Medium Duty Truck

[4570Man]

A Ford L8000 is not a medium duty truck.
I wonder how some of the older GMC/Chevy Low-Pros would serve you.

33,001 pounds and higher is the technical cutoff for medium duty and they become heavy duty/class8 then. The Ford 8000 single axels are right along that line but as far as I’m concerned all single axels are medium duty.

 

[Hay Dude]

Hardly any of the single axels have lockers on the rear. It would definitely be a benefit if it did. I disagree with the higher gears especially with a limited motor. My Topkick is wound out to cruise 60 but it would be junk if it was lacking the low end grunt. Also keep in mind a 4.88 gear ratio is pretty high combined with the big tires. A lot higher than a pickup would be with the same gear. A trans with more gears would be a lot better.

Depends on engine torque and transmission. A low hole 1st gear and/or 800ftlbs will overcome numerically low gears.
I had 5.38 in my 4800. It would walk out of anything in 1st (7 speed), but when I was running loads up/down the bypass topped out at 60, I wished I had 4.88. My tri axle had even lower gears numerically, but with an N-14, it would do anything loaded and off road.
Sounds like the OP is hauling show equipment to equipment shows & dealers which would probably mean highway travel. He will not need low grunt for lighter trailers on non-vocational work.

I see lots of single axles with limited slips. Not a true “locker”, but certainly better than an open rear.
My single axle is tagged at 35,000lbs. That puts me in class 8 territory along with all the taxes, fees and BS.
I do agree a lot of single axles are in the 26-33k range which is the upper end of MD.

 

[4570Man]

Depends on engine torque and transmission. A low hole 1st gear and 300HP will overcome numerically low gears.

Having a 300 horse diesel in a medium duty is exceedingly rare. Having a transmission with enough gears is also rare. But if you had a trans with enough gears that were properly matched the rear end gears wouldn’t matter.

 

[Hay Dude]

Having a 300 horse diesel in a medium duty is exceedingly rare. Having a transmission with enough gears is also rare. But if you had a trans with enough gears that were properly matched the rear end gears wouldn’t matter.

Depends on how good you are with a fuel screw and a few other things.:laughing:
I did want to mention I meant 800 ft lbs instead of 300HP, so I changed it.
Point is, torque and lo hole transmission can make up for highway gears, especially for the OPs truck duties.
A tri can pull out of a quarry with 20 ton and highway gears because it has a lo 1st gear and 1200 ft lbs. A much lighter single axle with 800tq or a guy with a screwdriver and a little knowledge can make a mechanical diesel pump considerably more powerful.
He doesn’t need to worry about it because he’s not vocational. Go 250+ and no higher than 5.13s and you’ll have a nice highway puller. He won’t like a 210 HP, 6.14 donkey dump chassis for what he’s doing.

 

[Charlie175]

I figure a 14k trailer would be easy for a MD truck.
I have a hard time finding the EW of trucks. I assume most of these weigh around 10k?

 

[4570Man]

I figure a 14k trailer would be easy for a MD truck.
I have a hard time finding the EW of trucks. I assume most of these weigh around 10k?

My gas Topkick weighs 12k. If you don’t have a dump bed you might get the weight down to 10 but I doubt it. A medium duty wasn’t built for speed but they’ll handle 15k of trailer like it wasn’t even there.

 

[waycoolmarine]

i like my medium duty 2004 ford f 650 has 24,000 miles on it 300 hp 800foot pounds torque cat / allison air ride air brakes . insured by state farm as personal truck - cheaper than my 2011 chevy / duramax 3/4 ton and i store it 6 months a year so its cheap to own and yes i do tow tractors behind it.

 

[Hay Dude]

View attachment 640024 i like my medium duty 2004 ford f 650 has 24,000 miles on it 300 hp 800foot pounds torque cat / allison air ride air brakes . insured by state farm as personal truck - cheaper than my 2011 chevy / duramax 3/4 ton and i store it 6 months a year so its cheap to own and yes i do tow tractors behind it.

300/800 is a pleasure to drive. Not a lot of downshifting pulling uphill and not a lot of sweating going down the other side. Air brakes are worth their weight in gold. I remember times when I was a little overloaded and air brakes will really stop you

 

[Paystar]

Nice truck waycoolmarine. Got the right motor too.

 

[Hay Dude]

I like an 8.3L Cummins in the bigger class 7 and smaller class 8 trucks. They really snort.
You get more displacement than the 7.2L CAT and the DT466.
The 8.3L Cummins is a very proven Agricultural diesel in Case IH magnum tractors.

All of them are good, just my preference.