What is the 330 HD?
 

Before I begin, I'd like to say there's two 330 engines. The common 330 MD (medium duty) which is a part of the FT family and the rare 330 HD (heavy duty) engine. I'm morely interested in the 330 HD. The 330 HD engine is an engine developped by Ford strickly for the use of F350 U-haul 14' TC trucks. My truck is a '79 F350 ex-uhaul with the 330 HD. U-haul used the 330 HD engines from 1976 to 1979. Theses engines were replaced by the 370 in 1980 U-haul trucks.

I'd like to know about the 330 HD block. What is it? It isn't the standard 330 MD supped up. It is refered as the long block, and is commonly mistaken for a 390 block. I do wonder if it is a 360/390 block downgraded for low gearing heavy hauling? Any knowledge would be much appreciated. I do have pics of the engine in my gallery.

Tyl

WOW, The edumacation that you are spreading here on this forum is awesome.



John :-X06

330's
 

330HD's are not rare and they are not U Haul only. The 330HD differs from the 330MD in the crankshaft department HD's got the big snout , Md's got the small snout. HD's are externaly balenced MD's aren't. HD's use the large oil pump drive, generaly have a govenor style distributor. 330 Hd's were used in all Ford medium trucks from '64'. The U Haul 330 was a 'spec' engine designed for rough service by 'IDIOTS'. Mainly it was a big truck engine in a 1 ton truck.

Have A Good Day ---- Hotwrench:-X25

Well put Hotwrench!

The MD used a 352/360 crank, the HD used the steel unit. The blocks are nothing special either. Same old pot luck as with all other FE blocks. Some got thick walls, most didn't.

The 330, both MD and HD is an idiot engine in any vehicule. Last summer, I ran the truck loaded with parts to sell and towing a small tent trailer, the truck maintained a 7.65 mpg and downshifted some long hills. Terrible engine for the performance expected. I can't imagine a family renting this truck from U-haul in the '80s with the huge 6' x 14' aluminum box it had loaded with household items. If you have stories to tell renting one, I'd surely like to hear it. I keep a binder full of info of info of the trucks as i find them.

Here's some of U-haul's engine facts;

-The 330-cubic-inch extra duty Ford engine can perform under the toughest road conditions. Its increased performance ability makes the truck well-suited for towing.

-This truck is a beefed-up hybrid, a heavy duty workhorse in light-truck clothing. What started out as a Ford F350 one ton chassis was "muscled-up"with the drivetrain of the Ford F600 series--the Ford 330 XD (extra duty) V8 engine, heavy duty 12" clutch, 4 speed manual transmissiion, heavy duty driveline and rear axle. Not only was this package not commercially availlable, it was thought to be imposiible to pack such a heavy drivetrain into a light-truck package. But working in the U-haul Technical Center in Tempe, AZ. U-haul truck experts showed it could be done, and then proved to Ford engineers that the truck could be built on the productioon line from standard heavy-duty componants.

Note; Ford calls the engine HD (Heavy Duty) U-haul calls it XD (Extra Duty).

HD/XD specs;

-engine governed for longer life
-the safety factor of dual thermostats
-5 blade fan runs cooler and quieter
-heavy duty water pump
-forged crankshaft, larger rods and main bearings
-larger water passages for clooler runing engine
-12" heavy duty clutch
-extra duty heads with sodium filled valves; runs cooler
-oil bath air cleaner assures longer engine life

truck specs;

-330 Industrial V8 gas engine with extra duty cooling package
-435 New Process 4 speed manual trans (HD includes super low 1st gear)
-Heavy duty 12" clutch
-Dana 70 w/4.10 gear ratio (Heavy duty)
-30 gallon fuel tank
-10,000 lbs GVW
-14' all aluminum van box
-594 cubic feet storage capacity
-low profile deck with aluminum pull out ramp for easy loading
-twin I beam front suspension for smoother ride
-161" wheelbase
-auxiliary spring option #2
-dual shocks, single Heavy duty - rear
-8.00 x 16.5" tires (was bias original, now radials)

Tyl

Well the only two things I see are hype is the larger rods and water passages. The rods must be the best kept secret in the FE/FT world. The coolant passages was a result of the smaller bore cores in the 330's block, which was externally the same casting as all other FE/FT's.

Yeah, the 330s were used way before the 80s so it nothin new or rare. Mainly used for trucks above F350 rating in the 60s n 70s.

I'll take another 330 and make a Poor Mans 427 out of it. I'll take it!

1977 ford ex uhaul 330 XD
 

I have a 1977 ford F350 with the 330 XD duty engine. My truck was a U haul but I've taken the box off and I drive it every day to work. It rides like a tank and gas milage is crap! but it starts every time and people seem to want to know whats up with the long frame and no bed thing? Oh the truck is now blue. I recently installed new thermostats in it because someone took them out and I had no heat yes two thermostats in this wierd cast iron square box in front of the engine and my father in law installed a third one on the block where the box goes into the block, there was a place there for one to? probably did not need one there. anyway I have heat now. I do like the truck and my kids love the truck. my truck has all the specs and stickers on it that tell alot about the engine if anyone wants the info.

