buster096

Lol I bought the truck from a contractor from Arizona. I don't know if you have ever been there but satan has an address there. It had so many scratches and dents all over it and had a contractor rack over the bed and roof. It's safe to say that when a truck is used as a work truck, it's been abused. But I'm sure you guys don't know anything about that cause your truck stays on dry pavement in fear of something happening. And let me see if I got this straight. Welding 1/4" plates that are welded to 1.75" Dom .120 wall tubing that is basically a giant brace attached to the frame, that it compromises the structural integrity. Well I guess cars and trucks with full cages must be extremely unsafe to drive in. Oh and please enlighten me about these seals that possibly could go bad but haven't yet so I can live in constant fear that my truck could spontaneously combust one day. And sand and mud is what SoCal offroading is all about, ever hear of places like Azusa canyon and pismo beach? You guys are exactly like the ricer groups I meet at car meets. So concerned about the looks and gas mileage of your trucks. I do my regular maintenance on my truck and it has not failed me once other than when I break something offroad or being stupid. Must be depressing to live in constant fear over a vehicle.

RES4CUE

Not living in constant fear just maintaining my investment!

You must not offroad as much as you claim if you've never had mud, water or sand intrusion! I don't have time to educate you in every seal that could be compromised by mud but think about it and start counting.

Yes, welding onto the frame could comprise it as the metal can become brittle, will it give? Who knows but I wouldn't risk it. Why are you in the 09 and up section again!

Not all of us bought a beater from the construction trade, we bought new and want to retain value for trade in or sale later to upgrade to the next one.

I have other stuff that I beat on and keep my truck as a DD and hauler.

XtraLargeTall

I work off road with my pickup so you're wrong there. Your recreation doesn't even compare. As for your "braces", the heat from the welding weakens the steel. There's a reason OTR trucks have everything bolted to the frame and they use massive C rails to boot. You're wrong, just admit it and spare yourself the shame.

RDFTS

iTrader: (1)

Geez uncalled for. Why go attack somebody personally here, it serves no positive purpose. Can't we just all get along.....

XtraLargeTall

I'll admit it was uncalled for but you can't tell me that you honestly think a guy that admits to never washing the undercarriage and engine bay after talking about off roading really cares about his vehicle. That just defies all logic.

RES4CUE

He called others out for caring too much for their trucks and worrying about MPG.

I agree, if you offroad your truck and then do half *** clean up, you don't care about it or are ignorant to the fact that seals and parts can and will fail because of grit intrusion.

Not to mention baked on mud on the exhaust and headers isn't good for these parts either.

buster096

Well something in my power steering is leaking and has been since I bought it. Rear pinion seal is leaking but so slightly it's going to wait till I regear. I still can't wrap my head around welding something to the frame is going to compromise it. All the brackets for the suspension are welded, engine mounts, frame to body mounts. Our frames have tons of stuff welded on them from the factory! And trying to protect your investment if you bought new doesn't make much sense because buying a new car is a failed investment every single time. And your telling me that everytime you work offroad you spend over an hour cleaning everything up just to go do it again the next day? I guess my time is worth more to me than the value of my truck. I do care about my truck, hell I've dropped thousands of dollars into it to make it a purpose built vehicle. It runs strong and gets me where I need to go everytime, everyday. I just don't see the point in spending all this time washing something thoroughly so that it can get filthy again in a couple of days. Oh and when I drive in the rain it does a damn good job of cleaning the under carriage so I guess I can't say it's never been washed, just never been washed by me.

RDFTS

iTrader: (1)

I don't know the guy but he never said he cared for his truck like others might. He just said he does the maintenance to keep it running. To each their own, if he has a beater, so be it. When he made the comment about 10 min clean and doesn't matter what he can't see, I thought it was funny and his choice. I saw it as joking around and didn't think twice about it.

Yes, I do like to keep my truck clean and very much concerned about resale value because I trade up every 3 years. I rarely do any serious off-roading though. Wish I had a beater that I didn't care much for to do that with. Looking at a 2014 loaded Raptor for next year and decided that I am going to give its baptism mudding too plus do more off road stuff. But I will probably spend hours cleaning it unfortunately.

f150man3.5

typical fare here...to each his own.

XtraLargeTall

They design it with those welds in mind. They don't go and take a welder to it randomly. It's an engineered vehicle with the frame being the foundation for everything.

I agree that new is a horrible investment, hence why I bought mine used for half the price of new.

I don't wash mine after every day but it's also not muddy here every day. We get about 12 inches of precipitation a year so it's not a mud fest. Once everything is dried out, I usually take it to the steam cleaner and do a good job cleaning the mud off. Not a detailed clean, just clean.