Chevrolet Class 4/5/6 Silverado

[Red Horse]

1 hour ago, RoadwayR said:

That was indeed the plan, there was to be a medium duty HN80 to replace the medium duty F series for the 1999 model year.  When Ford abruptly sold out the HN80 in 1997, they continued the medium duty F's for a couple more years.  Ford cleared out the medium/heavy line at Louisville and and brought up F-700's from Mexico.  Those trucks were junk, limited options, Cummins 5.9L only.  Freightliner eventually created what would have been the 1999 HN80 medium duty when they brought out the Acterra line.  In 2003 Ford stuck a Super Duty cab on the Mexican F-700 chassis for 2 years before giving up and letting Navistar build them a medium duty.

Regardless of who built them, HN80 was a pretty big disappointment.  Best way to describe them was a poor execution of a good design.  Even if Ford had not sold the design to Freightliner, I don't think they would have amounted to much.  I remember hearing horror stories from the fleets around here that ran Sterlings.  Rare to see one now. 

BTW- the really interesting HN80 was the long-nose line-haul conventional Ford was planning.  One was built, and it was shown only once.  I don't remember what truck show it was, but it was right before the Freightliner announcement.  Of course Freightliner didn't go through with it, they wanted Sterling to be a vocational line.  A friend of mine saw the truck in person.  Wonder whatever happened to it.  

 

      

 I was always of the impression that the F-700's that were built with the 5.9's and very limited options were actually built at Louisville before they converted the plant to Super Duty pickups.  they built a large number that were pool trucks to tide the dealers over until the new 650/750 were built at the Ford Cautitlan Mexico plant in 2000.  Then the JV with Navistar took over production at the Navistar plant in Escobedo Mexico.  Ford SD cabs on International 4300/4400 chassis.  Like I said-my impression-

Interesting thing about the Acterra, according to one Hebe Had the grand scheme of SELLING the Sterling dealers a new franchise in a "New" truck line...Acterra.  A group of dealers quickly got together with their lawyers and Hebe abandoned that scheme.  Perhaps a bullshit story-but not surprising.

[RoadwayR]

I wouldn't doubt Louisville did build pool trucks before the medium/heavy line was dismantled.  I was told F-700's started coming from Mexico sometime in 1997.  I think Dallas and Mavis had the contract to haul them up from Mexico.  We didn't buy any of the Mexican built mediums until the Blue Diamond days.

Yes, heard the same story about Hebe and the creation of the separate Acterra franchise.   

[RoadwayR]

4 hours ago, kscarbel2 said:

I have to disagree. Tyson was very pleased with their Ford HN80s, and many die-hard Ford fleets chased the HN80's trail and bought Sterlings....and still operate them today with a sense of pride.....as if they were Fords.

I wonder how the Ford built HN80's compared to the Freightliner built versions.     

[Red Horse]

3 minutes ago, RoadwayR said:

I wonder how the Ford built HN80's compared to the Freightliner built versions.     

My bet would be -better-only natural-and for sure they were better looking.  But it is only natural-the longer a truck is in production there are always running improvements.   smartest thing  Daimler ever did.  Thjey paid what 300 mil and look what it bought them in market share.  Not to say there share would NOT have grown had they not bought it-but bottom line they took a key player out of the game.

[Hayseed]

3 hours ago, Red Horse said:

-but bottom line they took a key player out of the game.

^^^^^ & that was what It was all about...

Edited February 6, 2019 by Hayseed
typo

[TS7]

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.   

[Hayseed]

9 hours ago, TS7 said:

. The main issue I always saw is the cab, bad doors and dash issues. 

There's Guy here in Australia who makes & sell an aftermarket Dash upgrade that solves the dash issues ..

[kscarbel2]

GM, Navistar Considered Air Brakes For Silverado Medium Duty Truck

Jonathan Lopez, GM Authority  /  June 25, 2019

General Motors and Navistar considered offering an air brake system on their Medium Duty Class 4, 5, and 6 trucks – the Chevrolet Silverado Medium Duty Chassis Cab Trucks and International CV, GM Authority exclusively uncovered thanks to insider sources familiar with future GM truck programs.

The air brake system was originally considered for the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 6500HD, which currently is the range-topping model in the Silverado Medium Duty range. However, the duo ended up deciding against offering the feature on the vehicles for the time being. Instead, the feature will be reserved for the as-of-yet rumored but unconfirmed Class 7 truck that we have reported the duo to be exploring.

The current 2019 Chevrolet Silverado Medium Duty truck line comes with a hydraulic brake system with four-channel ABS from Bosch/Meritor/Wabco. However, the rumored Class 7 Silverado will likely include air brakes as exclusive equipment for the range-topping model.

For those not intricately familiar with the difference between hydraulic and air brakes, here’s a quick rundown: the vast majority of vehicles produced today are equipped with a hydraulic brake system, which uses brake fluid to squeeze brake drums or rotors with a friction material, like a brake pad or brake shoe. By comparison, air brakes use compressed air to transmit the braking force to the pad or shoe.

Air brakes are primarily used in large commercial vehicles, and are considered preferable to a hydraulic setup for such applications. Not only are air brakes less prone to overloading when slowing heavy-weight vehicles, but they are also more reliable and easier to service, especially as a large system. While brake fluid can leak out and drain away, air is abundant and ever-present, providing an inherent fail-safe. What’s more, an air brake system doesn’t require bleeding like a hydraulic system. For that reason, they would be perfect in a potential Class 7 truck from GM and Navistar.

