Any mechanics here work on a Ford 9000?

[Vinko]

I've got a '79 Ford 9000 truck. I need a couple of parts to get it into safety/Highway Patrol compliance. Also could use a tune-up manual.

Anyone have any leads? Or do you work on these? I might have to pick your brain on a few things


Thanks,

 

[Diesel-Mech]

I have worked on a few in the past, I might be able to offer up some helpful advice.

 

[nate379]

Yeah, though way newer... 91-92. Cummins ISC engines, 10 speed Eaton

 

[tatra]

let's have some specs so we can be of assistance..............

 

[fourfeathers]

87-95 L8000 . Chassis, I can help. Engine, not so much.

 

[vc-onthepc]

yup whats wrong with it ?

 

[Vinko]

Thanks guys. I'll get back to you with specs. It's a diesel I heavily modified the bed. With sq. tubing 2 x 2, 4 x 4 and 2 x 6 and 3/8" steel plate. I don't know what the proper load rating is, but I carry a lot of cast-iron and steel on it.

I'm also thinking of doing the tune myself. But I'm not a pro, so I'll have to read up on it first.

 

[Diesel-Mech]

Performing a basic Preventative Maintenance service should not be difficult to do on your own but to do a true tune up you will have to verify Injection pump timing and do a valve lash adjustment which can range from fairly straightforward to fairly involved depending on the engine or if it has an engine brake. Be careful playing around with commercial vehicles like you are when the DOT bites they do it hard.

 

[Merkava_4]

An engine brake?

 

[Diesel-Mech]

An engine brake?

Most people call them Jake Brakes after the most well know company that manufactures them Jacobs vehicle systems. They are also know as compression brakes and by a few other names.

 

[nissan_crawler]

damn near learned how to drive on one. L9000, 318 detroit, 13 speed roadranger. I loved that truck.

As for working on it...well, we never really had to, except for the time it snapped the blower shaft...180 miles from home...outside an elevator...-35*F.

 

[nate379]

I didn't realize that there were that many combos for these trucks! Ours were just plain jane day cabs. Did have power divider locks and lockers in the axles too though, which was real nice when trying to move a bobtail around. No jake but one did have an exhaust brake.

The 8.3L wasn't a huge powerhorse, but it wasn't too bad. We hauled a few loads of bombs from Utah to Idaho with them. Pulling the hills in 4th gear

 

[caper]

Still have one customer with one I service regularly.300 Cummins with a 8spd.Tandem axle,fifth wheel,mostly a dock truck,just goes around in circles hauling a b-train from the pulp yard to the loading dock.Sweet little engine,hit the key in minus 10 weather and she starts right up.I think I should still have a factory service manual around for it,cab and chassis anyway.

 

[tatra]

vinko, what size engine, trans, diffs.?............tire size, type of cab, wheel base, previous duties, [ semi hauling, gravel dump, etc.].......types of brakes, slack adjusters, 12 or 24 volt starter...........these are the things we need to know to point you in the right direction...............pics would also help.........and what do you want to do with it in the future as far as mods, use and what kind of budget?...............around here, wheel off insp. is reqd. every year..........you may want to cultivate a good relationship with a smaller independent to look after this end for you if the milage isn't going to be very high between inspections, as some may be willing to forgo the wheel off to every other year...........also, do you have coolant filter/conditioners on this unit.............and most importantly, what kind of experience do you have pertaining to heavey truck?...............may seem like a lot questions but that is a whole lot of truck............

 

[caper]

No jake but one did have an exhaust brake.
:

What type of exhaust brake?Was it a flap in the pipe like they use for the Cummins in the dodges?Alot of people refer to Jake Brakes as exhaust brakes since they basically use the exhaust valve to turn the engine into an aircompressor.