---------------------------

hello
 

hey guys i am a 16 year old boy that is amazed with these truck like this and i just got handed down my grandpaws tow truck/ex-uHaul truck back when he was in the wrecker service. anyway i have done some seroius work to this truck and this fourm taught me a lot thank you! but i do have one question! Why does my F350 custom have circular headlights instead of the square ones i see on every other truck? if you could answer this you guys would be helping me out a lot! I know it has the 330 HD 4spd (with extra low 1st) and i also need a passenger side manifold and i cant find one that is the same look as the stock one? Can you guys help me out with that as well? thank you for your help!

'73-'78 (maybe 78 1/2) had round headlights '79 had square. XLT lariats from '78 had square as well

The FT manifolds are unique unto themselves, FE manifolds will not work. Post an ad in the classifieds here and you might get lucky. Or look on ebaymotors

I just found this thread as a buddy of mine bought a old U Haul for his resale shop that is booming pretty good, so he needed something to haul with. It's a old 330 engine and considering the life the truck has led has been reliable, runs good and earns it's keep.
As far as you saying it's a dog, well you really got that right !
He fills it, but nothing is particularly heavy as old farts like us can handle loading it. If someone were moving and had more heavy stuff in the box I would imagine it would really be a pig.
He's looking at a van cutaway with a larger box, air and a 7.3 diesel. I was offered the truck for a friends price, but my back already aches with the thought of me removing the box and putting a flatbed on it.

Bill, That engine is a Ford/Uhaul only deal. Find a good 360 rebuild it with a rv cam and you would have a much better puller.


John :-X06

Appreciate the input,but probably would not.Reason is if I bought it,it would only see occasional use.He said $500 and it's mine.I have a shop outback and my 4wd F250 is usually filled with firewood so I'm thinking this F350 would be better suited for that and I could use the pickup more for other things.But again,I might go that route if I loaded it up seeing it's such a dog with a light load.
I don't know why they didn't just use the 361 in the first place,the fuel economy difference would be nothing.Too bad fuel is so high these days,I miss being able to go junkin on little gas money.

Bill, I don't recall all the story, except it was exclusive to Uhaul, and I think it was after 76 when the FE/FT family engine was discontinued. If you buy enough Ford trucks you can get deals that others can't. It was in both parties interest to keep the Ford badge in the public eye when they rented those trucks.

Dog or no, having 350 for lite use "if you can store it" for $500.00 is not the worst deal in the world.


John :-X06

I wonder why they wanted the FE based 330 ? Mechanics familiar with the old engine maybe ?
Yes I thought after 1977 it was gone, but I think in the medium trucks it made it until 1978, but I'm not sure. Still, makes me wonder why they didn't go with the 351M after 1976.
Still kicking around buying the truck. Problem is auto parts have really skyrocketed lately. It needs tires, few misc. things and oil now is pushing $6 a qt. for many brands, it's just insane how much things like this have shot up in the last 10 years.

Bill, Just FORGET about it, you can not afford it, walk away man, walk away. }>

As Hillery sez, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE???



John :-X06

I can, just question if I want to get into it. Daughter and her two kids living back home makes me more careful.

The Hildabeast ? She makes me sick.

Going with the 351M would have meant a bunch of changes, and that is not as HD a motor as the 330 FT.

I have to laugh, all these comments about these 330's being dogs in mere F350's.

Try one in a C600 at 35k+ pounds loaded. Yup I do it quite often, and yes, on steep hills I am in the single digits. Obviously not a freeway hauler when loaded, secondary roads only - and that is what the right lane and four way flashers are for. Just let the truck work its way up the hill, kick back and take the time to look around and see what you miss when traveling along at 50 mph....

But then at 7.4 to 1 compression ratio, these engines will slog along all day hammer down, where as the light duty 9:1 engines detonate themselves to death in short order in this type of service.

It is what it is. A engine designed for a time when it was common for all trucks to be in the slow lane, even the largest class 8's. People had different expectations back then. Pickups were utilitarian and not family haulers for the majority, and most were of relatively low horsepower, and relegated to mainly the slow lane as a normal situation.

Besides U haul back then had a stipulated maximum of 45 mph limit on everything they rented, it was in the rental contract that you signed, so high horsepower was not needed, but reliability and low operating cost (as in repairs) were needed.

David

So as I am apparently about to acquire a '77 F350 U-Haul with this mystical wonderful 330, have we determined with 100% certainty (as in part numbers off the engine parts certain) which 330 this actually is?
I wouldn't mind seeing a complete list of differences between the MD and HD variants with only factual verified evidence on it.
Between it basically getting renamed by U-haul to the Xtra and various conflicting threads full of repeated hear say I am confused.

The truck I am getting is still all original with the log books and whatnot jammed in the glove compartment and the U-Haul brand mono radio, bit of a fascinating time capsule. I can tell by the service logs this truck has seen more states than I ever will.

