My favorite old truck body style!

[Power Hungry]

Those forged cranks are beefy for sure, but they were also internally balanced whereas (I believe) the light duty FE blocks were externally balanced. That, combined with the fact that these were med/heavy duty engines and that explains the extra 20 Lbs. The balancers on the light duty were typically much bigger and heavier and the flywheels were weighted as well. In the end, I don't know if it saved anything sticking with the iron crank.

[cleatus12r]

I think the only real drawbacks to these trucks are the sloppy shifter linkage (the guy who engineered that was a genius) when they wear out and the 10.00x20 tires that are hard to find that go on the "Chicago Wobbler" tube-style Dayton wheels that suck really bad.

There are three of those things at work (although they're tubeless 9.75 and 8.25x22.5s) and two at home that are the 20's. I know shipping would kill you but do you want front disc brakes for that? I have an axle that'll go right in.

[MiguelsCar]

Driving a fire truck is one of my dreams. You did a job well done on maintaining and upgrading this truck.

[Power Hungry]

Thanks! The fact that it was a firetruck was actually a secondary benefit. I was actually just looking for a C-Series Ford truck, but as it turns out about the only way to find a decent one is as a firetruck. They are almost always well maintained and kept indoors. I really like that body style, and it is really cool having a firetruck of my own.