It took them 5 years to design a truck that looks the same as a kenworth?? -1 to Pete for the utter lack of personality on this truck
I don't think they have separate design department between divisions in the same company. Even if they did, probably low on the priority list below saleability and manufacturing costs. http://www.paccar.com/NewsReleases/article_news.asp?file=2777
It did take 5 years to design these vehicles. The two vehicles are not carbon copies like chevy/gm. If you look at each vehicle you will find major differences between the two companies design.
I haven't seen the new trucks in person, BUT I will agree with you, there always has been quite a bit of difference between the two. For instance take the T200 and the 387 even though about 70% of the cab structure is the same the two trucks are really nothing alike. The dashes are completely different, cabinets are different, of course the hoods and skirting is completely different, and if you ever noticed the Pete sleeper is actually about 3" wider than the T2's. Just look behind the doors, the KW goes straight back while the Pete bulges out, roofs are totally different as you can still get a 387 (587) midroof, BUT only a condo in the KW. Really the doors,glass and mirrors are about the only truly interchangeable parts and even the latches are different.
I saw them at MAT show. At this time the dash is same, but several other differences. They based on the same platform, but they are two different truck. The Peterbilt look better in real life, but my choice would be the KW because of the better aerodynamic and I like better inside. See, there are plenty of reason to choose one or the other, but not enough to kill each other on the forum. Tho I think booth are pretty good truck.
Hmmm member PB579 is located in Denton.... and only speaks good things about Peterbilt. No chance that has somthing to do with Peterbilts headquarters being located there. I'm glad Pete has came out with a mid sized cab truck. I look forward to seeing one and giving it a good look over. I hope they have improved the quality of their wiring and harness routing as we've saw tons of issues in the last couple years. I do not like that it shares the same basic platform as KW and I feel in the last couple years Pete and KW share way too much. Its hard to work on a Pete seeing KW labels all over parts. I don't like seeing Pete low air susp on KWs. Pete and KW may not be quite like GMC and Chevy yet but in the last 7 years they have become closer than ever before. Pretty soon they'll all be Paccars, Peterbilt and Kenworth will only be trim levels. On another note that nobody wants to hear. Volvo's right now are great they are assembled to a quality that Paccar just can't match. Every harness on every truck is routed the same way and has the same zip ties in the exact same spot. Quality control is spot on. Volvo added much of the new tech Multiplexing and such to their trucks in 1995 and had several years of wiring and computer issues. Paccar added multiplexing and such in 2005. So based on how good the current Volvos are in about 8-10 years Paccars with be great.
