My truck is near stock mind you. But my thought is if they didnt want you to push the pedal that far they wouldnt have designed it with that much travel. LOL

 

My truck, I don't drive like I stole it, but I do work it towing a tandem axle dump trailer (and TT, but don't tell my accountant!!). I look after it and it serves me well.

My car, I drive "spiritedly", 2003 Sentra SER, I've gone through 2 complete sets of tires in 30,000 miles.

 

ME TOO!!!!! I do take care of her though.

 

x2, i drive my Hard but i am a huge on preventive maintenance.

 

One of the best ways to help your truck is to work it, not necissairly beat on it, but work it. Hook to 10k+ pounds and drag it around for a few hundred miles, perferably up and down hills and some stop and going. After that you will notice your fuel mileage improving. I like to hook mine to the GN and tow a buddy around to give her a work out. I do take it out on the interstate and merge into traffic very quickly on ocasion to work her but it is not the same.

 

I love getting this feed back, I am getting a laugh or 2 out of this. I always drive my stuff and even rentals easy, its just who I am. I do notice a big difference after a good drive at highway speeds. I do think though that a vehicle that is kept hot and well used seems to work better.
My truck was in the family and I got a good deal on her. I don't need a truck but I bet 50% of truck owners don't need one either. My thoughts though are that a heavy duty vehicle should almost last well for ever if not asked too much of. If a Honda Civic or the like can go a couple hundred thousand miles without much trouble our trucks should last forever if used for the same task.
I agree about having the vehicle that matches the task but really after getting in our trucks and then getting into a small car and sitting on the ground its nice to get back up in the truck..
I do love my truck it the repairs that suck when the $$$$$$ is tight.

 

I bought my 97 from my father who drove it like it was a caddilac and it purrs like it did the day he brought it home.

 

I love my truck to death, and it is who I am. I grew up taking care of things, and in doing that it has never let me down. It sure does love the freeway, and the truck is governed for a reason.

 

I drive my truck like it is something I am proud of and I have put lots of care and thought into to keep it looking the way it does.



However it is my daily driver and here is So Cal with all of the crazies you have to be on your toes and think ahead to avoid a physical implantation of the greenies in their hybrids and illeg@@ ah people in the beaters driving with no license or insurance that are always drifting into the side of me or drafting off my bumper.



Never first from the stoplight but pass them before the crosswalk, I slow down for potholes or swerve to avoid them, never let anyone stay next to me for more than a second (urban warfare on the LA freeways), never buff the curbing (Michelins are too expensive) rattles are not allowed except for the engine,

Naw I drive it like I respect it.



Jim

 

That has to be the nicest 1st gen I have seen.

 

I drive mine like a truck. Not beating it, but working it. I'm not afraid to floor it pulling a 12K lbs trailer to get up to speed, but I don't try to speed shift it. I don't try to burn the tires off at every stop light either. When I want to get someplace fast I'll take the motorcycle.

 

I think what a lot of the posters here are saying is basically that the notion of abusing your truck will make it last longer is simply absurd.

Certainly working it and making sure it gets up to temp and not carboned goes a long way.

Personally I think my truck gets used harder than I'd like it to, towing the weight doesn't bother me, it's the running on rough gravel roads (it sees hundreds of miles of gravel all the time)

That makes me cringe, seems I hit way too many washboard roads and such and always being a step behind I'm driving faster than I'd like to for the sake of the truck and that HAS to be hard on it.

However, it's a truck and it gets used as such.

Yes parts will fail (especially front end and suspension parts) but I'll replace them and carry on.

Maintaining it the best I can will still let that truck last for a long time to come.

 

If you are babying it then you might also be a bit more picky about the maintenance the someone who drives it like they rented it.
It's tough to tell if there is a front end shimmy if half the time the front end is in the air
I baby mine and also have replaced a lot of pieces, but technically they weren't bad, just not as good as I wanted them to be.

 

I take care of my truck but i do drive it hard from time to time.

 

Im suprised mine is still running... I bet the ever living snot out of mine and she keeps coming back for more.