I was a salesman for a Lincoln-Mercury Toyota dealership in the mid-70's. There were light years of quality and engineering differences between the two manufacturers then but Ford has closed the gap significantly since then. The not so bright idea Mercury Monarch comes to mind. The dealership had to realign the body work, and it was pre-EFI. Even the straight six ran horribly with the spaghetti bowl of vacuum lines in the new catalytic converter era. Plus 20% interest rate during the Carter administration did not help financing the cars.

 

I have a 2000 Dodge 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel 6 speed which will embarrass your 30 year old truck in every category you could mention, pulling power, load handling, or fuel mileage.

 

My 30 year old truck with a 20 year old motor performs pretty well.

 

hey road_warrior you will be the only one embarrassed when i drag your 2000 dodge around like the pile of junk it is lol as far as pulling power i won't even notice it back there !! dodge 2500 that's all you got, its only a 3/4ton. The truck i have can pull full size school buses with out there axles around very nicely she can haul over 5 tons of anything. she can tow over 10,000 pounds of trailers so your dodge isn't nothing. plus i only have to load the flatbed once then to unload i hit the switch and dump everything

 

Just what type of beast do you have? and what modifications? Maybe I was wrong to think this thread was talking about a production factory truck. With modifications ANYTHING is possible.

 

As was mentioned, 30 year old trucks are a *lot* cheaper to modify than modern trucks. It's a whole different universe. As was also mentioned, 30 year old trucks are tough as hell, because they used extra metal everywhere, and overkill was the best policy. As opposed to today, where they shave every corner to save pennies and the factory's costs for building those new trucks is staggering by comparison. You can take an old Ford, toss in a diesel and some D60s, and you have an unbeatable, (and very affordable) beast.

I'm not saying the new trucks are total crap, because they're nice to drive and all, and I do like the modern Cummins, but there's just too much junk hanging on them for my tastes, and the cost is high. I want it simple and affordable.. My Cummins Bronco cost me about 5k to build in total. I could build TEN of my trucks for the price of a new diesel truck. It's entirely mechanical, even the automatic shifts without a computer. Cheap, simple and tough.

Actually, I will amend my earlier statement, I think new Obama Motors vehicles are in fact pretty crappy, especially with the maxi-pad Isuzu diesel in them. But the Dodge Cummins and the Ford 7.3s (Not a fan of 6.0s though) are excellent.

In terms of what you mentioned about stock vs stock; there wasn't any diesels available 30 years ago in pickups, so you can't compare a modern Dodge Cummins to anything from that era. But I'd take an old 390 big block with cast iron 4-speed transmission in an F250 ANY DAY over ANY new production gas truck. Good Lord, it's like comparing an anvil to a paper clip.

 

Wow.. you HAVE to post some pics of that thing!!

 

Oi vei... the testosterone in this thread is about to spill all over the web. Suffices to say that no matter what the age of the vehicle, what you can make it or do with it is limited only by your imagination, time, energy, know how, and the all-important wallet.

 

That's ok, the world could use some more of it! haha

 

Agreed! Less whining and more get off yer ***!

 

Haha this thread is gettin intense.

I think one of the best things about the older vehicle is the comfy cozy cushiony seats! haha

 

Oh yeah, those old seats really make you wanna sleep there (not such a good idea when you're on the highway), that and the boat-like suspension.

 

strange you mention dodge 2500's



couldn't help it...

i personally prefer older vehicles with new technology.

 

Ok my truck started life as a 1972 ford f-250 4x4 highboy. and now its the truck ford never built a 1972 f-350 4x4 high boy





here is the trailer that i tow


and here is the weight. need to add more the stuff inside .

here is the truck






one flat bed with dump











power steering conversion






one 390 bored 60 over with rv cam



duraspark conversion for the 390



pushes a hell of a lot of snow








one d 70 rear axle





ok there you all go thats my truck go ahead an rip it apart an laugh all you want but i know what she can do . an i put her together for about 5k . i did put disc brakes up front . 4speed with granny gear wouldn't trade that in for the world . when i would part out a rig i would cut the remains up an haul it to scrap on the bed .

 

So, is that dump bed so that the passengers in the back seat WILL get out when you tell them to?