Ambulance Market No Longer A Ford Exclusive

[7Mary3]

Thanks to the ongoing legal battles which stopped Ford Econoline ambulance production last year, GMC has seen fit to enter the formally exclusively Ford market with a competitive chassis of their own:

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet...amp;docid=43714

That little drama scared ambulance manufacturers like Wheeled Coach to death due to the fact that there wasn't a competitive chassis available from any other manufacturer.

[J-150]

City of Toronto has had GM Van chassis-cab ambulances for 5 years now.

[theoldwizard]

Ford/Navistar really left a lot of ambulance companies and fire departments in a lurch with all of the problems with the 6.0L. Many of these places only had 1 or 2 vehicles and when they were down for days or in and out of the repair shop, it was a problem.

 

It took several years to make that a reliable engine.

 

"Burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice, shame on me!"

[P71_CrownVic]

Ford/Navistar really left a lot of ambulance companies and fire departments in a lurch with all of the problems with the 6.0L. Many of these places only had 1 or 2 vehicles and when they were down for days or in and out of the repair shop, it was a problem.

 

It took several years to make that a reliable engine.

 

"Burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice, shame on me!"

 

We never had a problem with our ambulances (2 of the three have the 7.3 though...only one has the 6.0). But one of our utility trucks (NOT a brush fire/grass fire truck) needed a new engine at 11K miles. THANK GOD Ford got stuck with the bill as the truck was under warranty (it had only about a month left under warranty).

 

For some unknown reason, my department has an obsession with Ford trucks...and all of them seem to have problems. We have a newer crew ca, long box V10 that every couple of days will not start due to a dead battery, the truck I just mentioned needed a new engine at 11K miles (built Ford tough eh?), the 2007 Expy has trans issues, wind noise, rattles, and trim peeling off...and it only has 6,700 miles on it.

 

I guess the sweetness of a low price wears off much sooner than the bitterness of low quality.

[YT90SC]

We never had a problem with our ambulances (2 of the three have the 7.3 though...only one has the 6.0). But one of our utility trucks (NOT a brush fire/grass fire truck) needed a new engine at 11K miles. THANK GOD Ford got stuck with the bill as the truck was under warranty (it had only about a month left under warranty).

 

For some unknown reason, my department has an obsession with Ford trucks...and all of them seem to have problems. We have a newer crew ca, long box V10 that every couple of days will not start due to a dead battery, the truck I just mentioned needed a new engine at 11K miles (built Ford tough eh?), the 2007 Expy has trans issues, wind noise, rattles, and trim peeling off...and it only has 6,700 miles on it.

 

I guess the sweetness of a low price wears off much sooner than the bitterness of low quality.

 

What happened to the engine? If it is anything like most of the fire depts we see, they didn't change the oil. Most change by miles, not engine hours and the engine REALLY suffers due to it. 200 engine hours and the oil MUST be changed. Unfortunately, most trucks in that kind of service see much more than 200 hours between changes as they idle for EXTENDED periods in their usage.

[Ford-150]

We never had a problem with our ambulances (2 of the three have the 7.3 though...only one has the 6.0). But one of our utility trucks (NOT a brush fire/grass fire truck) needed a new engine at 11K miles. THANK GOD Ford got stuck with the bill as the truck was under warranty (it had only about a month left under warranty).

 

For some unknown reason, my department has an obsession with Ford trucks...and all of them seem to have problems. We have a newer crew ca, long box V10 that every couple of days will not start due to a dead battery, the truck I just mentioned needed a new engine at 11K miles (built Ford tough eh?), the 2007 Expy has trans issues, wind noise, rattles, and trim peeling off...and it only has 6,700 miles on it.

 

I guess the sweetness of a low price wears off much sooner than the bitterness of low quality.

GOD I LOVE YOU

[old_fairmont_wagon]

In fact, the ambulance market hasn't been a Ford Exclusive for years. There have been medium duty competitors in the segment for years. I can't tell you how many ambulances I've seen in the area that wear the same badges as other heavy and medium duty platforms that are out there.