Medium Duty Truck

[4570Man]

That's what I wish I could tell the insurance companies directly......."you should be giving me a discount because I'm driving a safer truck with better brakes and more stability."

?

It probably wouldn’t make any difference but if I was hassled over the medium duty I would tell them that. And RVs being exempt is stupid too.

 

[Hay Dude]

The medium duty痴 with a non locker diff and hard highway tires off-road like a ship. But a 3500 pulling a 10 ton load isn稚 much for off-roading either. I致e never liked off off road with a heavy load on a ton truck either. It痴 beyond hard on them.

Yeah but one of the nice things about my 550 is the 4WD- so commonplace on the 450/550 4500/5500 trucks. There's a scant few class 7 & 8 trucks with 4WD and they are extremely expensive to fix. I had a IH4800 4WD and it was more upkeep than I liked paying for. I frequently use my 550 off road pulling a trailer. In fact, all my loads of hay are loaded in the field and trucked off the field to the pavement and sometimes the field has snow, mud. A medium or heavy duty would be stuck-even with a rear locker. Been there done that. We end up pushing the trailer from behind with the farm tractor all the way to the pavement.
Now the OP may not have a need for off road capability. But my 550 with 4WD has saved my *** over and over again. Especially loading hay out of snow covered or muddy fields.

I do think an IH4XXX with a simple diesel manual trans set up and a flat bed with a ball, especially with air brakes would make a nice hauler IF you pretty much live on pavement, don't go off road, AND drive mostly flat ground. Put a trailer behind a 200-250 horse 4900 with a heavy trailer and climb a long steep hill...... You'll be doing 30mph at the top with the pedal to the metal and a 65MPH running start at the bottom. BUT they are relatively cheap, easy to fix and run a long time, tires last forever and they're pretty cheap ti insure.
Gotta remember the CDL if you're going over 26K and youll have to get used to cops looking at you very closely in some areas.

 

[Charlie175]

Thanks all
This would be a tractor puller toter. I do antique pulls around VA. This are all on roads with some fields where the pull is. I would have to think about the lack of 4wd but I can't remember any other trucks having issues.

 

[LouNY]

They don't look the prettiest but a few of the smaller class pullers around here are running the modified school buses.
Cut out the middle of the bus move the rear up to meet, make a flatbed on the rear with a beaver tail.
I've them with farm tags, RV tags and commercial plates.
some looked good and had been nicely equipped in the bus section as an RV.

 

[Hay Dude]

Thanks all
This would be a tractor puller toter. I do antique pulls around VA. This are all on roads with some fields where the pull is. I would have to think about the lack of 4wd but I can't remember any other trucks having issues.

You would be fine with what you originally proposed if that’s what you’re application is.
I would suggest you try for 250HP or more and make sure you check the rear axle ratio. 4.88 is about the highest you’d want to go if you want to do 65-70 without screaming against the governor. Mine has higher gears and top speed is like 67 even with tall rubber

 

[Charlie175]

I sometimes see IH 8100 series come up for sale, these have the bigger motors. I am just not hot on the looks.
Kicked my butt for not looking at a Kodiak locally that had a L10 in it. That would have been a horse.

OK, thanks for the info. Will remember about the ratio's. How do I tell if the rear has lockers? Do they normally list/note this? Is it common to have this option?

I love the 70's IH cab overs (without the sleeper). Hard finding those.
Our Ford C700 is a neat design that used to be very common, now I rarely see these.

 

[ededic]

It is Socialist Canada!!!!
Very easy to understand!
A requirement/rule/law/limitation/inspection/duty/tax, for ...EVERYTHING!!!

He said the insurance company called not the government.

 

[3Ts]

It probably wouldn’t make any difference but if I was hassled over the medium duty I would tell them that. And RVs being exempt is stupid too.

I agree, but it's all about lobbying and money.

 

[Hay Dude]

I sometimes see IH 8100 series come up for sale, these have the bigger motors. I am just not hot on the looks.
Kicked my butt for not looking at a Kodiak locally that had a L10 in it. That would have been a horse.

OK, thanks for the info. Will remember about the ratio's. How do I tell if the rear has lockers? Do they normally list/note this? Is it common to have this option?

I love the 70's IH cab overs (without the sleeper). Hard finding those.
Our Ford C700 is a neat design that used to be very common, now I rarely see these.

There’s a number of ways to tell.
1. If the truck has a line setting ticket (build sheet) it will say so.
A. If the truck line set ticket is unavailable, sometimes you can call a local dealer and they will email you a build sheet.
2. If the truck has a switch for “rear locker”, you can lock the rear from the cab
3. If you have none of the above, you can jack up the rear of the truck and turn the back wheels, or
4. you can test the truck of mud, simulating a slip. If you feel a “thuk” sound and the truck walks out it has a limited slip of locker. The trucks rear will probably “slide” to one side when both wheels are locked together if it’s really on slippery ground. Mine will lock and the rear end will begin to swing out if you’re not careful.

By your description, I’d look for something with an 8.3L Cummin(g)s or a IH DT-466/530/570.

 

[4570Man]

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.