RoadwayR

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.

Want to have some fun? Try replacing the wet/secondary air tank on one of those F-series trucks that has a body that prevents you from sliding the tank out to the rear from under the cab. Good job on the chassis wiring and air line routing guys!

No doubt. Just ask yourself what has a higher margin, a $100,000 electric pickup or a rented scooter....... BTW, I hear the electric Transit will be built at Avon Lake.

Great, now stick the 6.6L gas in the Silverado medium duty and offer 22.5" wheels to get it to 'dock height' and you will really be in business. Wonder what they mean by a "23% increase in hauling capacity"? Left hand P.T.O. is a good move, some are having clearance issues with the right side P.T.O..

I saw that truck at the So. Cal. ATHS show last year.

You are right. I promise to think about Volvo every time I drive past a Freightliner or International dealer. Which is often........ I even know where to buy an Autocar now!

Yawn, GMC did that back in '64 at the World's Fair: https://gmphotostore.com/gmc-tower-of-power-1964-fair-poster/

Hackett continues to mesmerize Bill Ford Jr. I guess at the end of the day that's all that matters, at least until the money runs out.

Maybe Ichan and his banking buddies could finance NAV buying Traton, which might give VW enough money to buy Ford!

At the very least the Ford ought to look better after 10 years, but I think frame rot takes out more F-150's than body rust. I have heard about a very few instances of aluminum oxidation causing the paint to come off Ford pickups, and the only fix seems to be replacement of the affected panels. I know this has been an issue with Mustang hoods and Expedition tailgates.

No sorry. Was referring to Traton's offer for Navistar. And I am with you, an HX with a DD15 would be a sweet truck.

Silence! Guess the offer wasn't good enough?

A local municipality, the City of Santa Monica, has purchased a few CNG powered Xperts. They look pretty good!

I think the 'other' Bronco (to be named Maverick?) is going to be a compact CUV type vehicle, like the Jeep Renegade. It should do well, riding on the image and styling of the big Bronco with a much lower price.

Needed to happen, sorry to say. Staying in that kind of market which required heavy investment while earning little or no profit is just the kind of mistake the old GM had made time and time again.

Nice, but those guys can't go on selling Hemi powered muscle cars and Jeeps forever.

In retrospect as far as Cat and NAV were concerned, SCR was clearly the way to go, not massive amounts of EGR. A Cat 3406/C-15 with SCR would probably not be any more reliable than anything else out there today. Didn't we see the C-15 with SCR briefly in that Caterpillar truck?

Yeah, what was that all about? For a minute there in the early 90's it looked like Ford was going to buy Cummins and with the HN80 make a very serious effort in class 7/8. Then without warning the whole HN80 program was given to Freightliner, they baled on Cummins, and the remnant of medium they held on to (F Series) was sent to Mexico and the option list was severely curtailed. Something sure changed Ford's mind. While this was all going on, there were rumors that the B5.9 was going into the F-250 and 350. Like many, I was a fan of the 5.9 but not of the 1972 Dodge pickup in came in (good truck in it's day). I was ready to go to Don Kott Ford in Carson with a sizeable down payment the moment the 5.9 option was announced for the F-350. Needless to say that never happened, though the 5.9 went into the F series mediums. In retrospect Ford should have sold the old Louisville until they needed KTP for the Super Duty, and never bothered with the HN80. I thought the HN80 had some clever features, but was a pretty poor execution. Freightliner spent a lot of money trying to straighten out that truck, but even with that it never had a reputation beyond 'cheap fleet'. It's amazing, but I think I still see more old Louisville's on the road than HN80's these days. i wonder whatever happened to that HN80 'long nose' prototype Ford built. Yeah, "Together We Will Run The Country"..........

Speaking of the Cummins ISB 6.7, I would not be surprised if Freightliner starts really pushing their mid-range DD's and eventually drops Cummins from their medium duty line (again).

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Spartan start off by making just the chassis for custom fire apparatus? When did they start building the whole thing? See quite a few of them out in Riverside CA..

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/automotive/spartan-motors-changes-business-model-55-million-sale-emergency-vehicles-segment

I agree that the offer is a bit light. Might sound good now, but when the cyclical truck market goes up a bit..... Never know, it might spur a competitive offer from someone else.