Thursday, January 20, 2022

Starting The Truck

 I have an old Ford F150.  It's not my daily driver.  I use it as a utility vehicle, when I need a truck.  It moves quite a bit during the warm months, but not so much during the cold months, and today I realized that I haven't moved it in several months.

Of course, the battery was dead as a hammer, but that battery is not yet one year old, so I hooked up the charger while I checked all the fluid levels.

It fired right up, which is what a truck is supposed to do.  People ask me why I keep it.  And, the truth is I need a truck sometimes, but I don't need a truck every day.  I do need to remind myself to give it a little loving once in a while, to keep the battery charged and the seals lubricated.

It's served me well for nearly a quarter-million miles, and I don't see any reason to sell it.

6 comments:

Robert Orians said...

Older cars and trucks were much higher quality . America once made the finest of everything but sadly that is no longer true . My ego doesn't require a brand new $70,ooo truck to haul feed or firewood and my old Ford is only showing 80K miles . Great Grandson will probably get it when I take my dirt nap .

Termite said...

D,

Move it so that the windshield faces south. Put on of these on the dashboard, and plug into a 12v outlet that is hot all the time.
It will keep the battery topped off.

https://www.amazon.com/ECO-WORTHY-Portable-Battery-Charger-Batteries/dp/B015ZGDYII/ref=sr_1_4?crid=32NMY947ZK1I2&keywords=solar%2Bcar%2Bbattery%2Bcharger%2B12v%2Bbattery%2Btrickle%2Bcharger%2Bmaintainer&qid=1642714376&sprefix=solar%2Bcar%2Caps%2C298&sr=8-4&th=1

FeralFerret said...

If you are parked anywhere near an AC power outlet, get one of the small battery float chargers. I use one of these when my pickup sits for weeks at a time. I also have another for my riding lawn mower. I'll put it on for a day or two about once a month.

Titan Mk6B said...

If you own a house, you need a truck. It's as simple as that.

Plus, it's paid for, right?

Anonymous said...

My daily driver is a pick-up. True I don't need the carrying capacity every day, and it drinks more gas than a car, but if I have to insure it, I may as well use it. My 22 year old truck has a bit less than 210,000 miles on it.

be603 said...

Battery minders are nice tools (and cheap these days) if you've got a plug handy. I had a solar battery minder on my tractor that was handy but then it got flaky and I didn't replace it. I never really rigged an adequate stand for it for windy days.