On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:46:51 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 12/5/2015 9:24 AM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 12/4/2015 2:36 PM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 17:10:20 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2015 1:12 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 12/3/15 1:04 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:38:51 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

On 12/2/2015 4:58 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 08:09:12 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

Did you drive the Honda 90 MPH down US 75?

===

On occasion, more often 80 to 85. The car was always very solid at
that kind of speed - good tires of course, and everything in balance.

Europeans drive that fast all the time even faster in Germany. The
US, particularly the eastern states, has always been more sedate. I
see signs of change however. At one time anything over 70 would get
you a guaranteed ticket on the New York State Thruway. Nowadays a lot
of people are running 75+.


I trained my petal foot to think about safety and fuel economy. That
usually means at or under the speed limit.

Little old ladies in Kias are telling you that you are #1 if you drive
around here.


I do 70 when possible on the interstates, but no more. I-95, the last
time I drove to Florida, was crowded. I take a special delight after
some yahoo blasts past me at more than 80 and see the guy pulled over a
few miles down the road by the police. My wife's new car gets 30+ mpg at
70 mph. I like that.


My Ford F-250 gets better gas mileage at 75 mph than it does at 60-65
mph. Weird, but it has to do with the gearing and when the torque
converter locks and unlocks. If I keep the RPM's up high enough
so it can climb steep hills without the TC unlocking (or downshifting
out of overdrive), my gas mileage goes up to a whopping 15 mpg from
about 13. :-) Fortunately, I don't drive much or very far in it.
Last long distance trip was to SC, last December.

The adult day care center that I drive for has a fleet of high top,
handicapped equipped (power lift and strap-downs for wheelchairs) vans.
They are all Ford F-350 SuperDuties. Mileage is horrible ... I have
to fill mine 3 times a week sometimes ... but they are rugged. He used
to have GM and Chevy vans but gave up on them. They just didn't last,
usually having transmission failures and engine problems.




I do like my Chevy diesel. Got 20 mpg going to Williams, Az for
thanksgiving. Normal around town is 14.5

On pure interstate to and from NC, without the trailer, mine gets a tad over 22.
Around town about 15-17. With the trailer, about 12-13. Can't complain. Most of the
around town stuff is done with the motorcycle, which gets about 40, around town.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!


You guys with the GM diesels have the Allison transmission which is
probably about the best one made. The gas powered GM and Chevy vans
have a regular GM transmission. Those are the ones that the
transportation company had a lot of problems with.

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times. Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

My Silverado rides like a big Cadillac. The Allison transmission does a great job,
especially with the tow/haul mode enabled.

The Allison transmission is great. It was the only thing I liked about
the POS Pace Arrow motorhome I had. Ford came out with a transmission
called a "TorqueShift" that is used in the F-250, F-350 (and up)
SuperDuty series of pickups and trucks. It behaves in a very similar
fashion to the Allison in tow/haul mode. Jury is still out on
reliability although you don't hear about many problems.

Is your Silverado a 2500HD or a 3500HD model? The Ford diesel I had
(that had all kinds of engine problems) was a F-350 which is comparable
to the 3500 series produced by GM. The one I have now is a F-250 which
is comparable to the 2500 GM series. In both cases, the Fords ride a
lot "stiffer" than the GM's. I almost bought a Silverado 2500 but,
because I was so used to Fords, it felt *too* soft to my liking. But,
that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.

Mine's a 2500HD. If you think that Ford's bad, you should try a Dodge Ram 1500. All
it took was a ride around a couple blocks. My wife said there's no way she'd ever
ride in the damn thing. Unsprung farm wagons gave a smoother ride.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

On 12/5/2015 10:31 AM, John H. wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:46:51 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 12/5/2015 9:24 AM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 12/4/2015 2:36 PM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 17:10:20 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2015 1:12 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 12/3/15 1:04 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:38:51 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

On 12/2/2015 4:58 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 08:09:12 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

Did you drive the Honda 90 MPH down US 75?

===

On occasion, more often 80 to 85. The car was always very solid at
that kind of speed - good tires of course, and everything in balance.

Europeans drive that fast all the time even faster in Germany. The
US, particularly the eastern states, has always been more sedate. I
see signs of change however. At one time anything over 70 would get
you a guaranteed ticket on the New York State Thruway. Nowadays a lot
of people are running 75+.


I trained my petal foot to think about safety and fuel economy. That
usually means at or under the speed limit.

Little old ladies in Kias are telling you that you are #1 if you drive
around here.


