Please take the politics to the pig pen guys. Thanks

 

OK, no politics here. Just plain and simple truth, the Titan is designed and built in USA, by American workers. It's parts are sourced worldwide. Just as much as any Ford,GM or Daimler/Chrysler.

 

hi guys! my friend is a niisan dealer up here and if you look real close (except for front end body work) the titan is a ford clone. lots and lots of pure copying. as far as longevity and dependablity, i am just speaking from experience. i have never owned a f150 that i put on less then 400,000 kms. and i have had several. only truck i had a major problem was my 78 f150, finally blew the tranny at 525,000 kms. my present 1998 f150 has 342,000kms and still hauls ***. God love the 5.4

 

Welcome to FTE WJJ!

I just can't see the titan taking over any fleets out there. It will more than likely be a city truck just like the yotas.

 

hi rat
i have had them all 351c,400m 302, 351, and now 5.4l, best i have had except for the old cleveland (1971) but it got 12mpg wot or cruise speeds where as the triton i can get 650kms to a tank if i stay under 115kms per hour (70mph)

 

umm how many ways are there to build a truck?

There are lots of things that set all trucks apart. Look a little closer. It doesn't have the thru frame crossmembers that the new F150 has. But it does have double wishbone front suspension. There's all kinda diferences between them. One look under the hood , and you'll see things differently.

Ratsmoker, I tend to agree with you. But I wonder how many trucks out there are city/momma trucks? 30%? 40% maybe more/less?

 

I don't know the percentages but there are a ton of them. Duallys without one scratch in the bed or a hitch on the back. I watched someone nail a mailbox with their brand new dually becasue they didn't realize their fender stuck out that far. I see the titans having some good resale values as they will be unscathed..

 

Fonefiddly - I agree with just about everything you have said. Have a hard time understanding why people would want to simply try to ignore such an obvious new challenger as in the new Titan, but such is the way with may tru-blue advocates. Once again, I would probably still be a lot more tru-blue if Ford was recognizing their obvious design and engineering defects within their latest 10 years or so of products and fixing them for their customers, like they should. It's not working out that way. Therefore, I will look at the competition for the first time in a long time. And yes, there is some competitition.

I still say that Ford could spend a small portion of what must be a huge advertising budget just fixing trucks that they didn't build right and keeping those customers at least happier, a lot of which are long-time customers - and come out ahead in the long-run. How many years will it take for Ford to get that customer back that uses his truck hard every day and has been majorly disappointed with Ford's customer support of late? Don't think there is a dollar value that can be put on that lost customer as the competition will scoop them up in a hurry. We'll see how well the new Fords hold up in the long-run to the rest. Frankly, I think that Ford is mostly meeting, not beating the competition at the moment.

I suspect until the Japs build real Super-Duty's that Ford will not lose much in that market. But, then there is the new PSD 6.0 too - already lost a bunch of customers, never to return, due to a very bad introduction of the new diesel. By the way, as some folks don't seem to know - Nissan has a rather large presence in medium-duty diesel trucks in Japan and they are also sold some in the U.S. now. The trucks have an excellent reliability rating. Wouldn't take much to build upon their heavier-duty trucks and good diesel engines to compete with the domestic Super-Duties of the world.

I'm not trying to trash any of the three Ford products that sit in my driveway. They have mostly been good trucks. Just saying that it doesn't hurt for us to talk about the competition, the mis-steps that Ford has made and hopefully help to wake this sleeping giant up some before it is too late.

 

Funny thing, if I remember correctly from English class, the story of the Titans (in the old Greek stuff, not the football stuff) ended in defeat and failure...........

What about what happened to the TITANic???

What if the Titan is a trojan horse??? It's designed here, made here, and that is considered a good thing......but what about what's on the inside....only time will tell. Oh and one question, how can the Titan have foreign quality, but still be designed and made here in the USA???

Wonder if a name determines the success or failure of a product??

