Until only recently overdrive was considered an add on or extra and was not counted as a gear. These days it’s standard (on everything) so they count it as a gear. A 5 speed really is a 4 with an overdrive. Overdrive should not be acknowledged as a gear, especially in a truck. If you don’t believe me, just ask anyone who’s ever shredded their axial using it as a gear while towing or hauling. And for those of you (with trucks) who are confused by all of this, see towing/hauling in your owner’s manual. Even if you have an automatic you can still shred your axial, or strip your transmission with overdrive, while towing or hauling.

If you don’t have an owner's manual, play it safe, don’t put much over 800 pounds in your truck (passengers included) while using overdrive (and these days with 400LB people all over the place, 800lbs isn’t that far off any more). And just a note: my personal opinion is if you didn’t at least go over the owner’s manual, you have NO right using it, no matter what it is (car, truck, TV, computer, lawn mower). Too many people get into trouble (ESPECIALLY with vehicles) by not understanding what they’re doing. The first step to understanding anything is to read the manual!

What I do with my truck (probably why mine last so long) is practice the 1000 pound rule with a half ton (150 or 1500). That is if I haul close to or over 1000Lbs (including passengers, and driver), I don’t use over drive. With ¾ tons, stick to 1500 pounds. And with compacts, I like to stick to less than 800 pounds while using over drive. And if I’m trailering (even if it’s just a dinky trailer with a lawn mower on it) I don’t use over drive. Again, consult your manual on all of this, and if in doubt don’t use over drive.

Remember newer trucks are VERY powerful and usually won’t bog down even when heavily loaded, so it may seem like the truck’s fine loaded down in overdrive, but being as new trucks are very well engineered, most won’t show pain until something (transmission, transfer-case, or axial) is striped clean.

And it seems like a lot of buyers use these forums for research before buying. So here’s my two cents about used trucks. A lot of used trucks today were just driven as big cars and don’t know what a real load is. If you’re looking to buy used, this is the kind of truck you want. Its hallmarks are usually higher miles, not a scratch on the bed, a tailgate that works like new, no recover hitch (you can’t trailer enough on a bumper hitch to damage a truck without bending the bumper, or at least marring the ball mounting hole); if there’s caps in the holes on the bumper (the ones for the ball mount) that’s a good sign.

If you're looking at a truck from a private individual (this is the way to buy, for reasons too numererous to go into here) and it’s got a recover hitch, ask the owner if he has a recover to “try on” (ask for the one usually used with this truck). If he says doesn't have one, and has owned the truck since new, it’s safe to assume he’s never used the truck for towing and probably bought the “tow package” for the heavier (better) brakes it comes with. If he hands you a badly worn recover, don’t immediately assume it came from this truck, put it in the hitch; if it doesn’t slide right in (takes some force), that’s probably a good thing, as that means it wasn’t used much. Slide it in and look for the “line”. If it doesn’t line up with this truck, it can be assumed that it wasn’t used much (a good thing). If the owner says he’ll have to go find it and can’t within 10 minutes, don’t worry about it; if it can’t be found in 10 minute, then he bought it, MAYBE used it a few times, and lost it. Now if the guy brings you a bunch (good ones) and tells you to “pick out the one you want”, and they all fit the truck and are very used, RUN. If he brings you one, and it’s worn, slides in easily and the pin seems at all loose and wobbly, RUN.

I know I’ve covered mostly trailers with this, but this is one of the few ways to DESTROY a truck without it showing. Know that a truck that’s seen a lot of heavy trailering is worth about half that of a truck driven as a car.

The most real and true source for vehicle pricing is VMR (www.vmrintl.com). If you're going to “march into” a dealership with an N.A.D.A. guide or Kelly Blue Book, you better bring along the Vaseline (if you know what I mean).

A note for the publishers. What I’m trying to do with this is to help them get a good car at a fair price. If you can’t show a very fair (in my honest opinion) competitor to the N.A.D.A. on your forums (advertising interests) I understand, and would like to request that my article be posted with the omission of the vehicle pricing statement.

I don't know about all this "torque" you talk about, my cousin has an 02 F-150 4.2L and my Chevy s-10 4.3 has much much more torque, and even has more miles than his f-150. I think the 4.2 lacks power.

I own a 99 F150, it has 275,000 miles on it. It was owned by a rental company and looks like it has hauled many heavy loads. The trailer hitch is well worn. It has a V6 that leaks about one drop of oil a month, does not smoke, and still runs strong.

To the guy who compared Chevy's 4.3L against the Ford 4.2L... They're basically the same engine as per power output.

Citing Motortrend: (Both are 1999 Truck application, as stated)

Ford 4.2L - - Power: 205 HP @ 4,750 rpm; 250 ft lb @ 3,000 rpm.

Chevy 4.3L- - Power: 200 HP @ 4,400 rpm; 255 ft lb @ 2,800 rpm.

So, I'm guessing that since the peak power is available at a relatively lower RPM, you think you're feeling more of an influx.

Mines got 254,567 and is nowhere near dead :)