I do 70 when possible on the interstates, but no more. I-95, the last
time I drove to Florida, was crowded. I take a special delight after
some yahoo blasts past me at more than 80 and see the guy pulled over a
few miles down the road by the police. My wife's new car gets 30+ mpg at
70 mph. I like that.


My Ford F-250 gets better gas mileage at 75 mph than it does at 60-65
mph. Weird, but it has to do with the gearing and when the torque
converter locks and unlocks. If I keep the RPM's up high enough
so it can climb steep hills without the TC unlocking (or downshifting
out of overdrive), my gas mileage goes up to a whopping 15 mpg from
about 13. :-) Fortunately, I don't drive much or very far in it.
Last long distance trip was to SC, last December.

The adult day care center that I drive for has a fleet of high top,
handicapped equipped (power lift and strap-downs for wheelchairs) vans.
They are all Ford F-350 SuperDuties. Mileage is horrible ... I have
to fill mine 3 times a week sometimes ... but they are rugged. He used
to have GM and Chevy vans but gave up on them. They just didn't last,
usually having transmission failures and engine problems.




I do like my Chevy diesel. Got 20 mpg going to Williams, Az for
thanksgiving. Normal around town is 14.5

On pure interstate to and from NC, without the trailer, mine gets a tad over 22.
Around town about 15-17. With the trailer, about 12-13. Can't complain. Most of the
around town stuff is done with the motorcycle, which gets about 40, around town.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!


You guys with the GM diesels have the Allison transmission which is
probably about the best one made. The gas powered GM and Chevy vans
have a regular GM transmission. Those are the ones that the
transportation company had a lot of problems with.

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times. Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

My Silverado rides like a big Cadillac. The Allison transmission does a great job,
especially with the tow/haul mode enabled.

The Allison transmission is great. It was the only thing I liked about
the POS Pace Arrow motorhome I had. Ford came out with a transmission
called a "TorqueShift" that is used in the F-250, F-350 (and up)
SuperDuty series of pickups and trucks. It behaves in a very similar
fashion to the Allison in tow/haul mode. Jury is still out on
reliability although you don't hear about many problems.

Is your Silverado a 2500HD or a 3500HD model? The Ford diesel I had
(that had all kinds of engine problems) was a F-350 which is comparable
to the 3500 series produced by GM. The one I have now is a F-250 which
is comparable to the 2500 GM series. In both cases, the Fords ride a
lot "stiffer" than the GM's. I almost bought a Silverado 2500 but,
because I was so used to Fords, it felt *too* soft to my liking. But,
that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.

Mine's a 2500HD. If you think that Ford's bad, you should try a Dodge Ram 1500. All
it took was a ride around a couple blocks. My wife said there's no way she'd ever
ride in the damn thing. Unsprung farm wagons gave a smoother ride.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

Fiat Ram 1500. Now that's a real truck. If Donnie is ever inclined to
get a real truck, he should get one of those. ;-)

On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:46:51 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:


that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.

I have always had X150s except for the Suburban and the SUVs (not
really trucks anyway).
I loaded them like they were bigger though occasionally
I really had my first E150 heavy a number of times. The most often was
when I was running the paper recycling for IBM. I have had it pretty
much stuffed with boxes of used computer paper. One time it was almost
a ton and a half of paper.

The guy running the scales was shocked. I walked away with about $150
They had "coffee money" for quite a while

I brought home 7 squares of roofing once too. That was a pretty good
load. I carried it all up the steps, through the house, up a ladder on
the back deck and up to the roof. I was younger then ;-)

This little Explorer we have now gets a workout now and then too, like
a pallet of sod, a pallet of mulch or a pallet of tile.
Just go slow and be sure there is nothing in front of you too close so
you can stop.

I brought 14 80 pound bags of concrete and 10 2x4s home in my LeBaron
once tho. I punched up "low rider" on my MP3 player and got a laugh
out of the Mexicans at Home Depot.

On 12/5/2015 10:24 AM, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 12/5/2015 9:46 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/5/2015 9:24 AM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/4/2015 2:36 PM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 17:10:20 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2015 1:12 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 12/3/15 1:04 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:38:51 -0500, Justan Olphart

wrote:

On 12/2/2015 4:58 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 08:09:12 -0500, Justan Olphart

wrote:

Did you drive the Honda 90 MPH down US 75?

===

On occasion, more often 80 to 85. The car was always very
solid at
that kind of speed - good tires of course, and everything in
balance.

