Hi all, looking for some advice please.... Looking to buy a 55/56 Ford Coe, but wondering what the major differences are between a C600 and a Big Job C800? Plan is to build a pickup - 5th wheel hauler. My understanding was a C800 had a heavier chassis? Any assistance greatly appreciated...
Most of the time, a truck up to 600 had a pickup/passenger car engine hooked to a stronger trans and rear. They were good to around 24 to 28,000 pounds gross. An 800 had a much heavier frame and axles, most had a Lincoln based engine. F signified two axles, T was three axles. The T 850 was equal to any big over the road truck.
Thanks Ole Don. Is the cab actually bigger height/width/length wise or the same sheet metal - do you know? I found a C800 local but concerned with a heavier chassis it will weight far too much to be practical?
The cabs are the same (and for the F series, the same from 100-900). On the F series, the fenders are different for the larger trucks, but on the C series so far as I know they are the same, as all the C series used 22.5" wheels except for one option on the C900. As Ole Don said, Ford considered the C600 a medium truck, while the C800 would be a heavy truck- bigger engines and transmissions, and heavier axles/springs. If you want specifics I can probably dig most of them up, though I don't know if the Australian trucks differed from the US production. The frames are the same dimensions between the two, but the C800 has reinforcements fitted inside the channel.
Thanks guys! Great info. Found this which was also useful: http://www.clubfte.com/users/earl/Reference_Material/Reference_Material_1.html Have given up on the local one after seeing the pics today... Now looking at bringing one over instead. Just trying to determine height and width to see if it will fit in a container - do you happen to know the height and width of a 50's COE - ideally 56 C800? Thanks for all the help!