Making this Forum more active again

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Asking all of you, what can be done to make this forum active again? What would you all like to see from me?

[Desoto61]

I can't speak for everyone but much of this stuff is cyclical. People with problems, people fixing trucks and the occasional truck or other story, and those are not every day things. Personally my truck is far from done, but since it's running and driving and I have a 3 month old baby and a new old house full of projects the Power Wagon is being used more than it's being finished, so I don't have much to contribute. I need to pull off my running boards and get them blasted and coated, but again time is not on my side lately, so I don't have much to contribute on the PW front and I hauled some file cabinets home in the truck is not amazingly post-worthy topic.

Maybe look at trying to build threads that stoke discussions and contributions about technical topics, kind of a tips and tricks section. You could start it off with your tips or guides and I'd bet get others to chime in with tips/tricks/experiences and other questions. I'd consider pinning them or otherwise locating them in their own section so they don't get filtered out of view. Similarly adding posts about PW news, Dodge/RAM news, or whatever relevant topics in the right section is another good way to stoke some discussion.

[W_A_Watson_II]

For those curious, Our Forum Software had a security vulnerability that was discovered, and we were quickly hacked . Thankfully our backups were in order, and the software provider issued an update and now two patches . You will see the site go off-line from time to time as we make adjustments and corrections as a result of these updates/patches as well as still fixing some issues as they are discovered. So be patient with us and keep the ideas coming.

[712edf]

I possibly have just as many posts as anybody on here, but don't really post much here anymore. Many of the high volume posters (Gordon, Norm, JimmieD) have passed away.

I look at the forums almost daily, but seldom bother to log-in unless some new post catches my eye & I want to respond.

My main interest is the 72-93 Lifestyle era trucks (especially 74-77 W600's). Those are covered fairly well over on the Ramcharger Central site. I also have, or had, an interest in the 61-71 Sweptline trucks & have posted on those sites quite a bit in the past, but my interest has shifted & I rarely go to those sites any more.

While I appreciate the FFPW & military PW's, I'm generally not into them, at least not much more than any other vintage vehicles. I gander at Joe's PW site regularly but rarely get involved, unless its dealing with a 72-93 trucks.

I'm not into things "Cummins" or anything newer than 93, nor am I interested in Dakotas & the like.

Honestly my biggest reason for not being involved as much as I was a decade ago is I now have a marriage/in-laws, big house/pool & the expense/headaches related to those, plus grandkids. When I get home from my job & then do my "chores" I don't have the energy to mess with my W600, let alone read/post about things Dodge related. I probably should just sell all my junk & give up on the hobby altogether. I'm in my 50's now. The drive just isn't there. I recently rebuilt a Carter BBD carb. It was off the truck for 3-4 weeks. In my younger days it would've been taken care of in a matter of hours.

I know I didn't answer your question, but just wanted to explain the situation as it pertains to me.

Thank you for this forum & allowing me to express my views within it.

Best of luck to the PWA forums & all involved in it.

Bucky

[DrPepper]

Maybe if we shut down Facebook...???

[712edf]

Actually I think facebook is waning, kinda like Myspace did. Now folks tweet,instagram & snapchat.

Bucky

[Bruce in BC]

When I started The Carryall Thread the intention was for folks who where working on their Carryalls to share what they were up to. The thread has had folks drop by and it got some great posts and pictures from folks who were in different stages on their builds. Some drop by and post that they have a Carryall and never post again. I have done some changes and upgrades on the Carryall but have not posted much because of the lack of response and low view count. I feel like I am posting to no one and with the lack of updates from other folks it is difficult to stay motivated.
I am tempted to do the You tube thingie.......... Facebook? Never joined, do not plan to either. A company that promotes or permits lies in the context of ads will never get my support.
How to increase posts and readership here? No clue?

[Matt Wilson]

A lot of forums that used to be active are experiencing this kind of decline. Another hobby of mine is homebrewing (beer), and the two forums I used to visit all the time just don't have any activity anymore. I'll admit that I had not visited one of them in a few years, as my own homebrewing level has dropped off for several years, but when I finally went back to that forum a few months ago, I was shocked at the lack of activity. I couldn't find that anyone had posted ANYTHING in several months or more, Literally, I don't think there was a single post that was more recent than about a year prior to my visit. It was saddening. I've read that people have now turned to Facebook to get their social and technical interaction relating to their hobbies, although I don't see how Facebook is a good substitute for a forum like this. I generally don't post a lot of things on any forums or on Facebook. Mainly, I post when I have a question that I can't answer by doing a search of that forum's archives, or on the rare occasion that I have an answer to someone else's question, which has not already been answered by someone else.

