Slight rant about auto forums

[SpaceHiker]

Maybe this is all in my head, but I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this:

 

Many of us have trucks have been around 10+ years now, and in that time I think every possible question has been asked and answered in the various online forums, particularly CF.

 

And so, when I visit the forums now, all I see are the idiots who don't know how to search, and the trolls who answer them, usually incorrectly because they are more interested in seeing their jibberish in print than having any actual knowledge about what they are posting.

 

All three of my vehicles are older, so I see the same pattern in the forums for all three of them. It seems like a forum has an actual useful life of about 7 years, after which it really is only needed as a search tool. 

 

I suppose something original might pop up from time to time, but otherwise I find it a waste of time to try to answer questions anymore on CF. For every knowledgeable answer that someone posts, there are 10 answers from trolls, and the OP doesn't know who to trust since they're obviously not even able to search for themselves. And so they completely misinterpret the answers they're given and just make a bigger mess for themselves. It's a  pattern I see repeated a lot in forums for older vehicles.

 

This forum is different because it's more like a place where the "already knowledgeable" go to ask about something that has them stumped, although I do occasionally see the "dur..." question here as well. But the large popular forums I visit, such as CF, NASIOC, and clublexus, have all become a bit of a joke for any vehicle older than about 7 years. ClubLexus is actually the biggest joke I've seen just because of the type of person that generally buys such a vehicle (example: "My steering wheel moves out of the way when I exit the vehicle, going to sell the vehicle if you can't tell me how to stop it from doing that?").

 

The other issue I think it that more people than ever before are buying old vehicles who have absolutely no mechanical inclination or experience. You can't buy a 15 year old Cummins and take it to a mechanic every time there's the slightest issue, it would cost more than a new truck within a few years. But time after time I see "My mechanic said..." on the forums.

 

Rant over, resume normal programming.

[Me78569]

The reason why we put so much time and effort into the articles is for this reason.  

[SpaceHiker]

Right, one definitive guide that solves the problem versus a whole bunch of chitchat that goes nowhere. If only people would search and read before posting.

[Mopar1973Man]

That's something we don't do here... For what ever reason we are all adults here and family like here so we truly do care and attempt to resolve or band together and help people get solutions not jibberish or the common answer "Use the search function it been answered already!" Not all issues are the same nor is the solution to every problem.

 

Sites like CF are corporate owned and the only thing that matters is traffic and advertising dollars. Don't get me wrong we to have bills here too but we do attempt to be helpful for all the members. CF the corporate owners don't really supervise actions on the site. If they did you'd see them being more visible on the site which you don't.

[Wild and Free]

I used to be more involved here when I owned several 2nd gens over the years which did nothing but drain my bank accounts and take up a lot of time maintaining them. My 3rd and 4th gens have been great other than basics to date.

We still chit chat here but most here are on a whole lot higher level of critical thinking and problem solving heck a lot like to make up issues for fun I think lol. There is a place for different types of chit chat here to keep it separate from the main tech forums and most are pretty good about keeping things in the appropriate spot.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Wild and Free

[JAG1]

3 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

That's something we don't do here... For what ever reason we are all adults here and family like here so we truly do care and attempt to resolve or band together and help people get solutions not jibberish or the common answer "Use the search function it been answered already!" Not all issues are the same nor is the solution to every problem.

 

 

Not all folks are the same either. Someone may think a little different and have a harder time understanding what is to most others a simple issue. I had a Chemistry teacher in college that could immediately pick up on a persons way of thinking, he could get on their level and then be able to turn them to the correct understanding. He was an amazing instructor.

 

Wild and Free, isn't there a sweet spot in a second gen when it goes for a while without hitting the pocket book? I just bought an 01 to replace the 1992 I had for 20+ yrs. It was a good truck.

 

 

[SpaceHiker]

1 hour ago, JAG1 said:

Wild and Free, isn't there a sweet spot in a second gen when it goes for a while without hitting the pocket book? I just bought an 01 to replace the 1992 I had for 20+ yrs. It was a good truck.