Europeans drive that fast all the time even faster in
Germany. The
US, particularly the eastern states, has always been more
sedate. I
see signs of change however. At one time anything over 70
would get
you a guaranteed ticket on the New York State Thruway.
Nowadays a lot
of people are running 75+.


I trained my petal foot to think about safety and fuel economy.
That
usually means at or under the speed limit.

Little old ladies in Kias are telling you that you are #1 if you
drive
around here.


I do 70 when possible on the interstates, but no more. I-95, the
last
time I drove to Florida, was crowded. I take a special delight
after
some yahoo blasts past me at more than 80 and see the guy pulled
over a
few miles down the road by the police. My wife's new car gets 30+
mpg at
70 mph. I like that.


My Ford F-250 gets better gas mileage at 75 mph than it does at
60-65
mph. Weird, but it has to do with the gearing and when the torque
converter locks and unlocks. If I keep the RPM's up high enough
so it can climb steep hills without the TC unlocking (or
downshifting
out of overdrive), my gas mileage goes up to a whopping 15 mpg from
about 13. :-) Fortunately, I don't drive much or very far in it.
Last long distance trip was to SC, last December.

The adult day care center that I drive for has a fleet of high top,
handicapped equipped (power lift and strap-downs for wheelchairs)
vans.
They are all Ford F-350 SuperDuties. Mileage is horrible ... I
have
to fill mine 3 times a week sometimes ... but they are rugged. He
used
to have GM and Chevy vans but gave up on them. They just didn't
last,
usually having transmission failures and engine problems.




I do like my Chevy diesel. Got 20 mpg going to Williams, Az for
thanksgiving. Normal around town is 14.5

On pure interstate to and from NC, without the trailer, mine gets a
tad over 22.
Around town about 15-17. With the trailer, about 12-13. Can't
complain. Most of the
around town stuff is done with the motorcycle, which gets about 40,
around town.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!


You guys with the GM diesels have the Allison transmission which is
probably about the best one made. The gas powered GM and Chevy vans
have a regular GM transmission. Those are the ones that the
transportation company had a lot of problems with.

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times.
Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

My Silverado rides like a big Cadillac. The Allison transmission does
a great job,
especially with the tow/haul mode enabled.

The Allison transmission is great. It was the only thing I liked about
the POS Pace Arrow motorhome I had. Ford came out with a transmission
called a "TorqueShift" that is used in the F-250, F-350 (and up)
SuperDuty series of pickups and trucks. It behaves in a very similar
fashion to the Allison in tow/haul mode. Jury is still out on
reliability although you don't hear about many problems.

Is your Silverado a 2500HD or a 3500HD model? The Ford diesel I had
(that had all kinds of engine problems) was a F-350 which is comparable
to the 3500 series produced by GM. The one I have now is a F-250 which
is comparable to the 2500 GM series. In both cases, the Fords ride a
lot "stiffer" than the GM's. I almost bought a Silverado 2500 but,
because I was so used to Fords, it felt *too* soft to my liking. But,
that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.


The Ford transmission was designed by Allison. I don't know who actually
builds it.

Ah, didn't know that. I knew Ford came out with it to compete with the
Allison but didn't know it was designed by Allison. That's probably why
it reminds me so much of the transmission in the Pace Arrow.

On 12/5/2015 10:31 AM, John H. wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:46:51 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 12/5/2015 9:24 AM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 12/4/2015 2:36 PM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 17:10:20 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2015 1:12 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 12/3/15 1:04 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:38:51 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

On 12/2/2015 4:58 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 08:09:12 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:

Did you drive the Honda 90 MPH down US 75?

===

On occasion, more often 80 to 85. The car was always very solid at
that kind of speed - good tires of course, and everything in balance.

Europeans drive that fast all the time even faster in Germany. The
US, particularly the eastern states, has always been more sedate. I
see signs of change however. At one time anything over 70 would get
you a guaranteed ticket on the New York State Thruway. Nowadays a lot
of people are running 75+.


I trained my petal foot to think about safety and fuel economy. That
usually means at or under the speed limit.

Little old ladies in Kias are telling you that you are #1 if you drive
around here.


I do 70 when possible on the interstates, but no more. I-95, the last
time I drove to Florida, was crowded. I take a special delight after
some yahoo blasts past me at more than 80 and see the guy pulled over a
few miles down the road by the police. My wife's new car gets 30+ mpg at
70 mph. I like that.


