I am writing a paper for a college writing class on the Chevy/Ford controversy. Can you help me in my research:

1) Which is better??
2) Why?
3) What are your personal experiences?

 

Is this paper for an engineering course or a psycology course? I think you will have a hard time proving which is better from a technical standpoint and I believe the controversy is largely an emotional phenomena. I love Fords and would prefer to own nothing but Fords. I don't know if Ch**y or Dodge are better/worse and I don't care. I want to drive a Ford. I grew up with Fords. My Father worked at Ford Motor Company for 29 years.

>
>1) Which is better??
>2) Why?
>3) What are your personal experiences?
>

 

OK, I'll bite, had a Ch#vy, was a flintstonemobile, could put your feet thru the floor-which was a good thing, would only spin one rear tire if the fronts were in solid, this was in 4-lock. Then I got a Powerless Puppy, this one wouldn't spin just one tire, depending on the situation-it wouldn't spin any! This one was in the shop 9 times in 9 months before I got rid of it and got my Ford. That was in '83, I still have it-'nough said? By the way, these were/are all 4X4's with comperable drivetrains.
'75 Blazer, 350 cid, full-time t-case
'74 Power Wagon, 360 cid, part-time t-case
'79 F-150, 351M cid, part-time t-case(many, many mods made since then!)
Hope this is what your lookin' for!

 

Let me start off by first saying that I have never owned a Ch#vy. My family and I have only ever owned ford trucks. I have had to drive a couple Ch#vy trucks on occaision, and I have some friends own Ch#vys. That being said, and based on my friends and my own experiences I have always believed that Fords are better. In my own honest opinion, their styling compares to no other, they last longer, they are more dependable and reliable, they ride nicer, and they are built stronger (frame, suspension, and body). They also seem to be easier to work on. I hope this helps you. Good luck on your paper.
Kenny

 

i work on chevy's, ford's and dodges and i;ve learned that working on fords is a pain in the #####. have you ever changed a fuel filter on a 92 fullsize f150. the filter is in such a stupid place and there is no reason why they couldn't put it 6 inches further down the fuel line and the quick connectors are a pain in the butt to disconnect too. same with doing oil pan gaskets on fords and valve cover gaskets. rangers aren't as bad as working on an s10 especially a 4X4. even changing the plugs on a 5.0 ford in a f150 with an air pump is ten times harder that doing plugs on a chevy 5.0. here comes the funny part. i drive a 94 ranger, a 79 fi50 that my dad bought when it was 2 years old and a 81 fi50 and will never drive a chevy. i've also got numerous a body dodges and a 1970 pontiac gto judge. i think your vehicle choices are inherited through what your parents drove

 

Yak, I think what you say about preferences being inherited is absolutely true. I don't deny that some things on Fords are a pain in the but to work on. Inherited or not, at some point you form your own preferences though. Just to add to what I posted earlier, I do not hate Chevys, I just prefer Fords (personal preference). I do like to poke fun about Chevys, but it's all done in fun.
Kenny

 

I'm a firm believer in the inheritance thery. My grandfather owned all Fords, Parents owned all Fords. I now own three,'69 F-100,'87 Ranger 4x4,and a '98 Expedition 4x4. My two brothers own C%#*YS. I'm beginning to believe they were adopted.

 

>I am writing a paper for
>a college writing class on
>the Chevy/Ford controversy. Can you
>help me in my research:
>
>
>1) Which is better??

My opinion is as follows, my family has both ford's and chevrolet's. They both are good trucks, and they all have their faults. Gm has something's on them, (interior parts, etc) that are downright better. Ford has something's that are just plain better than Gm's. Visability, locking tailgates.

>2) Why?

I have found that Gm vehicles are not quite totally reliable, but do get better mileage and have slightly more power than Ford's. But what good is it, if you can't use it, because of repairs?

I know several people that have later model Ford's who get to almost 200k without doing anything, tranny's, ac compressors, you name it.

Several were stated before, but,

>3) What are your personal experiences?

I have personally owned 4 different Ford trucks, and intend to own many many many more. I first had a 1983 F-150 that had the 302 and a AOD that was just plain a junker, to today's terms. It got poor mileage, and used a little oil, but it was a construction truck, so obviously it was aged a little for a truck.

Then I decided to get a newer truck, so I bought in 1994 a 1993 F-150 that I still own today that had 13k, and was overall new. It has been the best truck for terms of reliability that I have been around in the last 7 years.

In May of 1999, I decided to buy a 1989 4x4 that was available, and the body was perfect, but the engine had not been taken care of, I am still working on it, but I may just replace the motor altogether.

