Built like a Mercedes (?)

Pardon? I said Haiti and Burkina are two of the poorest countries in the world. Where am I wrong??? I've been to Burkina. I don't need to go to Haiti.

OK serious answer: It's todo with mixing quotes and replies, which can be very effective.

No, and that's why it's not just top-posting that's annoying, but bottom posting and not editing away superfluous material is at least as bad. A badly edited bottom-post-thread can be very annoying to read. So cut away access fat and create a post that is readable be itself. Like I tried to make this one.

Ximinez

Things have changed a bit since 1969 though. At least, they have over here :-)

Most manufacturers specify exactly the same oil up to 12000 miles as is the minimum US standard. That is API SL. It is a standard which is current and set by the *American* petroleum institute. For goodness' sake, back in 1984 I was running UK built cars with 12,000 mile/1year oil change intervals on high sulphur fuel and far inferior oil to SL, I think it could have been API SF but I'm not sure. I had a VW Golf GTi

1.8 back in 1982 which had 10,000 mile intervals on the standard of the time. It was still running last I heard, which was a while ago, with around 180,000 miles on it.

Yes, from 12000 miles up a better oil is usually specified. So what? Many people choose to use a better oil in any case. Long drain oils are increasingly common and are now almost the standard oils for diesel engines. Witness API CH4 which is equivilent to ACEA E3 or E5 or what used to be called 45000km super high performance oil.

Oil is not rocket science for the consumer. One just uses the oil standard and viscosity as specified by the car manufacturer. It's that simple.

Huw

But a '69 engine under thouse conditions shouldn't have inordinately fouled the oil. *MY* '66 and '69 Chrysler engines go for 7000 miles between changes, and hard running is easier on the oil than loafing. If his slant-6 really did foul its oil that badly on one trim, then the engine had some other problem- broken ring, dead PCV system, blown head gasket, who knows what. But it had a problem that caused the dirty oil.

Perhaps you can, but its not classed as a pickup at that level. From there on up to 24k or so, its medium duty. Pickups are light duty. Both the government and the manufacturers make this distinction.

Thanks for confirming what I felt was the case, most pickups in Europe are very light weight.

I'm inclined to agree with you but I don't know those engines. I do remember Ford Escort engines of that period which did need 4500 mile oil changes because by 6000 miles the oil was basically f****d. Mind you, the engines generally didn't last more than 100,000 back then without a rebuild as I remember it, no matter how often the oil was changed. There are still plenty of rebuilt Escorts of that age running around here of that vintage. My nephew works with a specialist company that just rebuild them for enthusiasts, or "sad gits" as I call them.

Huw

Confirm all you like but the fact remains that most European pickups have a one metric ton payload. Even the huge numbers of extended or king cabs on the road today have a one ton payload or near enough. I run some and am in daily contact with many customers who run almost every non American brand under the sun, and Ford. The Ford/Mazda one tonner is built........ is it in Malaysia? No. Singapore? Maybe, but somewhere in that general region in a factory jointly owned by the two corps. Thailand perhaps.

new version of the L200 has recently been launched This is the extremely ugly new one

The bestselling Land Rover. The short wheelbase pickup and van is the best seller in the range in the UK but worldwide the 110inch wheelbase is by far the best seller, including the rest of Europe. Not that this variant is not a good seller in the UK either. What are the others in the market? Hmm. The Toyota Hilux which launched a new model back in June. This is an ugly son-of-a-bitch too. It is also underpowered in comparison with its contemporaries. Try then find the tab for hilux across the top of the page.

Please let me know of any small pickups that sell in any volume apart from the slow selling VW Caddy which themselves are a rare sight on our roads. I know of only one relitively new one in the area, and that is over 5 years old, and that belongs to an employee of mine.

Huw

Huw

Regularly. As in frequently. Not, oh once a week or so.

Sure, as long as the Taurus is running on 30 year old spark plugs, with 2 cycle gas instead of regular, and towing a 40,000 boat behind it.

A neighbor of mine just got rid of his truck, F150, which NEVER got better than 8MPG. EVER. If you think ANY CAR averages less than 8MPG you need to get a clue.

