My fjR got hit today.

[Yoda]

Hmm. It’s all relative. I drove tractor trailer trucks for 12 years a long time ago. After that, any vehicle seems small, including my 2014 F-150 supercab. No problems parking it anywhere.

And yes, my pickup has a 5.0 L V-8. It gets a workout frequently, including this week. I rented a Kubota 52 hp tractor with front end bucket, and a box blade. With the 22 foot tilt-bed trailer I was towing at least 10,000 pounds. At my 7,000 ft elevation, the truck is down on power at least 15%, but gets the job done.

Bottom line is that some of us, certainly not all, actually use a pickup for its intended purpose.

 

[Bear]

I usually try to find where the shopping centre has a bicycle rack. I park next to it.

 

[ColoradoRod]

I had my VStrom knocked over by a dingbat in a minivan one day when I was inside having a Subway sandwich. The lady was just going to drive away and leave the VStrom full-turtle, but lucky for me, there were 2 sheriff’s deputies walking into the Subway who witnessed the whole thing. They flagged her down and came and got me out of my booth at the sandwich shop. I filed an insurance claim and was shocked at the dollar value of the damage. My conclusion is that while some people are jerks, others are just idiots!

On the topic of big, mostly useless trucks, I’m in fill agreement with JustPassingThrough. I have a 2002 2wd, regular cab V6 Tundra. It has an 8 foot bed—which I consider mandatory. As someone else said, 8’ beds are almost impossible to find. I’m already saving my pennies for a brand new Tundra in 2023. I plan to order it with an 8 foot bed and the options I want. It’ll need to be 4wd because it’s just more useful in Colorado, but I’m certainly NOT going to lift it beyond factory height. I just don’t understand people who have chest-high tailgate heights… they must not use their truck for any real truck uses.

 

[DirtFlier]

A side note about what I call "monster trucks." My local Kroger grocery store has handicapped parking close to the building which is fine with me. I personally park my car in what I call The South 40 to avoid door dings! Walking that distance from my car at the edge of the parking lot to the store entrance, I pass the well-marked handicapped spaces and it's not uncommon to see large, tall and long trucks in one of those spots.

Whenever I look, I see the official blue handicapped tag hanging from the stem of the rear view mirror but it always makes me wonder what sort of physically handicapped person can step up into a cab that for me would be in the stratosphere.

 

[Brillot2000]

I usually try to find where the shopping centre has a bicycle rack. I park next to it.

I used to do that until I got chewed out by lot security several times. His reasoning was that people could get burnt by the hot exhaust passing by. On the bike I was riding at the time had them tucked deep beneath hard bags. That would only that happen if someone went out of their way to get burnt.

Not worth the effort to reason with blind stupidity.

 

[Coyote Chris]

They went away, in the end, for emissions. The standards now, stretch the limits of practicality.

It's easier to control emissions if you remove as many variables as possible. Air cooling, for one. With water cooling, you can set the parameters of engine operating temperature. With air cooling there's many more variables.

Which is why all but the smallest motorcycle engines (and a few BMW boxers) went to water cooling.

Another, is, RPM variations. Better if the engine RPMs and load parameters are tightly controlled.

Ergo, six- or eight- or 10-speed automatic transmissions. No winding the engine up, or lugging it, or missing a shift...which all can cause sudden bursts of unburned hydrocarbons. Now, everything must be automatic.

I saw this in new diesel locomotives, also. Used to be, the throttle was just that...it worked the amount of fuel fed to the prime mover. It had a governor, but the throttle had eight positions, and the governor eight corresponding settings. The governor would also regulate the "exciter" - how much juice the generator would feed to the traction motors.

Now, there's only three speeds on the prime mover. Four, actually...idle speed (200 RPM) Notch 1 (350 RPM) and then notches 2 to 6, which are half-throttle on the diesel. The engine is moving at about 650 RPM but the amount of current fed to the traction motors, varies with throttle position.

Then there's wide-open, notches 7 and 8. 1015 RPM.

It's actually an odd feeling, to us old-school train drivers, when you don't hear the prime mover rev up when you feed it a notch. But that's where we're at with emissions standards and equipment.

I probably told you I used to work at Electo Motive in LaGrange Illinois, to put myself through college. My dad was the turbocharger production engineer there. I am a steam train guy, myself. My Grandpa worked on steam trains....engineer...fireman...not sure what.....