I didn't want to hi-jack the v8 vs v10 thread, but it got me to thinking. I grew up on a farm. We raised 40k chickens at a time and grew just over 100 acres of corn to crack our own feed. We also had a few cows for personal use, and later some horses for whatever you have horses for.

I remember the strongest pickup truck we had was a Ford Highboy with a 460, but the majority of work was done with a Chevy with a straight six and a granny stick shift. That Chevy pulled four horse trailers, had hay stacked taller than you probably should, and all the other assorted indinities farm trucks are subjected to.

Now that the back story is out of the way, any modern truck engine puts out way more power than that straight six. So, why do we have these much higher power expectations now?

Here's the results of my mullings on the topic:

1) Trucks are heavier now, and a lot of the new power is used just to haul the truck itself around. A truck used to be a truck, now its got options that a TownCar didn't have when I was a boy. Then the extra horsepower requires beefier components, which eat up more of that extra horsepower.

2) Trucks aren't geared like tractors any more. Evidence is plentiful in another thread here that people want racecar trucks. Even my last Dodge had a 7:1 first gear. While no one ever accused the carb'd 318 of being a power house and the engine was pretty revved up at 75mph, I hauled 1.67 tons of gravel in the bed and it never noticed. (Well, the brakes noticed).

3) Marketing and the horsepower wars have convinced people they NEED that extra power, and people are willing to pay for it. Trucks are SOOO much more expensive now.

Without commenting on the good/bad of the situation, once the pickup truck became a commuter/family vehicle it adapted to an all purpose vehicle. To accomodate all these new uses, the power couldn't be tuned toward a specific use, so it had to be increased.

You know, if all that technology had gone into efficiency instead of increased power, I wonder what kind of milage you could get now. While your 2010 truck might have more horses than the older trucks, I don't know that it will work any harder for 95% of our uses for trucks, and I guarantee you it doesn't get any better milage.

 

I agree with much of what you are saying, but many people do in fact demand more power because we have a record number of people who own and haul trailers, including large horse trailers, rec trailers, etc. Our speed limits are higher now, sure an older less powerful truck can get the job done, but not at 75 - 80 mph.

Yes trucks are more expensive, but actually vehicles are at an all time low. In '90 my Mazda B2600i, moderately equipped cost $14,000. Today you can get a comparably equipped Ranger for not much more than that. However factoring in inflation, the newer Ranger is very significantly cheaper than the old Mazda, and comes with more stuff.

People forget to factor inflation when they remember how much things used to cost. As far as fuel economy, the trucks are in fact geared to work very hard. You also need to remember that torque and horsepower are not equal terms. Your older vehicles with pushrod engines were tuned for low RPM torque, in part because they had low redlines. Modern engines can take advantage of the higher RPM potential and the power from the overhead cam designs.

Her is an example of the improvement. A '92 F-350 with a 5.8L produced 200 horsepower peak, and got terrible gas mileage. A modern 5.8L produces around 320 peak horsepower and get better gas mileage and is a smaller displacement.

The truck is heavier, but it is rated to tow more, haul more in the bed, etc. So the extra power is not being wasted on the added weight, because the truck still gets better fuel economy.

I am somewhat familiar with what you are getting at. My '90 Mazda has hauled up to 1.5 tons inside the bed before. And yes, it could do it, but the top speed became about 45 mph. A modern F150 can haul a lot more than that, and will hardly feel the weight. A closer comparison would be the Ranger, which gets a staggering 28-34 mpg highway and produces about 180 hp, a lot better than my B2600i which in its prime only got 26 mpg highway and only produces about 125 hp.

 

You're a farmer. It's a given that you don't care about horsepower. Only creating traffic jams.

If you're wishing for better fuel economy then your wish came true with Obama's new fuel economy goals. I'll bet that trucks get a WHOLE LOT more expensive yet again.

 

Your idea of modern vs. old is a bit different than mine, I guess. The most modern "5.8" I had was in a 1970, a 351W, not that 351 Modified boat anchor. Newest Chevy truck I ever owned was a 1975, 350 and granny stick shift. Replaced that with a 1987 Dodge, 318 and granny stick shift. Replaced that with a 1999 Ford F-250 diesel. Come to think of it, I guess my "modern" is a decade old...

Oh well. Guess I'll just sum up with:
Anything that came with a catalytic converter is modern.

 

I'm not much of a farmer these days. Still have a bit of land, but not doing much with it until I retire from the police department.

As for the Obama thing: Horse poo. I'll be buried in my '99 before I buy a Obama mandated putt-putt truck. I don't change trucks real often. Once when a family member totalled the thing (lesson learned about lending out a truck), and once when the family out grew the cab. New trucks don't have anything I want, and come with a lot of stuff I don't, like a payment book, higher license plate fees, higher insurance, etc...

 

Besides which, people will claim Obama is responsible for the pros of the next generation of more fuel efficient vehicles. Truth is the technologies going into these new cars was already being developed during the Bush administration, though I don't really think that who's president has much to do with it anyway.

I guess my version of modern is different from yours. My version of modern is sequential fuel injection. My version of modern is genuinely putting the computer in control of everything.

 

The work trucks of the past, before Dodge came out with the pickup that changed everything, were great vehicles doing more with a lot less. When Dodge came out with their new Ram 1500, remember the frenzy over the interior? It was a real change, not like the claims running around these days of "the truck that changes everything".

Personally, today's economy requires a lot of people to work/earn a living in an area that includes an entire region of the country, not the immediate 10 miles around your house. I'll drive 50,000 miles/year in my F250 with the Lincoln Continental interior and enjoy every minute of it.

The '53 Chevy 3100 I drove when I was in high school was great too.

 

What was werid is that I used to could change a set of plugs in about 10 minutes.

points about 2 to 3....

try putting oil in one of the new trucks today, LOL, you need a degree.

pop the hood and WHERE'S THE ENGINE ?

whil working on an ole ford. all's ya had to do was ground your self and place all hands on the plug wires. it would then die,
HELL man, I cant even find the plug wires on my 2000 f250

 

One thing I noticed overseas is that new trucks are still old trucks over there. I mean, you can buy a fully loaded luxo-liner if you want it, but there are actual work trucks if you want, that, too.

Looks like India is bringing one of those trucks stateside:

PickupTruck.com - Mahindra Promises Diesel Hybrid Pickup by 2010


DFW Mahindra Trucks SUV 4x4 Dealership Arlington Dallas Ft. Worth Texas India Home Page DFW Mahindra will sell the Mahindra Pickup Truck, also called the Mahindra Diesel, Mahindra Diesel Hybrid, Mahindra Hybrid, Mahindra Truck, Mahindra Trucks or Mah

There's nothing wrong with a luxury truck, and we'll see if an honest farm truck sells any longer. If it does, though, what are the domestics selling in this class?

Like the four door convertible, its a wide open market segment. Maybe for a reason, but we'll see.