My Ford F-250 gets better gas mileage at 75 mph than it does at 60-65
mph. Weird, but it has to do with the gearing and when the torque
converter locks and unlocks. If I keep the RPM's up high enough
so it can climb steep hills without the TC unlocking (or downshifting
out of overdrive), my gas mileage goes up to a whopping 15 mpg from
about 13. :-) Fortunately, I don't drive much or very far in it.
Last long distance trip was to SC, last December.

The adult day care center that I drive for has a fleet of high top,
handicapped equipped (power lift and strap-downs for wheelchairs) vans.
They are all Ford F-350 SuperDuties. Mileage is horrible ... I have
to fill mine 3 times a week sometimes ... but they are rugged. He used
to have GM and Chevy vans but gave up on them. They just didn't last,
usually having transmission failures and engine problems.




I do like my Chevy diesel. Got 20 mpg going to Williams, Az for
thanksgiving. Normal around town is 14.5

On pure interstate to and from NC, without the trailer, mine gets a tad over 22.
Around town about 15-17. With the trailer, about 12-13. Can't complain. Most of the
around town stuff is done with the motorcycle, which gets about 40, around town.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!


You guys with the GM diesels have the Allison transmission which is
probably about the best one made. The gas powered GM and Chevy vans
have a regular GM transmission. Those are the ones that the
transportation company had a lot of problems with.

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times. Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

My Silverado rides like a big Cadillac. The Allison transmission does a great job,
especially with the tow/haul mode enabled.

The Allison transmission is great. It was the only thing I liked about
the POS Pace Arrow motorhome I had. Ford came out with a transmission
called a "TorqueShift" that is used in the F-250, F-350 (and up)
SuperDuty series of pickups and trucks. It behaves in a very similar
fashion to the Allison in tow/haul mode. Jury is still out on
reliability although you don't hear about many problems.

Is your Silverado a 2500HD or a 3500HD model? The Ford diesel I had
(that had all kinds of engine problems) was a F-350 which is comparable
to the 3500 series produced by GM. The one I have now is a F-250 which
is comparable to the 2500 GM series. In both cases, the Fords ride a
lot "stiffer" than the GM's. I almost bought a Silverado 2500 but,
because I was so used to Fords, it felt *too* soft to my liking. But,
that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.

Mine's a 2500HD. If you think that Ford's bad, you should try a Dodge Ram 1500. All
it took was a ride around a couple blocks. My wife said there's no way she'd ever
ride in the damn thing. Unsprung farm wagons gave a smoother ride.

I had a Ram 2500 when we first bought the place in Florida. You're
right, it was like riding with no springs at all. I ended up giving it
to my nephew who was doing construction in Florida for three or four
years. It was perfect for him. I also had a Ram 1500 for a while ...
bought it new in 1997. Dodge almost had to buy it back from me. It
had a "pulsing" at a certain speed that felt like you were pulling a
trailer that was alternately pushing and then pulling at the truck.
Dealership torn the engine down, thinking that was the problem. It
wasn't. They finally had the regional manager for Dodge visit and he
and I went for a ride. I demonstrated the "pulsing" and he didn't argue
at all. He could feel it. On the way back to the dealership
he suggested that I walk around the lot and pick out a replacement truck
while he filed the report and paperwork.

Then, they asked if they could try one more thing. I liked the truck,
so I said, "Sure". They replaced the whole rear end, axle and all.
No more pulsations. Bad differential from the factory.

On 12/5/2015 10:36 AM, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 12/5/2015 10:31 AM, John H. wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:46:51 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/5/2015 9:24 AM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/4/2015 2:36 PM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 17:10:20 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2015 1:12 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 12/3/15 1:04 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:38:51 -0500, Justan Olphart

wrote:

On 12/2/2015 4:58 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 08:09:12 -0500, Justan Olphart

wrote:

Did you drive the Honda 90 MPH down US 75?

===

On occasion, more often 80 to 85. The car was always very
solid at
that kind of speed - good tires of course, and everything in
balance.

Europeans drive that fast all the time even faster in
Germany. The
US, particularly the eastern states, has always been more
sedate. I
see signs of change however. At one time anything over 70
would get
you a guaranteed ticket on the New York State Thruway.
Nowadays a lot
of people are running 75+.


I trained my petal foot to think about safety and fuel
economy. That
usually means at or under the speed limit.

Little old ladies in Kias are telling you that you are #1 if
you drive
around here.


