My Old Ford Pickup Truck Story

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When it comes to pickup trucks, I’ve been a Ford guy since 1986. Some of my best friends love other brands, and that’s fine. No one’s perfect, and I forgive them. It all began for me with a 1968 F-250 that I drove until it was 30 years old, followed by my current truck, a 1990  F-150.  It still looks and drives pretty much like new, but this is no show truck. It’s my regular workhorse. I use it around our country homestead property, it helps hauling firewood, brings building materials home and comes through with runs into town for hardware and supplies.  The old F-150 also gets the occasional highway run for the 7 hour trip down to Toronto from where I live on Manitoulin Island, Canada. It has more than 125,000 miles (203,000 km) on the clock, and while that’s not a huge number, this truck is still is completely reliable, despite its age.  Watch my two-truck history below.

Old Ford Truck a Wedding Limo

When you keep a truck going like this for the long haul, it becomes part of the family. And though I’m not the only one who feels this way, it took some people I know a while to come around. When my daughter, Katherine, was growing up she was always embarrassed about “dad’s old truck”.

“When are you going to get a new one?” she’d complain regularly.

But by the time she got to be in her late teens, apparently I’d gotten quite a bit wiser. Before she got married and left home, she even drove the F-150 as often as she could, and with pride. “It’s so cool when people tell me how much they like the truck”, she says. “My friends think it’s great.” The ultimate compliment for our F-150 came when Katherine chose it as the vehicle I’d use to drive her to her wedding back on July 27th, 2013. No stretch limo for this country girl. Having the truck part of the big day was a huge deal for both of us.

Old Ford Keeps on Truckin’

Besides being pretty sentimental about my trucks, I’m also a frugal guy.  That’s one reason I’ve kept my F-150 going for the long haul. It has saved me a ton of money. But apparently, I’m not the only one with an eye for value. There are lots of unique F-150 stories out there, including some trucks that have gone more than one million miles on the original engine.

Click here to learn some of the things I do to keep my old Ford pickup truck (and my other vehicles) in great shape for minimal money. None of this is complicated, it just requires discipline to get things done when they should be done. Following the list below, my cost for keeping my old F-150 pickup truck going averages about $100 per month, excluding gasoline:

1. Annual rustproofing spray (either Krown or Rust-Check)
2. Change all oils and fluids on time
3. Fix things as they break (ideally yourself)
4. Create drainage holes to let water escape exhaust system
5. Use seat covers

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– Steve Maxwell