Short snubby hood or longer normal hood length?

I think that KW and Pete are the caddy of trucks. The kia I would say would have to be a freightliner like a columbia or century. I'm not hating on them I'm just saying that is how I see it. If I was in the market to buy my own truck it would probably be one of those 2 freightliners because you can find them cheap with lower miles then a pete or a KW.

 

I should have specified newer Western Stars, I have been driving a 2005 WS lately which is a tri axel dump its spec'd out pretty good....not impressed

 

G & C are also tied in with OJ in Canada.

 

Western Star used to be built in Kelowna, British Columbia Canada where they built a top of the line truck. And then Freightshaker bought them and took them downhill from there.

 

thats kinda where I was going with my post !!

 

I heard they were bought and are now called Price-Gregory. Are you a pipeliner? Not many truckers know what a stringing truck is no less Pe-Ben.

 

They are right Paccar (KW,peterbilt) are just like Cadillac they ride great look great but brake down all the time (my experiences) and parts are stupid expensive. Last KW I had was in the shop 2 out of 3 days.

I would put freightliner in the middle kinda like a saab.

The lower end I would put western star, then International, at the Dodge/chevy level

fallowed by Volvo, fallowed by sterling. being kia or daiwoo.

But I have lived in a freightliner since I was 7 years old so they feel like home and have always been a great truck for me.

But back to the op question
longer hood harder to back in. Shorter hood easier to back in.

Longer hoods tend to look alot better.
If I wasn't training students I would have bought a long nose.

 

I hear the "paccar parts are expensive" argument all the time. I have yet to see these excessively expensive parts everyone keeps referring to. I'm sure they exist but I can't think of a KW/Pete specific part that an owner would buy enough of that would change the cost of ownership.

Comparing FL to Saab sounds fair to me however I think FL's are a POS. (newer ones anyway). The reason those cars are named Saab is that's what you do after you buy one.......sob, as soon as you realize you bought a junker.

As far as a shorter hood being easier to back in.......removing the trailer would make a truck easier to back in however I don't think making the test easier makes anyone a better driver. If you really want to train a new driver they should drive a long nosed truck with a 106" wide conestoga with standard 102" wide mirrors. IMO a monkey could back a trailer they can see around, driving a short spotter truck.

Call me crazy but IMO if more guys were trained with more challenging equipment guys like me wouldn't be so paranoid we're going to lose a hood in a truck stop. Just had new tarp panels installed in a curtain side flat..........made it one trip before some "professional driver" hit one panel with his mirror. So now I have a brand new shiny tarp with a 7" patch in one panel.

I'm not picking on you directly with most of this, yours is just the post I quoted to vent with.

 

Yeah well I like my truck in one piece. Most rookies have no clue on the concept of backing. Thus I choose to train in something easier. Where they are less likely to hit a pole or something and mess us my truck. Last thing I need to do is go to jail for killing a rookie after the wreak my baby. also better mpg as the only reason I am out here is to make money, so thus anything to help my bottom line is more then welcomed.

As far as the parts go I have compaired some parts for the trucks and the paccar branded parts tend to be slightly more. But in most cases you can get generic parts across the board. As most these trucks have the same motor so thus same parts wither it is in a FL or KW its still a C15. But when you compare the truck specific parts they are slightly higher not much in most cases maybe some change or a dollar or two.

Personally I think all the new trucks no matter the brand are crap. I remember pre-egr and all this electronic junk. To met the government requirements. Trucks didn't brake down near as much. I cant really complain to much I normally end up in the shop once every 2 months. But I also avg 5.7k miles a week overall this year.

I would love nothing else then for fuel to drop back down below $1 a gal and be driving a FLD120 True midroof with a 750hp cat under the hood with straight pipes and raincaps tinging away as it billows black smoke. To me a truck has to have side pipes to really look like a truck.

 

Jolson, looking at your truck I don't see the pipes. Are they underneath like a passenger car's is?

Many see the Volvo as less desirable than others. I find that humorous as Volvo cars seem to be (relatively) higher end.... Maybe it's that Volvo may excel at making sedans but not trucks.