The main difference was the crankshaft. The MD's got the cast 352 FE crank, the HD's got the steel 361 unit.

here's an interesting one...my 330 FT is not ex U-Haul but has the XD on the aircleaner. Was this factory from Ford or did somehow an ex U-Haul aircleaner make in onto my rig? Also, can someone tell me more about how these are governed to only 2800 max rpm (so I have been told)?

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-g...ompartment.jpg

Mike,

The 330 XD was not exclusive to Uhaul. It was however exclusively used in one ton, or F350 models for Uhaul as the normal F350 got a light duty 360/390 engine instead.

The XD series was used in many models and it came after the MD and HD series was retired? Marketing thing I guess, perhaps people who are not students of history will be more willing to buy the same old thing if it is wrapped in a shiny new name? If you do a search on the medium duty truck forum, you will find that I have scanned and posted a original XD engine series multi page brochure.

You can also go to my Photobucket.com account and see this brochure as well as many other scanned older Ford brochures and information. dmanlyr is the name as well.

As to the governed speed, if you are only getting 2800 rpm, then it is not set as per the factory. That engine should have a governed speed of 3400 to 3600 rpm. If you find no governor on the carburetor, along with the distributor that goes with it, and the engine will not turn up to its rated rpm, which is NOT only 2800 rpm, then you have a engine issue.

Being local to the area, I looked at the truck you bought, it was very interesting. It was listed on Craigslist for quite some time before it found a new home!

David

Governor's on the carburetor, bottom, built into the throttle base plate.

When I was younger my dad bought a 79 uhaul that someone put an extended dump bed on. The first thing we did was pull that 330 and drop a fresh rebuilt 460 out of a lincoln mark III in it. That old girl would haul whatever you put behind it or in the bed. He still runs it to this day on the farm. We learned quick with that truck everything was different when getting parts for it. Thanks for bringing back up the good memories of this fun uhaul!

UPDATE: buddy removed the box for additional storage (yes, I live in Kentucky) and he gave me the truck for FREE ! So I have a good running cab and chassis and now I'm building a flatbed so I can use this for firewood hauling.
Thankfully it will see limited use, my friend (who now has two trucks for his business) claims his much larger medium duty Chevrolet 8.1 V8 496 with automatic gets better fuel economy.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...330-specs.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/2...330-motor.html

330 hd rear main seal?
 

Hey Guys i am new to this forum but need some help. just bought a 73 f600 dump truck with 330 hd 2 speed rear end. I drove it 160 miles home. Truck drove amazing till the next morning i went to start it and noticed it was pouring oil between the block and trans. I'm pretty sure it is the rear main seal. how hard is this to replace and any other suggestions? thanks for all the help, stroker93.

This post is getting very close to the whole 330XD rationale. The motor is everything a pulling motor should not be, except nearly indestructable. The stroke is way too short, the displacement is way to small, the load behind it was usually way too big. But with the governor, it could nearly never be ruined by idiot rental drivers. There was another bigger reason for the oddball XD in the UHauls.

Theft. Early on UHaul found out that some sleazy people would rent a truck for the weekend, pull the motor out of the truck and put in a worn out motor, then bring the truck back with the worn out engine. Sounds screwy, but some people will do anything to save a few bucks... used car dealers, organized crime mobs, chiseling weekend mechanics, etc.

So UHaul specified an engine for their trucks that was undesirable to begin with, easily identified if stolen, hard for anybody else to get parts for, and ran like a pig for every application. UHaul, unlike GM-product utilizing EZHaul, never had much of a theft problem. The EZHaul saga is a story for another day, involving the mob, extortion, threats, and a long weekend of organized engine theft and swaps. A real B-school case study. U-Haul finally bought them out, IIRC.

Manifold
 

Hey, it's possible I have a manifold that your looking for. It came of of what I believe to be a 391 out of a 1975 terrigator, which is a large fertilizer spreading machine here in the Midwest.. I put this engine in my 75 highboy I'm building and the manifold dumped right on top of the motor mount. I had to put the stock 360 manifold on which I hated bc the 391 was a center collector which seems like it would breathe better and run cooler. It has two extra extra exhaust passages between # 2 and 3 cylinders, if that helps id it for you.

}>;) You've been bitten by that old threadbug……….. you're about 7 years late on your answer.:-X22

Yes, but it was interesting reading!

So I'm gonna rehash this whole deal...
I'm getting ready to reassemble my FT for my 65 f600.
It's an oil bath air cleaner former 330hd.

What color would this old 330 have been paid yes when new? I'm not going for some show quality restore but if im doing it I would like to do it correctly.

Any help would be great.

Don't know about the 65 models but my friends dad had a 68 and 69 F-600, their engines were Ford blue

Blue for all engines started in '66. In '65, car and light trucks had a black block and the valve covers and sometimes air cleaner were different colors depending on the size of the engine. My '65 Mustang had gold covers and air cleaner for example.

Not sure if this was a thing in the medium trucks.

Paint the whole thing gray like the later reman'd engines.