Red Horse

Excellent point. Plenty of gloom and doom as to WHY someone CAN'T do it, and here we have this guy building from scratch a high end class 8. Maybe that is it-high end as in high cost and therefore greater margins than say the volume builders like Freightliner, International and Volvo are doing. And as you correctly point out- more a matter of appeasing Wall St and the financial press. Ford is another example. Every time I've ever questioned why Ford did not offer a Cummins/Allison option on the BON website I get the ..."too expensive" excuse. Forget about the fact that they offered that option in the old 650/750-both the ones built at the Ford plant in Cautilan (Sp?) Mexico (2000-2003) but also the ones built in the Bluediamond JV plant at Escobedo from 2004 until the move to the Ford Avon Lake plant. Not exactly a major engineering effort to put that power train combo back in the mix. I totally get it on profitability. But today management is so focused on looking good in the short term they ignore a broader product line that at some point just might smooth out the peaks and valleys in the profitability chart.

But the truck in question is a rubber bushed 34 right?

For sure as Terry said-Not a rear end/suspension you would use in any kind of off road application. Will it work? I'm sure it would as long as you remember that you are asking it to do something it was not built to do- and load and drive accordingly when you are in the woods. Now I'm sure there are plenty of talented posters here who would have no trouble taking that truck at the right price and getting a heavy tandem cut off and converting it. Next question is, if it was built as a lighter weight tractor, will the frame hold up to the task? Today single channel frames with a deep section modulus are preferred to the double channel frames of the old days. But if its a single channel, again probably built for highway serviced.

Nice-what brand kit is that?

13 million bucks? So what can you buy today for 13 million in terms of a manufacturing facility-or should I say "assembly" facility. How about it KSC-was this a going assembly operation? Also I've been reading lately about the Democratic takeover of the state and they are in the forefront of repealing any and all "Right to Work" laws. Seems like anyone concerned about future labor costs would avoid that state like the plague. In particular with a 2.6 unemployment rate.

Kevin, Would agree. I think the only thing that killed it was the changing EPA regs and Ford did not want to spend the bucks it would have taken to bring it in compliance. One of the early test fleets was a big Maine oil jobber. Had a bunch of LN-8000 peddle trucks with the test motors. I was always of the belief that its success was partially due to the fact that as it was an ag motor, by design its block was super strong as often in ag applications the block was a structural member.

Sad to see this about to happen but I'm sure a tough decision to make. Hopefully they will have a long and happy retirement.

PC, Trust me you are not stepping on toes-always great to hear first hand stories- and your trucks always look like they are ready to head for a show😎

T, T', Your friend understands the economics. His 5-7000 miles a year figure makes the 7.3 the right choice for him. And I have to believe it would have worked even in the 650 -unless he has high mileage. Would it pull that Cat skid steer as well as a 6.7? No but again, unless he has high annual mileage with that, he would IMO be better off listening to his driver bitch about "not enough power" and enjoying the extra cash he has in the bank. And by the way, think of the old days. 25 years ago Ford built F-700's with 429 V-8's that at max were rated at like 238 HP and could be rated at 37,000 GVW/60,000 GCW! The 7.3 dwarfs that 429 in terms of HP/Torque , exceeds the 401 Super Duty Specs, and I think comes very close to beating the 477 Super Duty specs. And PC 68- your friend has a 7.3 and he regrets not getting the 6.7? This in a 550? How big a plow is he pushing?

T', Stay in tune with your friend-key questions, how is it on gas and how is the power? As for cost, as Roadway pointed out 7.3 gas vs a Power Stroke is I believe an $8000 savings so I'm sure that diesel premium is pretty common across the board. Big thing is at this point GM does not offer a gas option in their new class 4,5 and 6's so Ford is holding the cards!

Well I was thinking along those lines about the class 4,5,6 Chevy/Binders that are built at Sp'field. I may have seen two on the road. I also stop in once a month and drive through an Altech facility that is one town over. Place has always been loaded with F-450/550's awaiting installations. About two months ago when I drove through they had two chevys. Last week none. Reasonable to assume if International is knocking off manpower, as these JV trucks were additions to the plant's regular product mix, they are NOT selling as expected. My guess is with that tilt hood, they are more expensive than Ford or Dodge. How about it Roadway R-? What do you say about pricing as your company has bought some.

wondering why anyone would buy a left hand drive in GB- then again if it spends most of its time on a ferry going back and forth to France maybe it makes sense.

Well In the first shot I saw that Argo sitting on the dash and said ..".hmnn fleet truck for sure". Then read the write up-Shell Oil! Argo's were the thing "back in the day" when they took the place of the two Sangamo boxes. And guys bitched about them then. Can you imagine what these same guys would be saying today with all the electronics, cameras etc😎

Nice Rich-but the MR needs spokes to be in that picture😎

Thx for opinions guys. I'm just trying to get some info for owners who will be selling it.

How about it guys. I am aware of a 359 that has that mileage. 13,161 to be exact! I'm told that the 3408 was a POS. " Fuel hog-certainly by todays standards and also had crankshaft problems". And to the skeptics-trust me -unusual situation, I sat in this thing-a true hangar queen, barn find- whatever. I'm thinking this is worth a lot of money as a truck you would put in service but others with far more knowledge than I say it is s nice "antique"- not a truck you would want to run inspite of no def, no computers etc etc.- all the reasons that made me think it was a better deal than a new truck. Fire away. And again-for real. Not..." I know a guy whose uncle has a friend who has....blah blah"

Rest in peace. We can only hope some day they will have a handle on the dementia/Alzheimer issue.

Rich- And new color is???

Very nice-and what is your typical load?

Hah-you are gettin old pal-what took you so long 😎

Thx for posting Hippy. Never been to museum but hope to. I think WOT had a good story on Coles not that long ago. In any case its safe to say there have been a lot of good things said about him.

And he is in fact an antique as well🤣

And he is in fact an antique as well🤣

Hah-judging by "slicks" this is now running qtr mile at Epping?😎

To any club members who check this site, be advised meeting Sat at Pop's Garage is canceled. Bob