I thought I might post more, especially on this site, when I started rebuilding my engine, but I just haven't been disciplined about it, It's one more task to do, on top of doing the work itself, but it's a great way to document what's been done, and help others along the way who can learn by seeing your example (learn how or how not to do something, as the case may be). I suppose another reason is that I'm wary of getting a dozen different opinions about how I should be doing something differently when I didn't ask for any input. Sometimes it's good to get this input, so I should be more open to it, but it can get irritating if it happens too much. That's especially true when there are people who are very opinionated and only see things as their way or the wrong way, although I guess there aren't too many of those folks on this forum. Also, my 265 engine project, and other parts of the truck, have taken so long that I'm a little embarrassed about it, and I've made a couple of significant (and stupid) mistakes along the way, which I'm correcting, but I'd rather not air those kinds of things to a bunch of people, as some of them are pretty stupid. So....I don't post about it. Again, I should, but I don't....or haven't so far.

I suppose another reason for people's lack of activity on this forum is that they got started on Joe's forum, and they're used to it. There's a base of usership and people don't tend to change unless they see a big advantage. I think many folks like the free-style stream of topics on Joe's forum. I remember one time, many years ago, when Joe asked the forum members about changing up the format, and I don't know exactly what he had in mind, but I think it was going to be a little more organized into specific categories, like this one, and would also require folks to sign up with a user name and password. A lot of people strongly expressed that they did not like that idea. They wanted the forum to stay the same as it had been. So there may be a format preference that's influencing things, too.

[Mel41]

I'm new here and am enjoying all the information on FFPW. I've recently got a 1941 WC ?, I forgot the number but it was a carryall butchered into a closed cab. Looks like Frankenstein from the back, all stitch welded patch work from sections of the carryall ( when one looks closely thru the old paint and rust.) I have a 4BT cummins sitting around so naturally I'm going that route. But that brings up changing the drive train-opening that whole can of worms. So this forum is really an incredible site for me. I just got an email that my account is activated. Hopefully that means I will be able to view the pics posted. That would be an incredible help making choices for trans, transfer case, axles, and on and on.
Like everyone else, life is full. Little 10 acre farm with animals, 3 border collies who do what I want, 3 sons that don't, self employed, wife's to do list, '39 Dodge TC panel project, '46 Chev PU-a pile of parts+ S10 frame, etc. But I will try to post my progress and it will be slow even though I am excited about this project. I know nothing about 4x4 drive trains even though I've got a 2005 Dodge 4x4 Cummins-it just keeps going 230K miles later.
I'm hoping this forum stays alive forever as I have admired FFPW since 1973 as a neighbor had a 1948.
Mel in Oregon

[Kevin in Ohio]

Maybe look at trying to build threads that stoke discussions and contributions about technical topics, kind of a tips and tricks section. You could start it off with your tips or guides and I'd bet get others to chime in with tips/tricks/experiences and other questions.

We did have that for a while as a header topic but it seems to have been taken down. It was a subscriber thing at the time. I did a lot of them but encouraged others to post theirs. I'll try to link it here. https://powerwagonadvertiser.com/for...ricks-by-kevin

[W_A_Watson_II]

https://powerwagonadvertiser.com/for...ricks-by-kevin

[Alxj64]

I think now is the time that we STRIKE.
MASS Exodus from Facebook.
Lets all just keep mentioning this forum and people will wander back. We are the ferris wheel at the carnival, Sure, the new roller coaster is fun, but the ferris wheel is always consistent and steady and everyone ends up there.

I think a big but possibly hurtful move... slowly relocate the Rally information from its own FB page, back over here, where it started. I know that might be a conflict of interest with sponsoring vendors, but would it really be? Not everybody has FB, but anybody can come here. Yes, its an extra stop off, but at least when you are here, you are only getting what you came here for... TRUCKS.