7Mary3

FWIW, I see a lot of Escalades and Yukon Denalis in livery service. The Navigator is not so well represented in the black car trade.

True, but Ford's 'heavy' truck sales have been on a downward trend for the last couple of years. Some of their recent product decisions (no air brakes on gas engine models, no diesel sales in CARB states) seem to be having an effect.

Lincoln is building momentum, Ford SUV sales are up almost 20%, and F-series sales strong. Heavy trucks sales are down an impressive 18% for the year (-43% for the month of June alone). Will Ford ever get serious about this market or are we seeing a slow fade to oblivion?

From what I understand a lot of the 6.2L block tooling was used over. Many key dimensions such as bore centers and bearing sizes are the same.

I don't know, GM has gone from Gen. III to Gen. IV to Gen. V (LT), the DOHC LT 5.5L, the Blackwing (didn't go anywhere), and a bunch of major revisions to the Duramax (with a brand new 8.3L on the way). Not exactly 'next to nothing'. The 6.8L and 7.3L were not exacly 'all new' either, there's a lot of 6.2L Boss in their DNA...

In other news, it looks like Toyota is going to merge Hino into Daimler Truck: https://apnews.com/article/trucks-japan-toyota-daimler-hino-fuso-6442da9d518fbea4f3b46046dc6964b3

It appears that Chevy and Isuzu currently are not taking orders for 2026 MY class 6 and 7 LCF's in CARB states as the Cummins 6.7L ISB is not 2026 CARB compliant yet. That could impact all the other medium duty OEM's that use the 6.7L, not to mention RAM. I have heard that Cummins is working on a CARB compliant 6.7L available but the new 'fuel agnostic' X10 does meet 2026 CARB standards as a diesel.

Three words sum up the whole sentence: 'Outsource', 'Supplier', and 'China'......

Mustang sales are down 18% for the year and that's with both major competitors (Camaro and Challenger) now gone from the market. The new Charger is not worth mentioning. F-650/750 'heavy' trucks up slightly but still down more than 8% for the year. Ford will be lucky to break 10,000 this year, does it make sense for Ford to continue in this market? Bronco and Bronco Sport showing healthy gains. Lincoln building a little momentum. Where are F-53 stripped chassis models in the totals?

I think the story is the truck has some aftermarket hood/fender assembly that looks like a short LTL hood. Looks nice, that's something Ford should have done.

Sadly no, The oil pump is driven by a small belt and the oil pan must be replaced if it leaks, the gasket is not available separately. I wouldn't own a 2.7L F-150.

After looking at that truck, I don't even think Thibault used a complete C series cab, it looks like they may have used just the front panel and windshield. The doors look to be fabbed up. I'd wager Thibault just bought a few panels from Budd and made the rest themselves (and did a pretty good job of it).

No, I believe GM gets most of their A/C compressors from Denso. Probably just a coincidence.

I doubt that ever was a Ford C series, I think it just has a few C series cab parts on it. The front axle is in the wrong place.

Gorgeous restoration!

Since Ford Pro was created there has always been speculation it will eventually be spun off.

I depends who you ask. I don't think this one was the first either, but it's from 1917. Based on the standard U.S. Army ambulance of the first World War: https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/hf19/lots/r0067-1917-gmc-model-16-ton-express/

Have to ask how often Ford tech's actually buy Ford products?

In California, the only pre-2011 medium/heavy trucks you see outside of a truck show are GM Topkicks and Kodiaks and Ford F-Series with gas engines. But, have to admit, the air is a lot cleaner around here these days.

Keep in mind that most large fleets buy low bid, and beyond that there really isn't much 'loyalty' to any particular brand. Chrysler up into the 70's was very successful in fleet sales, in those years they sold everything from cars to class 8 diesels and were very aggressive with pricing and incentives. You saw a lot of Dodges, both cars and trucks, in fleets back then. It is also true that at one time Ford, GM, and Chrysler all sold cars and trucks up through class 8 and that was something of an advantage for fleets in that they only had to deal with one manufacturer and dealer network. However, those days are long past as commercial truck sales and service is so specialized customers for those vehicle want to deal with dedicated truck dealers, not car dealers that sell a few trucks on the side. I would have to disagree wih your point about DaimlerChrysler and Freightliner. I never once saw a combined Dodge Ram/Freightliner dealer, nor could you ever buy parts or get service for a Freightliner at a Dodge/Ram dealer, maybe unless it was one of those Sterling Bullitt trucks. The fact that Freightliner was part of DaimlerChrysler was invisible to the customers of either make. Ram truck sales dramatically improved during those years because their trucks got a lot more competitive, not because of the corporate tie with Freightliner! Also, did you realize that for many years Renault owned both AMC/Jeep and Mack Truck? I doubt that had any affect on Jeep sales. I have a little experience in railroading. GM used to build better than half of the diesel-electric locomotives in this country (probably the world too) and the parts for those locomotives often came in GM boxes. I always wanted to try ordering a locomotive part from a Chevy dealer just to see what would happen!

I would like to see Ford be successful in class 6 and 7, but if they were to leave that market I doubt it would have any effect on their class 1-5 truck sales. As I have said before, I work for one of the largest utility fleets in the western United States and we haven't bought a new F-650 in over 10 years, but we still buy plenty of class 2-5 Ford trucks.

If the shift linkage was tight and not worn excessively I think that would be the case, the transmission was not all the way in 'park'. I saw so many that were worn to the point when the lever was in park all the way the transmission valve body was not. I remember seeing an old Granada tearing through a parking lot in reverse with no one at the wheel. Luckily a Dodge truck stopped in cold! When I used to work on old Fords I would put a wheel chock behind the back wheel........

I was around for that one, and that was not always case. Ford had a notoriosly junky and wear-prone steering column shifter, sloppy linkage, and a weak detent spring in the transmission. They could fall out of 'park' from vibration with the engine idling, but true you shouldn't leave a vehicle idling unattended with the parking brake not set.