Pick WinterDeere's next truck

[Fuddyduddy1952]

One idea is simply rent a new truck for a week or two. We've done that before buying a new car. Take a vacation or just to see how you like it before purchasing.
One friend/neighbor bought a loaded F150. He loves it, his wife won't ride in it. He was showing me how he controls all this junk on his phone with it, how it has electric tailgate & running boards. He's out there right now waxing it again. I've never seen him carry anything in the bed, but he can get in it easily to wax it.

 

[92blacksunshine]

That makes me wonder about GM's paint.
It doesn't bother Toyota or Ford paint one bit?

I don't know, he's the only one I know who used the stuff. Everyone else I know uses Fluid Film.

 

[92blacksunshine]

GM uses that stuff on their frames that's like a wax, a couple of undercarriage washes and it's pretty much gone.

Ford coats their frames in EDP, my '17 F250 has gone through 9 Ohio winters and still has the paint markings on the frame.

 

[sd455dan]

GM uses that stuff on their frames that's like a wax, a couple of undercarriage washes and it's pretty much gone.

Ford coats their frames in EDP, my '17 F250 has gone through 9 Ohio winters and still has the paint markings on the frame.

Had a couple old 60's GM muscle cars that had the dealer? applied thick tar like substance. No rust of any kind at 50 years, whatever that product was, it really did a good job. Probably added quite a few pounds to the car but well worth it to make a classic last.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

.

 

[Jstpssng]

I'm stealing TBN member BCP's photo again.

 

[WinterDeere]

a .22 shell is cheaper.
Or a 110 Conibear.

You clearly underestimate how many squirrels we have! That'd be almost as hopeless as emptying the Sahara desert of sand, with the FEL on my CUT.

That said, I do suspect it must be one squirrel in particular. I've been parking vehicles outdoors for 35 years in this corner of PA, and have never had this problem until this year. I'd be inclined to blame the material Ram used to mold this fuel line, but I've owned this truck 10 years now, and never an issue until this year.

I also saw a squirrel drop out of the front fender of my son's Mini yesterday. I'd bet it's the same one, so I left him a cube of rat poison atop the fuel tank on the pickup truck. We'll see if it's gone, after a day or two.

Here's the weird thing, though... I was under there today, and can't find any damage to the fuel return line. It's possible it's in some location I just can't reach without dropping the tank, but I was really feeling up and down that line, and couldn't find any damage.

Once I've convinced myself the offending squirrel is dead, I'll take the truck back to the dealer to see what's up with the fuel line. It's possible something just came disconnected, but I'm also not finding any evidence of that. If the squirrel chewed thru some of the wiring going to the fuel tank, that'd be harder to detect by feel alone, since the harnesses are wrapped in tape and feel rough all over. Of course everything is hiding atop the fuel tank, where I can't see, so all inspect is by feel.

 

[ruffdog]

Here is an old Ford with the modern 7.3L