TeamsterGrrrl

Very touching story, wish I still had some of my old iron around. I live about 300 miles from Bismarck, will keep an eye out for any E model parts.

Could be an issue of the F450 and above trucks converted to CNG/LPG being just too low a volume to set up a "pool" to supply modifiers. Could be a logistics issue- the bigger trucks often won't fit on a standard auto transport.

I weighed one of the Postal Service CH tandem conventionals and it was around 16,000 pounds, but that was a very stripped model with no sleeper and only a single fuel tank. It was a 1998 model, so it didn't have the hundreds of ponds of emissions hardware of the current models. The Granite also comes with a heavier frame than the CH or CX model, so if you're serious about speccing a lightweight you might want to look at a CH or CX instead. But getting down under 14,000 pounds with a new truck is just about impossible- IIRC Tyson specced some Navistar Prostars with a small sleeper and the MAN 13 liter engine and super singles on aluminum wheels and only got it down to 17,000 pounds with a hundred gallons of fuel and a driver. Thus I suspect the only way you'll get under 16,000 pounds ready to hit the road would be to go to extreme measures like a non driving pusher or tag axles, aluminum parts where ever possible, etc.. To get below that you'd have to build a tractor up from a glider, and even then the current cabs are a lot heavier than the older models.

Rowdy, you're confusing your opinion with facts again... You may feel that Hillary broke the law, but she hasn't as much as been charged with breaking any law.

David, you seem to have a lot invested in this Trump guy. Prepare to be disappointed...

If the newbie drivers are familiar with any brakes, it's disc brakes... Almost every new vehicle comes with discs all around, except big trucks...

Need a sidecar for serious winter riding. Even with a sidecar, I've had to start in 2nd gear with even an underpowered 650 cc. BMW outfit to avoid massive wheel spin.

Trump is a drama queen, all bluster and nothing to back it up. For example, I'd like to see us renegotiate NAFTA, but treaties are contracts between nations and can only be changed by mutual agreement.

https://gearheadgrrrl.com/2016/12/05/vaporware-goes-truckin/

Actually, the conservatives and religious fanatics can be more of a problem. It'd be easy to adapt this ad for the U.S., but the dumb tea baggers here think they need an F150 at least for that kind of rural driving. Given that F150s make more money than compact Utes, Ford is not about to enlighten them. A lot of other ads don't run in the U.S. simply because our market is so unsophisticated... For example the ad Ford ran of a Muslim woman wearing a hijab driving her Ford Cargo from her farm to market. I think it was a great ad because it destroyed stereotypes held by both conservative Christians and Muslims and promoted tolerance. But Ford never showed that ad in the U.S. probably because American conservatives would object to having a Muslim wearing a hijab in the ad, and after being targeted by Muslim extremists for showing a woman working outside the home it looks like Ford pulled the ad off the internet.

Guys, problem is that we're dealing with a legacy technology (drum brakes) actuated by an oddball technology (air pressure) that's darn near completely outside the knowledge of young drivers. To make matters worse, the CDL mills ain't gonna teach drivers anything about slacks other than "take a look at the brakes on the CDL test". So were stuck with an increasing population of drivers who don't know how to inspect slacks, and in no way should be allowed near them with a wrench!

Been out for a couple years in Europe, not available with the 16 liter engine so I guess it's for on highway at 50 ton or less gross combination weight.

Back around '80 the rain switched over to snow around my last drop and by the time I got back to the depot and put the trailer and tractor away it was 3 am and an inch of fresh snow on the ground. Rode home on the RD400 at about half usual speed, no big deal as snow was melting underneath and made it the 10 miles home fine.

Still wondering when North America gets Volvo's DCT. My Golf TDI has a DCT, very impressed with it,

Had a Steyr bicycle back in the late 60s, basic 3 speed hub gear but very well made. Sears sold them, for around $35 you ordered "3 speed bicycle" out of the Sears catalog and received either a Steyr or a lower quality bike. If you got the Steyr you kept it, if not your returned it and tried again. Got the Steyr on first try, assembled it just outside the front door of the Sears catalog warehouse/retail store in Minneapolis, used the air hose at the Sears Auto Center to pump up the tires, then rode it the mile home.

I'd rather see GM build it here, but I suspect it's going to flop in the marketplace anyway. Ford is bring in the Fiesta's SUV sister the Ecosport from India, no road tests on it yet but I suspect Ford won't sell enough to justify building it here.

Could be that's Ford's production capacity was down during the switchover to the new model Super Duty.

What makes these small tractors a good deal is their versatility- I'm getting too old to push a mower and shovel snow! They can mow in the summer, move snow in the winter, pull a plow in the garden, grade the drive, and move heavy stuff too! Deere was pricey until recently though, $20k for a 1 series with a loader and mower. Kubota dealer was more reasonable, $12.5k for a slightly less powerful; 18 HP BX23 with the same implements. Still pricey, but side by sides are going for almost that much and 20k with a cab, heater, etc.... And all they still don't have a PTO or 3 point hitch!

I'll match your DUKW and up you a Schwimmwagen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Schwimmwagen . Apparently some were built by Porsche. And IIRC, all the current Porsche's, including the badge engineered VWs, are union made.

You can join the military and they'll send you round the world too... We don't pay our service people near enough for the sacrifices they make,

And as long as Trump is wrapping himself in the flag, could he send over a bucket truck to replace the busted rope on our town's flagpole?

OK, how 'bout a Vette?

Hey, I can do that any day I want in a Porsche instead of a truck!

Proof? Almost every one of those bullet points is a lie. for a start, OIGs investigate their agency, not outside NGOs.

So why do you put up with such lousy working conditions?