Maxidyne

This is why I now own more of GM than Ford, though my dad, a Ford man to the end, is probably turning over in his grave. While Ford is researching electric cars, GM has brought an electric car to market. While Ford expects enthusiasts to beg for the chance to blow $400k on a Ford GT, GM is about to eclipse the Ford GT with an under $100k 'Vette. And in trucks GM has now largely matched Ford's offerings in North America and offers a cabover Ford doesn't to boot. Occupants of the upper floors of "glass house", better get your act together!

It's hard to take Homer's and Lowes seriously, they're basicly big box retailers trying to do home improvement stuff. Fleet Farm used to be my Go To store, but they've gone downhill the last few years. Menards is good on price, service is usually MIA, and they seem to carry a lot of junk. Bomgaars is good on pellet stove fuel and feed, overpriced on most other stuff. Strangely enough one of my local hardware stores is competitive on Milwaukee tools and carries a full inventory, as was the hardware department of Second Street Steel when I lived in Minneapolis.

OK, is VW or Ford going to get stuck with the cost of these money losing electric cars? And can Ford and VW together sell the million plus a year electric car volume needed to not even half justify the investment in an electric car platform? And if Ford buys into the MEB platform, what of Ford's investment in the train station and Corktown?

So GM made the mistake of sinking billions into electric cars that aren't selling all that well, and now expects the taxpayer to bail them out (again). As a GM stockholder and taxpayer, I oppose this money grab!

Was back in the late 60s, so standard height 20/22.5 tires.In most cases weight was around 40-50k pounds, but UPS tractors sometimes pulled Turnpike doubles and triples that got up to 70k pounds or more. Engines were the 237 horsepower Maxidynes and transmission was the wide ratio 5 speed Maxitorque, though initially they used a Spicer wet clutch but they were later retrofitted with a conventional dry clutch.

Depends on how long it takes for the Fords to let it go...

Mack initially allowed ratios as low as 3.90 on 20/22.5 tires until UPS persuaded them to offer 3.70.

IIRC a 2070 has a .60 overdrive top gear, definitely would cut your cruising RPM down!

Sounds like the wrong suspension for that application.

Hendrickson is a great example of an american company that realized they were in a world market, rose to the challenge, and thrived.

Will the spin off of VW's truck assets into Traton raise enough capital to buy Ford?

Unfortunately, along with the new F-Max heavy truck, it'll never get a chance to prove itself in this market...

With or without a diesel option, Transit Connect sales in the U.S. are virtually a rounding error on Ford's balance sheets. But I'll be tempted to buy one if they ever get here, and hanging on to 100 shares of Ford stock gets me X plan pricing.

I wasn't impressed, so when F popped up in the high $8 range I figured it was a good time to get out. Sold most of my holdings, but kept enough shares to qualify for X-Plan pricing in case the Transit Connect diesel ever makes it to the american market.

If Ford is going to concentrate on selling to existing owners, they'd better have cars in the lineup to sell to the third of Ford owners that prefer cars to SUVs and trucks...

Most of these "chop shopped" road tractors converted to dumps were running on the roads of Florida. I've seen what started out as a highway tractor with 12k and 40k axles fitted with super singles on the front with no upgrade of the axle or brakes, maybe a fishplate or doubling up of the frame from around the cab back (perhaps to hide the spliced frame) and a pusher axle with duals. Thus a 52k GVW truck can legally (until Florida checks axles, brakes, etc.) run at 73,280 pounds!

I see a lot of those chop shop built "dump trucks" in Florida too- The super single front tires on a model like the CX or T600 that never offered them as OEM is a dead giveaway. Wish Florida DOT and State Patrol would get these death traps off the road!

We're talking about 40 to 50 year old transmissions, not the current models. It's hard to beat Eaton for value per dollar, and as you and many have noted here Mack drivetrain quality and reliability have declined since the Volvo takeover. If I were buying a Mack today I'd probably spec an Eaton transmission.

If he can find a whole assembly with the desired ratio that's the easiest swap, a lot of big carriers used R170s with 3.70 gears. Another option staying within the Mack family would be the 5 speed plus overdrive version of the 1000 series Maxitorque, though that would require a shorter driveshaft.

The Fuller is an inferior transmission, stick with Mack. Besides, the Fuller will need different mounts and driveshaft. Unless the components are worn out, stick with stock and change as little as possible. Changing to a different ratio in the Rockwell rears may make sense though, not so much to get more speed but to get the cruising RPMs down which will really help your cruising MPG. IIRC, they offered 3.90, 3.70, and 3.55 ratios in that R170 rear end.

If only it were so simple... First off, even if the tooling is still around, no way will the old Mack engines meet emissions. Transmission wise, the Maxitorques are still around and I doubt Volvo wants them, but half the market wants automated transmissions. So better call Cummins, Eaton, and Allison. The Mack axles are still around and competitive, same with the bogie, and frame rails could just use the standard dimensions and 34" spacing. Cab wise, the conventionals are old but still beat Volvo's on aerodynamics while the MR and LE will only sell in urban operations where survival is everything. To succeed on the world market a cabover is needed, and anybody seen where the MH tooling went?

And still no mention from Ford's U.S. PR operation of the new F-Max... Aren't they proud of their biggest truck?

"Ford Proud" plays to the dealers, but it's really Ford's swan song. Relying on the loyalty of an owner cohort with a median age of around 60 is slow corporate suicide, to survive a business needs to constantly win new customers. Ford management forgets too the multi-make owners like myself, I've bought three new VW's since I last bought a Ford 21 years ago and the limited Ranger offerings we'll be getting in the U.S. isn't enough to motivate me to buy another.

looks like an ugly Chevy, and that's the problem... Customers will just cross shop it with Chevy and buy it from the dealer that gives the lowest price.

It isn't that there's no market, it's that it's not the high volume "mass market" that Volvo thinks is required. Reality is that it's profitable to build a heavy hauler like the Titan off a high volume truck like the Mack or Volvo conventional cabs, Paccar and Daimler long ago proved that.