The 'Two Story' Ford CL9000 Cabover (UnderRated + Under Appreciated!) 

Hey there Driver. So good of you to drop by to catch today's upload. How do you feel about the Ford CL9000? Love to hear from you!

The other problem on those CL9000s was, on occasion, a corner airbag would blow. That old bloody thing would lean so far over, that you'd swear the entire rig was going with it, and they didn't. But now you had to drive to a nearby dealer, and on that angle, the cab was in...LOL, that was a joy, to get them fixed..."NOT"... and they weren't cheap. But you are right, they were comfortable as heck to drive.

I really appreciated hearing this from a Pete guy. In about '83, when I was 18, I stopped at one of the truck stops in Effingham Illinois. The local Ford dealer had a CL9000 and one of their conventional's sitting out front on display. I thought those were the nicest thing out there. Of course, my dad couldn't afford one. But I couldn't tell you how much time I spent looking at the brochures. Looking back now, as an older guy, I just figured it was a kid thing. I guess they were something to be admired. Thanks.

I had a brand new CL9000 in 1990 with a 13 and a 400 Cummins. My first trip was from Detroit to Indy and back. The roads were really crappy in Michigan back then with a lot of pot holes . Every time I would hit a hole the truck would buck back and forth on the air bags like a rodeo horse . When you went around a clover leaf or any fast turn the truck felt like it was going to flip . The truck didn't have much sound absorbing material around the dog house and it sounded like that Cummins was sitting in your lap . One of the companies in the Detroit area had close to 200 of them and elected to remove the the rear two air bags and replace with solid rubber blocks after so many drivers complained . I hated that truck and was happy to see it go when I replaced with a conventional Western Star .

Those were the Cadillac of trucking. They were so smooth some drivers would swear it put them to sleep. The only thing that I didn’t care for was the swaying. Back then roads weren’t great in places and the thing would roll and bob on a crap road. They were nice to drive!

FSC Trucking is restoring a CL9000 hes adding a second drive axle because the truck only was a single axle He wants to make it a work truck like "Orwell" It will be cool to see it back on the road working again

They were also available with the 19 liter K-series Cummins. But those are rare. I knew of two.

Two story Edsel.That is what the mechanics called them.Reimer Freight (Canada) had a bunch of them in the early 80's.They were 3406 Cats,13 speed.They were outfitted for cold weather.Had air start on them.Had a weird Hendrickson rear suspension.Some owners would get rid of the four bag cab air suspension.

Your 100% dead on, it was underrated.

I drove a CL9000 in the early '80's. This one didn't have the air ride cab. Ford had ideas that were 10-15 years ahead of the rest of the truck manufactures. For example, the heating/AC had controls for the driver, passenger, and bunk. I'm convinced if the nameplate wasn't Ford the truck would have sold better. From what I remember the trucks were heavier than comparable competitors. Also, the 4 corner air ride cab was overkill when it came to drivability. Had Ford just put air bags on the back of the cab they would have had the best of the air ride concept without the complex cab hinges and leaning issues talked about by the presenter. I used a heavy comforter draped over the dog house to insulate the cab from the noise and heat from the engine.

I must have asked the driver a half dozen times if everything was secured inside. He finally got mad and said he wasn't going to pay shop time to argue. Yes TV/VCR combo hanging by the cord out the windshield. My service manager told him that it will be another day for repairs. He stayed away from me while I worked on it. The roof of the shop wasn't high enough to tilt the cabs with bunks. We would tilt them outside and push them in with caged brakes and chock the wheels inside. PIA for sure.

I drove for Thomas Produce out of Greensboro, NC in the early 1980's. They had an entire fleet of these CL 9000's. We hauled produce back from the west coast in reefers. The nationwide speed limit was 55 mph and they had the trucks governed to run 62 mph.

I drove one for a few months around the year 2000. Nice truck, felt weird being up that high even though I was used to driving cab overs.

@Smart Trucking that's a beautiful looking truck we used to have Ford Trucks, first made in the 60s and 70s with the Contentinental Star, then the Cargo Tector in 2003. Ford then started making trucks recently again in Europe after an absence of 20 years. Great looking trucks and it's awesome, to see them being made again and to see them on the road again.