I do 70 when possible on the interstates, but no more. I-95,
the last
time I drove to Florida, was crowded. I take a special delight
after
some yahoo blasts past me at more than 80 and see the guy
pulled over a
few miles down the road by the police. My wife's new car gets
30+ mpg at
70 mph. I like that.


My Ford F-250 gets better gas mileage at 75 mph than it does at
60-65
mph. Weird, but it has to do with the gearing and when the torque
converter locks and unlocks. If I keep the RPM's up high enough
so it can climb steep hills without the TC unlocking (or
downshifting
out of overdrive), my gas mileage goes up to a whopping 15 mpg from
about 13. :-) Fortunately, I don't drive much or very far in it.
Last long distance trip was to SC, last December.

The adult day care center that I drive for has a fleet of high top,
handicapped equipped (power lift and strap-downs for
wheelchairs) vans.
They are all Ford F-350 SuperDuties. Mileage is horrible
... I have
to fill mine 3 times a week sometimes ... but they are rugged.
He used
to have GM and Chevy vans but gave up on them. They just didn't
last,
usually having transmission failures and engine problems.




I do like my Chevy diesel. Got 20 mpg going to Williams, Az for
thanksgiving. Normal around town is 14.5

On pure interstate to and from NC, without the trailer, mine gets
a tad over 22.
Around town about 15-17. With the trailer, about 12-13. Can't
complain. Most of the
around town stuff is done with the motorcycle, which gets about
40, around town.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!


You guys with the GM diesels have the Allison transmission which is
probably about the best one made. The gas powered GM and Chevy vans
have a regular GM transmission. Those are the ones that the
transportation company had a lot of problems with.

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times.
Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ...
well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

My Silverado rides like a big Cadillac. The Allison transmission
does a great job,
especially with the tow/haul mode enabled.

The Allison transmission is great. It was the only thing I liked about
the POS Pace Arrow motorhome I had. Ford came out with a transmission
called a "TorqueShift" that is used in the F-250, F-350 (and up)
SuperDuty series of pickups and trucks. It behaves in a very similar
fashion to the Allison in tow/haul mode. Jury is still out on
reliability although you don't hear about many problems.

Is your Silverado a 2500HD or a 3500HD model? The Ford diesel I had
(that had all kinds of engine problems) was a F-350 which is comparable
to the 3500 series produced by GM. The one I have now is a F-250 which
is comparable to the 2500 GM series. In both cases, the Fords ride a
lot "stiffer" than the GM's. I almost bought a Silverado 2500 but,
because I was so used to Fords, it felt *too* soft to my liking. But,
that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.

Mine's a 2500HD. If you think that Ford's bad, you should try a Dodge
Ram 1500. All
it took was a ride around a couple blocks. My wife said there's no way
she'd ever
ride in the damn thing. Unsprung farm wagons gave a smoother ride.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

Fiat Ram 1500. Now that's a real truck. If Donnie is ever inclined to
get a real truck, he should get one of those. ;-)


One smart decision Fiat made was to not mess with the Ram trucks. They
spun it off as it's own division. They are considered very good trucks.

On 12/5/2015 11:08 AM, wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:46:51 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:


that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.

I have always had X150s except for the Suburban and the SUVs (not
really trucks anyway).
I loaded them like they were bigger though occasionally
I really had my first E150 heavy a number of times. The most often was
when I was running the paper recycling for IBM. I have had it pretty
much stuffed with boxes of used computer paper. One time it was almost
a ton and a half of paper.

The guy running the scales was shocked. I walked away with about $150
They had "coffee money" for quite a while

I brought home 7 squares of roofing once too. That was a pretty good
load. I carried it all up the steps, through the house, up a ladder on
the back deck and up to the roof. I was younger then ;-)

This little Explorer we have now gets a workout now and then too, like
a pallet of sod, a pallet of mulch or a pallet of tile.
Just go slow and be sure there is nothing in front of you too close so
you can stop.

I brought 14 80 pound bags of concrete and 10 2x4s home in my LeBaron
once tho. I punched up "low rider" on my MP3 player and got a laugh
out of the Mexicans at Home Depot.



I think the "X150" series of Fords are sufficient for most applications
and users. The SuperDuty series are probably mostly underused ... (like
me) in terms of their capacities. The company I drive for has one E-150
and several E-350's. The E-150 is used for special runs
of maybe 4-6 people who do not require wheelchair capabilities.
All the E-350's are equipped with power lifts for wheelchairs and can
seat 10-12 people, not including the driver (me). You can tell they
are designed for heavy duty use.

