On my way down there when I stopped on a hill my trailer tried to slide around. Well....it was not real bad but I did feel it try to take control. I had been thinking about upgrading my truck to an F250 so I decided to spend my time looking. I ended up purchasing a 2002 F250 diesel. Well...boy was that a mistake!
It was pretty to look at! I was told it had been through over a hundered point inspection and that it was in great shape. It even still had some warranty left! I paid cash for the difference between it and my 1999 F 150. I think they saw me coming! I purchased it in Marble falls and before I got back to Bandera I discovered the windshield wipers were rotten...Uh Oh! I pulled into the Napa store parking lot and a really nice sales clerk changed them for me!
I told the dealership about it but all I got was "those are not covered under warranty"! Well duh but what about that 100 point inspection! Now folks this was not a little used car lot it was the Ford dealer! So much for customer service! I should have known I was in trouble with this truck when I left the dealership after giving them the check! The fuel gauge read empty and starting pinging as I turned out of the lot! I hate purchasing vehicles!! I always do my research so I know what is best for my needs and I know what the price should be but I expect other people to be honest!
Well I enjoyed my month in Bandera. Before I purchased the truck I made a trip to my cousin Nancy's house in Round Rock for a weekend. Her husband Bob even took me truck shopping one day. We really had fun running around Austin. Then I spent a day visiting my cousin Bennie in New Brunsfelds. He is a car guy! After taking me to lunch he took me to check out some trucks too. Unfortunately neither of these nice guys were able to find me a truck.
Well Big Bend Motor Inn had called and pleaded with me to come back. So after a little arm twisting and some rest I decided to go waitress again for February and March. I was able to go a different way than I had ever been before. Since I was south of I 10 I decided to go down 173 to US 90 and then across. Well I must say there is not a whole lot to see through there but it was interesting. It got really interesting after I left Del Rio! The truck started over heating. Hmmmm I was out in the middle of no where! I made a stop when I got a cell signal. I called Ford and they said I would have to take it to a Ford Dealer. I asked where the nearest dealer was. Well it was about 150 miles to Ft Stockton! Believe me I was praying big time. I called the Ford dealer in Ft Stockton. He said it would be several days before he could get it in his shop. I asked if he had any advice and he suggested I take it slow and watch my gauge! Then as needed add water! He said as long as I could keep the temp out of the red I should be fine. Well wasn't that a fun day. Out on the road alone pulling a trailer and watching a temp gauge! I stopped at Sanderson for the night. I sure was glad to get into a campground and off the road. After the truck cooled I added water as suggested. I had decided to go ahead and try for Big Bend after talking to the Ford service guy in Ft Stockton. Well I made it by babying that truck. When I arrived at the Big Bend Motor Inn & RV park I was unhooking my trailer and discovered a nail in the sidewall of one of the trailer tires! Enough to make a person wonder what they were doing! I called my roadside assistance and told them my problem. They were really helpful and said they would send someone right out even though I told them the next day would be okay. A few minutes after I hung up the phone it rang. It was the roadside assistance lady. She said she could not figure out where I was. I explained to her again that I was just outside of Big Bend at the intersection of 118 & 170. She still could not find me. So I said look on your map and find Alpine, Texas. Now look straight south about 78 miles! Eureka she found me! I assured her again that I was off the road and could wait until the next morning to have the tire changed. She insisted on sending someone right on out. Well about 3 hours later the guy showed up from Alpine. It took him about 10 minutes to change the tire and get back on the road! I had to sign the bill....it was $150. Sure glad I have roadside assistance!
I did not have any trouble with the truck running hot again until my friend Margaret came by to see me. We decided to go into Big Bend for the day. When we arrived back at the campground there was steam coming out from under the hood. Uh oh again! I already had an appointment to get it worked on in Ft Stockton so I justed added water. When I took it to get it worked on they said it could be one of 2 things and they had a new fan but not a new water pump. So they put the new fan on and told me if it ran hot when I hooked up to haul out again they would work me in to put a water pump on. It was over one hundred miles to the dealership from the campground so it should overheat if it was going to before i reached Ft Stockton. Well it did fine for the next month and a half....I thought the problem was solved. After I left Study Butte headed to Mexia every thing seemed fine. I even pulled the mountain out side of Alpine with no problem. Well about 50 miles east of Ft Stockton oops! Temp gauge nearly in the red again! I debated going back but decided to continue at a slow pace. I figured it would be easier to get it worked on in Mexia. Besides I really don't like going back....I want to go forward. I also knew once I hit Junction I would be close to Ford dealers all along my route. Well it did fine the rest of the way with a little TLC.
After I got to Mexia I asked my brother's advice. He said it was 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other as to wither I would be better off to fix it or trade it in. I decided to do some internet searches and see if I could find another F250 that would not cost me too much more. That was to be the deciding factor.
Well I found a 2005 F250 in Granbury, Texas. After much praying and fretting I decided to go see it. Well it was beautiful and only had a few miles on it. The man that purchased it in October had decided he did not need a truck and so traded it back in. It had only been used 5 months. It was a little more than I had orginally wanted to spend but I decided to go for it. It had a big gas engine and was rated to pull over 12,000 lbs! I knew it could handle my trailer with no problem.
Finally I found a keeper!
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