Ford F8000 configurations

[Deershack]

I am looking at an ad for 1991 F8000 with a 7.8. Have not seen the truck yet and can not find any site where I can find what components went in to that years F8000. I want to know what tranny, rears, brakes and so on. Can anyone steer me to this info when I get the VIN#? Thanks

 

[amunderdog]

I have seen simular adds.
They are wrong.
:my2c
You are looking at either a F-800 or L-8000 truck

 

[Kgmz]

Your best bet if you have the VIN is to go to a Sterling Truck dealer and have them pull the build sheet off of the computer.

All the dealers have access to a build sheet since not all L8000's of a given year are exactly the same. They can be speced with all kinds of different parts, suspensions, trannys, engines, etc. This is how they can find the right part for you and always ask for your VIN when you come in for parts.

When the Ford heavy duty trucks were discontinued and sold they were renamed Sterling and are owned by Daimler/Freightliner. Now Daimler will quit building the Sterling trucks, but will continue to supply parts for a few years for the Sterling and what they call the Legacy Ford trucks.

http://www.sterlingtrucks.com/Letter.asp

 

[Steve Frazier]

amunderdog may be right, the F and L series trucks are often confused. There are however F-8000 trucks out there, built up until Ford sold the heavy trucks division to Sterling. I'm not sure what year that took place but Ford had to agree to a non-compete clause in the deal and the F-8000 was dropped as a result. The VIN or a photo will tell for sure, the F series uses the pickup cab and the L has a much larger cab. Can't help you with the info you're looking for though, sorry.

 

[Deershack]

Thanks Your both right, it is a L8000. I will try searching under that. I appreciate the help. Info I have so far is that it is 1991 dump with a 5-7 yd box, UTG spreader, 12" plow. belly blade, Atuo Tranny, 7.8 Ford with 210 hp. Ad says everything including the in cab controls works "great". Asking $4,500 or b/o. Have only seen a couple of pics of it and the box looks rusty. Any thoughts on the price and what problem areas I ashould be looking at?

 

[Steve Frazier]

Rust will be your biggest problem, cab corners and door bottoms go first. Give the frame a good look too, if it was used for salting and not cleaned after each use the frame will be in rough shape. The Ford diesel was a good engine, better than the Cat 3208 also found in those trucks. It's more than likely an Allison auto, they're very reliable.

 

[Deershack]

Just noticed my post says it has a 12 inch plow. Would take awhile to do a lot with that. LOL Should be 12 foot. Thanks for the imput so far.

 

[Deershack]

WOW I'm currently on hold with Sterling Trucks and have been for the last45 min. waiting to talk to a real person. If this is any indication of their usual "Customer Service". I wont be buying any of their products.

 

[Raildudes dad]

Sounds like a municipal snow removal truck to me. I agree with Steve, check it out thoroughly for rust. I bought Toyman's 87 LTL9000 tractor, it had been taken good care of, no rust in the corners, door posts etc. Call your local Sterling dealer, not Sterling Corporate if that's who you've been on hold for. My local dealer can tell me everything about my old girl. The night parts guys are the best for looking up stuff. Unfortunately they can only read the microfiche, they can't print it.

 

[amunderdog]

Well the site will not let me copy and paste or add links
www.fleetford.com/maintenance/vin_tools/default.asp
There is a vin decoder there.

maintenance/vin_tools/

 

[Deershack]

I got the build sheet from the local Sterling dealer. Under transmission it lists " Transmission,Automatic,Allison,MT-653 w/3rd Gear Hold,5 Spd,1.0,16,649 SN(AT2410418546). Under rear axel it say,"Single,23,000.Rockwell,RS-23-160,4,89,STD Track,STL"

For the tranny, does anyone know what the "w/3rd Gear Hold" means

Also need a translation about the rear end listing. The owner says it has a two speed axel and one of the ranges does not work when you press the buttong the shifter. Any thought on whether this problem would be in the tranny or rear end and any guess of a price range to fix. I havn't driven a heavy truck with an auto tranny so I am in unknown waters.

I appreciate all the help I have received on the forum, you guy are great.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I've never driven a truck with both an automatic and a 2 speed rear, it's always been a standard with a 2 speed. I'm not even sure how you'd do it. With the standard you split each gear with the rear end, you can't do that with the auto.

As far as the problem it could be any number of things. The button is actually a switch which actuates an electric motor at the rear end. Any break in the wiring would cause it to fail, or the motor could be bad. Those would be the simple items. Worse would be damage inside the rear.

 

[Deershack]

Is it possible to have a high and low range tranny? He indicated that they have been plowing in whatever range it is now in. When they push the button, nothing happens and the truck dosn't handle any differently. Buddy of mine is going to be the trucks location and will look it over for me. If he concurs, I will probably pull the trigger. My biggest concern is what it may cost right off the bat to fix the problem before I make a dime.

 

[Komatsu 150]

Back when we were running electric two speed rears it was pretty normal to work on the the system every couple of years. The switches wear out although with an automatic it's switched much less. Usually a broken wire at the motor or the limit switch on back of the motor. Also nobody seems to know the oil in the unit is supposed to be checked, and the screw mechanism would bind up and rust. Nothing very expensive usually. The shifter gear itself is pretty tough and requires a real ham handed driver to mess up.

Keep in mind the system may have been deliberately disabled because of the automatic and the above mentioned hamhanded driver.

 

[dirt digger]

the L-8000 with the 7.8 is a good truck...we have one with a 2300 gallon tank on it for pumping out turd tanks...has a lot of power when it is half loaded or less then rapidly starts to act like a dog when you start to get her loaded...this one has a 6 speed in it though, drives just like a sports car

easy to work on...lots of room in the cab...its pretty tall too so visibility would be good with the plow...best of luck to you

 

[Deershack]

Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know what " w/3rd gear hold" ( see above posting #11 for complete tranny info) means under the tranny listing on the build sheet.

Current owner say the truck has 120,000 miles on it, so I'm hoping it's just getting broken in rather then broken down.

 

[Dualie]

It could also be an AIR shift 2 spd. but most likely its electric.

I would start with the switch its like $9 at napa. could be the motor could be a couple of things.

I went through 2 gear sets in my boom truck. Both times they got locked in low range. and the sun gear exploded. They need to replace the whole thing.

if you look on Eaton's website they have a very good selection of service and repair manuals online. You got to dig a bit to find them but they are there.

 

[RonG]

Before the electric two speed axle they were vacuum controlled.Pulling a long hill would sometimes cause the twospeed mechanism to disengage and you would be free wheeling in an instant.You had to be on the ball.Ron G

 

[Dualie]

haha I still have a truck with vacume shift 2 speed.

 

[ibdave]

Tried to send you some "correct" answers, but I'm new at this. Anyway Yes son there is a 1991 ford f8000 and it is a nice cab over unit(not at all looking like a pickup) and the three speed auto is of the lock lever verity (you can hold it in first, second, or third so you can make full use of the two speed rear end . There were some other answers, but god 'drain bammage' and forgot. Good Luck, ibdave PS one of NASA's Nicest trucks is one.