Insanity approaching

"KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs" (kusabisensei)
08/11/2014 at 11:18 • Filed to: None

I'm driving my truck to Chicago on Thursday to see my mom (who just had a hip replacement to correct dysplasia of the hip). Just renewed AAA, and I have the toolkit under the back bench in the cab. I also checked the spare tire. Here's an older picture of Clifford, the Big Red Truck.

Also, I'm there to collect some furniture that my grandmother has marked for me. It's a solid maple kitchen table and chair set, along with a matching sideboard and hutch. It's also an antique.

DISCUSSION (9)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
08/11/2014 at 11:22

You sir, have inadvertently or perhaps vertently produced the mental image of an antique maple chair in the snow. DO NOT WANT

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/11/2014 at 11:24

I am vertently making sure that you are thinking of Canada.

Canada: An Antique Maple Chair In The Snow.

So why is it that you DO NOT WANT Canada?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
08/11/2014 at 11:26

All wrong. Canada is an antique maple chair on a porch, with snow all around. To be the sort of monster who would put the maple chair actually in the snow, you'd be, like... Torontan or something.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/11/2014 at 11:28

Or come from a culture of failure. I mean, the Stephen Harper said so.

wabbalosthiskey > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/11/2014 at 11:37

Eh?

Imirrelephant > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
08/11/2014 at 11:55

Kinja'd!!!

It's an Eddie Bauer! Is it sad that I knew that by the paint color? As an aside, I had a '94 F150 regular cab long bed (red over silver paint). Just throw some weight in the bed and snow is no problem for 2WD.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Imirrelephant
08/11/2014 at 12:01

Or since I live in Georgia, I just either stay home or drive the Mini.

More than likely, stay home. Because while I did learn to drive on a RWD car in Chicago winters, no one else in Georgia knows how to drive in the stuff.

I am considering moving up to an F-250 diesel SRW. Right now, the F-150 will tow my Z4 on the open car trailer, but it's about as heavy as you might want to ever get with it. If I ever want to go to an enclosed trailer, then I either need far better brakes (rear drums and RABS....puhlease....) and a bit more motor (Mine has a 351W, but it does struggle some with over 6% grades with the trailer)

The EB is a pleasant thing, but right now, the radio doesn't work, so I'm having to order a replacement.

Imirrelephant > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
08/11/2014 at 12:19

Really, I was mostly surprised to see a F150 of that generation with the rear wheel arches not completely rotted out. EB was just a bonus.

I agree they weren't meant to do much heavy trailering, esp the 302 I had. Whether you do move up to a F250 or not, a trailer brake controller is a good investment (as long as your trailer has electric brakes). The F250 would probably be able to stop it, even with the box trailer, but the first time you have to do a panic stop and have them you will definitely be glad you did. Also, you can take the controller out if you get another truck.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Imirrelephant
08/11/2014 at 13:20

I already have a Tekonsha Prodigy installed. Ford did pre-wire for a 7 pin RV plug if you got the Trailering Pack (Also includes oil, transmission fluid coolers, and the radiator from an F-250HD. i.e. the stuff you actually want). The trailer in the picture is my open car trailer, and it's got two electric brake axles. It is worth the money to get brakes on the trailer and the brake controller. There is no substitute.

I tow the Z4 to the track and back, and fully loaded, the trailer is about 5000lbs. So I'm on the edge of needing to go to weight distribution (6000lbs with 600lb tongue weight is the limit according to Ford). The rating is basically 7500lbs, but that seems high to me.

The main things that do need to be updated (but it's a 1995, so not exactly surprising). Disc brakes on the rear of the truck, ABS on the front axle of the truck (You'd be surprised how much you can come to miss that), and possibly helper leafs on the rear suspension.

The E4OD isn't exactly a towing transmission (but if taken care of, it does OK). The F-250HDs and F-350s still had C6 3 speed autos during the mid 1990s, and had the option for the ZF manual box (instead of the puny Mazda 5 speed).

And that's why I'm considering going to a HD 3/4 ton with a diesel. Not so much the power, but the frame and brakes. I'd rather have torque and fuel economy measured in miles per gallon, not gallons per mile, but that's just a bonus.