[non-bike] trustworthy west-LA ford mechanic?

okay, i know this has nothing whatsoever to do with adventure riding (other than all the nasty dirt roads my truck has seen), but i thought one of the LA denizens here might be able to help me out.

as much as i love to work on my bike, it's done nothing for getting me over the feeling that working on my truck ('01 4x4 F-150 supercab) is a giant pain in the ass. *@#, even getting the oil filter out from around the front diff always turns into a contest of wills, even after doing it 3 or 4 times.

i don't drive it much any more, and i work on it even less. it definitely needs a once over by a qualified auto mechanic, (i know that the front rotors need to be ground, some places are screaming for grease, and i bet there are some fluids that need to go...) but one look at the bike makes me go "bah i don't want to work on the truck". plus, i moved out of my downtown warehouse abode -- where I had a couple thousand feet of garage space to use -- to santa monica, where i've got a 1 car garage that my truck wouldn't fit into even if i pulled all of the camping, bike, and Other crap out of it.

but.. then i remember that getting ripped off by mechanics (#1: stealerships. #2: midas) was one of my primary motivators for getting myself into wrenching in the first place (i think an excuse to buy lots of tools came in a close second ) i'm a lot better informed now, so that's some help, but knowing someone i can put some trust into would be a whole lot more help.

so... any helpful info on a decent (in all meanings of the word) ford mechanic in LA, preferably on the west side?