I am not looking forward to winter though. I am told that they
are horrible in the snow. I am going to get a big bucket of sand
or a couple of bags of kitty litter and carry them with me.

On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 11:49:50 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/5/2015 10:36 AM, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 12/5/2015 10:31 AM, John H. wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:46:51 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/5/2015 9:24 AM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/4/2015 2:36 PM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 17:10:20 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2015 1:12 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 12/3/15 1:04 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:38:51 -0500, Justan Olphart

wrote:

On 12/2/2015 4:58 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 08:09:12 -0500, Justan Olphart

wrote:

Did you drive the Honda 90 MPH down US 75?

===

On occasion, more often 80 to 85. The car was always very
solid at
that kind of speed - good tires of course, and everything in
balance.

Europeans drive that fast all the time even faster in
Germany. The
US, particularly the eastern states, has always been more
sedate. I
see signs of change however. At one time anything over 70
would get
you a guaranteed ticket on the New York State Thruway.
Nowadays a lot
of people are running 75+.


I trained my petal foot to think about safety and fuel
economy. That
usually means at or under the speed limit.

Little old ladies in Kias are telling you that you are #1 if
you drive
around here.


I do 70 when possible on the interstates, but no more. I-95,
the last
time I drove to Florida, was crowded. I take a special delight
after
some yahoo blasts past me at more than 80 and see the guy
pulled over a
few miles down the road by the police. My wife's new car gets
30+ mpg at
70 mph. I like that.


My Ford F-250 gets better gas mileage at 75 mph than it does at
60-65
mph. Weird, but it has to do with the gearing and when the torque
converter locks and unlocks. If I keep the RPM's up high enough
so it can climb steep hills without the TC unlocking (or
downshifting
out of overdrive), my gas mileage goes up to a whopping 15 mpg from
about 13. :-) Fortunately, I don't drive much or very far in it.
Last long distance trip was to SC, last December.

The adult day care center that I drive for has a fleet of high top,
handicapped equipped (power lift and strap-downs for
wheelchairs) vans.
They are all Ford F-350 SuperDuties. Mileage is horrible
... I have
to fill mine 3 times a week sometimes ... but they are rugged.
He used
to have GM and Chevy vans but gave up on them. They just didn't
last,
usually having transmission failures and engine problems.




I do like my Chevy diesel. Got 20 mpg going to Williams, Az for
thanksgiving. Normal around town is 14.5

On pure interstate to and from NC, without the trailer, mine gets
a tad over 22.
Around town about 15-17. With the trailer, about 12-13. Can't
complain. Most of the
around town stuff is done with the motorcycle, which gets about
40, around town.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!


You guys with the GM diesels have the Allison transmission which is
probably about the best one made. The gas powered GM and Chevy vans
have a regular GM transmission. Those are the ones that the
transportation company had a lot of problems with.

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times.
Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ...
well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

My Silverado rides like a big Cadillac. The Allison transmission
does a great job,
especially with the tow/haul mode enabled.

The Allison transmission is great. It was the only thing I liked about
the POS Pace Arrow motorhome I had. Ford came out with a transmission
called a "TorqueShift" that is used in the F-250, F-350 (and up)
SuperDuty series of pickups and trucks. It behaves in a very similar
fashion to the Allison in tow/haul mode. Jury is still out on
reliability although you don't hear about many problems.

Is your Silverado a 2500HD or a 3500HD model? The Ford diesel I had
(that had all kinds of engine problems) was a F-350 which is comparable
to the 3500 series produced by GM. The one I have now is a F-250 which
is comparable to the 2500 GM series. In both cases, the Fords ride a
lot "stiffer" than the GM's. I almost bought a Silverado 2500 but,
because I was so used to Fords, it felt *too* soft to my liking. But,
that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.

Mine's a 2500HD. If you think that Ford's bad, you should try a Dodge
Ram 1500. All
it took was a ride around a couple blocks. My wife said there's no way
she'd ever
ride in the damn thing. Unsprung farm wagons gave a smoother ride.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

Fiat Ram 1500. Now that's a real truck. If Donnie is ever inclined to
get a real truck, he should get one of those. ;-)


One smart decision Fiat made was to not mess with the Ram trucks. They
spun it off as it's own division. They are considered very good trucks.


===

I believe that's mostly because of the Cummins diesel that they use. I
once asked a guy in the boat hauling business who makes the best truck
for that work. He said that he regarded the Rams as the worst truck
with the best engine. If I remember correctly he was using a Chevy
2500 at the time. His engine had just blown a head gasket while
making a cross country haul but he had close to 200,000 miles on it.