I started off in trucking, driving a cab over. I actually liked the Frieghtliner I drove. They called them buffalo’s or buses, because of the set back front axle. That was 1988, a long time ago, with a trucking company that’s no longer in business…

CL 9000 is one of favorite. 362 Pete is also high up in the cab🔥🔥👍

Love my 99 International 9800 flat floor Condo.......so much nicer than my 91 K-100 flattop spring ride. I'm sitting here at a Walmart in the rain, camped out for the weekend.

Drove an old Penske truck in the’80s, spring ride with out the cab air ride. 435 horse V8 Detroit and a 9 speed. First “modern” truck I ever drove. The visibility was great and the defroster actually worked.

I'm glad you decided to do a video on the CL9000. A lot of guys, including myself, were mentioning them on one of your other videos. As I stated on the other comments, I had a brand new 1978 CL9000 company truck. It was a bare bones truck. No cab air ride, and none of the amenities that a loaded one would have. Still, I loved that truck. It rode nice even without the cab air ride, and it was just a pleasure to drive. Even the interior and dash layout was beautiful. IMHO, it was the best class 8 truck Ford ever built. If I had the opportunity, I would drive one of those again. 😊

They inherited the Two-story Falcon nickname.

I´m European but I visited America in my younger days. I remember the Ford cabover, and actually I liked it. After a couple of days I knew though, that it didn't seem that popular among my American colleagues.

Love the look of the CL9000

Got my license in a W-Series cabover officer asked if we needed oxagen up in the cab.LOL. Drove the CL9000 in the early 90s, most guys in the garage did not want to drive it. The were hard to feel the road in rain or ice but the ride and view was awesome.

I drove a 89 CL9000 for couple years. Boss bought Fords Demo model off the Los Angeles Convention showroom. Every option available, Queen Bed, Air ride everything except the starter. Custom Paint 24” Alcoas Custom Interior, Nice rig. Hating driving that truck up in San Francisco it was like an amusement park ride going up and down the streets Once I snapped the catwalk off the frame due to the air ride leaning in every direction making a turn going up a street there.

One thing I love about Dave's videos besides the wealth of information: the random Canadian pronunciations of common words that I hadn't heard before, such as "rad-iator" (that one's hard to spell out phonetically, but some of you caught that in the video lol)! I also think I would have felt VERY unsettled with all of that cab tilting. And this was in my childhood bedroom rather than a truck, but I watched many an hour of "All In The Family" and other great shows on one of those little black-and-white TV's with the rabbit ears!! 😅Cool truck and great video, Dave!!

Very much appreciated Dave!

KTP-1 Kentucky Truck Plant ! The largest truck plant in the free world! Anyone bigger today? 3 lines running in the 90's, Heavy Duty, Medium Duty and Crew Cab one tons. I got an awesome VIP tour invite while at MATS and being at the right place at the right time.

I owned a 81 with the single cab no air bags best truck I ever drove

My Dad said the same thing they felt like the cabs was falling off the frame lol

I drove a CL9000 back in 1982-83 running produce from CA to Hunts Point. The tractor had a Silver 92 DD and 13 Speed, pulling a 40’ Utility Reefer. I’d spend a week in NYC loading LTL back LA. Even after spending all that time in NYC, I hated every minute of that city.

just tell 'em Large Marge sent ya.

Love the TV story! Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

I drove a Double bunk with a 400 cat it was a great truck my buddy had 2 of them one had a 400 cummins the other was 8V92 they would fly down the road they even had cruise control Newway air ride drove like a dream the problem was you could feel the road at all so you had to watch for pot holes and black ice in the winter time .

I drove one once when my COE White Freightliner was down. I thought I was driving a waterbed. Hated it on every curve and turn. Thought for sure I was going to roll over.

Back in the 80s I sometimes drove one that didn't have a sleeper (go out and come back the same day) Ours had the Cats. Nice trucks shown. Of course you can't drive them in California but then who would want to go there ?

We call them the Skyscraper down south. Had a buddy who had one. I love those trucks.

Drove one for one trip only and loved it!

Thanks, Dave👍👍👍

My second truck was a CL 9000 they did not all come with air ride. Mine add rigid cab mounts. the downside was they all collapsed over time. The mount survived put the cab itself came apart.

Drove a couple of Pete 379s but always wanted to drive one of these. I've seen a few really nice well preserved units and some restorations over the years, but none nice enough to tempt me into going OTR again.

