Not to stray too far off topic but I think that we can all help by buying anything we can that is made in the USA. People need to wake up and break the Wal-Mart China connection. I'm as guilty as anyone else but I do try to watch waht I get. I am also guilty of hitting HF a little too much but I don't buy major stuff there like power tools. I just recently bought two new Lincoln welders and a Plasman Cutter. All made in America and they were expensive. Probably twice as much as the Chinese junk. But they will be around and supported long after the Chinesen junk is junk.

I'm sure that there are a lot of us that can't go out and buy a car now and others that don't need one. I think it would help if we just tried to think Buy American when ever possible. If you do a Google search on made in the USA you will find that there is an amazing amount of stuff that is made here and made better. It's time to start thinking about ourselves. Don't discount the value of buying used stuff made in the USA. If it's a car or truck, you might be paving the way for the seller to buy American. I think that may apply to power tools and equipment also. If a guy was inclined to buy American once he is probably more inclined to by American again. At the same time it would be good to avoid buying used foreign stuff because that just might have the opposite effect. besides, if they can't get rid of the stuff they might think twice about buying more of it.

Later...

 

As a former machine shop owner --I helped a company start up, in 1991 and it thrived till now. I got a call,and it was the owner,and he is out-of business. 130 Employees and made parts for the big three.
I am uncertain how strong the big three will remain. I am sure the state of Ohio will be sadly hurt forever if we don't get our s--t together,and buy AMERICAN and like Boley said---is true....Harbor Freight is JUNK and I am sure you all know it......we are buying junk today.
My Grandpa left me tools and they are all made in America and still work and are good tools......how about the crap you just bought at h.freight? We need to live and learn.
Bill

 

some good news Ford is going to start making diesal engines in the Brookpark plant there lawsuit is over so hopely this will happen rumor is there going to make a 4.4 liter diesal engine for 1/2 tons cann't say for sure if this is all true but it will help Ohio if it is.I know it will help my plant we do mostly truck and suv torue converters for the big three.Also for the escape and hopefuly the new v-6 with turbo or blower for Ford.

 

That's great to hear. I think Ford will do better over all with a completely in-house diesel. I have had three different Fords with diesels and although the '03 6.0 is the best overall performer it has had it's share of problems and I attribute most of that to a lack of engineering cooperation between Ford and Navstar. The best one I have had and still do is the old MA IDI 7'3 in a '93. Hopefully they can get awy on their own with a bigger version in the future.

Hopefully Ohio can get back on it's feet again soon but it will take a lot of doing.

BUY AMERICAN !!!

 

Well the wife got to drive a challenger 09 home yesterday and it only has the v6 but is white and real nice.
My buddy owns a dodge dealership and let me borrow it to see if it will be a sale.
I want the hemi--the big hemi and looks like it is about 15k more money.
I told the wife --buy this challenger now-and I will buy a 70 challenger later with the 15k a hemi would cost.
Sounds like a good pact. Bill

 

My wife must have read this thread as we bought a 09 Mercury Mariner (ford escape) on Saturday. It is really nice. Medium charcoal gray, 3.0 V-6 , moon roof, sirus radio 6 disc. All the goodies. We pick it up next Saturday.

The best part is we kept her 02 chrysler mini van. Now I can drive a the van and crank the miles on it and keep my 05 F150 from getting too messed up.

Kevin Bigwin

 

Good for her. Bigwin!
That girl that hocks the ads on t.v. for Mercury Mariners is HOT!! If she came with the car--I would buy one too...LOL.....Bill

 

I made parts for your torque converter for your Merc.Thank you!

 

Good news about the ford diesel for the ford 1/2 tons. I have said before that the diesel is the way of the future and I won't buy another newer truck without the turbo-diesel. I now have a 56F350 with the international diesel in her now,but most likely will sell it. I am getting ready to buy another muscle-car and have enough trucks.
I will however buy a sprinter by Dodge with the mercedes diesel and will use it as a camper/tow truck and all around truck. They get great mileage and although fedex and ups has a ton of them....it is hard to find a low-mile used one.
No more gas engine newer trucks for me. Diesel.....and power!! Bill

 

WALFORD'S 56 My Uncle works at Fyde Freigtliner and we talked about the Sprinter he said one draw back was price of brakes for these if i rememer every thing right there was 2 diffrent types one was from Germany and was pretty costly.This was a few years ago and price and receiving parts may be better now.Just thought i'd throw that out for you.hope it helps.

 

bmuhlbach---I am related to the FYDA'S and know them. I am still considering the sprinter...and thanks for the heads-up about the brakes. Freightliner sprinters are getting relatively cheaper,and I want to buy a short window van,and that diesel gets 25 mpg and will haul a real load.
thanks/Bill

 

I want to get the new '09 F150 that truck just screams. If the price is right I'll jump on one.

 

The ford trucks 00-08 that I have ridden in all got crappy mileage. None were diesel,and I would at least think the 02-06 ford trucks would get 18 mpg....heck no.....but the 09 does look good.
I think ALL trucks today should get 20 mpg and still pull a load. WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY. Some companies say they get better , but do they?

 

Hey Bill,
You've been watching too much TV... All these mileage claims are a bunch of crap. Both the companies and owners lie. The companies lie to sell and the owners lis because they are enbarrassed to admit the truth. Try applying basic physics to the problem. there is only so much energy in terms of BTU's in a gallon of gas or diesel fuel. There is an absolute limit to how much the maximum amount of work you can get out of a given amount of fuel. Our vehicles are basically powered by heat conversion devices that convert energy in terms of heat into mechanical energy. At best they are highly ineffecient by their very nature. If you want better mileage you have to figure a way to convert all the heat you make from the fuel into mechanical energy. That means you can't be diaaspating it in terms of radiators and out the exhaust. No matter what they do to the conventional reciprocating IC engine, diesel or gas, they are going to be hard pressed to get by the 50% point on effeciency.

Like I said, it's basic physics. You want to move more weight and push more air down the road you gotta feed the machine enough to do it. Also the faster you go , the amount of fuel required increases exponentially. there is only so much you can do. The government's idea of 35 to 40 MPG pick-ups is a joke based on fantasy. I have a friend and neighbor that has a Prius. That thing has not seen a true sustained 40 MPG yet.
The closest she ever got was on a long over the road trip on the interstates and then she had to hold it under 60. My son's '08 Harley weighs about 900# and has electronic computer controlled fuel injection and he is not a lead foot. He said it gets about 42 MPG. There is no way they are going to get 40 MPG out of a 4,000#+ vehicle.

All this crap about having the technology is a lot of fantasy and wishfull thinking when it comes to squeezing more out of the IC engine. At least that's the case for the IC engine. Maybe hydrogen fuel cell powered hybrids can do better but even then there are inherant heat losses. Face it man... You gotta pay.

Just go out, buy the trucks, help the economy and save you money for fuel by better management of trips and travel distance. In short do like I do, stay home more often and combine trips and errands. My F-350 and my E-350 don't move unlest there is a paying job or a specific requirement to use them. We have two Taurus's that we do most of our trips in and even in those we try to limit the use.

Later Man...

 

my 82 f150 with 4 barrel carbed 302 and c6 got 16 mpg.my 93 Bronco 302 efi e4od trans 16 mpg. You' d think with todays tech they'd do better then that.thats why I have a Focus 33 mpg worst I got was 29 mpg best 35 mpg