DieselD

We will see the $100k ford pickup before too long. We are not far off now. Obviously ford is selling these things at those kind of numbers or they wouldnt be building them. I think it is absolutly absurd what a new pickup costs now days and is really priced the average man out of them. I understand the level of technology and comforts in a new truck which I welcome! However I wish ford would bring back the options A La Cart rather then grouping everything into packages. I beleive this would make the truck more affordable allowing the customer to pick and chose what options he wants. Its a pain when you want a XLT truck and the 20" wheel package that comes on the lariet and have to buy the more expensive truck rather then just the wheel option. Back in Nov of last year when I was looking at new f250s I could not swollow the price tag for the damn thing. Even after our $5500 fleet discount it was still a $60k truck. Not only do you have the price tag to concider but then there is all the added fees with taxes, tags, etc that get rolled into the loan. The used market is not much better and being driven by the cost of these new trucks now days too. The used trucks I looked at were damn close to the new truck price or way overpriced for the mileage. I lucked out and picked up my 2011 f250 for 30k and it was already setup the way I needed it to be. Amp steps, fuel tank, 5th wheel hitch, air bags etc. Only negative is it had 109k miles and a Job 1 truck but it was owned by a family member and Ive done all the service personally. I do get to venture back into the new car lot soon as the wife needs a new ride. We will either pick up the fusion or new edge which are not terribly priced, not cheap but at least more reasonable then some of these trucks are getting. I can finally get back on D-plan pricing via a family member so hopefully that will help the cost some.

kids are a great excuse to get a new vehicle. I did the same thing. I had a 2001 F350 crew cab and a super cab raptor. Sold both and get the 2011 250 crew cab. The 2011 comfort is night and day better then my 2001. Rear AC is also a must for small kids here in az. I do miss the raptor tho

interesting, never had this happen. just did a set of 8 on friday too

Most of our trucks are pretty equal from side to side. For our applications our cranes actually mount between the cab and body and stow accross both frame rails. This keeps them pretty well ballanced. However some of our lighter trucks with service bodys are heavy to curb side. For whatever reason the body manufactures put all the toolbox storage on that side and the tech has no other option but to load everything there getting a hefty lean. Air bags help but require the driver to keep an eye on them and adjust accordingly. They seem to have a hard time understanding they need to air up one side more to accomidate the weight. For this reason I am not a huge fan of air bags. They do offer you the best flexablity in changing loads however. We have custom springs made for the rare truck that is biased to one side. We just bring the completed and loaded truck down to the local spring shop and they build a pack to accomidate the weight. The plus side to this set up is its a set and forget type deal. The driver does not have to worry about putting air in his bags. For the sounds of your truck you have in your bay that leaf springs would be the best fix for the lean. You will need to look at the aftermarket as ford will not have anything to correct the about of lean your having.

I assume that 25k recommendation is in Kilometers correct? not miles? I agree with the above as well. I would not have unplugged it to turn is light off. If he delined the repair so be it but I would have left it the way it rolled into the shop. Let the customer unplug it himself so the monkey is on his back and not yours.

I beleive change is coming and what hasnt been enforced much in the past is going to become a big deal. Thanks to the internet Emissions tampering is a very public affair and those guys that run around promoting it are going to have a rude awaking.

Yeah I dont buy that warm and fuzzy news letter. I laughed at the subject of M-Time.

I swapped mine to the metal pan out of annoyance of the plastic drainplug. Have not come accross one leaking yet but I have had a couple of our trucks at other dealers get a pan replaced for a "leak" one of which was made worse by using black silicone!

supposed to increase reverse torque but 50% but not quite sure how it is actually works

yep, published by ford even

Had this happen to one of our dodge trucks in las vegas about a year ago. They hit it when it was parked in from of the employees house overnight. It was 1 of 10 or so trucks that got hit that night around town. They actually unbolted everything and unplugged the sensors so it was not some tweaker looking for a quick buck at the scrap yard. Betting it got resold somewhere.

88* for a high forcasted here this week! I swear we havent had a cold(AZ cold!) winter in a couple years

yeah thats smart. I learned long ago to keep my mouth shut. Far too many arm chair techs out there that have only sat on the internet eating cheetos in their underware then actually wrenching.

This kit started with the LCF way back when but finally got cross referenced for the 6.0 I remember a TSB or SSM but dont recall the number. We always used the LCF kit as it had the teflon addtion to the o-ring as the 6.0 numbered parts did not Whenever I have a o-ring failure of one of the standtubes or dummy plugs its gets all of them replaced. I learned this early on after chasing the leaks from valve cover to valve cover if only changing the failed plug.

I always pull the injectors! Its not worth the risk of accidently hitting them on something during the removal process or contaminating them during cleaning. Not to mention its a perfect time to inspect and reseal them. Really it does not take that much longer and less chance of screw up resulting in a repeat repair.

god I hate the sprinters. They are not terrible when new but a huge pain in the ass to work on and very expensive parts

I have sinced moved on....as badass as it was to work in a shop like that it wasnt worth the drama or being held back from better things. My shop now is nothing compared to that place

Its going to be 55 degrees and rainy here today then back to the high 70s

WTF.. I have worked on our local swat team vehicles when they had 6.4s. Talk about a pain in the ass

Odd. Have you taken a peek at the pto contols? Alot of the body builders are using a electronic speed control module to control their equpitment. Its typically mounted righ under the steering wheel near the DLC. On our crane trucks I have had this module cause some weird issues even when the pto/crane isnt turned on

typically just been replacing the harness on them if they come loose. With the age and mileage of the 7.3 now days its cheap insurance

I have had the very same thing on my personal truck. It looked like engine oil at first due to the road grime changing the trans fluid black. Being a relativly slow leak it was hard to track down. Finally after hosing it down with brake clean and checking it every time I drove the truck I could see it was trans fluid. Mine ended up needing a front pump

I find that giving the customer options and education helps alot in earning their trust. As long as the customer is fully aware of all the pros and cons I do not see a issue in selling a "partial repair" like your senero. Some may disagree but I have found this has earned me alot of repeat buisness and not in the recheck kinda way! Make sure you have good job notes on the RO to avoid a He said/She said senerio You did good grasshoppa

I always wondered if anyone was to do that with the drive on racks. did that guy have to sleep with his foot under the rack or was he lucky enough to have his phone close by? I often stay at work late by myself but am careful what Im doing. It wouldnt take much to get hurt and lay there until the morning when the other guys show up....

I just yupdated to 95 yesterday but have not used it yet. Ill check