Shopsmith Forums

Dusty, my Toyota was selected due to their reputation for running 300,000 miles or more and our sons terrific luck with his Tacoma. Ours may one day get new bumpers and has few scratches with only one small fender dent (which I managed to straighten by hand). Tires are nearly new high end Michelin's. The interior is immaculate. All it really seems to need is a timing belt, water pump, plugs and an exhaust manifold leak repaired. It runs well. Our mechanic as well as the local Toyota dealer agree on it's needs and great shape. Odd thing is I would rather drive the truck than my 2010 Highlander. Oh yeah this is to be my shop truck. The finance director is tired of damage to the better car. I predict your travels will begin sooner than you expect. Jim

fjimp wrote: All it really seems to need is a timing belt, water pump, plugs and an exhaust manifold leak repaired. Jim

I may be spoiled but that seems like a lot to go wrong. I have a 90 dodge dakota with 125,000 and besides tires and brakes I haven't changed anything except the Air conditioner compressor that I probably messed up when I converted to R134. Oh yeah I lost the nylon bushing in the automatic shift lever so I put in a brass one held with cotter pins.

It is my Home Depot truck and gets started and driven about once every 2 to 3 weeks.

I share the pain on getting RVs (well, in my case a tag-along trailer) back in shape. I've had a 22' Terry for years, but have not had a vehicle to pull it with in 2 years.

So last month, we bought a 2011 Tundra that had 9300 miles on it.
Had to change the registration for the trailer from NM to TX.
Trailer tires had to be replaced....old ones were put on it in 1999.
Brake control had to be replaced.....old one from 1999 was not behaving nicely.
P-traps under both sinks had to be replaced....forgot to put antifreeze in them the last time I took it deer hunting 2 years ago.
Furnace in the trailer is crapped out.....gonna be expensive....a couple of pay-cycles down the road.

But, the good news: We took it for a shake-down run last weekend to Caprock Canyons State Park (Pics here.) and had no issues with the truck or the trailer. This was Susan's second camping trip, and it was a hoot to watch her. The stress from day-to-day work just melted off. In about two hours, she would just look around and grin. She even got up in the middle of the night to go outside and look at the stars.

The bottom line:
Yes, it's expensive to get the camper back up and running (and then there's the pickup purchase).
The look on Susan's face.......Priceless!....worth every penny:)

Planned trips, weather permitting:
T-Giving: Ouachita National Forest in OK and AR.
Christmas: Northern FL to visit the in-laws.