************************* Dave

No, you said they are two of the poorest countries in the world and the most prosperous.

************************* Dave

Agreed. Top posting is occasionally done in a manner that is acceptable, but not very often. Bottom posting is usually done well, but there are always idiots who can't. Inline is really best.

ALL OF THEM must be done with proper snippage, or they don't work.

************************* Dave

You call that a one ton pickup?

Truly amusing.... 2500lbs capacity and 5510 towing. Laughable at best. My

3/4 ton truck has 2500lbs capacity (limit) by law, 5000lbs by rating on tires and axles. Its towing capacity is 12,000lbs. I've had it on road at 14,000lbs gross weight. And yes, its just a pickup, and not the biggest made in the U.S.

Less than the above truck.

a new version of the L200 has recently been launched A stunning 113hp. How nice. I'm at the low end of the scale running 215hp, and 420ftlbs of torque in my truck.

Visit the Dodge website and you'll find that payload in a one ton 4x4 Regular cab (3500 series) is 5050lbs and a truck with a quad cab (four doors) has a payload of 2900lbs.

yeah, just what we need in this world. more rules. how about you just read it however it is posted and if you can figure it out, cool. if you can't, let it go.

Nope - it went another 100,000 and I never added oil between changes. I sold it with 223,000 miles on it in 1973 (you heard right) to go to Africa. I had to finish my '53 Coronet before I left, so the Dart went and I put some miles on a '65 Rambler 'till I got the Hemi going. Took it ( the '53 Hemi Coronet)from Elmira Ontario to PEI for it's first outing, then drove it back home and put it in storage for 2 years. That Dart was not totally stock - it was "tuned" and really liked running at 4500 RPM. Not quite like my old '63 Valiant (170) that REGULARLY turned over 5000. The Valiant had to run Champion N3 or Nippondenso W25 plugs or it burned them off in short order. The Dart was good on N7 or N9, IIRC, but was really hard on N14s. The Dart was OK on regular, but the Valiant was pretty much a "premium" engine.Sunoco 260 preffered. (206 RW HP on the dyno through the torquflite)60 in low, 90 in second, and pin the needle in third.

You gotta learn to read da English, Dave. No, I said quite densely populated and 2 of the 5 poorest countries in the world. Average income in the village I visited was well under $14 per man/woman and child per year. And it was one of the more "prosperous" villages. In the cities or large towns, like Banfora things were a bit better, but even in Ougadougou, the capital, poverty was VERY evident. As was Aids.

Well, when we take little brother's F150 up to his place in Gravenhurst ( from Kitchener) without the trailer, and without the Quad on the back, it gets 25 miles to the Canadian Gallon if he doesn't push it too hard. It's a 4X4 V8. That's about the same he gets when he takes his daughters Escort wagon - which is kept in a good state of tune. Actually, if he doesn't chase the Escort he can get close to 30.If he chases the F150, less than half that.

In town - a TOTALLY different story. My 94 TransSport 3.8 can't do that(25). My old 3.0 New Yorker could approach 25 - not sure what the 2.5 Mystique is doing - it doesn't hit the highway too often.

The old L200 MitsuShitty was sold here as a Dodge D50 - a half ton truck in America.

Well, virtuall the same Mazda/Ranger is sold here as a half ton by both Mazda and Ford..

MOST Hilux are sold as 1/2 ton trucks, although the frame is the same on the 1 ton. Yes, the Hilux is sold as a 1 ton - but not NEARLY all of them. We used to have Hilux 1/2 and one ton pickups, as well as 1 ton commercial cab and chassis when we imported them from Japan. Our Tacoma is American built, and not available as a 1 ton - as MOST american users require a larger truck when they want a 1 ton capacity.

In North America we have the Toyota Tacoma 1/2 ton, and a few 3/4 ton versions,(875-1640 lb payload) as well as the honking big Tundra. (1455 to 2025 lb payload capacity - including passengers on the Tundra.) It will tow 6500 lbs though.

Many panels on modern cars are also galvanised. That makes a *big* difference.

Graham

There's simply not much demand for anything more.

Graham