grain truck

I am looking for your infinite wisdom on this board. I am looking at a F700 grain truck. It has the air/hydraulic brakes. The tabs were out dated so I couldn't drive it down the road. The brakes felt a little spongy in the yard. Are these brake systems easy to work on? How much does this truck weigh empty? It has a about 4-5ft steel sides. Also it has split rims on the front, but the tires are good. Can you get split rims serviced anymore if I get a flat on the road? Over all the truck ran well, the hoist worked and all gauges worked. I look forward to your input.

I don"t know what price range the truck is but I"d say you should keep looking. The split rims are a nightmare to get worked on. They are probably an odd ball tire size too, either 20"s or 16.5. Air brakes aren"t bad to work on, but they can kill you if you don"t know what you are doing.

I got a really good 88 Mack Midliner, with 22.5"s, air brakes, PTO hydraulic 18 foot dump bed with new tires, batteries, and 250 gallons of diesel in it for 3000 dollars last spring. Its certainly not the only one out there for a good deal.

It's been a long time, but I'm going to guess about 10,000#. I used to carry about 9 tons on mine.
I assume you mean vacuum boosted hydraulic brakes? Nothing too complicated there. Only thing is it's a lot easier to bleed a system that big using a power bleeder.
Does it have 9.00x20 tires? I believe they're still available. There are different types of "split" rims. Some are serviceable, some are not. Today it would be much better to find tubeless rims to fit the truck. 10.00R22.5 I think is the equivalent tubeless size.

I have a tire shop just about 9 miles down the road in Blair OK that works on them (shop-made swather trailer with single axle duals 7.00x16s on them from military jeep) Got tube replaced and it was about 30 or 32 dollars total. If you like old stuff and dont mind working on it sometimes, I'd say go ahead.
On another note, perhaps more important is the capacity of the 700. Will it do what you need it to do and is not too small?? Consider differences in insurance (I pay 58,- per yr for a Chev.6400), regular maintenance (done yourself/hired out),etc.look at every aspect, incl . availability of parts (used/new/rebuilt) tires, change over to reg. rims, etc. May want to look for a donor one, too. Or turn the truck into a GN trailer!
Just thinking out loud. Ralph in OK.

Are you sure that they are split rims , or are
they 2 piece rim ( wheel with lock ring )? I
have not seen a split rim on any thing since the
40's -early 50's.

george

I owned a bus company and I ran only B700 buses. How old are we talking here? Here are my experiences:

Those rims don't scare me. I had both those and bud wheels. I still own one of the buses that has that style rim. Other than making sure the rears are on the wedges right there's really no issue. Since I didn't do my own tire work it didn't matter either way. I never had trouble with finding someone to work on them and they weren't any more expensive (knowing you will need a tube and spat). Lots of old trucks have that type, so a coop should be able to help you out. Come to think of it I have never done any tire work on my old grain truck.

What engine is in it? Is it old enough to have the 330 or 391? Does it have the 370 or 429? The 370 is my favorite of all of those. I guess my least is the 429. Those buggers run hot, ruin exhaust manifolds quick, and cook the manifold bolts. If it needs a manifold on either side plan on $1000 as that engine sits low in the rails and the head has to be pulled to put new studs. That 429 is a stump puller, though. I had a 71 passenger bus with that engine and an automatic and you could beat lots of cars away from a stoplight. It was pretty amazing.

I assume you mean vacuum boosted hydraulic brakes. Never had any big brake issues with Ford. I really actually liked the Lucas-Girling brakes (it would have a parking brake switch like a light switch) but they were pricey. The bus out in the shed has those too. I would probably steer clear of a grain truck with them because they sit so much and the seals are a big deal there. The parts are out there. They built a good truck and many are still working hard. Small town boys at Napa can get anything for them.

I am not a Ford man in the least but I don't think you can do better where a big truck is concerned. I would do it in a heartbeat. The engines are good and they paired them with a good trans and rear end.

Oh, if it is the late 60's through 70's model look at the cowl/firewall area from the engine side. Some had a habit of cracking if they spent their days on a washboard road. That's no good - steer clear of that.

Tell me what year and I might have more for you.

I have a 89 f800 with a 429 and juices braks. NOTJUSTAIR is right on about the 429, real power house, runs too hot and is a rough one on exaughst manifolds. Won't buy another truck without air brakes, juices brakes in trucks are spcific to each truck, and can become hard to get and pricey. Like my old truck though, up keep is tricky,My old blue Chey, with a 350 , doubels as my livestock/grain truck. Bruce

I have a 1977 L8000 with hyd brakes on the front and air brakes on the rears. Only Ferd would do a thing like this........ They do work fine. The one time the master cyl. needed replaced we had to send mine off and had it redone. None of those waiting on the shelf at your local NAPA!

One thing to look for is the location of the rear axle. If in the general area of the picture of a bobtail loaded with hay that's in one of these replies, you are fine. If the rear axle is too far forward, like midway of the dump bed, very unstable on the road. Loaded the front end wants to walk all over the road because there isn't any weight to hold it down....the load is balanced over the rear axle. Neighbor had one and you don't want one.

On air brakes, as part of acquiring your CDL in TX. you have to pass the air brake test. They are and feel totally different than hydraulic brakes, but work great. I loved them.

Mark