And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Had a friend in college that had one, a former railroad truck (very narrow wheel stance) One-ton; Rough ride, unless you were on the rails. Undefeatable on logging roads, though.
I suppose most guys attempt to own their dream vehicle, at least once in their lives. For my Dad, it was a Travelall of about that vintage - heavy-duty 4WD, intended for towing a vacation trailer (or other). It was an awful vehicle, and to this day I cringe when I think about how disappointing that was for him. It was as if the entire vehicle was built from bad parts. Pop was not an extreme driver, and he never got a chance to drive this thing off-road. Drive shaft twisted in half when he started up from a stop sign. Engine mount broke, engine shifted forward and the fan chewed up the radiator. Clutch linkage broke and he had to limp home, shifting without a clutch. U-joints broke - not enough metal around the tapped holes that held the component together. No, this wasn't all in the same incident. There were multiple U-joint failures, for example. That's just a sample of the more serious shortcomings. International wasn't in business much longer.
Yes the 60's were definitely the heyday for IH in my book, at least for the light duty trucks. I never had any interest in their trucks when the modernization of the 70's kicked in.
Their quality went bad when they changed factories. Their 50's and 60's would handle country roads 10-15 mph better than their competitors. They quit making pickups when Ford bailed them out. The original 6.9/7.3 diesels were Ford products and the factory that produced them was built by Ford. That was a time when foreign companies were buying US companies. I-H, got the loans and diesel, Ford lost a F-150/250 competitor and kept someone like Toyota out of the Class 8 truck and farm machinery industry with existing dealer structures.
Truck line I drove for back in the 70's hauled a lot of freight for IH, so we drove a bunch of IH single axle stuff for in town and country peddle freight. There were better options.
I've never seen one like that. Love to own that!!
ReplyDeleteImpressive rig! The name, not so much. It sounds like the name for an Italian scooter.
ReplyDeleteHad a friend in college that had one, a former railroad truck (very narrow wheel stance) One-ton; Rough ride, unless you were on the rails. Undefeatable on logging roads, though.
ReplyDeleteI suppose most guys attempt to own their dream vehicle, at least once in their lives. For my Dad, it was a Travelall of about that vintage - heavy-duty 4WD, intended for towing a vacation trailer (or other). It was an awful vehicle, and to this day I cringe when I think about how disappointing that was for him. It was as if the entire vehicle was built from bad parts. Pop was not an extreme driver, and he never got a chance to drive this thing off-road. Drive shaft twisted in half when he started up from a stop sign. Engine mount broke, engine shifted forward and the fan chewed up the radiator. Clutch linkage broke and he had to limp home, shifting without a clutch. U-joints broke - not enough metal around the tapped holes that held the component together. No, this wasn't all in the same incident. There were multiple U-joint failures, for example. That's just a sample of the more serious shortcomings. International wasn't in business much longer.
ReplyDeleteYes the 60's were definitely the heyday for IH in my book, at least for the light duty trucks. I never had any interest in their trucks when the modernization of the 70's kicked in.
DeleteTheir quality went bad when they changed factories. Their 50's and 60's would handle country roads 10-15 mph better than their competitors. They quit making pickups when Ford bailed them out. The original 6.9/7.3 diesels were Ford products and the factory that produced them was built by Ford. That was a time when foreign companies were buying US companies. I-H, got the loans and diesel, Ford lost a F-150/250 competitor and kept someone like Toyota out of the Class 8 truck and farm machinery industry with existing dealer structures.
DeleteI knew someone in the 70s who called his IH "The White Binder."
DeleteTruck line I drove for back in the 70's hauled a lot of freight for IH, so we drove a bunch of IH single axle stuff for in town and country peddle freight.
ReplyDeleteThere were better options.
I had a '47 KB-1 pickup!
ReplyDeleteDrove a Travel All at work. I always thought that the body designer for I.H. was at one time the guy who designed refrigerator shapes.
ReplyDelete