Worth fixing.

[Brian VT]

I stumbled onto this article and it reinforced why my brain chose to get rid of my modern SUV and keep my 1985 Benz and also buy a 1987 F250 IDI 4wd ext. cab.
And it reminded me of how important you all are in our (motoring) lives. This is such a great group. Thank you for being here.

It's a long story. And it doesn't get very good until about 1/4 into it. But I read the whole thing and felt is was worth the time.

When a Vintage RV Is Your Home, Repair Is a Way of Life

Six years ago, I moved my family into a 50-year-old RV—not just to see America, but to test my belief that anything worth fixing can be fixed.

www.wired.com

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Most of these trucks are still worth fixing.

 

[Old Goat]

Thanks for the story Brian. Interesting what the guy went through with the bus. They were so lucky they were where they were when the axle came loose.

Same with our old IDI`s, gotta do our own wrenching, or go broke paying some one that doesn`t know how, or does a lousy job.

Rear axles do decide to leave the vehicle sometimes.

Bus carrying 30 students loses rear axle in Phoenix

No one was injured when the axle broke free of the bus Thursday afternoon.

www.azcentral.com

Evidently this is quite common.

APS Bus Loses Rear Axle

Albuquerque Public Schools spokesman Rigo Chavez tells ABQJournal.com that there were no children on the bus this morning when its rear axle fell off. The bus had just dropped off a group of school children at Zia Elementary and was headed back to a parking lot owned by Beal company, which is...

www.abqjournal.com

Ogdensburg pumper was due for replacement in next couple of years

Ogdensburg’s fire chief says it’s not clear yet if the fire truck that broke an axle Thursday can be repaired.

www.wwnytv.com

Goat

 

[Nero]

Don't forget about the duck boat axle https://komonews.com/news/local/i-d...uck-boat-driver-still-reliving-horrific-crash

 

[Cant Write]

@Brian VT

Great read!! I wonder what gears that thing has to help the 318.....4.56’s....would be my guess with a torque flight 727...?

 

[Greenie]

This is my dilemma now. A 1993 F-250 - in great shape towing a 1997 Holiday Rambler Alumascape travel trailer. Towing 3 plus tons cross country is ******* a vehicle. Although I've kept up with the common issues there are still other 30 year old parts that might be ready to fail. Dealerships will probably refuse to work on a 30 year old truck and some parts might be very hard to buy locally. It's a big gamble to take

 

[Nero]

In my professional opinion, owning an idi is a niche market now, and requires knowing how to maintain it.

 

[Jesus Freak]

In my professional opinion, owning an idi is a niche market now, and requires knowing how to maintain it.

We're actually becoming a "cult". I've developed a special hand gesture to identify us, like how the free masons and illuminati do. I'll post a picture of my idea at the end of my rant. But yeah, I've brought all sorts of dead equipment back to life that if you saw it you'd be like, "dude, just quit". Im not an avid picture taker, so I don't have "proof" just memories. 1950 Farmall C, 1951 8N that was on its way to the scrap yard, 59 caterpillar D6, 100's of craftsman lawn mowers. My wife's firebird (KITT) was a lost cause...... and then I got it and got it going, the original owner (a prior Marine) was in tears when I sent him a video of it running. All his "mechanic" friends couldn't figure out that the distributor was 180 out, thus it sat in disrepair with a limb in the busted out hatch for 6yrs.

Anyway, here's the secret hand signal, when I see it I'll know you're a IDI owner!

 

[Jesus Freak]

And a friend of mine that died a couple years ago had one of those Traveco things. It needed a carburetor and some other stuff, I could have gotten it but I really didn't care for the Mopar driveline. 440 and torqeflight.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

We're actually becoming a "cult". I've developed a special hand gesture to identify us, like how the free masons and illuminati do.

Anyway, here's the secret hand signal, when I see it I'll know you're a IDI owner!

Great idea! I'm all for it!

 

[Nero]

It's funny you say cult. The vw tdi scene is the same way, but one major difference between that scene and the idi scene is everyone here is willing to learn and fix, invest and maintain these trucks, and the idi scene is just wanting to get by on bare minimums, smallest budget ever, cutting unbelievable corners. Part of the reason I don't go on those forums anymore.

All I know is I'm set for life with this truck. I actually have a lead on another idi engine to build finally, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I think that it's because (at least partly) because the TDI cars are relatively new. We know that our trucks are old before we buy them. We understand that they may not have had the best care in the past. We also know, or soon find out, that most shops don't want to work on our old trucks so we HAVE to learn to do things ourselves. The simplicity of the IDI compared to the TDI is also an added incentive to want to learn how to work on our trucks. That's my opinion. Take it for what you will.

 

[Jesus Freak]

and the idi scene is just wanting to get by on bare minimums, smallest budget ever, cutting unbelievable corners.

I can absolutely attest to this......I mean come on.....I don't even buy diesel if I don't have to!

 

[Nero]

I did a typo. The TDI scene wanted to do things super cheap. The IDI scene seems to want to try and fix things.

 

[Brian VT]

It does seem like most here try to do it right the 1st time even if it means some more money and more time.
I guess that's because most of us either plan to keep it for a long time or don't have a choice in that matter.