Bob Rosadini

Guys, Back to the Ford with snorkel, check You Tube.. Ch1-Chicago Fire Dept & the Snorkel (circ 1965) All about the Chicago chief who started the use of "snorkels." You will see several shots of F models with snorkels and for sure one clearly shows an F-model "Super Duty"-850 or 950...also a lot of others. Interesting this chief borrowed a bucket truck from a tree outfit and experimented with it with a hose in the bucket. That was the start. Safe to say, looks like telescopic ladders have taken place of "snorkels" as we know them?????

On another note I did another Google earth of Avon Lake to see if there were any notable inventory changes. One thing I noted- a lot of what appeared to be complete cabs sitting in "finished" parking. Again, just cabs, no chassis. First thought was they were going to specialty builders like guys who do Airport vans but then again you would think they would get a complete chassis. Any opinions??

Correct...can't see the hood if it has an air scoop but for sure an F-800 or a Super Duty-850 or 950..would have thought it would have had a heavier front axle though. Chicago FD was another big city department that used C-modelsa too.

Wow..if suppliers were allowed to sub out, that is a huge problem. I would hope Ford did due diligence when it came to picking a vendor..."what you see should be what you get". But good procedures costs money..for a supplier to cut corners unknown to Ford, unbelievable IMO.

If my memory serves me right, didn't Mulally have weekly meetings with key staff and status of prior meeting issues were reviewed? "What gets measured gets done" to use a worn out slogan. Anyone have an opinion of the recall history during his regime? Also my opinion, the difference when a guy with operations/engineering roots runs the show vs. a guy who got the job because he was a marketing "genius". Human nature IMO, a guy tends to concentrate on his area of expertise..no doubt Mulally and Farley came up via very different paths.

Bad enough that they want to expand this to PV's. I assume the Ford Pro guy is speaking to his responsibilities with commercial vehicles, even worse. My biggest fear, accident avoidance is not a black and white situation. I think I mentioned previously...a couple of people on the curb and a fire hydrant 5' away. Vehicle headed for me..avoidance says to me pick the hydrant as best I can. What does the automated vehicle select???

Could it be that the Escalade is a better looking vehicle-at least in my opinion.

Probably true as only trim is falling off an NOT the doors😎

And I thought "well these are mostly software issues". I guess this sets the record straight on that point. I wonder just what is the metric is that the board uses to set Mr. Farley's annual earnings???

thx-never thought of it from a manufacturing perspective. Got it..just thinking from an economy of scale I'm thinking those 4 bangers are a big number when you look at all the Fords using them-unlike my reference to the Yamaha in the SHO.

For sure! What current GM's share what with a 283,327,350? Think of what the new Vette powertrain must have cost..for one very unique market. Oh, education needed.. what does the 6.8/7.3 have in common with a 6.2?🤔

AK..Almost a billion to catch up to......? Something that Lawler thinks has no business as an inhouse product? Or I guess you can make the case that he is saying "we are done..going forward we can save by outsourcing any future developments.

Amazing huh? Apparently GM dropping almost a BILLION on a new V-8 says either Ford or GM is going to be a big loser. As to Ford's position as stated by John Lawler, at what point is Ford no longer a true manufacturer? One more thing for Toyota to add to ..."the best built vehicles last the longest",..."We take pride in insuring what we sell we build". And if we look at HD trucks..and I'm not talking about a 2500 Silverado or an F-250, as years ago when diesels took over the market, a buyer could chose from Cummins, Cat, or GM, or they could buy a Mack as Mack while offering those engines too, prided themselves on their in house complete proprietary power trains. But in terms of volume, far different from what Lawler is talking about. I can see unique vehicles with n outsourced engine- as in the Yamaha in the original SHO, but if we are talking about large numbers, what is the point of losing your identity? Another interesting thought....Mr Lawler thinks we should outsource engines while his boss thinks nothing of building a Formula 1 engine 🤔 Thought this old coin I have is a good example of Ford Pride:

TT, Thx, interesting that these guys have never encountered one of these before...then again they get a lot of commercial/farm equipment. And a lot of it in the "rode hard, put away wet" class-including high mileage foreign vehicles that I assume the current owners cannot afford taking to the dealer😎

HRG..thx..that had to be a good cost saver. I guess it makes no difference if it is upstream of muffler or down.

At friends shop Friday and a Maverick, AWD was up on a lift. So in checking it over I found this on the exhaust pipe about 12-15" from the tip. Assuming it has something to do with exhaust tone. Appears solid-push on it and a bit deflexion Any thoughts?

My usual speech on this. They should own the class 6/7 market and COULD do a lot better with some simple changes- like put the 6.7 Cummins/Allison transmission in 650/750 and add air brakes in the Gas versions. But I'm sure the party line is they make more selling internal sourced engines and transmissions. Air brakes in the gas versions with or without an Allison would put them back in business on the west coast. Ford owned the fuel oil delivery segment here in the Northeast-now it is Paccar and International. And we read that Lawler says the industry may be turning to more outsourced engine options...🤔

LN with LTL Hood.htmlLN with LTL Hood.htmlJust saw this posted in BigMack website...currently for sale. I can't believe this is for real..if so someone did an unbelievable job fitting that LTL grill, shortened hood on an LN

Your statement says to me, too many layers in the chain of command..and perhaps that goes back to something we seem to have read about- each layer of authority is just another choke point before an issue is finally addressed.

Or "kicking ass and taking names". This sounds like such an obvious consideration. "you are putting larger tires on? And you didn't verify the change would not create other issues?"

Seems to me this starts at the top. If the pressure is to cut costs, that "comes with a cost". You get what you pay for. Someone once told me, you can get whatever you want from China or Taiwan..."check the box as to quality level you want". And the same must apply to domestic production as well. As to "disgruntled" suppliers linked to project cancelations, I would have to believe that all those cancelations had penalty clauses in them that Ford had to live up to. Plus are they not two different issues? One case involves a major plant expansion, the other is the ongoing process of providing a given component for a vehicle. I would have to believe that is where the dissatisfaction with Ford is. Vertical integration does have some benefits. Also, my late wife would be all over me for this, but I have to believe that prior adherence to DEI objectives has played a roll in some of this.

Probably -or they got a nice used cab and started "cutting to fit"-and for sure if you looked at grill they raised the cab as well. In any case a clever "mod" IMO.

I did a search for Thibault on you tube..did not get to a corporate site but a few pix of C model fire trucks with the Thibault badge..also at least one GM cab over that was very similar to a C model. As for that aerial truck with the set back axle, looks like the 6-71 power was very accessible with side panels. If I had to bet, I would say these guys got a C cab and fitted it to a chassis they probably built. And given the 6-71 was in its own "dog house", there was no reason to make that cab tilt- just come up with a good system to make it fixed. And that is not to say that you could NOT put a big inline 6 under that Ford/Budd cab. Mack did it with the N model. If you didn't see the Bulldog and the "Mack " script you would think is was a Ford..until you opened the door. While the Ford feature a full width bench seat if you wanted it, the Mack had a big dog house where that 673 Mack "lived".

New England Ford dealers have been running an ad recently pushing commercial trucks. And the opening shot actually has a 650/750 that looks like it is pulling a tag with equipment on it. I'll have to pay closer attention. Someone in marketing must have missed the message that " we don't push class 6/7 trucks"!