This September, I bought a farmer-owned 1968 F-250 that has the 360 and a 4-speed with granny low, and no powersteering. I mainly bought this truck as a toy, to tear apart, and use for serious work. I have yet to really use it.

My father has a 1998 Chevy 1/2ton extended cab, that he bought new in Feb of 1998. It now has over 60k, and has been in the shop at least a dozen times, for a waterpump, right hand window motor, power booster, ac compressor twice, battery, and a few other minor things, I consider it a lemon. It replaced a 1992 1/2ton 4x4

We also have a 1996 suburban that will be five years owned this spring, overall at 75k, it has been fairly good, only replaced the ac compressor, alternator twice, battery, front pads, and minor mileage work.







Pastmaster's 1993 XLT 5.0 E40d 3.55LS Normal Cab/Long bed Loaded from the factory with aid of...MSd 6a ign/s.p. wires, blaster coil, Hypertech Chip, K&N filtercharger, Cat-back dual exhuast w/o mufflers, 3.5", echo tips, Accel distributor cap, Dark Mocha over light mocha. 5% Dark tint, Alpine Cd player/remote, Pioneer speakers.

 

I grew up in a Chebbie home. (sniff sniff) Bought my first car at 15 and my first truck at 16. First car I still have. It is a 1966 Fairlane 500 and my first truck was a 1978 F150 Ranger XLT longbed that I wish I still had. Love that body style. I have never had any major problems with any of my fords (that I did not induse)I will drive a Ford until I die. I don't know why I am a Ford Man but I am. pi**es the old man off though. Almost have him converted though. What really gets his goat is that I just talked my Mom into trading her Pathfinder for an Explorer. (hee hee )

Brad Godkin
1986 F350 CC/SRW
6.9liter/C6
she isn't pretty but man does she run

 

As a professional mechanic for 25 plus years I'll give my 2 cents. Of all the trucks that I have owned and that includes company owned service trucks,i will say with out a doubt.. that the Fords have won out. Yes I have owned Chevy's amd GMC trucks and they have served me well, all going over 200,000 miles. But when it all boils down to it.. I'll take a Ford any day. Yeah the plugs are hell to change on em sometimes but they make tools to get by that. Better to buy a 35 dollar special socket to change em than to have to roll the motor forward like on the 3.8 front whell drive GM's. So my hat is off to the Ford...

 

If you go to a junk yard in my area to find say a fuel door for a 79 FORD truck you will not find one, but if you want anything for a chevy you can find about 10 of them if it has not got spots ate out of it. I have had chevy dodge and Ford, and will never have anything but a FORD ever. My father has a 79 with over 300'000 miles on it we have put an alt. water pump, and a intake gasket on it and that is all. It is still on the run today. Good luck.

Possum

 

Back in 1984 when my '77 F100 was getting pretty beat up (from my abusing it :7) I had a broken leaf spring. Went to the junkyard for a leaf, but they didn't have any Ford leafs. They had a lot of Ch**y leafs though and, with some modification, that is what I used.

 

Here's a little bit of history you might be able to use. Alfred P. Sloan, a former and long-time manager of GM was quoted in 1964 as saying "The primary object of the corporation was to make money, not just to make motorcars." Early on in the company's history it became clear that cosmetics were a big part of selling cars. In 1923 Sloan put into practice a plan of designing new stlyes every couple of years, to get people to want to buy new cars. He said in 1940, We want to make you dissatisfied with your current car so you buy a new one."

This is all a far stretch from Henry Ford's idea of what the industry was all about. He was interested in making simple cars that anyone could afford, that would last. His idea was updating thier product was "cheapening of the manufacturing and eliminating the entirely useless parts." On the idea of annual model changes Ford replied that it was only to "produce something new, not better." and later said, "It is strange how just as soon as an article becomes successful, somebody starts to think that it would be more sucessful if only it were different."

This is all coming from a book I read a while back. If you need something else along these lines, or info about the book either post here or e-mail me. Hope this helps you!

Jeff
jdf0056@tntech.edu

 

CantDrive55: What book? Some of us may be interested in reading it.

 

The book I got that from is "Roadster" by Chris Goodrich. Its about his experience building a Lotus Seven roadster from a kit. Not really a very good book. He spends more time talking about how building the car was a metaphor for this and that...blah, blah, blah. He spends very little time actually talking about the car. The bit about Ford and GM comes from where he tries to show the development of the car from it's beginings. All in all I'd say he knows little about cars or the Ford Mo. Co, but he tries. As bad as the book is, the Lotus Seven itself is pretty interesting. Its a little two seat, open top roadster, originally built as a cheap sports car. Held the 0-60 MPH top time for a while back in the day.