Posted by Chris Lube Lublin on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 at 2:56AM :
In Reply to: what's the story on IH Int'l Harvester trucks? posted by wally on Monday, November 01, 2004 at 7:12PM :
I like IHC trucks ALMOST as much as I like my Dodge. As for how trucks rank: I rank them by like this #1 DODGE
#2 IHC
#2 Jeep
#4 Chevy-GMC
#5 Ford,
IHC trucks are super super sturdy. I learned how to drive on a '56 S-130 IH truck, and I have owned a '72 Scout II, a '73 Scout II, and a 1974 IHC 200 4X4 pickup. I have ran and operated all kinds of IHC trucks, tractors equipment and such. I also have a Farmall H tractor and a early 60's Cub Cadet lawn tractor. IH made a super good work truck. They were not the most fuel efficent or most comfortable, but they got the job done, and got it done well. Most IHC dealers were located in the country and Farmers loved the trucks. IHC light line vehicles even shared quite a few parts with IHC HD trucks. See, most companies, Including Dodge used to Upgrade their automtive engines for light, medium and HD truck use, depending on tonnage and workload of vehicle. For example, a Dodge 318 from a 1974 Charger would be your basic light duty 318, but might have Chrome rings for pickup truck use, but might have alot more upgrades for a D-600. On a IHC the engines used were all the same. Like the 266, 304, 345 and 392 V8's. IHC designed these engines for HD and Medium duty truck use. So, a 345 engine that was used in a IHC Loadstar 1700 Dump truck would be the same as a 345 used in a 3/4 ton pickup or a Scout! yes, the engines had Heavy duty upgrades designed into them, and were not downgraded for lighter use! IHC engines run forever and a very good, but the 392s do tend to heat up some. The IHC 4 cyls are V8's cut in half and are slanted engines. The Scouts used them, a few light duty 1/2 trucks of the 60s used them and the IHC Metro delivery vans had them. Well anyhow, IHC parts, IHC used parts from EVERYBODY! All 3 of my IHCs had Mopar 727 trannies, GM steering columns, etc. IHC was like AMC was in regard to mix and matching parts. Some parts are very very scarce, others are fairly common. Your local discount parts store is NOT the place to get parts for a Cornbinder but a good parts place. When I tuned mine up, the V8's cost about as much for tune up parts as doing tune ups on 3 smallblock Chevys. They are sorta pricey.
One more thing about IHCs, the trucks, if you drop the glovebox on IHC trucks from the 60's-70's You will see a build code sheet that tells what and how the truck was ordered, it has alot of very thorough info. Sometimes you need this when buying parts.
Also, IHC was the first company to offer a 5 speed in a light truck, as they offered OD and Direct tranmissions in 60's-70's The OD 5 speed is called the T-34 or T434. Larger trucks had em too!
Enjoy!
Chris "Lube" Lublin
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