Once upon a time there was a great truck we call The Beast. When the hubby brought it home in 2005 I was less than thrilled. He is an appraiser. Which means he drives 2000+ miles a month. Stop. Go. Slam Brakes. Go. Sneak up on house. Shoot picture. Stealthily drive away. Repeat at least 4 times a day. Needless to say a HUGE lifted Ford Diesel truck is not exactly the best vehicle for a Real Estate Appraiser. Especially in Portland. The land of bicycles, Max trains and teeny tiny smart cars.
In 2010 The Beast was joined by The Eagle. For the first time in 5 years The Beast was making sense. (Hubby chose the truck because it looked cool…and because the government let us write off the entire amount on our taxes that year since it was a business vehicle…)
The Eagle is our home on wheels. It is a 34’ travel trailer weighing about 7000 pounds. The Beast was made to pull it…right?
On the maiden voyage over Highway 30 to Astoria, the truck stopped. It would not go. We sat on the side of the road for an hour, waiting for the truck to cool down. When we arrived home, The Beast went to the mechanic. Nothing wrong they said. Must have been a fluke.
Ok. So we packed up and headed down to California for a family Reunion. 20 miles outside of Roseburg…bam. Truck shuts down. Will not go more than 20 miles an hour. We could not make it up the hill. After that weekend we took it back again to the mechanic. This time they hand an answer. The turbo went out. FANTASTIC.
Fixed that. Went on a 2 month trip. No problems. Until this year. The Beast started going downhill. First the EGR valves had to be replaced to the tune of $3800. OUCH that hurt!
Then on the 16th of this month we decided to head up to the mountain for a fun day. We were stuck, on the side of the road, slipping, with a huge 4WD truck. It was EMBARASSING. We could not go anywhere. We decided to just walk to the tubing place and deal with the truck later.
Home. Vacuum seals out. $600. At this point, it’s getting ridiculous. They warn us that the axles and bearings are next. We make a tough decision. Trade in my car and The Beast to get a new tow vehicle. 8 hours and a car payment later…we have The King.
A 2012 Ford F-350 Super Duty King Ranch. It can pull our trailer. It’s not lifted (ya)…and so far I can drive it. I’m learning to back-up into spots. Figure how to turn corners. Getting used to being a smallish girl driving a huge truck.
Next month we will take The King and The Eagle on a weekend trip and see how it goes. We shall see.
YEA!!!! Happy Traveling!