I subscribed to "Truck Trend " and my subscription expired with the last issue . I hope they don't miss me too much . They are not truck people . Bad enough they named the Nissan Titan " The best pickup in America " , they just named the Nissan Xterra "SUV of the Year " just because . They tested it against 11 other SUV's . The Nissan was not best in a single category . They also had to choose a pickup to run a couple of thousand miles to pull an antique Porsche race car in a 20 ft. enclosed trailer . Vehicle of choice ? F250 V10 gasser . Well , at least they had the sense not to use a 6.0 powerstroke but they did wake up the second morning out with a dead battery . They averaged 7 mpg. Like I said , not truck people .

 

I've noticed that when most magazines choose a "Whatever" of the year, the manufacturer that buys the most advertising space seem to usually be picked as the winner.

Like the Diesel Shootout last fall where Trucking magazine tested the Ford, Chevy, and Dodge,
The Dodge won in all but two catagories (and those two were "subjective" and not measurable tests) and the Ford was declared the winner.

BTW Ford also had ads all over the place in the mag.
"Don't bite the hand that feeds you"

 

Opinions are like you know whats! Every one has one! I have let all my subscriptions, except Trailer life expire. Seems like some of the magazines are geared to novices! That's my opinion. BIG MIKE

 

Truck Trends: What a joke! Absolutly right on the fact that they obviously don't know trucks. A v10 ford gas...come on!

The only subscription i get and read is 4Wheel and Off-Road. I think its a good magazine, but there is wayyyyy too much jeep stuff in there. I know that alot of jeeps off road, but i'll wheel a full size dodge against a jeep anyday, expect where i can't fit!

 

Most auto/truck magazines are crap. Maybe HotRod is the exception. I don't read it much.

The truck mags are terrible. The editors live in downtown LA. They never seem to "get it" about trucks. Their articles are usually full of mistakes. These guys are journalists, not typical truck users.

One of the problems is their biggest revenue is from advertisers of the stuff they review. How can you bash Ford when they take out two 2 page ads in your mag ? Most of the equipment reviews are just an advertisement for an aftermarket company.

Every seen a truck article about putting a BHAF into a DC ? Think we'll ever see an article about killer dowel pins or #53 blocks or tone wheel mods ? No... because they competes against the AFE stuff. How many friggin articles do we have to see about Banks/AFE/Bullydog crap with the usual before/after stuff ? Yet the general public reads that stuff and takes it as gospel.

And most of the show trucks in those mags make me sick. The owner typically goes out and buys every aftermarket trinket he can find and wala you get a show truck. No matter how gaudy it is.

Isn't it funny how the mags can never get trucks that are configured exactly the same to test ? One has an auto, another is a dually, etc. And then they can never find a real load to test them with. Hint: get a 32' 5er about 10,000 pounds and head to the mountains. Funny, I thought RVs and 5ers were pretty common these days, but instead they want to pull a 5,000 pound boat. Probably because they don't have to put a 5th wheel hitch in the truck to do the test. But it isn't a real load.

And they will give a full page of specs, but hardly ever give a separate fuel economy number for city/highway. And why don't they put them on a traction dyno (not an inertia dyno) and tell us what sort of power they really make. For more than 30 seconds.

The best technical mags are for dirt bikes. They measure everything and report it pretty well. I like reading Trailer Life for their fuel economy comments. Funny how those SUVs get worse fuel economy empty than I can get pulling a trailer. Funny how a Ford F450 pulling a 12,000 pound trailer gets about the same fuel economy as a 80,000 lb highway tractor/trailer.

I like how they don't find the fuel economy of a V10 or 8.1L Chev to be a problem. Of course not, they aren't paying for the fuel in it. They just drive the crap out of it and report poor fuel economy numbers and great power. No problem for them. Try owning it for a couple hundred thousand miles. Different story.

Its sad these mags are so bad because they are the prime source of info for a lot of people. Thank goodness for websites. That is all I can say.

 

http://www.monstertrucks-uk.com/jeff8.jpg
put on some narrowed axles and i bet u'd fit!

 

only guy that i believe really gets trucks, is rick pewe, editor at petersen's 4wheel & offroad. he's a die-hard jeep guy, and thats all he drives. but even pewe has been seduced by the advertisers.

 

It's ironic. I learned the vast mojority of things I know about engines, trannys, and other such thing for old cars by reading MAGAZINES.

The more technical a magazine is, the more I will generally enjoy it.

As a Mopar guy, I LOVED reading Mopar Action. Richard Ehrenberg is actually a member of the SAE (not formally educated as an engineer, but passed their test!).

Another mag I like is Popular Hot Rodding. The Engine Masters series is always interesting. PHR seems to be more technical than Hot Rod, and PHR talks tech while HR reminsces about the good old days in California. So the dude with the sandals was a legend. Give me tech instead. PHR has a lot of stuff from David Vizard, whom I respect probably more than ANY other hot rod writer. I was addicted to his now-defunct "motortec magazine" website.

My problem with most of the off-road mags is that they just keep re-hashing the same old stuff. It makes sense-- the off-road market is pretty stale anyway. Where's the innovation? Why don't KORE and RCD get more coverage, instead of the same tired old-tech crap from Superlift, Skyjacker, and whoever? How many articles does someone need on gear swaps, narrowing axles, and installing a big old redneck lift kit?

Of the major off-road mags, I prefer Four Wheeler. Robin Stover seems to be one of the few guys to welcome new things.

jh

 

Even some of the Hot rod , street rod type mags with photos and articles on building motors print wrong ways to do things when building a motor. They have no real mecanical experience or skill with race motors, just a lot of money to waste on parts they dont need or understand.

Thats part of sales I guess selling worthless products to make a buck

 

ya I have to agree. the editors have to print what makes the advertisers happy. They are the ones that pay the bills. It seems like every issue it is "put on a new exaust" or "put in a new programmer" never anything like " replace your crapy rear gear or anything good about a diesel. Thats why I don't have a subscription to any i can just choose which ones I read.

Oh and by the way this is my 100th post!

 

I have to agree with you Hohn, M.A. is the best mag for real world tech and they don't take themselves too seriously, even though they whomped on alot of highdollar hardware w/a old Valiant! Car&Driver is pretty good, now that Baskerville is gone you can read Hot Rod w/out his idiotic lingo. Motortrend, Trucktrend are just so much fluff, I think they plagerize alot of sales brouchers.

 

I hate Car & Driver the worst. They rated the Honda ridgeline, the best compact pickup?? What the heck can you do with one of those? Why not buy a civic, and just pull the trunk off, and put a luggage rack on top? That truck does not even have low range! Tell me what you are gonna do with that. Heck; youd have a tough time pulling any bigger boat up the ramp if it was steep at all. I get petersens 4 wheel and off road, and i like it pretty decent so far. What i hate about anything to do with diesels in magazines is that they always seem to just "forget" us mechanically injected guys, and move on to the "chips" of the electronically controlled diesels. Oh well.

Eric

 

As if the magazines weren't bad enough, they turn them into TV shows! Ever watched Hot Rod TV? I wouldn't let those guys change the spark plug in my lawn mower ( I couldn't find a diesel one!!!)

 

Hey Trucks is good....There are some bad shows like the truck show on speed..can't remember the name but all they do is pitch products that they are sponsered by. Kind of boarding watching them thalk about a power washer for 10 min.

 

Yeah right! I go offroad when I 4 wheel! I have Dodge trucks and Jeeps, the fullsize can't go near the places a Jeep will.