On 12/5/2015 12:16 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 11:49:50 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/5/2015 10:36 AM, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 12/5/2015 10:31 AM, John H. wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:46:51 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/5/2015 9:24 AM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/4/2015 2:36 PM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 17:10:20 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2015 1:12 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 12/3/15 1:04 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:38:51 -0500, Justan Olphart

wrote:

On 12/2/2015 4:58 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 08:09:12 -0500, Justan Olphart

wrote:

Did you drive the Honda 90 MPH down US 75?

===

On occasion, more often 80 to 85. The car was always very
solid at
that kind of speed - good tires of course, and everything in
balance.

Europeans drive that fast all the time even faster in
Germany. The
US, particularly the eastern states, has always been more
sedate. I
see signs of change however. At one time anything over 70
would get
you a guaranteed ticket on the New York State Thruway.
Nowadays a lot
of people are running 75+.


I trained my petal foot to think about safety and fuel
economy. That
usually means at or under the speed limit.

Little old ladies in Kias are telling you that you are #1 if
you drive
around here.


I do 70 when possible on the interstates, but no more. I-95,
the last
time I drove to Florida, was crowded. I take a special delight
after
some yahoo blasts past me at more than 80 and see the guy
pulled over a
few miles down the road by the police. My wife's new car gets
30+ mpg at
70 mph. I like that.


My Ford F-250 gets better gas mileage at 75 mph than it does at
60-65
mph. Weird, but it has to do with the gearing and when the torque
converter locks and unlocks. If I keep the RPM's up high enough
so it can climb steep hills without the TC unlocking (or
downshifting
out of overdrive), my gas mileage goes up to a whopping 15 mpg from
about 13. :-) Fortunately, I don't drive much or very far in it.
Last long distance trip was to SC, last December.

The adult day care center that I drive for has a fleet of high top,
handicapped equipped (power lift and strap-downs for
wheelchairs) vans.
They are all Ford F-350 SuperDuties. Mileage is horrible
... I have
to fill mine 3 times a week sometimes ... but they are rugged.
He used
to have GM and Chevy vans but gave up on them. They just didn't
last,
usually having transmission failures and engine problems.




I do like my Chevy diesel. Got 20 mpg going to Williams, Az for
thanksgiving. Normal around town is 14.5

On pure interstate to and from NC, without the trailer, mine gets
a tad over 22.
Around town about 15-17. With the trailer, about 12-13. Can't
complain. Most of the
around town stuff is done with the motorcycle, which gets about
40, around town.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!


You guys with the GM diesels have the Allison transmission which is
probably about the best one made. The gas powered GM and Chevy vans
have a regular GM transmission. Those are the ones that the
transportation company had a lot of problems with.

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times.
Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ...
well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

My Silverado rides like a big Cadillac. The Allison transmission
does a great job,
especially with the tow/haul mode enabled.

The Allison transmission is great. It was the only thing I liked about
the POS Pace Arrow motorhome I had. Ford came out with a transmission
called a "TorqueShift" that is used in the F-250, F-350 (and up)
SuperDuty series of pickups and trucks. It behaves in a very similar
fashion to the Allison in tow/haul mode. Jury is still out on
reliability although you don't hear about many problems.

Is your Silverado a 2500HD or a 3500HD model? The Ford diesel I had
(that had all kinds of engine problems) was a F-350 which is comparable
to the 3500 series produced by GM. The one I have now is a F-250 which
is comparable to the 2500 GM series. In both cases, the Fords ride a
lot "stiffer" than the GM's. I almost bought a Silverado 2500 but,
because I was so used to Fords, it felt *too* soft to my liking. But,
that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.

Mine's a 2500HD. If you think that Ford's bad, you should try a Dodge
Ram 1500. All
it took was a ride around a couple blocks. My wife said there's no way
she'd ever
ride in the damn thing. Unsprung farm wagons gave a smoother ride.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

Fiat Ram 1500. Now that's a real truck. If Donnie is ever inclined to
get a real truck, he should get one of those. ;-)


One smart decision Fiat made was to not mess with the Ram trucks. They
spun it off as it's own division. They are considered very good trucks.


===

I believe that's mostly because of the Cummins diesel that they use. I
once asked a guy in the boat hauling business who makes the best truck
for that work. He said that he regarded the Rams as the worst truck
with the best engine. If I remember correctly he was using a Chevy
2500 at the time. His engine had just blown a head gasket while
making a cross country haul but he had close to 200,000 miles on it.


