RoadwayR

Caterpillar built what amounted to a diesel conversion of the Wright Cyclone radial aircraft engine for tanks in WWII. I saw a running one once. Very loud......

This demonstrates one of the issues in dealing with CARB: CARB may well approve this engine/application for 2020, but if it isn't before late 2Q 2020 it may be too late for fleets to get large orders in to Ford before the 2020 order cut-off. So, wait until next year. Of course, just because CARB approved this engine/application for 2020, it does not mean it will be approved for 2021, it might need to be tested again. And if it does, look for it to be approved around late 2Q 2021.......... Yes, I believe the Ford factory warranty does remain in place, but Ford does not warranty any of the Landi-Renzo components or their installation.

When talking of how much money the federal govt. 'lost' on GM you have to consider the revenue of all the GM payroll taxes and GM employee income taxes the U.S. government has collected since the bankruptcy. Not to mention how much revenue would have been lost through the subsequent failures of GM's supplier base had GM gone out of business. Which would have likely taken Ford out too. GM has made some phenomenally stupid moves over the past 100 or so years, but you can't really blame the banking crisis on them. Ford was one of the few corporations that saw it coming.

Remember that Roosevelt got U.S. manufacturing on a war footing over a year before Pearl Harbor, so negotiating and plant set up happened well before the shooting started for us. Ford did eventually quite a job building B-24 bombers, but read up on how long that project took before the first plane was produced. And how much pacifist Henry Ford drug his feet to hinder it. And how bad the early Ford produced B-24's were. If it wasn't for Edsel Ford and a lot of Federal pressure it probably would have never happened.

Probably the right way to do something like this.

From what I understand, the price tag came from Ventec, not GM. And the problems began when Ventec and GM couldn't get a contract from the Feds so for them it was impossible to hire and tool up not knowing how many ventilators would be purchased (even Trump has questioned how many will be needed), or come up with an accurate cost. Nonetheless, GM figured in any event they would not have enough employees at Kokomo and had begun to hire more to produce the ventilators. Ventec and GM are continuing on ventilator production without a firm contract. GM has also begun production of surgical masks and other supplies at its Warren facility. It will be interesting to see how many ventilators both GM and Ford are able to produce and how soon they will be available. Even if they are not going to be available in large numbers until after the crises has past at least they could be stockpiled in the event a similar pandemic happens again. And while all this has been going on, Elon Musk and Tesla were able to buy large numbers of ventilators from China..............

I wish Ram would do 2 things: Build a 23,000# GVW 6500 series and get rid of the MDS feature on the 6.4L Hemi. No reason for it on a truck that big and I think it's too failure prone.

I have a hunch that it will build an MV replacement that will go from 6 to the lower end of 8.

Wonder what they plan on building there once they do finish it......

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2020/03/17/coronavirus-concerns-delay-250m-truck-production.html?ana=yahoo&yptr=yahoo

A lot less stress on the shafts.

Yeah, and a visor tilted all the way down so it's almost touching the wipers! I am old school, like to see where I am going, I guess.

While I don't see these trucks as a direct competitor to the lighter M2's or MV's, they are more of a true medium duty than the F-450/550 and Ram 4500/5500. Light duty cab size and visibility is an issue compared to the M2 and MV.. Trucks seem well built, good turning radius, tilt hood a big advantage. Nice ride too. Upfitter says they are very easy to install bodies on. P.T.O. clearance a problem in some applications, but next year they will have the option of both right and left P.T.O. openings. Driver says only issue on ours (2 yard dumps) is the bed cab protector overhangs the sides of the cab and the running board is a little high, so you have to watch your head getting in! Only things I would change would be to offer a gas engine and 22.5" wheels as an option.

So far so good with our Silverado 6500's.

Nice. Now Navistar needs to realize there are other fuels to run a truck on other than diesel.