Bullnose Truck Commercials

[Machspeed]

This is a pretty cool compilation of Ford Bullnose Truck commercials! Anybody remember these from those days? Some nice looking paint schemes on those trucks too. Beauties!

[Gary Lewis]

That is cool!  I like it!

[Machspeed]

Jeez.....I really like that two tone black and silver truck sitting on that brick pile. In fact, like everything about it. Are those wheels the highly sought after ones that people are paying a fortune for?  

[Gary Lewis]

Are you talking about these?  Aren't they the wagon wheels like you have?

[Machspeed]

My bad! I do have those....LOL! The truck appeared to have those aluminum wheels that die hard restorers are paying big bucks for. Good catch, Gary!  

[Gary Lewis]

These?

[grumpin]

I liked the roll with the MPG signs!

[Machspeed]

No Gary, those are still easily found. I can't find a good picture but I think it's these:

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, not quite the same as the ones I have on Dad's truck.  I think the ones in your pic are Alcoas.

[Machspeed]

Made for Ford?

[Gary Lewis]

I don't know.  Shaun?  Someone?

[mat in tn]

OMG! i watched those old commercials as a kid but frankly was not paying them any attention. where, how do get those mpg ratings? i can't do the math to get anywhere close in kilometers let alone miles. all i can think of is a closed track down hill both ways holding a steady 55 mph with a tail hurricane

[Machspeed]

I saw a guy on Facebook querying members on the worth of his truck. His truck had these wheels. Several people chimed in and said to remove the wheels and sell them separately from the truck. The wheels were apparently worth more than the truck.

[kramttocs]

To my knowledge, Alcoa didn't start making the wheels for Ford until the 9th gen and they have the holes for the caps. I don't know that any Alcoa-Ford wheels don't have the holes in them?

I have the non-Ford classic Alcoas on my 86.

The ones in the photo may be Alcoa made as well though they have a different profile than I've ever seen. They only have one stepdown vs two

Neat video!

[Machspeed]

Next to the Bullnose (7th Generation), the 5th Generation (67-72) has aways appealed to me. I'd love to have a little 2wd 70 short bed to play with. Sort of a hotrod truck! Stick a stroked small block in it or even a coyote motor, lower it just a smidge, and put a set of classic Torque Thrust wheels on it. Sweet!

How many of you remember this Ford truck commercial, or for that matter, the movie?

[salans7]

Gary Lewis wrote

I don't know.  Shaun?  Someone?

I don't think they were Alcoa. As you may remember, I had a set of the factory slotted mag wheels for my F150, and I don't recall them having Alcoa stampings on the back. So I don't think the bullet hole versions were either. Those two wheel styles were only offered from 1977-1981 if I remember correctly. They're pretty hard to find, and not exactly cheap either. I think I paid a few hundred for the ones on the F150.

[grumpin]

Mr. Majestyk! Liked that movie and the truck!

[Rembrant]

mat in tn wrote

where, how do get those mpg ratings? i can't do the math to get anywhere close in kilometers let alone miles. all i can think of is a closed track down hill both ways holding a steady 55 mph with a tail hurricane

Haha, I know right? 35+ years later, I don't any fullsize trucks are getting that kind of MPG are they?...lol.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Shaun.  I thought I remembered you having a set of them.

As for the MPG ratings, Ford appears to have made a few trucks with the Fuel Saver or Fuel Economy Leader package.  See the info at Documentation/Bullnose FAQ's and then the 1982 - 83 F100 Pony tab.  And given what few options there were and what came standard on the truck it was obviously an attempt to get the best MPG title.

Note the use of the term "Pony".  It appears to me that internally Ford employees called the Fuel Saver or Fuel Economy Leader trucks a Pony.  I say that because none of the external documentation, like brochures, call it that, but plenty of the internal documents do.  In fact, the TSB about the upshift light says 'F100 "Pony" ONLY Fuel Economy Leader', and the placement of the quotes around Pony seems to confirm my suspicions.

If I remember correctly those trucks all came with the 300 six, 2.47 gears, and an overdrive transmission.  I'm pretty sure David's son, Daniel, has one of them and from what David has said you had to downshift if you entered a county with a hill.  I said "had" because I think they changed the gearing to make the truck more driveable.  However, it did get remarkable MPG.

I'm going to tag David and see if he'll correct what I've said as well as provide more info.

[1986F150Six]

You are correct, Gary, in that the 1984 F150 belonging to my son is one that was equipped for the best gas mileage.

It is a SWB [~3750#] built with a 4.9L ["feedback" controlled ignition and carburetion], 4 speed manual OD transmission and 2.47 [open] rear gears. The tires were 215/75/15 P-metric radials and the front bumper was equipped with the chin spoiler.

At idle speed, the truck would travel at ~8 MPH. It was not fun to drive slowly.

Before gasohol, the truck would return 26+ MPG when driven @ ~60 mph. And, it is true that if even a small hill was seen, it was necessary to downshift. With this combination, the truck could be driven at 65 mph in third gear and the engine could not be heard.

FORD discovered that the trick to this type of gas mileage was in having an engine with sufficient low RPM torque to "pull this load". At these very low RPMs [~1200-1300], there is minimal friction losses and with the gas pedal almost to the floor, pumping losses were minimalized. In gas mileage threads/articles, it is often stated that the best gas mileage is realized when manifold vacuum is greatest, but with FORD's MPG package, the vacuum would be ~8-10" Hg.

Years ago, I stumbled across a document [FORD, I believe] which indicated that 300/4.9L engines which were to be used with 2.70 [9"] and 2.46 [8.75"] rear gears had a different specification camshaft. I would assume for enhanced low speed torque. I am sorry to say that although I believe I did read this, I cannot find the article. Other more plentiful documents tend to indicate that all 300/4.9L engines shared identical camshaft specifications.

FORD experimented with this engine and had great success regarding gas mileage and power. It is sad that what was seen with prototypes did not make it to production.

The rear gears were changed to 3.55 and the truck is more fun to drive, but the mileage dropped to 21-22 MPG.