Jodie

Instead of buying a Harley Davidson Ford truck, spend the same money on two Harleys. Say to hubby "you want a real ride?"  I'll bet he'll forget about golf for a while.

BOL   Gard

 Well, my gas budget will need to be significantly increased, however, it is a worthwhile expense. I took it to work once already and had to really navigate in order to park. For a fleeting moment I feared that I might have to call our security department to report that I was stuck between parking rows. The truck is so much longer than I am accustomed to that I need to acquire some new parking skills! My dad gave me some tips by saying that I should take the "mag wheels" off and put on winter studded tires with steel rims. He said the mag wheels cause the tires to leak air when it is really cold out. I will look into this cost.

I am happy with the truck and I definitely feel safe and sound on the highway now. Eventually I would like to pick up another F150 just to commute with. Having driven a truck for almost a year now I have to say that I would never go back to driving a car again!

Regards,

Jodie

I have mag wheels on my truck and cars. Never had a leakage problem or needed to replace them with steel. Try a winter first and see if there is any problem before you go to the additional trouble and expense.

Gard

Thanks Gard, I will stick with these tires for this winter and see how it goes. The tire pressure is good so far so I will save some money and wait.

Jodie

I traded in my 2004 F150 4.6 litre short box 4X4 for a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado crew cab 3500 Dually with 68,000 km on it. It is a much better vehicle to pull my three horse slant load Miley horse trailer. Now I just have to work on my parking skills....

Jodie

Hi Gard,

Nice idea, however, I don't think that anything could ever replace golf for my hubby. He lives for it. During the winter he even watches it on TV! Personally, I would rather watch cement dry than have anything to do with golf as I find it so boring. Golfers probably think the same thing about horses I guess. To each their own....

Jodie

Jodie .. I have cast wheels and forged alloy wheels on various vehicles...  I have not seen any difference between them and steel wheels.   I have noticed that tire pressures change with the change in seasons.  Even in temperate NC there is a significant tire pressure drop from Summer to Winter.   Your location's temperature swing between seasons must be even more.

I had not thought of the tire pressure change being due to the change in climate temperature instead of the type of rims. The temperature does flucuate quite radically out here. Up until last week we had fairly mild weather (in the -5 range, to snow and -18 degrees overnight).

Thank you for the feedback. I am not going to bother switching the rims for now. However, I will be more vigilant with checking the tire pressure of the truck and trailer tires.

Jodie

A lot of truckers use an aluminum bat to test their tires for inflation. The bats are also useful for other purposes and are handy to have around when you're traveling.

BOL  Gard

Hi Genebob,

Gee, I wish I had read this before I decided to go to the gas station and add some air. Exactly what you described happened to one of the rear tires and the air started hissing out very loudly. There were a couple of guys there who were trying to help me but they were also unsuccessful in getting the air to stop leaking out. The older guy told me that I could drive home because I had a daully. Soooo, I drove home and parked the truck in the garage so it could warm up (it is at least -22 today). I just checked a little while ago and there is no more hissing air and the tire looks okay. To be honest I am afraid to check it with the tire guage! I did find one of those dually/RV angle type pressure guages at Canadian Tire. I have also just sent my husband out to Canadian Tire to buy an air compressor as it occurred to me that if a tire is flat I really do need to be able to inflate it at home. There is a five gallon compressor on sale so he is picking it up as I write this. I won't even mention the unflattering comments he has made about my truck today!

Someone should write a book for people like me who really want to learn about these trucks, but have no clue about any of it! Honestly, I would buy that book in a heartbeat. I have learned a great deal today about tire guages and adding air to tires in cold weather. Oh well, it could have been worse. At least now I know better.

Thanks again Genebob,

Jodie

Hi Gard,

 I have put my aluminum bat in the truck! I have always carried a hammer tied under the seat in case I am unfortunate enough to accidentally end up in a water filled ditch and needed to break the window if the power locks fail (I believe that I have mentioned in previous postings that I am quite safety conscious). Now I have a bat as well so I will be prepared for anything (hopefully).

Thanks,

Jodie

Thank you Genebob! I would have never thought of that. It's not too late for the air compressor as my husband is still not home from his shopping yet. I think I will just keep the compressor in the basement so it doesn't freeze up as you mentioned. I'll bet the people in the south wonder why we live in places like this that get so cold.

Jodie