Anybody towing with an older truck?

OBSPowerstroke wrote:

*The last and probably most exciting of the problems I've had was losing an idler pulley in traffic in Salinas, California. I didn't have the trailer with me on this trip, but I was in the middle of a straight through drive from Portland, OR to Santa Barbara, CA. Called the nearest Ford dealer; they had the part in stock and could install it that day, but I had to figure out how to make it the 10 miles to their shop with no power steering, power brakes, or cooling in the middle of summer. Tow truck was a 2 hour wait, and then I'd be running up against their closing time, so I decided to limp it up there. Made it without issue and they had me back on the road in an hour.

I'd love to have a new(er) truck, but I certainly don't want the payment! The few repairs I've had to make to mine are nowhere near what the payment on a new truck would be, and who's to say a new truck won't have it's own set of issues? Plus I have a manual transmission in mine, and that's almost impossible to find on the newer rigs, so I don't see getting rid of my truck for quite some time.

Absolutely nothing wrong with an older truck if it's well maintained.

I currently have a 2000 Excursion with 135K and it does the job for me nicely and relatively cheaply. I could get a new truck if I really wanted to, but would rather spend the money elsewhere in my budget.

I actually carry an idler pully, tensioner and a belt. (A few other easy to change parts too) It's easy to fix even on the side of the road, few tools needed, parts take up little space, they do break, and most importantly it will strand you.