 

 

Ya once you catch up on deferred maintenance they're pretty sweet. Just make sure to stay caught up lol.

 

I pretty much agree with everything said here. I know what it's like to own a website, I operate about 7 of them at the moment, with sites coming and going all the time. Income source on all of them is Adsense at the moment, although I've used Amazon Associates as well. The big forum aggregators are just like you said, they buy sites and then let them go without monitoring much of anything.

[Wild and Free]

I am just way to picky and anal about my iron to let anything get anywhere close to deferred. I am making the comparison to my 3rd and 4th gens for comparison. Its all the little things and improvements I was always doing that cost the most. My 3rd and 4th gens I just drive especially the 2010 hemi best pickup I have owned from a maintenance and reliability standpoint...............so far lol

They are both low mileage in the big picture with near 120k on the hemi and 130 k on the 05 cummins.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Wild and Free

[notlimah]

I think the overall difference is what Mike said. Even if a question is being asked that's been best to death, we still take the time to POLITELY point someone in the right direction, or offer help if their particular situation is slightly different from the norm. That was one of the main reasons I joined this forum and am more active here then CF. Posting 'use the search function' does nothing because if the person didn't even know or think to use that before, even after they did they'd still probabaly have questions. A lot of times people do use the search function and something doesn't really fit their exact situation so they want clarification. 

 

Thats why I feel these forums have so much relevance because  with the age of these trucks, mundain and normal situations are all but that and so the need to get similar situations and experiences from other forum members is key in helping fix these trucks at times.

[dripley]

Back in 09 when my ECM went I turned to forums for some info to help me figure out what was wrong. CF mainly. The 2 favorite answers I got was "clean your grounds" or "search". Searches ended up with nothing or so many threads i could not read them all, much less tell what was good or bad info. No body much wanted to talk about it. In fairness I have since seen how hard it can be to diagnose a failed ECM and good advice is still a little hard to come by. 

 That is when I found this site and people willing to talk to me and help thru some issues. I never agreed with the " just search " answer. You can get overloaded with info. We are still seeing people buying there first diesel pick up and they are second gens. I never minded helping some one with a problem thats been beat to death because I remember all the help i got when I went thru the same thing.They are just learning like we all once did. Just my way of paying it forward. Let em come is what i think. They are welcome.

[Mopar1973Man]

3 hours ago, dripley said:

Back in 09 when my ECM went I turned to forums for some info to help me figure out what was wrong. CF mainly. The 2 favorite answers I got was "clean your grounds" or "search". Searches ended up with nothing or so many threads i could not read them all, much less tell what was good or bad info. No body much wanted to talk about it. In fairness I have since seen how hard it can be to diagnose a failed ECM and good advice is still a little hard to come by. 

 That is when I found this site and people willing to talk to me and help thru some issues. I never agreed with the " just search " answer. You can get overloaded with info. We are still seeing people buying there first diesel pick up and they are second gens. I never minded helping some one with a problem thats been beat to death because I remember all the help i got when I went thru the same thing.They are just learning like we all once did. Just my way of paying it forward. Let em come is what i think. They are welcome.

 

 

This right here is how this whole mistake of Mopar1973Man.Com came to existing... I did the whole forum thing trying to figure out my first bad injection pump failure back in 2004. Then got the answer I needed. Got the pumps (lift and VP44) under warranty. Then I contniued to pay it forward. My daily notes and learning grow to the point I started building web pages and articles which started the web site in 2005... The rest you all know the story... 

[War Eagle]

What brought me here is the LACK of belligerant manners and belittling response that seems so common on the other sites.

[dripley]

1 hour ago, War Eagle said:

What brought me here is the LACK of belligerant manners and belittling response that seems so common on the other sites.

That is definitely one of the reasons I am still here. Much friendlier atmosphere and I feel like i really know the people here. Got alot of that and saw alot of it on CF.