 

[Vinko]

here's a pic: the only one I have right now. I'll get all the specs. when I go back to the shop next week. I'll also take more pics of the engine and the truck bed, to show off welding work We've had it inspected in the past by DOT, I think, and defintely by Highway Patrol. I have no experience with heavy trucks I work with one good mechanic, and one half-bright one. I'm looking to keep it in tune -- I do a safety inspection once a week on more obvious things. It may well prove cheaper to have it serviced, but our normal guys just retired and there's no one else in the immediate area.

 

[nate379]

Yup.
No jake on 6CT/ISCs that I'm aware of.

What type of exhaust brake?Was it a flap in the pipe like they use for the Cummins in the dodges?

 

[caper]

Yup.
No jake on 6CT/ISCs that I'm aware of.

The aftermarket has been selling an exhaust flap type for years now,we used to install them quite often at the Cummins dealer I worked at.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

The aftermarket has been selling an exhaust flap type for years now,we used to install them quite often at the Cummins dealer I worked at.

They're available for 3/4 a 1 ton trucks.

 

[Big Bad Jon]

They're available for 3/4 a 1 ton trucks.

Dodge has them stock on their 3/4 and 1 ton trucks.

 

[Diesel-Mech]

That front end looks familiar, were they sometimes referred to as a "Louisville"?

Yes the L series line picked up that name because the plant they were built in was near Louisville Kentucky.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Dodge has them stock on their 3/4 and 1 ton trucks.

That's only on the new 6.7s, isn't it? I recall seeing a kit for 5.9s and PowerStrokes, Duramaxes too, i think. The ones i've seen were BD Power (?) and Banks.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Vinko, you should get a nice Cummins ISX15 to drop in that rig, that'll make it pull!

 

[Jared]

That's only on the new 6.7s, isn't it? I recall seeing a kit for 5.9s and PowerStrokes, Duramaxes too, i think. The ones i've seen were BD Power (?) and Banks.

I have an aftermarket pacbrake kit on my dodge, works alright not as good as a jake obviously.

 

[GearJammer]

Man that L9000 just screams "that bump is gonna hurt"--picture spring ride, no air ride cab, and a Bostrom seat that cant keep up Just make sure you keep the lid on your cup of joe or you'll be wearing it.

 

[Deafautotech]

Vinko, you should get a nice Cummins ISX15 to drop in that rig, that'll make it pull!

Some of either GM or Ford big truck that supposed to have their engine like GM use their product, Ford use Power Stroke engine in Ford truck... But what i see the customers did swapped from Power Stroke for Cummin Diesel engine in... even it has word label on back glass of Cab that it has Cummin Engine in...

 

[caper]

Some of either GM or Ford big truck that supposed to have their engine like GM use their product, Ford use Power Stroke engine in Ford truck... But what i see the customers did swapped from Power Stroke for Cummin Diesel engine in... even it has word label on back glass of Cab that it has Cummin Engine in...

A Cummins engine in a Ford of this size is not uncommon,it would be more uncommon to find a powerstroke in it.The powerstroke just isn't enough engine for this kind of weight.

 

[fourfeathers]

We drove the hell outta our L series. We had 7 or 8 of em. The Ford diesels were good to us. We had 6.6 and 7.8 Fords, and they did a good job. Also had an 8.3 longnose L8000 and 1 Cat 3126, or was it 3208?
I still have some parts. Make sure to check the accel pedal, as it will corrode the aluminum, and lose power or come apart completely and then you must bungee the pedal to keep going. The wiper motors have a retrofit kit too, so ask for that if the motor stops midsweep.

 

[nissan_crawler]

Man that L9000 just screams "that bump is gonna hurt"--picture spring ride, no air ride cab, and a Bostrom seat that cant keep up Just make sure you keep the lid on your cup of joe or you'll be wearing it.

Man, that's half the fun. Throw in a screaming jimmy, and it's cool old school. Radio? Don't need no stinkin' radio, can't hear it over the Detroit singing anyway. That 318 would boogy pretty damn well.

Hell, I want to build a '40s semi, just to put a detroit in it.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Man that L9000 just screams "that bump is gonna hurt"--picture spring ride, no air ride cab, and a Bostrom seat that cant keep up Just make sure you keep the lid on your cup of joe or you'll be wearing it.

