'73-'87 Trucks at work

[velojym]

I've noticed a very high percentage of our trucks parked in the lot where I'm currently working, technically the Engineering department of the local VA hospital. I suppose that would make sense, as these are the guys who keep the place running on a mechanical level, and would likely be apt to keep older vehicles running well, long after the average driver would have traded it off for something newer.
There are many large parking lots at the hospital, and these trucks are all in the same area surrounding the ENG building, amongst a couple dozen other vehicles at most.
Sorry about the image quality, as I only had my cellphone handy.

I'll start with mine, as it's parked there too.  











Two of them belong to the department, and are still in service.

[Blazin]

You should hook them up with us!

[velojym]

You should hook them up with us!

Yeah, that occurred to me too. Maybe I could print the forum URL on some slips of paper and put 'em on the trucks.
Unfortunately, I don't know any of these guys (I work midnight to 8am) and haven't even met any of 'em.

[beastie_3]

A good way to meet them...

[Blazin]

Yes would be a good way to meet them.

[Engineer]

I live in SEMO, and square bodys are still VERY plentiful, and hard at work around here.

You may see them pulling cattle trailers, working on constuction sites, fire dept trucks, city maintenance vehicles, etc.

The town I live in has several K-30 dually dumpers that they use for patching asphalt, or city park maintenance.

[78 Chevyrado]

^^ Yep I still see them everywhere very common where I am.  All walks too, from the show trucks to the little beater thats so beat up, all I can say is I'm pretty sure its a squarebody.   

[velojym]

... which leads to a question....

I've typically been a Chevy driver my whole life, but it hasn't been a religious obsession as with some, but I have noticed that there aren't any Fords
anywhere on the entire hospital (that I've seen anyway) older than the mid '90s or so.
Why would that be?

(yeah, rhetorical question, Farley.)

[velojym]

Whup. Here's another one.

[velojym]

And another one... These are all still in the same parking area, a small part of one of the larger VA hospitals in the country.

[captain carnage]

Thats awsome , There aren't very many left up here. Not being driven anyways.

[87454westernhauler]

wow the iowa state fair has about 12 of them that they use as their main maintinance vehicle. sweet old trucks

[velojym]

The way Chevy markets their trucks as dependable and long-lasting (all mine have been), I'm considering calling 'em to see if they'd approach our guys about using 'em in an ad.

[Engineer]

Here is one from a local fire department......



Just off the top of my head, I can think of about 12 K-30 4x4 1-tons that belong to local fire depts.

Of those about half are old converted M-1008s ex-military. The rest were bought brand new by their repective departments.

[Engineer]

... which leads to a question....

I've typically been a Chevy driver my whole life, but it hasn't been a religious obsession as with some, but I have noticed that there aren't any Fords
anywhere on the entire hospital (that I've seen anyway) older than the mid '90s or so.
Why would that be?

(yeah, rhetorical question, Farley.)

I'd like to address this with some thoughts......

Chevy and GMC together outsold Ford for years, Ford claims top in sales, but not when the GM twins are added together. So just by this notion alone, the square body GMs will out number Ford when compared based on individual model year alone.

The way GM engineers their trucks is based on a simpler platform. Having worked on both, I can say that Ford builds their trucks with a more complex, and harder to repair design. Also add to the fact that GM trucks have more interchangability through a broader band of model years.......Case in point: the small block Chevy V-8 was standard in Chevy trucks for over 45 years. 
 
How many different engines, and engine designs has Ford used from 1955 to 2000 when the small block Chevy was finally replaced with the awesome LS series.......A bunch. Speaking of that, the LS series of engines shows no signs of wearing out while NONE of the engines that Ford was putting in their trucks in 2000 are available for the 2011 model year. 

One horrible complex design that killed the used Ford truck market was the TTB IFS that was implemented from 1980 to 1997 in the F-150, and F-250 4x4s. These things were made from stamped sheet metal on the main suspension components, and any little bump caused the parts to bend, sometimes undetected, but enough to cause major tire wear, and road drivabilty issues.

A couple of other things that keep the square body alive, and well is the fact that it is cheap to repair, and used O.E. parts are plentiful. Also, the 4x4 crowd has found that these things are semi-indestructible in the mud holes. The HUGE aftermarket helps keep the 73~87/91 square body in all circles from drag racing to 4x4s, to daily drivers, and so on.