Ford vs. Chevy. I'd pick the Ford F-450 and 550 Super Duty over the Chevy 4500 and 5500 Kodiak, but I think the bigger Kodiaks (6500-8500) have the F-650 and 750 beat.

 

As much as I hate to say it, GM 4500 and 5500 blow their blue oval counterparts out of the water...

The Ford is just a beefed up F-350 while the GM's have nothing in common with the 3500 besides the engine/trans and maybe some small items.

 

I'd pick the F650 over the 6500, it's an IH truck with a ford cab

DT

 

i would pick the ford f 650 and 750 i just couldn't stand looking at the front of the chevy.

 

My reasons for picking the Chevy over the Ford in this instance is because the Chevys have much more options than the Fords (tandem axles, gas engines, ect.), and BECAUSE the Ford is now just an International with a Ford cab on it. The Ford 650 and 750 are made in Mexico out of parts International throws out!

 

The Ford 650 and 750 are made in Mexico out of parts International throws out

not really that plant has been awarded top honors for build quality and craftsmanship. if you want tandem axles then you need to look at the sterling trucks.

 

Is Freightliner a choice here? The biggest problem is that you need a medium-duty franchise to sell anything over a F450/Kodiak 4500, and there's one (count 'em, one) Ford dealer in the Portland metro area that holds it, along with one Chevy dealer (not us) and one GMC dealer. Six Freightliner dealers in the same market area.

That being said- the Kodiak's finding a lot of new friends in the commmercial arena.

 

Ugh! So ugly though...

 

Let's be honest, though- none of 'em are beauty queens, ya know? This is the "cost per mile" part of the car biz. How else could you explain so many Izuzu tilt-cabs up here?

 

I was about to mention that. I have only driven one F-650 and it was very brief.

However I have driven a lot of European and Japanese cab-overs. For comfort, refinement, manouverability, fuel economy - heck pretty much anything - the Europeans and the Japanese have the US makers beat.

The likes of a Volvo FL would be my personal choice. (when Ford bought Volvo cars - why they didn't buy Volvo's brilliant commercial division is just beyond me).

 

The likes of a Volvo FL would be my personal choice. (when Ford bought Volvo cars - why they didn't buy Volvo's brilliant commercial division is just beyond me).

Because those dumb Scandinavians - Volvo and Saab both- sold their passenger cars businesses and then merged their truck companies into one unit to compete with Mercedes. Ford and GM got put together like a cheap watch, IMO.

 

The fords are built side by side with the international 4300 and 4400. Same exact chassis, radiator, chargea ir cooler assembly etc. There isn't a large market in the US for the import cab over truck. Hino for example, the largest truck manufacture in the world has given up on trying to sell cab over chassis in the US and has swithed to a conventional cab. The cab overs are benificial in the cities were parking and loading docks are tight. The imports sell there trucks here very cheap but the parts will cost you an arm a leg for a brake job, and your first born for a motor job.

 

Those new Hino conventionals are built in Long Beach, CA.. The only Japanese imported parts in them are the cabs and engines, the rest is domestic. So, while it's still true that overhauling a Hino J series diesel is expensive, getting the brakes done should cost you no more than a domestic truck. Hino is part of Toyota.

 

Your right. The new conventional cab uses an american driveline. The parts for the older cab over models will cost you an arm and a leg when you can get them.

 

What about small 4 door kenworth trucks? I sure wouldnt mind one.