Hi there,
Just an observation from an outsider...... I don't know whether its me or does anyone else here feel the large truck forum is getting a little mixed up with old truck , new truck and mechanical questions all mixed together ?

I know the mods went to a lot of trouble even being given a large truck section and for that I'm sure we are all grateful.
Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining but it would be great to split large truck into old truck... say 25 years +, newer truck... less than 25 years and both have mechanical question headings.
I don't know whether it would make it any easier for the great work numbersdummy, Bill does.
Be interesting to here your thoughts, mods ?

Thanks in advance Geoff

 

Well since Ford big trucks became Sterling and the dam Benz company pulled the plug do you expect to see posts on new trucks? Sorry I see that was not a question for me. Roll On!

 

I have not compiled a list of "most often" asked questions, but there is a LOT of "I just bought an F600", with a variety of questions being asked. Mostly it's VIN, how to make it go faster, how to get the brakes to work.

I do my best to move small truck inquiries here. Just because the F250 is really big to you doesn't make it a big truck.

 

Tenwheeler (Well since Ford big trucks became Sterling and the dam Benz company pulled the plug do you expect to see posts on new trucks? Sorry I see that was not a question for me. Roll On!)


Yes everyone's aware Ford (well in the US) don't build new.
I believe newer say under 25 years, was the wording used.


85e150six4mtod (but there is a LOT of "I just bought an F600", with a variety of questions being asked. Mostly it's VIN, how to make it go faster, how to get the brakes to work.)


Mechanical question section.? Just my observation.

 

If you want to see "congested" you should have been around for the Superduty forum from around 2004 to 2010 or so

The problem here is, I look at the first page, and it's almost 2 weeks worth of threads.

That's not my definition of "congested".

But I'm willing to entertain ideas from the general group

 

Maybe we could break it down into sections for F series, N series, Coe's and so forth.

 

This particular sub-forum is not congested in my opinion.

There is nothing that happened 25 years ago (1991) to make a cut-off point. Ford still currently makes medium duty trucks like they always have.

For my purposes, I wouldn't mind it if large trucks were combined again into the proper era truck sections, like they are still labeled (f100 and larger).

 

Yes maybe congested is the wrong word to use.


To me, it just reads as a mix up of different years, models and mechanical questions or VIN info into one continuous page.
Maybe just a mechanical questions section including VIN's and troubleshooting.


Yeah, 25 years was suggested as most states and countries both here, the US and Europe, recognize 25 years as vintage and less than 25 current.
Myself, I consider anything smaller that 3 ton (on the actual truck) payload to be a utility truck.
As I say, it's only my observation. Geoff

 

The problem is, most people in the F100 and larger truck forums have pickups, so will know little or nothing about 500 and larger series trucks.

When I see a 500 and larger series truck thread in the F100 and etc. forums, I ask the mods to move it here, to the Large Truck forum.

The 500 and larger series trucks, especially when it comes to brakes and rear axles, are a royal PITA to look up parts for.

chrissmallwood: Some people don't know the difference between C, F, LN and N series trucks.

Every so often someone asks about an F series truck, but in actuality...it's either a C Series Tilt Cab or a Louisville (L/LN and etc).

 

I think it's perfect. The truth is, the large truck forum is actually slow. It's not congested, it's diverse. If it gets split up each piece would be much more slow.

 

Yes, I can not believe people buy trucks and have no clue as to what they are.
At least google search some pictures to get an idea first before asking. !
Don't get me wrong, I very much appreciate the large truck forum.

 

I agree.. and this forum gets regularly monitored by Bill Number Dummy... who jumps in routinely to help us all... he is one of the most valuable resources here

On the light duty forums posts disappear in a day relegated to back pages... here it moves pretty slow comparatively

I guess breaking it down to years could be helpful... but that means more mods and more forums to open... I like looking at some of the later trucks for ideas.. but really because its simple here.. Im not sure I would spend time going to another large truck later forum

 

I have a 1963 F-850 and a 1990 F-800. Both are single axle. Both "old". Gasoline and diesel engines. Hydrovac and air brakes. Brake issues and questions seem to dominate the Large Truck forum. Maybe there's a separate forum for power assisted-brake issues for all Ford Trucks of a certain age (vacuum, air, hydraulic, whatever)? We might meaningfully peel off some of the noise that's perceived.

 

I think this subforum approaches near perfection just the way it is.

It has very low traffic, compared to other sub forums on FTE... in fact, so little so by comparison, most might describe it as the diametric opposite of being congested.

It has a high moderator to member ratio. The relatively new mod (85e150six4whatevertheheckallthatgobbldeygookmeans ) is highly participatory, and quite a few other mods maintain an active presence as well.

By far, the very best reason this forum approaches perfection is due to the volunteer efforts of Bill, the retired Ford parts manager who still hasn't read the memo left on his desk a dozen years ago that he is retired... and he puts his all into finding part numbers for random strangers as if his pension depended on it. We are very fortunate in this online community for his initiative.

It is fairly clear that topics here are focused more on the medium duty truck line. Even though Bill says "500 and up", and I have an F-550, I know that my truck questions don't belong here, because the F-550 of recent years aligns more with the 99 up Super Duty pickups. Yet if I owned an original "Super Duty" from the late 50's or early 60's when that marketing term was first coined by Ford, then my questions would belong here.

And, given Bill's specialty of being able to find obsolete parts, or at least find the part numbers to obsolete parts, if I had a 50's era F5 or even an F3, I'm sure no one would mind if a question or two on interpreting the VIN slipped into this otherwise little trafficked forum in order to catch Bill's attention.

Why mess with success? Why tinker with something that is already working, just to keep within a strict adherence to a GVWR class? As a large truck forum, the "congestion" here is a whole lot better than the deserted desolation of the large truck subforum of TDS. Back then, old "Louisville Joe" practically had to carry on conversations with himself... with months passing between posts.

 

X2 on that!

Like it the way it is.