Definitely my favourite cabover. I saw a couple in the wild in the late '90s when i was a kid ridin shotgun with my dad in a brand new 379 on the yellowhead highway in Alberta. Great times back then

Friend of mine told me about the cab and stack thing. He said in a curve if you saw a stack you're good. If you're in a curve and the stack is still behind the cab he said HOLD ON!!!

Great video.

Our fire department has a C900 cabover engine, Saluda south carolina. It has a 534 FT engine, and a 4 speed automatic transmission with a 2 speed rear axle and a PTO system to run the pump. It also has an open rear facing second row at the pump deck but we aren't allowed to ride there at all 🫤. Still a very cool rig, we run it often as we can, and it sees alot of use in town parades as well.

The Cl 9000 is on the list of cabovers I want to have

I loved these cl 9000 when I was younger,I still have my book all about American trucks that I got when i was abou 9 (i'm 50 now) this was where I first ever see one as the book had entire chapters about each make. In Britain and Europe we had the Ford Transcontinental,big and very tall,gorgeous thing,one of my favourites,this only came with a range of cummins engines,some very early ones had 15 litre non turbo apparently,most with a 9 speed direct top fuller with a high ratio back end,some had the 13 aswell.very heavy and with a very hard chassis. my friend has the Phrase on the back of his one '' right truck,wrong time,too much too soon'' you say about 4 bag cabs,we had the Renault Magnum over here,A lot of brit drivers looked down their nose at it for some reason,but it was a game changer as they say,flat floor,huge cab,loads of storage,even had the E 9 mack V8 as an option.synchro slapper box,hub reduction axles.I always wanted one when I did long distance european work,when I was given the choice,thats what I chose,440 mack 6 cylinder,lovely sound,loads of torque,manual box of course, people said they were shit, you get seasick ,no, they're bloody great,same as you say,once you get used to the cab roll,you forget about it,I remember going round a roundabout,lookin in the mirror thinking its leaning too far,but it was the cab,the trailer was level. great days,never to return.

Very good looking truck TY for sharing

Yep been there done that I drove one day cab single axle I called it a refrigerator on 4 ballons get off a steep off ramp and come to a stop thought the cab would tip over or go up the canon on HWY6 out of Denver and get sea sick

Drove one back in the 80's had double bunk loved that old truck had to put short cb antenna on it cause when you went thru memphis the antenna would slap the bridges that were low but loved way it drove but air ride cab going around curve made you feel like you were gonna roll over

Must've been the inspiration for Optimus Prime. *Transformers, unite!*

Always loved the end of "armed and dangerous"

Those old Fords sat so high, I'm surprised the drivers didn't get nosebleeds from the high altitude.

In 1973 I drove for a company that had a fleet of Ford and Peterbilt cabovers. I don't remember the model number of the Fords, but it must have been the immediate predecessor of the CL9000. When we got a run we would often have a choice of whatever tractors were on the lot. All the drivers (including me) would choose the Ford over the Petes. Though not as luxurious, the Fords were roomier and had a smoother ride.

Pisses me off just to see one….Old,bad memories.

This was truly one of my favorite trucks to drive. The only issue I had were those air bags on the cab. Through twisty windies on mountain passes, you could get a little sea sick... lol, but otherwise a great truck.

I did a couple trips up the alcan and back to the lower 48 in one of those cabovers back in the early 90’s The first time I took a super it scared the crap out of me because the air ride cab would lean way over

My very first experience with one of those cabovers was when I was hauling gasoline &diesel fuel. I was loaded with 10,000 gallons of a straight gasoline load. There was a highway 70 in Arkansas which took me to my delivery. My conventional kw was in the shop. So this was our spare truck. I've drove many cabovers before this. I was coming up a steep upgrade we always got a run just before it. Well just before the start of the hill was cruve . I hit it had like usual but crazy cab start laying down really hard , I thought the whole thing was rolling over. Needless to say I ended up not getting a run at the hill . Plus my nerves were shot. Couldn't hardly quit shaking. Looking back it's kinda funny. But at that moment I thought the worse.

Interesting video but wish you would have shown more of the truck I always liked the looks of those fords the conventionals too

I drove a 72 or 73 Ford cabover. It had the square front end and did not have the airbags

What i thought was odd with the ford cabovers was the pneumatic vacuum pumps that ran the little things like heater vents , to me it sounded like an air leak.

