New Light & Medium Duty News

[GearheadGrrrl]

Given the way Volvo discontinued most of the Mack components in Mack trucks and substituted Volvo's often inferior components, I get the feeling Volvo management is supremely arrogant and looks down on every other truck maker, Ford included.

[7Mary3]

Truth was Henry Ford was never interested in the heavy truck market.  Before 1948, the largest Fords were nominally 1.5 ton models.  The 1948 'Big Job' F-7 and F-8 were the first Ford Heavy trucks.  Ford didn't build a domestic heavy duty diesel truck until 1961.  

[GearheadGrrrl]

Henry's "small is beautiful" truck sizing philosophy held back Ford heavy trucks for too long, but the demand for something bigger than a 1-1/2 ton wasn't all that great before the late 1930s and right after WW2. Couple that with the Ford's ability to handle overloads and Ford didn't absolutely need to be in the heavy truck market until after WW2. Same with Ford's slow move into diesels- Ford grew with the market. By 1970 Ford had a full line of heavy trucks that was second only to Mack's, and available at way more dealers and with medium trucks too.

 

Ford's current offerings in heavy trucks are now way more inadequate that they were in 1947, at least a tandem is needed today to seriously compete in heavy trucks.

[7Mary3]

Ordering has already closed for the 2024 F-650 and 750.  I assume the 2025 MY will start early 2024 if these trucks continue.

[Bob Rosadini]

Time for  some eye candy for you old guys- Think these were '62's as the grab rails were two piece vs single whje  theyfirst came oue

[7Mary3]

The 2 piece grab handles were on trucks with the side storage compartments which were built into the original C series fender wells.  The H series was before my time and I never had any first hand experiences with them, but I can say I never heard any positive remarks about the 'Two Story Falcon'!  From what I understand the H was little more than an N series chassis with a C series cab mounted high enough to clear a Cummins diesel, though a few H series trucks had Super Duty gasoline V-8's.  I remember the last H series I ever saw was back in '85 or '86 down in L.A.'s produce market district, it was probably up from Mexico.  Those ABF tractors in the picture have Page & Page rocker arm rear suspension with a dead pusher axle, kind of an interesting setup,  

Edited August 21, 2023 by 7Mary3

[Bob Rosadini]

1 hour ago, 7Mary3 said:

The 2 piece grab handles were on trucks with the side storage compartments which were built into the original C series fender wells.  The H series was before my time and I never had any first hand experiences with them, but I can say I never heard any positive remarks about the 'Two Story Falcon'!  From what I understand the H was little more than an N series chassis with a C series cab mounted high enough to clear a Cummins diesel, though a few H series trucks had Super Duty gasoline V-8's.  I remember the last H series I ever saw was back in '85 or '86 down in L.A.'s produce market district, it was probably up from Mexico.  Those ABF tractors in the picture have Page & Page rocker arm rear suspension with a dead pusher axle, kind of an enteresting setup,  

Correct on grab handles.  first year they  were two  full length vertical rods then someone had a good idea and they made storage compartments where the wheel wells were on a C series.  PIE was one of the test fleets early on with a prototype..no  clue how many they made...Here in the Northeast, Branch Motor Express was an early user.  Talk about a helpless combo in snow country?  A Page and Page with a dead axle and no lift capability!  We had a bunch of B-61 single axles and when weight laws changed someone came up with idea to convert to a Pager and Page set up with  heavy drive belts between the duals.  They were out of service before my time.

As for the H being built on an N chassis I never heard that.  The H came out in 61 and N models I believe in 63.

[7Mary3]

Might be right about the chassis, maybe it was the other way around.  The diesel N was on an H chassis.  Both the diesel N and the H had the Cummins engine laid over about 30 degrees to the right side.  Yes, the H series prototypes were built by Hendrikson and PIE was one of the test fleets.  Funny thing was as far as I know PIE never bought any Ford H's! 

 

Neat feature of Page & Page rocker arm tandem suspension was that the load distribution could be adjusted between the axles.  50%-50% to 70%-30% on the dead axle.      

[GearheadGrrrl]

The H and heavier N series were badly compromised designs- No proper suspension seats on the H and on the heavier N series the cab had to be removed to do an engine rebuild. They were rapidly replaced by the much improved W and Louisville or customers simply deserted Ford for other brands with better trucks.

[Bob Rosadini]

 

My son is N bound on 495 NW of Boston this AM and snaps this shot of what I think is a Crown with CA plates...Is it?  Long trip for an old vehicle like  that!

 

7M3...Is  it a Crown..Never saw one with a pusher...not much  room for an engine I  would imagine

Crown bus CA Plates.pdf

[Joe771476]

On 8/3/2023 at 12:31 PM, 7Mary3 said:

https://www.ballard.com/about-ballard/newsroom/news-releases/2023/08/03/ballard-announces-partnership-with-ford-trucks-for-fuel-cell-powered-heavy-duty-trucks-initial-order

Great news!

 

 

[7Mary3]

15 minutes ago, Bob Rosadini said:

 

My son is N bound on 495 NW of Boston this AM and snaps this shot of what I think is a Crown with CA plates...Is it?  Long trip for an old vehicle like  that!

 

7M3...Is  it a Crown..Never saw one with a pusher...not much  room for an engine I  would imagine

Crown bus CA Plates.pdf

 

That's a Crown!  Most tandem Crowns were twin-screw.  Plenty of room for the engine, usually a horivontal mount 6-71 between the front and rear axles.  Some were Cummins too, but the early versons had Hall-Scott gasoline power.  Radiator is on the left side behind the left front wheel, you can see the grill.  Big luggage comtarment in the rear.  One well built bus.  

