Kenworth W900 or Peterbilt 379. First truck to buy

Buy a Sterling or a Columbia. Learn life and its lessons the hard way. The right way.

 

WTF?

Should you get a ram trx or a Honda civic?

Genuinely these two trucks are not even in the same league.

One is for showing off and one is for making money.....

Edit, thought you said 579.... Get the 579 or the t680. Let the old boys have the pretty trucks.

 

Can't agree. Haven't been asked reefer age once in 14 months of pulling reefer. Only was asked if downloadable, and they all are for as long as I've seen. I pulled a 2009 for 6 months and no one asked or said anything. Pulling a 2011 now, again, no issues.

 

Here’s a food for thought, whatever you buy(goodluck), get it from the West Coast, there “Rust-Free”……

 

Having driven 379’s ,389’s and W900’s for over 25 years I would definitely buy a 579 or t680 if you want to make more money , be more comfortable in the truck , have greater visibility and maneuvering in tight places. and the list goes on. I understand the status of the long hood trucks to some people ,but they are a
50 year old design with tight cramped cabs , poor turning radius in tight places, poor aerodynamics with poor fuel mileage. Now if you have low self esteem and want to feel special have at it. They do have a higher resale value , which doesn’t make up for the higher purchase price and operating costs.
I was of the same thought that they were the best trucks on the road until I spent some time in a t680 and it blew me away how comfortable it rode and maneuvered it tight places , how quiet it was and overall less tiring to drive all day. I’m 57 and been driving for over 35 years and in good health , but definitely appreciate the new aerodynamic trucks over the long hood trucks I drive for many years. Hell I just spent 2 weeks in. A freightliner Cascadia Ryder rental truck because my truck was in the shop and was blown away what a nice riding comfortable truck it was, and I’ve always looked at the as junk fleet trucks. If you buying a truck to make money and be more profitable and be less tired at the end of the day take advantage of the billions of dollars of research and development the truck manufacturers have put into these new aerodynamic trucks and you’ll be glad you did. If you want to drive a big long hood poor fuel mileage truck to feel special pulling into a truck stop have at it.Now you might look at my avatar and see that jacked up 4x4 KW 900 show truck and think I’m being a hypocrite. That truck was mine , it was a toy I had , and had to sell it to get the down payment up to buy my farm that I own . That truck will always have a special place in my heart and definitely miss it ,but I wouldn’t have been able to buy the farm without selling it and grateful to have done so. Lol

 

First, good luck to you. Pursue your dreams.

Couple of questions:
Are you paying cash?
Do you have a sizeable maintenance account to cover repairs? You have to be able to weather any storm that is thrown at you.

You will find 500 people tell you they like Petercars and 500 People tell you they like W9's. They are both great trucks IMO. I prefer the narrower cab and I'm tall. The only thing that did suck was the leg room on my A. But with the aerocab the seat goes back into the sleeper. You have to do your due diligence in getting oil samples and verifying paperwork. Sure, the truck might have paperwork....but so many people fail to research the place that did the work. I've seen trucks and their paperwork, but the shop they sent it to had a horrible reputation and their reviews downright sucked.


Personally, I prefer the W900 (the 379 I got to drive was great, but didn't change my opinion). The wide turning radius that some complain about was improved tremendously with the wide track front end available in 12 and 13,2K. You can get a short hood B as well that will save you 11" in wheelbase.

Things to look for on the W900. On 2005 and older trucks, ensure you look at the spring hangers on the front end. The older style can result in a frame issue right at the rear hangar. Ensure you look for evidence of a crack, welding repairs, heavy corrosion or the start of a crack on the bottom flange of the frame rail. Also, to me it seems 2001 and older frames for some reason resisted delaminating and paint issues much better than the newer years.

Old Style Spring rear of front spring hanger 2005 and older:



Newer style Spring Hanger:

 

There’s no reason to turn any tighter then what a 379/w900 does unless you enjoy replacing tires and suspension components for nothing, all these clowns touching the trailer to the cab spinning tires in the opposite direction clearly don’t give a #### about their equipment

 

It depends on the work you do and where you have to go. If it’s all wide open highways and huge parking lots that’s fine. If you have to go into tight areas in city’s or let’s say the underground loading docks at the Jacob Javitz convention center in NYC , you’ll be hating that long hood and big turning radius. I’ve been in the tightest areas with 379’s, 389’s and W9’s and would rather have been in a more maneuverable aerodynamic short hood truck.
Not to mention 4-5 mpg that long hood trucks get with the current $5-$6 gallon fuel .

 

My favorite truck was my Freightliner Classic. If I had it to do again would I own another? Nope.
It's a tool to make money with.
1 mpg at regular fuel.prices is around $10,000 a year in your pocket.
At these prices.. way more.
Get a good simple truck, that's easy to get parts for (they all break) and you can get serviced anywhere other than the dealer.
I'm a huge proponent of the glider kit. If you dont have to go to California, get a columbia glider, 60series detroit, find the lowest mile best example you can, dyno test with blow by test, sample the oil.
Do your homework.
It's by far the cheapest most reliable, easiest to get serviced truck.
Then with the money you save
Go buy some real toys...I did.

 

My honest opinion, neither. They look different and cool down the road but frame to bottom, they area identical. Kenworth parts are expensive and Pete is just a cheaper. A wise man once said if you can’t afford a Kenworth get a Pete. Now in reality paccar they are very difficult to work on. I own a t680 and I keep finding hard time mechanics that will even dare to look at it. They’re undesirable to work on so I have to do most of the repairs myself.
If I’m in your place with my knowledge I’d buy a Volvo or a freightliner with a cat engine or cumin. Paccar will have a ton of electrical issues and sensors going out left and right or just act up. Oh EGR and DEF issues are more common to fail in paccar than any other trucks.