I'm Wheeled!
I used some of the inheritance money to buy a '98 F150. Now maybe I can leave Castle Bravo, nice as the place is, and get back to the place in FL before my brother throws out all the stuff I'd like to keep. (He's actually been pretty good about taking care of business while I've been in a blue funk, let's just say that his idiosyncrasies don't necessarily always correlate well with mine.)
The thing is, I feel like Rip Van Winkel stretching and yawning, here, seeing all of this weird modern stuff. I really wanted something older ('95 or '96 at the latest) so that it would have fewer "features" than the later ones. I knew I'd have to put up with computers and safety bombs in any vehicle built in the last 15 years, but also knew I needed something new enough to be reasonably reliable.
What I got is not too bad. It's carpet-free, has crank windows, the small V-6 WITH NO TIMING BELT, (I think) and a manual 5-speed, and is painted white. It has steel wheels, alas with some chrome plate, and the short bed with a nice plastic liner. It does have an idiot interlock switch on the clutch for starting, though, and a foot-operated handbrake. Just how is one supposed to use that gracefully for starting on steep hills? I don't have three feet, y'know.
What really warped my mind was reading the PDF of the owner's manual from the Ford site.
This is presumably not a mistake, as in two places the manual said that the do-it-yerself gearbox uses *automatic transmission fluid* as a lubricant.
WTF?
BTW, the power steering pump seems to use the same for a working fluid.
Oh, and I'm somewhat bothered by the safety bombs; I have very short legs which put me right close to the steering wheel, and I have habitually driven with my hands at 10:30 and 1:30 on the wheel for 40 years. Do I get black eyes and broken nose from an SRS deployment at even minimum speed, for which the lap and shoulder belt would be perfectly adequate by themselves?
The thing is, I feel like Rip Van Winkel stretching and yawning, here, seeing all of this weird modern stuff. I really wanted something older ('95 or '96 at the latest) so that it would have fewer "features" than the later ones. I knew I'd have to put up with computers and safety bombs in any vehicle built in the last 15 years, but also knew I needed something new enough to be reasonably reliable.
What I got is not too bad. It's carpet-free, has crank windows, the small V-6 WITH NO TIMING BELT, (I think) and a manual 5-speed, and is painted white. It has steel wheels, alas with some chrome plate, and the short bed with a nice plastic liner. It does have an idiot interlock switch on the clutch for starting, though, and a foot-operated handbrake. Just how is one supposed to use that gracefully for starting on steep hills? I don't have three feet, y'know.
What really warped my mind was reading the PDF of the owner's manual from the Ford site.
This is presumably not a mistake, as in two places the manual said that the do-it-yerself gearbox uses *automatic transmission fluid* as a lubricant.
WTF?
BTW, the power steering pump seems to use the same for a working fluid.
Oh, and I'm somewhat bothered by the safety bombs; I have very short legs which put me right close to the steering wheel, and I have habitually driven with my hands at 10:30 and 1:30 on the wheel for 40 years. Do I get black eyes and broken nose from an SRS deployment at even minimum speed, for which the lap and shoulder belt would be perfectly adequate by themselves?
posted by Justthisguy at 2/24/2006 04:22:00 AM
2 Comments:
JTG - I hat to tell you, but some cars have had the interlock for manual transmissions since '81 or '82. I rented a car around then, a Toyota or some such, and couldn't start it one morning. Called the rental place for help - and they told me about the interlock with the clutch ... did *I* feel foolish!
I think the SRS only deploys if the vehicle is traveling above a certain speed - but not sure, and it prolly is different now than '98.
Glad to hear you're wheeled again ;-)
Um - that's *hate* to tell you. *sigh*
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