TS7

I wonder why they used that style cab? 1960 D cab? Were they building this style D cab medium duty truck in Mexico too in 1978? Dodge stopped building D400 - D800 in NA in 1977, built in Canada I think. What do think Kscarbel?

How good a truck do you have to build to last 3.5 to 4 years?

All these fools make peanut farmer look great and we know how that turned out.

Roadway the Ford built HN80's that I have been around were not well built. The main issue I always saw is the cab, bad doors and dash issues. They had strong frames and drove ok. Red Horse I think you are right Ford would have worked out the issues. The 1990's L series were well built, that is why there are so many still on the road. Roadway you are right about Sterling, it took them years to work out cab issues, Daimler waited for the right time and killed it. I think the Acterra was a good sized truck for medium duty. I think you could get class 5. I wonder if that is what Ford was going to build for class 6-7? Kscarbel is right about cab size on a class 5-6 truck. Ford is the one that needs to build a true medium truck cab for the F-450 - F-750.

Roadway true, but HN80 was to be class 6-8(new L series 1997 ). I saw a mockup of a L-6500 or L-7500 with a sloped hood in 1996. I think that there was never to be a new 1999 F-650 or F-750 back in 1996. The fools running Ford today cannot see that a larger cab for class 4-7 trucks would sell great, I hope I am wrong. The 7.3 gas V-8 will sell big.

Kscarbel you are right on cab size. I still think that the old Ford HN80 cab would have been a great on a class 4-7 truck for Ford.

Red Horse I did not see any thing special on the Scania trucks. The Europeans over do every thing. Do you know what KISS means? Keep it simple stupid.

Red Horse I think Ford should send a few F-250 4x4 pickups with real steel plows to Europe, there is a real market there.

Sweeping slush.

Kscarbel I think large brooms are used on runways to clean pavement bare after plowing because they cannot use salt. A broom is not very good on hard packed snow, runways do not have that issue. The only way to clear hardpacked snow to bare pavement is a steel edge plow. You need down force on hardpacked snow. We plow a large parking lot with a Cat 950G loader with a 16' pusher box. The rubber edge needs to be adjusted about every 10-12 hours of use. Its takes more than one pass to clean the pavement bare. I think a heavy steel edge plow or underbody scraper are the best way clear a road fast. I used to work for a road builder that was on call for a county road commission and ran a Cat 12G grader with a 14' blade, cleared a lot side roads after a heavy snow with that.

No broom's?

I have driven two new Ranger's. Very, very solid truck. They have been being sold for 4 weeks. They are hard to find here in SE Mich. Dealer's are ordering crew cabs, that is what they think will sell the best now. They are going to sell a lot of Ranger's this year and not having a plain two door cab 7" box is going to lose Ford any sale's. Buy a F-150 if you need a plain truck.

That is right, it took Mack's to build the roads and Mack's to keep them clear of snow in the winter.

The plow on the Romanian Ford looks like it is made from some type of plastic.

Kscarbel I did not say a COE could not handle a plow, I said that most trucks I see are axle forward. That COE is not set up like DOT trucks I see here. It has no under body scraper or spreader body. I think a axle forward truck can carry a heavy plow and a heavy loaded spreader body better. A Mack MR makes a great city plow truck , but I do not think it would be good highway plow - spreader truck. I do not know how to set up a truck for plowing, but I think a over loaded front axle can make a truck hard to handle at speed. A truck that left a yard loaded with salt or sand will drive good with the plow up or down. But if plowing and spreading as many do, when un loaded and plow up going back for more salt, I would want a truck that is not hard too handle. May be some BMT member who drive large DOT trucks will comment on this.

The CH and CL were solid and very reliable trucks. I would rather have a E6 or E7 than any of the junk that is being sold today by any truck maker today any where.

That cab over truck would be use less with the size plows that are used here. All most all new DOT class 8 plow trucks I see here in MI are axle forward.

I saw something like this on the road here, wondered what it was. SE MI Ford dealer's are selling 2019 Ranger's now. I looked at one, I like what I saw.

Paccar is selling a lot of trucks today because people who had bad luck with Sterling and Navistar think there getting a better truck with a Paccar. A small trucker I work with had Ford's and Sterling's, bought 2 new T880's, wish's he still had his old Ford LTL9000's.

KW and Pete used to be good trucks, well built, not today. I have broker trucks (MI 8 axle dump trains) working almost everyday, I see a lot of T880's and I see trucks with issues all the time. A all Mack Fleet trucker that I work with a lot (GU 813's and CL700's) seems to have the least breakdowns and issues. They have good drivers and a good shop, helps a lot. I watch who I use for broker trucks, when they are down costs ME money too. The last time I looked every Mack truck was built in America.

$360 million for how many trailers? Are they self driving? What is wrong with old ones?

I hope they do well, but the new cab, have they finished one? Does it leak water? Do the doors rattle? Will the AC work? Are they building any trucks now? How do the know if it will hold together?

Do they have a running truck finished yet? You buy the kit and make everything work? There is a lot that can go wrong here.

Ford sells more Class 3-6 than anyone. FL could own class 3-7 if they still had Dodge Truck, they do not. There are way more Ford dealers selling class 3-6 trucks than anyone else. Most class 3-6 trucks are sold to user's that do not own class 7-8 or need them. I have said this before go to any class 7-8 truck dealer and see how long the wait is to get repairs done. Navistar and GM will sell trucks, but let's see how they hold up in a few years and how they get along. Ask Cat and Ford about that. Both GM and Navistar have a bad history with truck owners. History always repeats it self. I learn from it.

There is 100+ acre site in Pontiac Michigan that is a fenced in flat slab now that was the GM Truck and Bus plant ( heavy trucks ). GM sold out to Volvo, how did that work out? That plant then built GM pickups till around 2009, then production was moved to Mexico. The plant was Shut down and torn down. GM Truck engineering in the same area shut down and sold off. I could go on and on about GM and what they have done to GMC and there truck business. The fools that have run (into the ground, saved by the US taxpayer) GM the last 30 years could not run a two man circle jerk. And Ford is not much better.