29th Jan 2007, 16:56

Listen up: I'll tell you the reason why GM and Ford engines are better engines. Because they can be abused for decades and used for real work pulling multiple tons day after day and hardly ever, if ever having a break down.

They keep running for years with little or no over-hauling.

My C20 has been used since 1978 to do work, (it's not a commuter, it's a farm truck) the engines has never had to have anything done to it except a new $14.00 fuel pump and new spark-plugs and coil, which I, Mr. Mechanic am able to do myself.

Who would make an airplane's skin out of cast iron? The thing would weigh a million tons. It couldn't even leave the ground. The reason it's not used as much is because it's heavy and hard to work with. Has anyone ever tried drilling a hole into cast iron? Good luck. Hope you can afford many drill bits and a new drill.

Not only has my C20 been put through real tests, but my Grandfather had a 77 C10 custom deluxe that was given to him by my uncle. He neglected the thing and never changed the oil in it. I would dare say that if you tried draining the oil, it would come out like black pancake syrup because it was so thick. Yet, the 5.0L 305 would fire up every time. The only real problem it had, was the carburetor wasn't working correctly and the engine would stall when put into gear, until it warmed up. Besides that, it never gave any of my family members a single problem and it was bought new or near new. My grandfather gave it to another uncle of mine, whose kids drove it as a commuter vehicle daily which still never gave them any problems. Then they sold it to their neighbor who drives it daily and used it to pull a U-haul trailer over a 1000 mile round trip. That was just a couple of years ago. Still, it has never been broken down. My dad used the truck before he bought the C20 and never was let down by it. So it has had a long life of either farm work, neglect, or frequent transportation and never failed anyone.

I get so tired of explaining this stuff to you people. Your Tundra engines are never used to do any real work. Even if they are, you do not have the guarantee that they will last for 30 or 40 years doing that work.

These old Chevrolet engines have put in the time. They were not used as commuter vehicles with a bag of mulch in the back, they were used to haul anything from cattle, to tobacco, to wood, to round bails of hay, to tons of fertilizer.

After all that repetitious work, they never had any major break downs and are yet to have one. They have proven that they can be put through hell for 30 years or more and keep right on trucking. The 4.7 and 5.7 liter Tundra engines cannot claim this. They have not existed long enough and they definitely have not been used for anything. Anyone who has this kind of work to do wouldn't even touch one.

If you all would put-up or shut-up, you would see whether or not the Tundra engine or any other Toyota engine is durable. If you people would ever bother to do any real work, you would tear the things up. It doesn't matter how well aluminum weathers or how precise it is assembled, it is a weaker substance. Of course you will never do anything brutal so you will never know the difference.

If Toyota made a cast-iron engine, it would last longer than an aluminum after being abused. If Chevy made an aluminum 5.7L 350 in the old days, it would wear out faster than their 5.7L 350 cast-iron engines after being worked day after day.

You people will never see this because you people will never do anything with your trucks. You will never have the opportunity or need to haul or pull multiple tons of weight. If you ever did start doing this on a daily basis, your precision engine would be worn out in no time. Aluminum is weaker and less dense so it grinds down faster than cast iron. Try taking aluminum and cast-iron and sand on them or scrape on them and see which one grinds down faster.

The only reason the Tundra engine will not wear down that fast is because there will never be tons of resistance pulling on the vehicle in the other direction. Any engine will last longer without have to pull anything.

About those useless 70's Toyota pickups: They were puny the day they rolled off of the assembly line and incapable of doing anything real from the get-go. A 70's model domestic could haul 3000lbs in the bed and at the same time, pull 10,000 lbs behind it without hesitation. The 70's model Toyota's would be pushed to the limit just to pull a bass-fishing boat and haul a washing machine and dryer at the same time. Maybe their engines are still running today in other states because no one ever did anything with them through-out their lives. The 70's domestics were just about all bought and used for work (because people didn't buy trucks just to drive back then) and are still on the road today. The 70's model Toyota's were bought for efficiency or to save gas and couldn't do any real work, and I am yet to see one. I'm sure they're out there, but I'm also sure they weren't used for anything important.

You keep having to make predictions while I keep declaring numbers in both years and miles. If your Tundra engine is indeed going to out-last my Chevy engine, then you are going to have to wait until the year 2028 or later to actually make that call. (Even if it does out-last it, it would be because it was never used to do anything.)

If your Tundra engine is indeed going to out-last my Ford engine, then you are going to have to wait until the odometer says 260,000 miles to make that call. (Even if it does out-last it, it would be because it is a V-8 in a 4,500lbs chassis instead of a V-6 in a 5,000lbs chassis.)