Man, that's half the fun. Throw in a screaming jimmy, and it's cool old school. Radio? Don't need no stinkin' radio, can't hear it over the Detroit singing anyway. That 318 would boogy pretty damn well.

Hell, I want to build a '40s semi, just to put a detroit in it.

Definitely makes it a lot more fun. Like driving my mate's old Ford Transit van tonight. It's loud and bumpy, but great fun. Also feels like you're doing 50 when you're doing 25.

 

[caper]

Talk about a fun ride,I once took a 1960 chev Viking 5 ton truck from northern new brunswick home to north sydney nova scotia.327 2bbl gas engine,4spd trans with a ruxel.Top speed of about 70km/hr.Steering rag joint wore out,about 90 degrees of steering wheel movement to take up the slack,brakes were there but that's about all I could say about them.Twelve hours to get it home.Oh I had a ford tempo in the box that I had driven up to where the truck was.Bench seat,not even spring let alone air.

 

[MisterCMK]

I've worked on and driven the L8000s. They are good trucks. I think there is 5 or 6 of them on the farm that I work at. All with 3208s in em and a 13spd

 

[Deafautotech]

A Cummins engine in a Ford of this size is not uncommon,it would be more uncommon to find a powerstroke in it.The powerstroke just isn't enough engine for this kind of weight.

i need write down more detail as some of owners do put cummin engine in Ford F-250 or 350.. even with GM Silverado 3500.. not Medium Truck... sorry...

 

[Vinko]

Hey, I'm back with more info. it's a Ford F9000. Detroit Deisel, 6 cylinder engine. Don't know if that was OEM or not. It does have other ford components.

What I can't find are the following, which the mechanic can't get around here unless he buys at least $5000 worth of stuff.

33118 oil filter
33120 fuel filter


FA610 (Ford Motorcraft air filter and the actual housing is a Donald).

Also got a fuel line leaking bad, so it's being fixed. I thought I saw a whole new OEM Ford hose and fittings on Ebay but didn't get it at the time.

Very few shops around here are fixing something this big or old anymore. Surprisingly to me, because we've got a port with these trucks everywhere.

 

[Diesel-Mech]

Call your nearest Sterling dealer, they took over the Ford heavy truck lines and should be able to source or cross reference the filters for you.

 

[crewchief888]

or call the detroit dealer,
or check at a truck stop.
hell NAPA might be able to get the filters.

 

[vssjim]

those numbers look like Wix numbers to me so if no dealer just go to a Napa or Carquest as they are wix filters also a Napa # would be 4 digits not five just drop the first 3

 

[Rnz520]

hahah its probably a 6-71, those things were so sweet, reminds me of the International tandem and my buddys farm with a 6-71 and a 13 speed, the first 5 gears get you to 10 mph. Leak oil everywhere, but thats normal

Ive done quite a bit of work on the L series Fords, but never one that old. Its all nuts and bolts, just arranged different

 

[Aberdale]

I've got a 1991 L8000 Aeromax with the 7.8 Ford diesel, a 6 speed ******, and air brakes. It was a day cab tractor, but I removed the fifth wheel and added a 10' dump body. I've had it for 7 years now, and haven't had any trouble at all. Great truck. It will pull a 10 ton equipment trailer with no problem.

Filters (fuel, oil, air) have been readily available at the local NAPA.

Dale

 

[Vinko]

Funny thing is, I found all the filters on-line without a hitch. The guy I took it to is fixing the fuel line. He normally doesn't work on anything this big. So hats off for him helping me out, as I don't want to have to take it out of town. I guess finding those filters was easier than he thought, or more likely, he doesn't have time to source stuff on the net. A lot of this stuff seems to be available at autozone, on special order, at least.

We must've missed the oil filter, as those other two filters are both for fuel -- one is primary, the other secondary. So now to find the oil filter on this beast.