Volvo VT880 question

I remember reading somewhere a big issue with them was weight. Not sure if that is a valid reason or not, just something I ran across after searching for answers as to why they were no longer producing them, when I couldn't find the truck on their website.

 

Weight Issues and Slow Sales were the factors that led to the decision to discontinue the VT880.

 

I love the 880, they are a little heavy on the front. They were meant as a owner operator heavy haul truck available with 625 horse and 2250 torque, a 625 c-16 cat only puts out 2050 torque so that's impressive, to handle that power eaton custom designed a rtlo22918b transmission to handle it.

Sales ended up tanking it because they had huge injector cup And turbo issues which made o/o's stop buying. It turned out it was a internal issue with the turbo company and they fixed the problem and after 2 different materials they solved the injector cup issue. A little too late now.

If you look online for volvo 880 you will see tonnes of bad reviews all to do with the d16 (which is why it still has a bad name) but if you notice all those reviews will end 2009-2010...... Everyone tells the world when their truck breaks every other day but not when it's running perfectly, probably cause they're too busy working. Haha

 

Absolutely love mine, and have had very few problems. I think early bugs killed it. My next truck will be lighter, but I cant say the extra weight has cost me any loads, and I will say the extra horse power has landed me a couple loads.

 

Those 660's are sharp trucks, bit tight in the sleeper but hell, with the front cab curtain you can't complain too much. Stay away from climacab if you can reasonably do so. Never ran one with a Detroit or Volvo in it, but the Cummins will pull and pull until the wireharness almost quite literally begins to fall out of it after it turns 6, and the ECM follows shortly thereafter. Eaton Roadmaster- loved it. Ran great, always turned over and always pulled as hard as I asked it to within reason. Biggest complaint would be a chronic issue I had with my fifthwheel- Volvo installed one that must've sat in a wet part of a warehouse, somewhere, for a long while- it rusted out and they just repainted it (though this could've come from, I think it was, Holland?) So every time I went to drop a trailer, she'd jam like you wouldn't believe unless it was on completely level ground. Dropping a wagon in a ramped door? Well screw you!
Eventually company ended up replacing it because of all the issues I was having with it.

Other than that, they're super comfortable. Wide bed berth, plenty of storage. GREAT, AMAZING, SUPER suspension. Rolling a Volvo is like driving down a smooth road in a Cadillac- huge/massive difference from a freight shaker or international. She rides smooth. Nice built in fridge with freezer combo, plenty of outlets.

And I won't lie, I like their shape. The whole fender/running board combo makes it look like a truck cab sitting ontop of a large/wide frame with a nice sleeper cab sitting ontop.

I'm the kind of driver that before the most recent DOT changes, would push 11 hours straight in the hot seat without stopping once. It was not a pleasant thing to do in say, a Cascadia. It was a joy do it in a 660. Then, when you're exhausted from working 11 hours you climb into your comfortably arranged, well ventilated, and thickly insulated sleeper and get a solid 8 hours.

I really can't speak highly enough of how well a Volvo truck is made.


And wait for it; someone's going to reply with the complete opposite of this post



Some edits? Sure!

Here's a few downsides.

Maintenance, not PM's but specialized Volvo maintenance was hard to find on occasion. Two occasions to be exact. Had a bit of a problem with my clutch break when I first got her (another driver had her for 250,000 miles before me and ground the clutch break into oblivion. TAKE NOTE; NOT ME! ) And the other being the Jake malfunctioning as a direct result of the clutch break going out, had a spring in the clutch assembly that had a little issue and wasn't allowing the J to engage. Not a fun thing to find out when you've got 40,000 on the back and are heading down a rather steep hill. The service breaks had to take the hit on that one. After I managed to get it into the shop, though, quicker than you'd expect to get her back out.


Parts can be a pain, Cummins parts are easy to find. But if you need something like fifthwheel or suspension parts? Well, let's just say it's good to be patient.

Weight in the front- it's a bit high. This worked out well for me when I would have to hail marry loads up to NYC from Philly. "Sorry boss, she's 500 over on the steers." And just chuckled. I know, terrible person.

 

I had a 06 880 with the 625 2250 ft lbs. 3.43 rear ends. It was a great truck to work in, a bit top heavy in wind. It swayed a lot side to side. Rode like a dream. However the d16 was unbelievable. That was my lesson in trucking....never ever buy a new model year engine. My first year was flawless, almost to the day it turned into a truck that wanted to be in the shop literally 8-10 days a month.
From injectors and turbos to belt tensioners, wire harness you name it. Cracked fuel filter housing, pickup line in tank broke off, radiator, AC condenser split for no reason, xantrax power inverter died 3x. That's just what I remember now lol
i know the engines have come along ways, since then, I've talked to tons of guys who actually don't bs about fuel and reliability and the d16 is the way to go.
Its unfortunate that for every bad d16 story that there's prob 20 good ones we rarely hear about.

 

VT880 had the most complains ever since Volvo open shop in USA. It was not coz of the VT, it was coz of the D16 engine. While in Europe it was a fantastic engine here they modified it and the result was total failure. The problems they encountered with the new D16 were so numerous and happen to so many customers then they realized it is better to stop the mass production.
The VT as a whole truck is a heavy critter and the extra weigh cuts from the pay load. It was always meant for O/O and not for fleet. God knows what other reasons have been they stopped the production.
One thing I know for sure: I love my VT880 and I'll drive this thing till it would be illegal. Is already illegal in Kalifornia so I enjoy it as much it has left until other socialist states will follow the example.