7Mary3

That's a good question. Blue Diamond is now 75% owned by Navistar, and the LCF is dead. The Cargo was sold to Freightliner along with the heavy models, and Freightliner dropped it a couple of years ago. It was not missed. I would not be surprised if the 6.7L found it's way into the 650 and 750, but I would assume Navistar would do the redesign.

A few interesting points: First, note that Ford says they are open to selling this engine to other OEM's. I figure since the market for large diesel pickups has dropped considerably since this engine started development Ford may have to find other sales for it, as the article pointed out. The article also states that the iron pintle EGR valve is for the F-550 and up. Sounds like this engine may be available in the 650 and 750. And, the 6.7L has a standard SAE bell housing bolt pattern, again pointing to possible use in larger commercial vehicles.

That would be radius arms, but I understand what you are talking about. A pitman arm is the steering arm attached to the steering gear box. In any event, even if the intrepid Super Duty owner elects not to do major repairs to his/her truck after the warranty expires, what do you think it's going to cost to have repairs made to one of these? Substantially more than competing trucks, that's for sure. I don't like the idea from a fleet maintenance standpoint, most fleets keep vehicles for quite some time after the warranty runs out, and many perform all or most of their own repair work. Taking a cab runs a high risk of damage to the cab.

Nissan was making a lot of noise about a new line of commercial trucks, including a heavy duty pickup and a full size van.

No Richard, I have not seen the difference in the size between Dodge and Ford lower control arms. BECAUSE NO FORD HEAVY DUTY PICKUP HAS LOWER CONTROL ARMS! Sorry, I had to do that.

The Diplomat/Gran Furys were nothing but a lot of front suspension trouble. Off and on again driveability issues too, particularly when Chrysler changed from Thermoquads to Quadrajets. A really good squad was the 1975 9C1 Nova, basically a 4 door Z-28. Mid-70's Torinos weren't bad either.

Good engineering. Ford had something of an excuse with the 6.0L and 6.4L (International to Ford: here's the engine, you figure out how to get it in your truck). But now there isn't an excuse. You can remove the cylinder head(s) from a Duramax or Cummins in their respective trucks without removing the engine from the truck, or worse yet, the cab from the chassis. Can you imagine some poor guy trying to replace a head gasket in his driveway on one of these trucks after the warranty is over?

To be honest, at this point I am far more excited about the 6.2L 'Boss'. Diesel emission controls are just too much at present, both in cost and complexity. I am told major service will still require cab removal on diesel Super Duties. Stupid. The fleet man in me hopes regular old glass sealed beam headlights will still ba available.

You are absolutly right when looking at market share only, but with the market so depressed right now, Ford's 'good' market share translates to only a few hundred units a month. Volume, regardless of market share, needs to improve to make medium duty viable for Ford. BTW- International's intent of not needing SCR and urea for 2010 is raising a lot of eyebrows here. The fleet I am working for currently is looking at a very large Durastar buy in 2010. That business was going to Ford. Their fleet maintenance people are pushing hard for International.

In any event, the 6.2L sounds really good. I wonder if it will have commercial applications. Might make a good CNG engine too.

Can't be any worse than a 2 valve V-10. That is, unless the V-10 has spit out some plugs beforehand.

Maybe there's some truth to this, we'll have to see. The latest I heard is that Ford does want out of the medium duty business. Blue Diamond is seen as a dead end, and there isn't volume enough at Ford's market share to go it alone. However, there are a few very influential Ford dealers that are pressuring Ford to stay in the medium duty game. Looks like for now they will continue, but sales may need to increase for Ford to make any commitment. International's position is interesting. There are rumors that International wants to move all heavy duty production, except for off road/XHD vocational, to Escobedo. That may put an end to Blue Diamond. International was building most of their heavy models at Chatham Ontario, but that plant has closed. Eventually International will have to resume full heavy duty production somewhere, for now a limited number of heavy models are built at Springfield and Escobedo. International has also stated that they will crease using Cummins engines in 2010. I have no idea if that includes Blue Diamond as well, but with the Cummins ISB being the sole engine for the 650/750 if Cummins is dropped they will have to find a new engine for the Fords. That in itself could be a blessing, as a different engine could allow Ford to offer an F-850 tandem.

I have seen that. I don't know what interest Ford still has in that operation. You can still buy a class 8 Dodge diesel in Turkey as well. In any event, not much chance of ever seeing that thing here. Too bad.

Report also has GM back on top in 2013. Wonder why they think that.

Although I will probably buy one next year, I am not too impressed. Looks like a mild restyle of a 10 year old platform. Don't see what is new about the dash, maybe the characters on the gauges? Hopefully the new engines and IFS will save the day.

Something is funny here. If it is a DOD contract, the supplier should be able to special order an export or military spec. vehicle straight from Ford, or a Ford upfitter. Need to get ahold of someone at Ford Fleet, if there is a legitimate need for something like this, it usually can be done.

Oxx? You talking about these guys?: http://www.hydrogenenginecenter.com/aspx/p...ts/engines.aspx

I have noticed Ford seems to be a bit more active in advertsing the 650 and 750 lately. I have not heard anything regarding Ford's medium duty plans in quite some time (at least anything from what I would consider to be a reliable source).

That website has not been updated since April of '05. I herad from an OEM user of Ford industrial engines that Ford has stopped shipping and is not taking orders. I wonder if it is true or not.

I am hearing Ford is getting out of the industrial engine business. Quite a few Ford engines such as various 4 cylinders, the 4.2L V-6, some V-8's and even the Triton V-10 were being sold for gen. sets, air compressors, other construction and airfield equipment. No, Ford probably wasn't making a lot of money at that business, but they were in it since the Flathead days.

Back to what gets updated and what doesn't, looks like the list of what doesn't get updated is much shorter: Econoline Super Duty 650 and 750 Panthers

I like whatever vehicle is best for the application. Sometimes, that vehicle isn't a Ford. End of story.

I was working for a large utility fleet back in '97, and we bought large numbers of both Ford F-150's and Chevy 1500's. They were similarly equipped (long bed, reg. cab 4X2's, 5.4L and 5.7L, automatic). Those Fords were terrible. No power, lots of front end trouble (mainly upper ball joints and idler arms), rapid brake wear, cracking transmission crossmembers, broken rear shock mounts, leaky heater cores (and boy is that a job to replace!), left door sheetmetal cracking, higher than normal transmission and rear axle failures. The biggest problems with the Chevys were the heater hose connecters on the intake manifold and the pitman arms. Occasional transmissions (4L60E), fuel and water pumps. Our drivers prefered the Chevys, reasons given were more power, better visability and a more comfortable seat. We also found that those F-150's tended to suffer more expensive damage in accidents (bent frames were pretty common, particularly in T-bones to the front suspension). Although it is purely subjective, everyone (myself included) though the Chevys were really nice looking trucks, while the F-150's looked like those ugly Taurus cars of the same period. I think many thought the '97 F-150 was a dissappointment compared to the '96 and earlier models (and the '96 F-150 was indeed a great truck).

But it is possible that many older GM vehicles are more desirable than older Fords, and resale was more than what was offered by the C4C program. Quite frankly given the choice between a '97 Ford F-150 or Chevy 1500.......

You are not kidding. Not to mention the cockeyed ESOF hubs.