The earlier Rams were known for having premature transmission failures.
That may have changed over the years though.

On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 11:49:50 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 12/5/2015 10:36 AM, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 12/5/2015 10:31 AM, John H. wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:46:51 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/5/2015 9:24 AM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/4/2015 2:36 PM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 17:10:20 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2015 1:12 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 12/3/15 1:04 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:38:51 -0500, Justan Olphart

wrote:

On 12/2/2015 4:58 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 08:09:12 -0500, Justan Olphart

wrote:

Did you drive the Honda 90 MPH down US 75?

===

On occasion, more often 80 to 85. The car was always very
solid at
that kind of speed - good tires of course, and everything in
balance.

Europeans drive that fast all the time even faster in
Germany. The
US, particularly the eastern states, has always been more
sedate. I
see signs of change however. At one time anything over 70
would get
you a guaranteed ticket on the New York State Thruway.
Nowadays a lot
of people are running 75+.


I trained my petal foot to think about safety and fuel
economy. That
usually means at or under the speed limit.

Little old ladies in Kias are telling you that you are #1 if
you drive
around here.


I do 70 when possible on the interstates, but no more. I-95,
the last
time I drove to Florida, was crowded. I take a special delight
after
some yahoo blasts past me at more than 80 and see the guy
pulled over a
few miles down the road by the police. My wife's new car gets
30+ mpg at
70 mph. I like that.


My Ford F-250 gets better gas mileage at 75 mph than it does at
60-65
mph. Weird, but it has to do with the gearing and when the torque
converter locks and unlocks. If I keep the RPM's up high enough
so it can climb steep hills without the TC unlocking (or
downshifting
out of overdrive), my gas mileage goes up to a whopping 15 mpg from
about 13. :-) Fortunately, I don't drive much or very far in it.
Last long distance trip was to SC, last December.

The adult day care center that I drive for has a fleet of high top,
handicapped equipped (power lift and strap-downs for
wheelchairs) vans.
They are all Ford F-350 SuperDuties. Mileage is horrible
... I have
to fill mine 3 times a week sometimes ... but they are rugged.
He used
to have GM and Chevy vans but gave up on them. They just didn't
last,
usually having transmission failures and engine problems.




I do like my Chevy diesel. Got 20 mpg going to Williams, Az for
thanksgiving. Normal around town is 14.5

On pure interstate to and from NC, without the trailer, mine gets
a tad over 22.
Around town about 15-17. With the trailer, about 12-13. Can't
complain. Most of the
around town stuff is done with the motorcycle, which gets about
40, around town.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!


You guys with the GM diesels have the Allison transmission which is
probably about the best one made. The gas powered GM and Chevy vans
have a regular GM transmission. Those are the ones that the
transportation company had a lot of problems with.

They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times.
Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ...
well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.

My Silverado rides like a big Cadillac. The Allison transmission
does a great job,
especially with the tow/haul mode enabled.

The Allison transmission is great. It was the only thing I liked about
the POS Pace Arrow motorhome I had. Ford came out with a transmission
called a "TorqueShift" that is used in the F-250, F-350 (and up)
SuperDuty series of pickups and trucks. It behaves in a very similar
fashion to the Allison in tow/haul mode. Jury is still out on
reliability although you don't hear about many problems.

Is your Silverado a 2500HD or a 3500HD model? The Ford diesel I had
(that had all kinds of engine problems) was a F-350 which is comparable
to the 3500 series produced by GM. The one I have now is a F-250 which
is comparable to the 2500 GM series. In both cases, the Fords ride a
lot "stiffer" than the GM's. I almost bought a Silverado 2500 but,
because I was so used to Fords, it felt *too* soft to my liking. But,
that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.

Mine's a 2500HD. If you think that Ford's bad, you should try a Dodge
Ram 1500. All
it took was a ride around a couple blocks. My wife said there's no way
she'd ever
ride in the damn thing. Unsprung farm wagons gave a smoother ride.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

Fiat Ram 1500. Now that's a real truck. If Donnie is ever inclined to
get a real truck, he should get one of those. ;-)


One smart decision Fiat made was to not mess with the Ram trucks. They
spun it off as it's own division. They are considered very good trucks.


On the Open Range (RV) forum, one guy mentioned he'd just bought a new Ram something
or other. The next comment was someone telling him to start saving $8000 for a new
transmission. There wasn't much argument there.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!