Just to clear things up for me. Did Ford actually name a vehicle a Super Duty prior to the current models? Or was the term super duty (other than the engines) simply used as more of a description? I've heard people reference older chassis' that way. Things like, "it has the super duty, not the heavy duty chassis." This is some interesting stuff.

 

The trucks were badged as Super Duty. The name Super Duty was placed on either side of the hood. Go to my gallery and click on Chelle's big trucks and I have a picture of my 65 model Super Duty F series truck and also a picture of a 69 N series Super Duty. The name plate on the F series is a little hard to read in the picture but the N series truck is very easy to read.

Michelle

 

Was the Super Duty badge that I saw on the side of the N-series trucks a reference to just the engine or the whole truck itself? All this is not just a test of your knowledge. I have an agenda. If Ford had trucks that were actually named Super Duty's, much the same as our trucks have the Super Duty name now, then I'm heading down to the local salvage yard and/or stopping by the places in the desert I've seen some of the rusting hulks and looking for those badges. I think it would be kind of cool to take off my current SD badges and use those older style one's. I just don't want some astute Ford person asking me if I put an old super duty engine in my '04 dually, if that's what the badges represented.

 

Up until 1958 Ford trucks was mostly medium duty trucks. However Ford did make heavy duty trucks too. The problem was that the Ford heavy duty trucks were under powered when compared to other heavy trucks, like International. So as a consequence Ford did not sell that many heavy trucks. Starting in 1955 Ford starting developing the 401, 477, and 534 gas engines, a true truck engine, this engine was not shared with any other Ford division it was built strictly as a truck engine and used only in Ford trucks. Ford was trying to get into the class 8 truck market. These engines were state of the art and probably one of the best gas powered truck engines ever built. They were powerful and very dependable. These engines would run with the diesels of the day. The engine first showed up in the 1958 model production. As a way of promoting the fact that Ford was a player in the class 8 truck market the trucks with these engines were called Super Duty's. You had to get out of the medium truck class and into the heavy truck class to get one of these engines. The Super Duty name was worn on F, H, N, and C series trucks until 1969 when the truck had one of these three engines. The name could have possible been used beyond that on some F and C series trucks. The H series was replaced in 1966 by the W series and I have never seen the name on a W series truck. The N series was replaced by the L series in late 1969 and I have never seen the Super Duty name on it either. So to answer your question, yes the only early trucks to use the Super Duty name tags were the trucks with the monster motors. While the name Super Duty was restricted to trucks with these engines, it was more of a statement of what the truck was capable of. The name was shouting "I am a rugged tough and powerful truck." Another way to put it. It was Fords way of saying to other marks running gas engines "run with me if you can." As I said earlier these trucks were able to run all day with the diesels of the day. You can read the history of Ford trucks on my website. www.michellesfords.com go to the bottom of the page and click on the H series truck page and it will give a thumb nail history of Ford trucks.

Please feel free to ask any Ford truck question you like, I am not offended nor do I feel that you are testing my knowledge. You have been asking honest questions. I may not always have the answers, and if I do not I will certainly tell you so.

Michelle

 

That's some good stuff. I've flipped back to that N-series several times now, and the more I look at that Super Duty badge, the more I'm liking it. I really like the "old school" cursive look it has. I may have to go searching for those badges regardless of whether they represented the engine or not. You know us Ford folk, always got to be different. I appreciate the info and your site.

 

Drove from South GA to Marietta GA and back today, while I was there at a red light a early 90s U-Haul Superduty pulled up beside me! It was a U-Haul Service Truck!!

 

I also bought a 99 SD in March of 98. Wish I didn't! My 02 is great! trimman

 

Why do you prefer the '02 to the 99?

Sam
99 CC LB PS 4X4

 

Your right Mobey, Ford was using the Super Duty name tag from the late 80's or early 90's again for the F-550. There may have been a 450 version too, I am just not real sure. Any way the 90's version Super Duty's has a straight axle under the front instead of the IFS shared by the 250's and 350's they were just a heavier version of the light duty Ford trucks. Sort of a precursor to the Super Duty's of today. Also if I am not mistaken the early 90's S/D's were all power stroke diesels.

Speaking of the present generation Super Duty's. I have owned several 3/4 ton Ford trucks during my life time. I presently have two trailers. One 32 Ft. Alumilite travel trailer and a 26 ft. enclosed car trailer. Of all the 3/4 ton trucks I have owned and towed with nothing can compare to the present day S/D's. It is like I am towing with a one ton or larger. They are so much more stable than any other 3/4 ton I have ever towed with.

EnviroCon, I think you are on to something about using the earlier script S/D badges. The more I think about what you said, the more I think it would look really neat. It would set your truck apart from the crowd, not to mention the comments you would get. I can hear it now, "is this a special model S/D?"

Good luck my friends,
Michelle

 

My grandpa hauled coal from the 1930's until 1986 when he sold his last truck a 1968 F700 tandem.

In the early years, he mostly had Chevrolets and GMC's but in the late 50's he went to driving Fords. The 68 model had about 2 million miles on it when he sold it, and the buyer cut the tandem off it and put a wrecker bed on it. It's still running today. I see it every now and then and have thought about trying to buy it.

The engine on that truck was a 302 Gas V-8. I don't remember if it had Super Duty on the side of it or not. It should have. His average load was between 18 and 20 tons of stoker. That would have grossed about 50,000 pounds truck and all. He had 58,000lb tags on the truck, but the GVWR would only allow about 40,000 lbs. The tandem didn't come on the truck, he had it put under it. The bed was not a dump. Tranny was a 5 speed with a 2 speed rear. When I rode with him in the late 70's and 80's the body was about rusted in two. The passenger side floorboard was gone. You watched the road run under the truck, and it made him a dandy spitoon. Somewhere along the way someone ran over the road sign in front of his house and it made a dandy floorboard for the remainder of the time he owned it.

He'd load stoker at one of the tipples in Eastern Kentucky and had school contracts for Jefferson and Shelby Counties (Louisville and Shelbyville, KY) He'd haul the coal up and hang an auger on the side of the bed or tail gate and open the lift door and just shovel the stoker through the hole into the auger. At 80 years old, he could out shovel 4 good men.

The odd thing is, he back hauled groceries. If you ate a Paramount pickle, Shedd's Peanut Butter, or Check Colas in Eastern Kentucky in the 70's or early 80's, chances are it rode from Louisville to Laurel Grocery in the back of a coal bucket. In the spring and summer, he hauled ash billets for Louisville Slugger.

I rode with him as a kid and learned to drive a stick on that old truck putting around his pasture field. Top speed loaded going down hill with it out of gear was about 50 mph (unless you wanted to wreck), up hill about 20 mph and about 40 on flat ground.

In the late 60's a new DOT man started working coming into Louisville on 64 and they burned him on 4 straight trips for being way overloaded. From the stories I've been told, he called the Governor and explained that he couldn't haul the school children's coal if he kept getting overweight tickets coming into the city. That DOT man ended up assigned to Paducah.

In all of those miles, he changed engines 1 time and put 1 set of heads on an engine. He could have done Havoline commercials I guess.


Skipper

 

Skipper, that was a really good story, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It sounds like your grandpa was no stranger to hard work. It is sad that we don't have more men like him today.

Michelle