. I had some minor issues getting it working as he pulled out one of the wires from the harness and I didnt realize it till I started googling the issue I was having haha. Course I figured out the answer on my own by finally seeing a picture of what the harness origionally looked like hehe. Just dont ever goto best buy to have them install your stereo cause they wont do it right as evidence by the way this thing used to be wired. I almost have it back together but I have to remove a small frame piece that did nothing but hold the old deck :D. Thing is right now I am tempted to trade it in because I can now get a 2008 4wd chevy silverado with 5.3lv8 for $12,000 because of incentives and employee discount. Thing is thats 12 grand I would have to spend instead of save so I most likely wont do it. Oh and thats with a grand they would give me as trade on this truck.

revhtree · Dec 9, 2008

DON'T DO IT!!!

From experience I will tell you to keep the paid off vehicle and stay out of debt! ;)

ofblong · Dec 9, 2008

hehe thanks rev. I wont be doing it. Its just so tempting because they are so cheap but like you said why get rid of something thats paid off and doesnt really have any problems that I cant get at a junk yard to fix hehe. I think im becoming to much like my uncles and grandpa and thats working on auto's :D. 3 of my uncles are auto mechanics and my grandpa had his own auto mechanic business way back when. I just happened to take the route that pays more and became an industrial mechanic lol. I got pics of the stereo but the battery died as I took the last pic =[.

oh and I now have 2 vehicles that are paid off :D.