Rock and Roll Ford

Had one with the only real motor the one you didn’t mention KTA 19 liter Cummins. Best truck in the day

Hit the brakes and feel like I'm going to launched through the windshield. Floating and leaning all day, I couldn't walk straight all day. Had to clear the whole cab inside before lifting the cab up. Weird shifting , too. First Ford truck ever drove . . not good and never wanted to drive again but had to

Ford trucks always had killer paint jobs My had a 79 no air cab the stories of how fast that truck was it had a 400 Cummins with 13speed drove for command out jersey City the story goes my brother says he would come to work my uncle truck is still cold he'd didn't get there leave the yard outter nowhere on the highway my uncle would pass them when they get to the delivery my uncle then backed in and in the bunk sleep ..the old ford burnt up one in the tight yard on ice the load pushed and hit the corner of the cab where the fuse box was and caught fire 🔥

Must have been nice to stay warm back in those days.

First time I drove out the driveway with a CL9000,it tilted to the left,and though I was going to get thrown through the window. Also, every time I came to an overpass I would duck.Took a while to get use to the height.

LTL 9000 became the Aeromax, which I think drove really well

I had at least 2 TV's go thru my windshield while jacking my old Cabover

We called these things skyscrapers.

Ford advertised the dashboard gauges were easily replaced , pull one out , push another in . Strange windshield wiper mechanism .

How many people have seen the black one I believe it’s heavy day put together? I remember them coming at you and a curve. I used to think the cab was gonna come off and roll in front of me!!!!

I remember all that. I always kinda envied those Ford drivers, that their truck must have had a better ride.

LoL ! exactly why guys didn t like it ! too soft, scary ! My first truck driving experience was with my kid-Brother s 9000 LTL conventional silver with silver and orange interior, with a 4 1/4 cat engine ! great engine back then ! 13 speed but geared to be strong, not fast ! he was pulling a 4 axle flat-bed trailer . Yes in Canada but he was going in the States most of the time ! the transport he was pulling for was a small outfit name was HUMAR . My brother passed at 38 years old, about 25 years ago ! his friends found him at home in his garage hung on his chain-block ! but that s another story ! thanks for reading my comment ! have a nice day ! 🤠

Its A Tiltin Hilton

Hauling livestock it would feel like you were tipping over, took a while to get use to it.

Another problem was they were very heavy to

Never understood why people liked COEs as you have everything inside spilling everywhere when you have to work on them

🎶So c'mon and join our convoy ain't that a beautiful sight ..........convoy...........they even had a bear in the air !

I would take a GMC Astro anytime before I drove another Ford cl900.

The Blue Mule.

Was there an automatic transmission model.

BREAKER 1 9 THIS HERES THE DUCK YOU GOTTA COPY ON ME BIG BEN C'MON

where were the pictures of it inside etc

Yes indeed- true story 😂

In my 37 years on the road I've never been inside of one but I saw a few of them moving around when I first came out in 1987. However, the most exciting cabover to ride around in was the GMC Astro, the Astro had a huge windshield and a seating position that actually made you feel like you were sitting on the highway and not in the truck... It was almost like a 3D experience, literally horrifying but, totally fun!

I had to drive barefoot. The AC didn't keep you cool enough especially near the floor. And when that 4 wheeler cut in and closed your stopping distance, it felt like the cab was going to flip on you.

I hate cabovers….I hate cabovers….I hate cabovers….Did I say that I hate cabovers?….Oops forgot….I hate cabovers

I drove one in the 80s. Did not like them two story Falcon.

I personally hated driving that truck.

WGAFF?

Breaker 1 9 I'm at mile marker double nickel , I'll be 10-10 on the side gonna throw some groceries down my neck and go 10-100 , KQX 3578 on the side

I drove a cl day cab for a while. I did not like it.

I'd order mine with an automatic transmission! The Cummins 444 would be my engine preference.

Don't you mean it's a two story Pinto

Good idea, failed engineering. Plague with problems. And worst of all..., the interior was made of plastic.

Two story pinto

Over rated POS….Real POS…..Every time you met one on the road the cab was always leaning….Vacuum pump for windshield wipers,retarded….Felt like sitting two miles in the air….

They were a little scary with. The air ride cab an when u. Go in to a corner the cab tilts but once u get used off that it wasn’t to bad but scary at first had a couple friends on Tri Line. Expressways

I don't know the double bunk Peterbilt was a nice truck

Work on this biggest piece of garbage ever made glad to see ford gmc and dodge out of the trucking business peterbuilt or kenworth freightliner Volvo sucks