The current Chevrolet Silverado Medium Duty truck line was developed in conjunction with Navistar, and includes the Silverado 4500HD (Class 4), Silverado 5500HD (Class 5), and Silverado 6500 HD (Class 6) models for GM, along with Navistar’s version – the International CV. The models were jointly developed by GM and Navistar, while Navistar handles production of both variants.

Last year, GM Authority exclusively reported that GM and Navistar were exploring a possible collaboration for a new Class 7 truck, which would sit at the top of the Chevrolet Silverado range with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) between 26,000 and 33,000 pounds (11,794-14,969 kilos). Our intel told us that the new Class 7 truck will launch in 2022 and come with the new air brake system, among other exclusive features.

This latest rumor follows several other firsts reported by GM Authority, including that the Silverado Medium Duty truck line will receive a new gas engine option in the near future. This new engine will likely be variant of the 6.6L V8 L8T introduced in the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD and 2020 GMC Sierra HD. In May, we also reported that GM is looking to expand the Silverado Medium Duty line by adding a new 22.5-inch wheel option to create a dock-height version of the work truck.

[kscarbel2]

 

[RoadwayR]

Saw an International CV on the road for the first time today.  Crew cab utility body belonging to an electrical contractor.

[Red Horse]

9 minutes ago, RoadwayR said:

Saw an International CV on the road for the first time today.  Crew cab utility body belonging to an electrical contractor.

Matter of opinion but I think the Chevy version is better looking.  Still have not seen one on road but Altec facility nearby has a couple awaiting bucket installs.

[Maddog13407]

we finished building our 4500 tow truck. used it a few times. had major issues mounting pto pump. seems it the trans and crossmembers weren't ever made to allow for a pump and pto leaving no space. we ended up modifying the crossmembers for the pump and hydraulic lines.  also ended up having the have a gm service come to our shop with laptop to program the pto .seems the switch was in the dash but wouldn't work unless it was programmed by a dealer. also needed to have high idle programmed for pto. probably not needed normally but for a tow truck application with dual winches you need high idle. I think the one thing I dislike the most is the pto WILL not work unless the emergency brake is set. this is a flaw on gm. how the hell do they expect it to work in a dump truck application??  the gm guy who came to the shop to program ours said there is no way around it. I don't see that. how are you suppose to spread stone or sand with the pto If you have to have the e brake on?

Edited November 7, 2019 by Maddog13407

[Maxidyne]

Sounds like GM ain't quite ready to get back in the work truck biz...

[41chevy]

15 hours ago, Maddog13407 said:

we finished building our 4500 tow truck. used it a few times. had major issues mounting pto pump. seems it the trans and crossmembers weren't ever made to allow for a pump and pto leaving no space. we ended up modifying the crossmembers for the pump and hydraulic lines.  also ended up having the have a gm service come to our shop with laptop to program the pto .seems the switch was in the dash but wouldn't work unless it was programmed by a dealer. also needed to have high idle programmed for pto. probably not needed normally but for a tow truck application with dual winches you need high idle. I think the one thing I dislike the most is the pto WILL not work unless the emergency brake is set. this is a flaw on gm. how the hell do they expect it to work in a dump truck application??  the gm guy who came to the shop to program ours said there is no way around it. I don't see that. how are you suppose to spread stone or sand with the pto If you have to have the e brake on?

Is there a micro switch on the E brake pedal that you can "adjust" to lie to the computer?

[Red Horse]

21 hours ago, Maddog13407 said:

we finished building our 4500 tow truck. used it a few times. had major issues mounting pto pump. seems it the trans and crossmembers weren't ever made to allow for a pump and pto leaving no space. we ended up modifying the crossmembers for the pump and hydraulic lines.  also ended up having the have a gm service come to our shop with laptop to program the pto .seems the switch was in the dash but wouldn't work unless it was programmed by a dealer. also needed to have high idle programmed for pto. probably not needed normally but for a tow truck application with dual winches you need high idle. I think the one thing I dislike the most is the pto WILL not work unless the emergency brake is set. this is a flaw on gm. how the hell do they expect it to work in a dump truck application??  the gm guy who came to the shop to program ours said there is no way around it. I don't see that. how are you suppose to spread stone or sand with the pto If you have to have the e brake on?

I guess "tailgate spreading" is a lost art to the GM engineers-then again weren't those trucks designed by International???  Or they figure every dump body has an air gate and you get it to right height, hope your chains are set right, and release gate and parking brake in one motion and mash it-...opps forgot- no air brakes either.

No air gate here- and chains should have been tighter, but first load of  8  I ran a couple of weeks ago of millings that had been run through screener-=beautiful stuff

[RoadwayR]

I don't know what the deal is on this, but it's not like upfitters never blame vehicle manufacturers for things they can't figure out.  Or using the wrong components just because 'that's what we always use' or had a bunch sitting on the shelf.   Remember Navistar had a big hand in this truck, can't see them making these kinds of mistakes.  But, you never know....

Our company has a bunch of Silverado 6500 dumps on order, I'll let you all know they are set up.

Edited November 8, 2019 by RoadwayR

[Maddog13407]

we started building this truck in feb. was about one of the first around. the crossmember might be made for an old school pto but def not for one with the pump on the back and 4 lines coming out of the pump. dual feed and return for winches. we def had to modify the crossmember. everything else went straight forward except the pto programming and the not being able to use it unless the e brake is on. were a pretty savy shop able to figure anything out but this thing was not well thought out

Edited November 8, 2019 by Maddog13407