The Bullet Has Arrived

[x635 4,066]

The new Sterling Bullets have begun arriving at Sterling dealers nationwide. They are a true, heavy duty occupational chasis. Although some claim it's just a beefed up version of it's cousin, the Dodge Ram, after getting under the hood and driving one, I must say differently. These are definetly designed to work, work hard, and take a beating while doing it.

I see this being a much better alternative for those Fire & EMS agencies who use the F-series or Silverado chasis. Give it a look when spec'ing your next ambulance, brush truck, etc....you won't be dissapointed!

[Guest]

do you know anyone off hand that uses this brand for an ambulance?

[nhfd241 4]

that's a nice truck i want one

[Union241 3]

do you know anyone off hand that uses this brand for an ambulance?

The only company that offers a Sterling Chassis is Wheeled Coach with the MAV series, however it's the bigger truck sized chassis. As of now there are no manufacturers offering the Sterling Bullet as an option, but I'm sure over the course of time it'll start to appear as an option.

[10-Buff-4 0]

Nice photos Seth.... But, what is the difference between the truck above and a Dodge Ram??? I'm a bit confused. Definitely looks mean and ready to work... Did someone say new Rescue/Brush Rigs/MP's?

-Joe DA BUFF

[jcoppola 52]

Norwalk has been buying Sterling 4 by 4 plow/dump trucks for a few years now and I heard the DPW drivers like them a lot. I will attempt to photograph one soon.

JVC

[mfc2257 464]

I've got a 2007 Ram Laramie Mega Cab 2500 Cummins TD and I've looked at these too out of curiosity. The are just beefed up Rams designed for municipal, contracting, and emergency service......

Equate these rigs in the following way.....

Sterling is to a Ram 2500/3500 as an F-450 & F-550 is to the F-250/F-350.

The 6.7L Cummins is the same as offered in the Ram although it would appear that all trucks are coming with the detuned 305hp/610lb/ft engines that come with manual transmission Rams as opposed to offering the automatics with the 350hp/650lb/ft configuration like the Rams (like mine) have. The Mercedes G56 six speed manual and the Aisen 6 speed automatic are the same as the Ram.

Looks like it's just a branding ploy for the folks at Diamler Trucks (read: Mercedes Benz) to make money off of their former ownership of Chrystler.

Edited February 15, 2008 by mfc2257

[SpartanML 0]

Is it me or does Sterling get passed around the Big 3 companies like a cheap w#0&3?

[mfc2257 464]

From what I can tell.... Here is how it all happened..... If I recall correctly...

Ford used to make it's own heavy truck chassis on its own. The notable ones were the Louisville Chassis like Millwood R-36 (L-9000), and White Plains whole fleet for years (I think they are L-8000's). Also, the AeroMax chassis for over the road tractors. The heavy truck division of the FMC was sold to Frieghtliner in 1997 and the Sterling Brand of trucks was created so that you wouldn't see trucks that looked like Fords driving around with a Freightliner Logo on it.

Freightliner was subsequently bought by Daimler-Benz (Mercedes Benz) as was Chrystler Motor Corp.... Hence why there is now a link between Dodge and Sterling.

[stephen morea 1]

You know this is just like anything else, it looks great but this is a new vehicle they have to get all the bugs worked out of it first for it to be "great". It is equal to an F-550 or chevrolet/GMC 4500 or 5500 so it is nothing new on the market. Im in a diesel tech school right now so I hear all the gossip and all the stories first hand and even though everyone LOVES dodges they still cannot hold up to what a ford or GM product can hold up to. one resource is read consumer reports, the dodge 1500 gets one of the worst ratings out of all the full sized pick ups. And the transmissions are a whole nother story, I have seen truck-tug-of-wars where the dodge transmissions just blew apart. yes the cummins part is good (the new 6.7l not the 5.9l) but that is about the only thing good about a dodge pick up and I wont even think about a dodge gasser . I'll give you ford cars are crap but the trucks are second to none, the 7.3l turbo diesel from 1996 to 2003 was a flawless engine (I am looking for one right now) and the only reason ford trucks might have gotten a bad rap is because of the 6.0l (2003 to 2007) I dont like that engine and will not touch it with a 10 foot pole but I still think that this 6.4 will bring them back into the lead. Alot of you who work in or around ambulances might think that ford is bad because the 6.0l in vans had the worst problems of all. And the new duramax is an extremly strong engine, much better than the old 6.5l detroits they used in the '90's. Those can also pack a hard punch. FORD and GM are still the best work trucks around and will be for a very long time.

[10-Buff-4 0]

I've got a 2007 Ram Laramie Mega Cab 2500 Cummins TD and I've looked at these too out of curiosity. The are just beefed up Rams designed for municipal, contracting, and emergency service......

Equate these rigs in the following way.....

Sterling is to a Ram 2500/3500 as an F-450 & F-550 is to the F-250/F-350.

The 6.7L Cummins is the same as offered in the Ram although it would appear that all trucks are coming with the detuned 305hp/610lb/ft engines that come with manual transmission Rams as opposed to offering the automatics with the 350hp/650lb/ft configuration like the Rams (like mine) have. The Mercedes G56 six speed manual and the Aisen 6 speed automatic are the same as the Ram.

Looks like it's just a branding ploy for the folks at Diamler Trucks (read: Mercedes Benz) to make money off of their former ownership of Chrystler.

Thanks for the clarification!

-Joe DA BUFF

[ddoyle195 8]

Although to support Sterling's cause, I think they had to do something to keep competitive on the smaller vehicle market such as Ambulance, light rescue's, brush trucks, etc. They needed a chassis to compete with the chassis of choice the

Ford F-550. If not you'd be stuck with something like this. This is a 4 wheel drive Sterling/ALF that serves the Kent, NY fire department. I'm not knocking their truck, I think it's a unique but sharp looking rig. What I am saying is Sterling needed a smaller 4 wheel drive chassis to compete with the Ford F-550. However if I'm speccing out a light rescue, brush, Utility, Squad, etc. truck, I'd go with the F-550.