The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk *City Roads Hard on My Tuck*

I don't know if it's just me but the roads here in southern Indiana are just hard on my truck up. My wife and I drove our truck across the bridge to Kentucky today for lunch as the temperature was in the 60s. Great little drive so when we got back to Indiana we decided to drive down by the river front and down Main Street. The streets were tearable. About 2 months ago I had new Inner and Outer tie rod replaced plus upper balls joints and the front end aligned. The front end is out of alignment already I believe due to the "Bad City Roads". How is your streets treating your truck?

We have well-maintained roads here in NE NC.
Easier to maintain than roads that freeze/thaw.

Maybe it's just me but there's a country song in there "City Roads Hard On My Truck" ....

Haha....if you can work something out I'll take my normal 10%

Here in central Indiana not much better, I thought the ride in my truck was getting worse but there are more holes and ruts to try and dodge. My truck came from Madison in 1983 was in good almost rust free back then. Just the kick panels, cab corners and the end of the rear fenders where the met the running boards.

Pothole secondary roads here in mid Missouri.
Main interstate and other main roads are in good shape.
The DOT does a lot a damage when it snows and I have seen them go by with the blade down, and there is nothing on the road.
Job security I guess. Tear it up in the winter and patch it up in the summer!

Don

For my wife and I if we are thinking about packing a lunch and heading to a park or heading to a Cruise-in we always look to see whats in Kentucky first since the State line is only 5 miles from us. Roads are so much better.

Living out in the country, we have a variety of roads. Some of the dirt roads are smoother than the high-traffic paved roads. We take mental notes on where the bad spots are when dad and me go cruising in the '55; original suspension and a worn gearbox doesn't really help when you find a rough patch in the road...

Didn't the Beatles record "The Long and Winding Road" ? Perhaps there's a remake here, "The Long and Bumpy Road" ? Just a thought!

The country roads in my part of rural Arkansas beat our vehicles mercilessly. By choice I leave in a (some say) desolate part of the state and likely drive as much on gravel roads as paved. Since this is primarily a timber producing area, log trucks take a huge toll on our roads. With all the rain we seem to have these days the county road crews sometimes seem to just give up.

So, I and my truck feel your pain.

RonR

Here in N.E. Ohio the freeze/thaw, 20 - 30 one day, in the 50's the next, along with rain has created havoc on the road surface and major frustration for those of us responsible for maintaining them. People think they can drive 55-60 on secondary roads that are better suited for 25-35. When the weather breaks and road crews are out there, please slow down and give them some room. John

Here north of Philadelphia, Turnpike is fine but the local roads are pot hole tricky. Last year hitting a surprise hole, valve stem tear provided a flat.

Roads in Omaha are so pot hole riddled that they're trying to pass a 200 million dollar bond issue to get them fixed.

John

Since I just had an alignment done a few months ago I crawled under the truck just to make sure something didn't come loose or get bent. All looks fine so not sure what happened. Seems like I have to keep one eye on the road and one eye on all the pot holes.

Since I just had an alignment done a few months ago I crawled under the truck just to make sure something didn't come loose or get bent. All looks fine so not sure what happened. Seems like I have to keep one eye on the road and one eye on all the pot holes.

On these trucks with straight front axle tires make a big difference . At one point I had a 1950 F--d 1/2 ton that came with huge bias ply tires , g 60's i think , and switched to smaller radials to cure the scare factor. Although it didn't turn into Ferrari it did eliminate the need to wear depends on the bumpy twisty roads .

John

Illinois roads and highways are terrible, for the most part. No money to repair them correctly. They do lots of pothole patching but they don’t hold up. At least that’s how it is down state.

Yeah.,....are taxes keep going up and part of that is for road repair but it's always the same every year. Very little work done on the roads and it doesn't last.

It can make a huge difference just not running more tire pressure than you need. My 7200 pound 1.5 ton fire truck rides pretty good rolling on 7.50-20's at 40psi, and no shocks.