1993 Ford F150 4WD
After my Ford truck had given me many years of trusty service, I finally decided that I just couldn't live with the 2WD any longer. A big part of what I needed the truck for was to haul stuff around my property. And unless it was clear and bone dry, I'd get it stuck way out back and have to get the neighbors to fire up their tractor and haul me out. It happened over and over and over again. Every time I really needed it, it would get hopelessly stuck. I couldn't take it any more.
I kept my eye out for Ford trucks for sale wherever I went. If I ever saw one my eyes would immediately go to the front suspension where I'd look for that pumpkin that indicates 4WD. There was one on the corner right on the way to work. It looked good. I didn't know how it was mechanically, but it was red with a black interior. Good starter. But since I saw it every day, I'd always say I'd stop and look at it tomorrow, and I never did, and one day it was gone.
I decided that I'd just buy the next one I found. Some time later one appeared in the little village near me. I decided I wasn't going to let any more opportunities slip through my fingers. Bad idea. I thought that all Ford F150's were indestructible. Nope. I bought it at half the asking price, and still I got robbed. It was a mess. It was fit for the junk yard.
I took ownership on a dark and cold winter night. The battery was dead. The seller begrudgingly gave me a jump start. The gas gauge was pegged on empty, but because the battery was dead I couldn't shut it off. And because the emergency brake was useless I couldn't leave it running while I put any gas in. So I held my breath and set out for the 3.5 mile drive to my house.
At about 1.5 miles it ran out of gas. I was on this country road in the dark in the middle of winter with no gas and a dead battery. I called my neighbor lady to grab a gas can and some cables and meet me. She arrived soon enough, but for whatever reason we didn't have enough juice to get the truck started. I rode back with her and had AAA haul it the rest of the way to my house.
That nasty honeymoon was the prelude to a match made in Hell. The engine was okay, but the drivetrain was shot. It was money down the toilet. I turned right around and sold it for less than half what I paid. And was glad to be rid of it.
The only upshot was that this popped my 4WD cherry. I had never operated a 4WD vehicle before. There was the Subaru that I had all those years ago, but I only drove it on the roads on maybe two occasions, and it was push-button, on-demand 4WD. This truck had a transfer case that I had to shift myself. And it didn't even have self-locking hubs. I had to get out and switch them myself whenever I went in and out of 4WD. I took it out to the back of my property and experimented. I put it in 2WD and got it stuck somewhere. I locked the hubs, and put the transfer case into 4WD, and I could actually feel all fours dig in and pull us easily out of what would have had my 2WD truck hopelessly stymied. I have to say, as much as I hated this piece-of-crap truck, that first time that I had the 4WD experience, well it felt very, very good.