My first truck.

[Dirtmonkey]

My first truck I bought as my own was a 1993 Ford L 9000 10 wheeler dump with a Davis dump body , Cummins n 14 with a 9 speed tranny. Had a 4 bag leaf suspension , set back front axle. I really liked that truck ! Love the Ford dash and cab. The 9 spd was great on the road and off ( for the most part ) but some times reverse was too fast. I can't recall what the rear end had in it but that was my only real complaint.
I miss that truck !

 

[Buckfever]

I got a l9000 speced almost the same way. Got a cat instead of a cummins, and a walking beam instead of air bags. Good solid work horse.

I could even sell you mine to help with those memories

 

[Tiny]

Long Time , Many Moons ago .... 1st Tractor mount boom truck I drove was a 67 T 850 534 gasser 5 and 4 . That old truck would pull the heaviest trailer we had out of soft ground ,Couldn't do anything with it afterwards but if it was a hard pull that old girl could get it to hard ground so a diesel truck could get on down the road . IIRC had gears down in the 6:30 range

 

[Steve Frazier]

The L-series Fords were my favorite truck to drive. Great visibility, tight turning radius and I really liked the dash layout. You hardly had to move your eyes to see all the gauges with the wrap around cluster pod.

 

[Dirtmonkey]

Long Time , Many Moons ago .... 1st Tractor mount boom truck I drove was a 67 T 850 534 gasser 5 and 4 . That old truck would pull the heaviest trailer we had out of soft ground ,Couldn't do anything with it afterwards but if it was a hard pull that old girl could get it to hard ground so a diesel truck could get on down the road . IIRC had gears down in the 6:30 range

We had a 5 & 4 gasser. C60 Chevy dump with a 454 and a walking beam. What a truck. My brother loved driving that thing but he was the only one that would drive it anyway. Dad sold it about two years ago. I hated to see it go, I wanted to put a winch on it.

 

[Tiny]

That old 534 engine was worn out and still it kept running . It would burn 13 quarts of oil a day when the boss built a shack out of 2X4s and string reinforced
Plastic one winter . I rebuilt that engine and 3 391's that winter .

Stopped the oil burning but didn't help the fuel use . 2 35 gallon step tanks were only good for 4 hours ... filled it twice a day . No way you could afford to run it at today's prices .

 

[Tiny]

I will agree with you Steve , The Louisville cab trucks were good (L8000's). Company had several L's that were straight trucks with a 60 foot boom on them . The day we took delivery on the 1st Sterling changed everything .

 

[kwdriver]

Brings back memories of my first trucking experience. A 1975 F500 with a heavy reefer box, 330 V8 4spd with a 2spd axle. The engine had amazing low end torque for a gasser. If I recall top speed was about 58 mph at about 4000 rpm. Throw in a 2% grade or even a good head wind and it slowed to about 40 loaded or empty.

 

[redneckchevy9]

I got a l9000 speced almost the same way. Got a cat instead of a cummins, and a walking beam instead of air bags. Good solid work horse.

I could even sell you mine to help with those memories

Sounds same setup as mine. 3406B CAT with 8L & Hendrickson walking beams also. Not much for creature comforts, but will run & run

 

[redneckchevy9]

The L-series Fords were my favorite truck to drive. Great visibility, tight turning radius and I really liked the dash layout. You hardly had to move your eyes to see all the gauges with the wrap around cluster pod.

Tight turning radius? Even with the set back axle my L9 takes a 60acre field to turn around.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I drove tractor trailer, 45' throughout the tri-state NY area, including all 5 boroughs of NYC. We had the standard front axle but a fairly short wheelbase, they were very maneuverable. They had 300 Cummins in them, most with 10 speed Roadrangers but some had 7 speed Spicers. I didn't like them much because you could get gear bound with them.

 

[redneckchevy9]

I drove tractor trailer, 45' throughout the tri-state NY area, including all 5 boroughs of NYC. We had the standard front axle but a fairly short wheelbase, they were very maneuverable. They had 300 Cummins in them, most with 10 speed Roadrangers but some had 7 speed Spicers. I didn't like them much because you could get gear bound with them.

How many set of drive tires did you go through? I read that some of those beer/pop drivers that run short tractors only get about 15,000 - 20,000 out of their tires because of all the tight turning and what not being in the city all day.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I honestly can't say. I drove a different truck every day except my last year there and didn't think to keep track.

 

[redneckchevy9]

I honestly can't say. I drove a different truck every day except my last year there and didn't think to keep track.

Never in the same truck, man that would drive me nuts. I like knowing that no one else in my truck so everything is where it needs to be & it stays clean. Hopefully you didn't have to put up with slobs that would leave half a dumpster of trash in the cab for you to discover in the morning.

 

[emilymainzer]

My friend's first truck was brought from Kleyn Trucks and the brand was scania P series. My father wants to buy one heavy duty trucks which can be imported. Anyone can say which is the best model at present in the market to import a truck?