Unless there’s major pushback from car buyers in the next 10 years, I’m going to be holding on to my 2017 hybrid for as long as possible. May even look into doing an EV conversion on it or possibly some aftermarket way to make it a plug-in hybrid (there is a plug-in hybrid version of my car, and I’ve been looking to trade-in for that, but I cannot find any within 250 miles of me).
Replacing the bed isn’t too bad if you have someone to help you lift it on/off and you can find a donor in good shape. I had to pull the bed off my old beater truck to replace the fuel pump, and did the work myself (plus an extra set of hands to lift the bed on/off, naturally) On that one, it was only like 6 bolts holding it down. Hardest part was that two were seized up and had to drill them out (and replace the bolts afterward).
Yeah, my 2004 not-quite beater truck came to its end that way. The frame rusted out where the leaf spring shackle attached, and there’s no real way to fix that. Surprised I was able to drive it as long as I did with it like that (it was my daily driver at the time lol).
For my OG beater truck, I got a lot of its body parts from a local salvage yard. Some of the parts I got were rusted in the same spots as mine, just less so (e.g. the quarter panels on S10s were notorious for rusting out).
The frame rusted out where the leaf spring shackle attached, and there’s no real way to fix that.
There is always a solution that involves welding, but unless someone is able to do it themselves odds are it would be far more expensive than finding another used vehicle in better shape.
Unless there’s major pushback from car buyers in the next 10 years, I’m going to be holding on to my 2017 hybrid for as long as possible. May even look into doing an EV conversion on it or possibly some aftermarket way to make it a plug-in hybrid (there is a plug-in hybrid version of my car, and I’ve been looking to trade-in for that, but I cannot find any within 250 miles of me).
The bed is starting to rot off my 1999 truck, I’m not sure how or if I should repair it
Replacing the bed isn’t too bad if you have someone to help you lift it on/off and you can find a donor in good shape. I had to pull the bed off my old beater truck to replace the fuel pump, and did the work myself (plus an extra set of hands to lift the bed on/off, naturally) On that one, it was only like 6 bolts holding it down. Hardest part was that two were seized up and had to drill them out (and replace the bolts afterward).
Finding the replacement is what worries me.
Well that and if the bed is going how is the frame
Yeah, my 2004 not-quite beater truck came to its end that way. The frame rusted out where the leaf spring shackle attached, and there’s no real way to fix that. Surprised I was able to drive it as long as I did with it like that (it was my daily driver at the time lol).
For my OG beater truck, I got a lot of its body parts from a local salvage yard. Some of the parts I got were rusted in the same spots as mine, just less so (e.g. the quarter panels on S10s were notorious for rusting out).
There is always a solution that involves welding, but unless someone is able to do it themselves odds are it would be far more expensive than finding another used vehicle in better shape.