I prefer 7th, 8th, and 9th gen. Because the 92-97 is the new body style as far as the IDI goes, and the '87-91 slant more than the '80 to '86s, so it's no wonder people get confused.
With all due respect, I'm really
not a fan of that nomenclature. It makes sense if you're in a group that's dealing with every generation of Ford truck on a regular basis, but given that this forum is diesel-specific and generally only sees '83 and newer trucks (unless they're conversions
), I find it to not be intuitive and therefore very confusing. I don't pay much attention to the g@$ trucks and therefore don't know the pre-1980 trucks very well, so to use an example, every time someone mentions "9th gen", I have to open up a Wikipedia page and hand-count every variant fo Ford truck to realize that they're talking about the '92-'97 OBS truck. OTOH, I know that some people on here are Ford guys who happen to get into diesels...I come from a different background; I'm a diesel-head who happened to get into Fords
(I started driving in 1998, and have been spark-free since 1999
)
Couple that with the fact that that nomenclature is not commonly used on Oilburners, and it adds to the confusion. Also, one could argue that the '80-'97 truck is the same generation, since the frames and drivetrains are simlar and interchangeable. The sheet metal and interiors are different, but you can even interchange those if you want (note all the brick nose-OBS beds you're seeing on slant-nose trucks on this thread, not to mention front clip swaps and even cab swaps); it's not as big of a jump as the jump between the '66-'79 trucks and our trucks, or between our trucks and the SuperDuties. OTOH, it took me time ot even get accustomed to "slant-nose/brick-nose/OBS"...I used to just write "80-86, 87-91, and 92-97"
Okay off my soapbox
(yes, this has been bugging me for a while)
May as well contribute, although my truck isn't anything to write home about...
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My truck in December 2001, about six months after I inherited her from my uncle. She was bone-stock at the time with a 6.9L and T-19. I learned how to drive a clutch driving this truck when I was 14
She's been a great truck, but not a day goes by that I don't wish I had my uncle back instead...
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Playing in the Mojave Desert, January 2005. This was during a brief time when I had 33" tires on the truck. The truck had a nice stance with the 33's, but the steering left much to be desired, and I found out the hard way how weak the tire sidewalls were when trying to tow a trailer with a heavy tongue. After almost getting killed, those tires came off...I only ran them for 5 months
This was after I added the ATS 088 turbo, but before the ZF5 conversion.
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The last "nice" picture I have of the truck...December 2006, right before I moved to the coast. This is post-ZF5 conversion, and note the reversion to stock tires. I had just finished playing in a mud pit in Hollister
This picture actually made it into an online article about the history of Ford diesels
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More recent picture of my truck, from May 2014. The trailer strapped to the truck weighs about 8,000 lbs loaded, and the truck handled it flawlessly
Unfortunately, you can kind of see in the picture what the salt air's done to the truck after living on the coast with poor paint for 7 years. She looks like a rust belt truck now...the body's all but destroyed
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Another "hauling" shot, from July 2014. This boat also weighs about 8,000 lbs; the only problem is, the trailer has surge brakes that I don't think work