 

wow, this is an interesting subject. first id like to say the 4.6L was used since 1992-3 in the t-bird/cougar/mark 8 and then in the crown viccys/maquies/town cars. the 5.4 has been in since late 96 as someone else said.

i think it all comes down to comsumer demand. people now at days want a truck that can cruise at 90 mph, accel like a pony car and still "tow" thier boat or camper on the weekend. basically city slickers or soccer moms who want to feel superior in thier "truck". the big 3 are catering to them more n more and now nissan has finally threw thier line in on the deal.

im with everyone here who has said the see mainly old domestic trucks being used here. thats because they're cheap, realible and can be worked to death and be brought back but the majority of people now at days are buying trucks for the reason i described above. IMO, the american work truck is all but dead. the only last true work truck is the Super Duty...even dodge caught on and went over to IFS. what the big 3 need to do is build an all out work truck with just the basics for the average joe who needs it as transportation from point A to B, cant spend 25-30K on a new vehicle and yet still be easy to work on. i know if i was lookin for a truck i wouldnt want all these frilly things, i want the basics...solid front axle, manual tranny, push rod v-8 or I6 and be able to work on it easily (well realitivy)...

personally i wont buy a new truck besides a Super Duty and still i doubt i will then. just to frilly and plush for me. ill take me tried, true and sometimes broken down Pre-97.

 

I agree a lot with that last post. Can't help but wander over to E-Bay and pour over the last of the 1994-1996 F-150's and wonder if they are really worth that much money. I'll probably hang on to our 1999 for better or worse for several more years and try to pick up a nice low-mileage 2003 F-150 later on. I have no problem with the current F-150. I can live just fine with the last generation of this truck and the last generation of the 5.4 assuming the gasket leaks and spark-plug blow-out problems are resolved. I think, at least at the moment, that 2003 model year appears to have most of that resolved. Sure seems like having to go back to GM - buy the last year of a model series when they finally got it right before they started something new that may or maynot be right or in the case of GM, cancelled the thing all together.

 

im gunna start to stock pile Pre-97 effies and when people need a work truck sell them off ...they're so cheap and yet realible and look good. i know im off-topic but i needed to vent. this whole new truck thing is gettin to me. my dad said hes gunna hang on to his 95 (almost identical to mine cept mods) and just replace the engine/tranny/repair whatever needs to be and buy a gen 2 L.

 

I know and hate to think that I'll have to drive that old 1988 F-250 forever, but it's been around forever already. And, the old thing is rust-free, the engine runs great, I already fixed everything that leaked at 150,000 miles and State Farm repainted it after a hail storm that we could have died in seven years ago. That old 460 cid might be ready to go to 250,000 miles. Like my spouse likes to tell me - don't give this thing away to someone that will run it for another 100,000 miles with no problems like you did the last one (1985 F-150 4x4, bad paint, rusting - I thought ready to junk at 175,000 miles, although it really did run good still). I'm **** about maintenance and my trucks are usually always running great.

Like I said - may keep the old 1988 forever. We're trying to retire early anyway. These new trucks cost way too much money for the problems we have to worry about. And to someone that has tried for so long to learn about the mechanics of new trucks (computer stuff included), be reasonably attentitive to them and then usually paid a small fortune to keep them properly maintained - well, like I say, I keep looking hard at those older 302 cid F-150's on E-bay. If you ever come up with a good buy on a low mileage unit - let me know. The old Fords were good trucks. (We'll probably get flamed over the later models' great mpg increase, etc. - in my opinion, my old high-mileage 1988 F-250, 4X4 with 460 and a 3.55 LSD still getting 11/12 city and 13/14 highway is not that far away from it's new counterparts.) All of these new high-tech trucks don't seem to deliver a lot of value to me in terms of ultimate mileage and costs.

But, they sure are a bunch nicer to drive!

 

I agree with a lot of the last few posts. The new trucks seem to be designed for weekend warriors and soccermoms. It's to bad. It seems that the manufacturers are catering to the latest buyer. Cant complain with them trying to make a buck. But what about the people that got them this far? They need to offer up a decently equipped, heavy duty model, for the real truck users.

I dont know about most, but I find it hard to use/abuse a $40,000 truck. No matter who built it. And I have to admit, the 85 in my sig is about the toughest dang truck I've ever seen. I cant walk on the hood without denting it, like the 70's trucks. But it is a BEAST. I've loaded it till the front end was allmost off the ground. And it just moved right along. I'd never try that with a new $40,000 truck!

 

My compiments to the creator of this thread, most entertaining.

I would just like to say that I am very much in agreement with optikal illushun I have very little desire to purchase a truck that I cant jump into with a pair of muddy boots and dirty jeans, for fear of ruining an interior that accounts for damn near half the cost of the truck. I also like to be able to thrash the thing and when somthing is wearing out, park in in my garage and fix it.
That is exactly the reason I WILL NOT sell my 1970 F100. parts are inexpensive, and I dont have to pay someone for labour. I love the fact that there is almost nothing I cant fix. Damn the new trucks, the weekend warriors and soccer moms can keep them.