[Bob Rosadini]

13 minutes ago, 7Mary3 said:

 

That's a Crown!  Most tandem Crowns were twin-screw.  Plenty of room for the engine, usually a horivontal mount 6-71 between the front and rear axles.  Some were Cummins too, but the early versons had Hall-Scott gasoline power.  Radiator is on the left side behind the left front wheel, you can see the grill.  Big luggage comtarment in the rear.  One well built bus.  

THx

Nice..in particular as owner kept the exterior original.  Note panel over "School" . I imagine when he is at a show that comes off.  These must have been very expensive when new given complexity.  Back in Northeast, most school buses were conventional Ford/GMC/ Chevy chassis.  No such thing as a pusher of any kind.

[ice-capades]

19 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

 

My son is N bound on 495 NW of Boston this AM and snaps this shot of what I think is a Crown with CA plates...Is it?  Long trip for an old vehicle like  that!

 

7M3...Is  it a Crown..Never saw one with a pusher...not much  room for an engine I  would imagine

Crown bus CA Plates.pdf

 

Here's a landscape version of the attachment. 

 

Crown Bus CA Plates_Rev.pdf

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by ice-capades

[Bob Rosadini]

13 hours ago, ice-capades said:

 

Here's a landscape version of the attachment. 

 

Crown Bus CA Plates_Rev.pdf

 

Thx Joey

And further to this I thought it was some sort of camper conversion..My son said "No-looked like all seats were still in place"

[Bob Rosadini]

This F-750 was in my neighborhood this week.  Judging by appearance of tires, looked like it had just gone into service..squeaky clean.  Interesting thing, it did not have Power  Stroke badges.  Also I  recall the trade group these national tree guys belong to had circulated  some sort of letter to the AMA requesting that the industry  produce a suitable class 67 conventional with gasoline power  given their typical  high idle hours..In this case Bartlett "wasn't buying"

 

Ting a bell 7M?

[7Mary3]

Crowns were expensive (as were Gilligs), but California school districts could justify the higher price as Crowns and Gilligs typically outlasted other school buses by a significant margin.  Many of the 50's era Hall-Scott powered Crowns were re-engined with diesels and stayed in service for decades.  

[Joe771476]

On 9/2/2023 at 7:58 PM, Bob Rosadini said:

This F-750 was in my neighborhood this week.  Judging by appearance of tires, looked like it had just gone into service..squeaky clean.  Interesting thing, it did not have Power  Stroke badges.  Also I  recall the trade group these national tree guys belong to had circulated  some sort of letter to the AMA requesting that the industry  produce a suitable class 67 conventional with gasoline power  given their typical  high idle hours..In this case Bartlett "wasn't buying"

 

Ting a bell 7M?

The last three F750's I've seen have had the Power Stroke Diesel emblem. I still haven;t been able to find out if the CT DOT's are PS diesel or gas.

[Bob Rosadini]

3 hours ago, Joe771476 said:

The last three F750's I've seen have had the Power Stroke Diesel emblem. I still haven;t been able to find out if the CT DOT's are PS diesel or gas.

Well this is clearly a diesel but unless it is some sort of test vehicle with a non Ford engine, my guess is they delete PS badge to facilitate shrink wrapping.

 

F-650/750 will normally carry a Power Stroke badge or a "V-8" badge

[7Mary3]

Still no news on the F-650 and 750.  Ordering is closed for the 2024 MY, nothing on a 2025 MY.  Any dealer people have any information?  Might hear more as UAW negotiations continue.

[iamweasel]

14 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

Still no news on the F-650 and 750.  Ordering is closed for the 2024 MY, nothing on a 2025 MY.  Any dealer people have any information?  Might hear more as UAW negotiations continue.

 

From my counterpart who handles our Ford stores, they haven't heard any info on 25MY at this point, either.  Per usual, they are very frustrated and thinks Ford is asleep at the wheel when it comes to OEM-to-Dealer/Customer communication.  A lot of our loyal Ford customers are switching over to Freightliner......

 

Everyone I know (on the dealer side and inside the company) are tired of Farley and how the company is handling things these days.    

 

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by iamweasel

[SoonerLS]

On 9/4/2023 at 10:14 AM, Bob Rosadini said:

Well this is clearly a diesel but unless it is some sort of test vehicle with a non Ford engine, my guess is they delete PS badge to facilitate shrink wrapping.

I'd think that's correct. It looks like it still has the California Diesel Clean Idle decal on the door under the mirror. (I only recognize it because the F-450 in our fleet has one.)

Edited September 13, 2023 by SoonerLS

[Bob Rosadini]

21 minutes ago, SoonerLS said:

I'd think that's correct. It looks like it still has the California Diesel Clean Idle decal on the door under the mirror. (I only recognize it because the F-450 in our fleet has one.)

For sure it was a diesel..in addition to decal def tank visible.

[SoonerLS]

8 minutes ago, Bob Rosadini said:

For sure it was a diesel..in addition to decal def tank visible.

I meant the part about the badge being deleted to facilitate the wrap.

[Bob Rosadini]

Guys,

 

My dealer contact told me today Order guide for '25 will be out late October.  I just bought a new 150 and I asked the sales guy..great young guy- if he could get a medium order guide from truck mgr.  He did..'24 guide that  came out in July 22!