Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire I'm fed the hell up with today's automobiles!

I could wear out a set of 750X16 8 ply on my Dad's 454 GMC 2 wheel drive in about 2000 miles!! Hated changing those split rim wheels though.

We bought a 2009 Toyota 4 door truck and I hated all the crap on it. Dog sits in the passenger seat and the seat belt alarm goes off. Try to four wheel and it cuts power to the tires when they start spinning. Anti-lock brakes won't let you drift around corners (not kidding). Bells, buzzers, and beepers for just about everything, all unnecessary. While the world is going headlong into more and more automation, dinosaurs like us want more and more control for ourselves. It's our independence vs. the generation that loves having all their thinking done for them.

For hunting trucks I settled on a 92 Toyota 4x4. Wing windows, air conditioning/heater, power steering and brakes, fuel injection, clutch start cancel switch with a manual transmission. Added air lockers, lift and tires. Everything beyond these features for me is fluff or worse.

Valve job by 45k

Rear crank seal leaking by 60k

Scared schidtless of motors with 90k

yes, keeping a 12 can case of Liberty re-refined motor oil (paper cans) on hand to dump into various crankcases.

I found a '27 Nash once with ridiculously low miles that they probably thought was worn out. It'd been sitting under a tree in a cow pasture for a decade. Bought it, hooked it up to gas and a battery and cranked it right up, purred like a kitten.

Just wait until the companies convince us all to buy electric driverless cars!

Jim

son in law just over to the house. wife's nissan 4x4 frontier or whatever the little truck is started leaking coolant. dealer found hole in aluminum line worn by the serpentine belt wearing against it. belt has only been to factory dealers, belt never replaced. we figured installed improperly during assembly, also needed hoses replaced as leaking. $1000 dollar bill to fix. merry christmas. oh, they had to order the parts out of california.
other nissan full size truck had transmission go back last weekend while elk hunting in some nasty country. that one is gonna be 4000 to fix.
told son in law we should have dragged up my 72fj40.

Probably cheaper to pay the bill than try keep fuel up to the FJ.

Don't try talking logic to a luddite.You will never wipe away the rose colored haze on the "good old days".



Jerry

Good use of the word luddite Jerry!

Be nice! I'd give my left nut to have my '69 340 Dart back... 🤣

Which is fair as I would be good with giving your left nut to have my 2005 'cruiser back.

You're gonna have to get in line. My wife already lays claim to the left side...

Modern vehicles are essentially the same as older vehicles. Yes, we have seen advancements like EFI, DOHC, Direct Injection, traction control, anti-lock brakes, electronic ignitions, etc. But, as I see it, the problems we encounter with new vehicles can directly be attributed to government interference. EPA regulations have nearly ruined the automotive industry. EPA mileage standards have resulted in much lighter vehicles (which are not nearly as crash-worthy as they once were) as manufacturers try to meet ever increasing, ridiculous standards. My 1963 Studebaker was in a bad hail storm once, and suffered no damage at all due to its heavy steel panels, while many modern cars in the same hail storm were totaled. Additionally, and as many have lamented here and elsewhere, the EPA pollution standards have resulted in extremely expensive emission control equipment that is simply not reliable, stifles performance and requires idiotic, expensive additives that have very little shelf-life. Don’t even get me started on ethanol. Fortunately, modern diesel emission equipment can be fully deleted (EGR, DEF, DPF) in some states, and doing so will not only eliminate these emissions-related issues, but will increase both mileage and performance.

Modern electronics/ECMs also cause a lot of problems. Chasing down a check-engine light or some other electrical gremlin can be maddening and incredibly expensive. The very term “modern electronics” is an oxymoron. For being “modern” they sure do suck and they cause an inordinate number of problems, which may or may not outweigh the supposed benefits they provide, depending on your point-of-view.

As crappy as some modern cars are, I would MUCH rather have a serious wreck in one, even a compact one, than the cars of yesteryear. Body panel thickness does not equate to occupant safety, in fact, sometimes quite the opposite. Crumple zones are there for a reason.............

266,000 miles, 242,000 I put on myself with my 2009 Ford Focus. I have no complaints. The car before, a 2001 Saturn SL1, a small car, had a head on with a suv. I'm alive, they are alive. I sure wouldn't want to be driving a 1963 Ford Falcon in either case.

You got it. Back in the old days it was common in a wreck for someone to go flying thru the front window. Getting their heart crushed by the steering wheel. Flying pieces of metal dash turning into daggers. The engine ending up in the front seat. The crumple zone was the occupants. The safety factor of todays cars is off the chart compared to those of the good old days.

It depends on how old you are talking about. I'd rather have a wreck in a 1994 Mercedes than a modern small to mid-sized vehicle. If you're talking about vehicles built in the 50's or 60's, then... yeah.

Mercedes and Volvo where ahead of the American makers by more than a little.

I've had a repair shop for close to 40yrs. I care nothing about getting my hands greasy and busting my knuckles. I'm happy to pay my guys to do it. And no, I care nothing about my plumbing, electrical, a/c repair. I know the good people that do it and let them. Paying the folks that I use is a pleasure.
You don't know how many come through our shop that people have spent money on and now need them fixed.