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Flathead Fever · 03-30-2019, 03:07 PM

I worked on Phone company 1978-1980 Marmnon Herrington Ford F-650s and F-800s. We could not keep rear transfer case bearings to survive. They might last a year up in the mountains. I had one driver that knew his truck so well he would let that bearing get noisy until right before it exploded and took out the bearing cover. He would call me up and say its about to explode. I ignored him one night and the next day it exploded and shattered the cast iron cover over the bearing. I had to remove the transfer case and take all the metal out of it. After that I learned that I better go change it out when he called. You could do it right on the ground in about 10-minutes. They were easy to change from the outside of the transfer case. As big as a pain that truck was that driver loved it so much that when he retired and moved from CA to Montana he tried to buy the truck. He drove it for twenty-year's. I think he wanted to restore it.

We also could not keep those conversions from shearing off the transfer case mounting bolts, 1"-big bolts. They also broke the heavy duty, welded 1/2" steel plate, rear motor mounts that bolted to the bell housing. I always had a fear of it breaking all the mounts to the transfer case and then it falling out of the truck, hanging by its three driveshafts. They did not bolt to the back of the trans, they were suspended from the frame by a thick steel plate

The parts were extremely expensive and real hard to get through Ford. You just about had to supply Ford with the part number. We had about six of those trucks. Once you got the right number you had better hang onto it for the next time. The front wheel studs were unique to Marmon Herringtons. They sheared them all the time. They were over $100.00 a stud. The front drums were special too, at least over $500.00 each in 1980s dollars. They would break leaf springs and U-bolts unless you tighten them on every 3-month service.

Driving them back up the mountain to Lake Arrowhead would just about drive you insane from the rattling shifter handles. The guys would put about twenty large rubber bands around the whole group of handles to try and stop the rattling.

Then the phone company started buying F-350 and F-450 stock 4x4 chassis s with the aerial booms mounted on them. When those got stuck off road the drivers with the Marmon Herringtons pulled the out. They are awesome 4x4s but I had to be real vigilant to check those transmission and transfer mounts every service. If it dropped a transfer case coming down that mountain at 50 mph there would have been no way the brakes would have been able to stop it.

About the only thing that did not break was the front differentials and axles, they were bullet proof.

The tires do need to be same diameter or you will bind everything up. Just driving them on pavement, in 4x4. where the tires cannot slip makes it hard to get the transfer case out of 4x4. You can pull with both hands as hard as you can and not be able to get it to come out of 4x4. You have to take it back off in the dirt and do a couple of circles in both directions and them you can shift the transfer case. Most of the 4x4s were that way because there were no synchro like modern 4x4s have inside the front differential.

Most of the smaller 4x4s I worked on, Suburbans, Ramchargers, F-350s.... would have just a slight difference in the gear ratios from front to back. A vehicle might have 4.11s in the back and 4.10s in the front. Just a slightest difference but they were never exactly the same. I'm not exactly sure why? Do they want one pushing and one pulling just slightly different?

03-30-2019, 03:07 PM	#7
Flathead Fever Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Yucaipa, CA Posts: 1,095	Re: 1942 Marmon Herrington Tires I worked on Phone company 1978-1980 Marmnon Herrington Ford F-650s and F-800s. We could not keep rear transfer case bearings to survive. They might last a year up in the mountains. I had one driver that knew his truck so well he would let that bearing get noisy until right before it exploded and took out the bearing cover. He would call me up and say its about to explode. I ignored him one night and the next day it exploded and shattered the cast iron cover over the bearing. I had to remove the transfer case and take all the metal out of it. After that I learned that I better go change it out when he called. You could do it right on the ground in about 10-minutes. They were easy to change from the outside of the transfer case. As big as a pain that truck was that driver loved it so much that when he retired and moved from CA to Montana he tried to buy the truck. He drove it for twenty-year's. I think he wanted to restore it. We also could not keep those conversions from shearing off the transfer case mounting bolts, 1"-big bolts. They also broke the heavy duty, welded 1/2" steel plate, rear motor mounts that bolted to the bell housing. I always had a fear of it breaking all the mounts to the transfer case and then it falling out of the truck, hanging by its three driveshafts. They did not bolt to the back of the trans, they were suspended from the frame by a thick steel plate The parts were extremely expensive and real hard to get through Ford. You just about had to supply Ford with the part number. We had about six of those trucks. Once you got the right number you had better hang onto it for the next time. The front wheel studs were unique to Marmon Herringtons. They sheared them all the time. They were over $100.00 a stud. The front drums were special too, at least over $500.00 each in 1980s dollars. They would break leaf springs and U-bolts unless you tighten them on every 3-month service. Driving them back up the mountain to Lake Arrowhead would just about drive you insane from the rattling shifter handles. The guys would put about twenty large rubber bands around the whole group of handles to try and stop the rattling. Then the phone company started buying F-350 and F-450 stock 4x4 chassis s with the aerial booms mounted on them. When those got stuck off road the drivers with the Marmon Herringtons pulled the out. They are awesome 4x4s but I had to be real vigilant to check those transmission and transfer mounts every service. If it dropped a transfer case coming down that mountain at 50 mph there would have been no way the brakes would have been able to stop it. About the only thing that did not break was the front differentials and axles, they were bullet proof. The tires do need to be same diameter or you will bind everything up. Just driving them on pavement, in 4x4. where the tires cannot slip makes it hard to get the transfer case out of 4x4. You can pull with both hands as hard as you can and not be able to get it to come out of 4x4. You have to take it back off in the dirt and do a couple of circles in both directions and them you can shift the transfer case. Most of the 4x4s were that way because there were no synchro like modern 4x4s have inside the front differential. Most of the smaller 4x4s I worked on, Suburbans, Ramchargers, F-350s.... would have just a slight difference in the gear ratios from front to back. A vehicle might have 4.11s in the back and 4.10s in the front. Just a slightest difference but they were never exactly the same. I'm not exactly sure why? Do they want one pushing and one pulling just slightly different?