Favorite old school truck?

i'm not sure how we're defining "old school," and i don't think these trucks really fall into "old school," but i've always liked:


kw-k100
pete 362, 372
freightliner fla, flb (both foward and setback axles)

(i mean anything with rectangular headlights can't be old school?)

freightliner fld and classic IF SETUP RIGHT----i.e., short hood, regular, non-condo 36-84" sleeper.

chevy/GMC bison/ general
chevy/gmc titan/astro
chevy/gmc bruin/ brigadier or 9500 series (now that's old school)

mack cruiseliner

 

To me an old school truck can be any truck that doesn't have a droopy slope nosed hood or ugly cheap plastic fairings covering the fuel tanks or stacks running up the back of the sleeper or a cheesey plastic dash that would be more at home in a Buick than a truck...

I believe that Peterbilt started putting rectangular headlights in in '82 or '83...That's 27 years ago.

To quote you...(i mean anything with rectangular headlights can't be old school?) FLD's had rectangular headlights! Junkliner Classics have rectangular headlights...The FLD has a bunch of plastic fairings all over it and a crappy plastic bumper...How could that thing be considered "old school" by anyone?

Titan and Astro....Maybe.
General/Bison...I don't think so!
Bruin? Brigadier? 9500? Pretty much just junky LTL freight trucks...

Not even in the running...

 

Yeah, i guess to me "old school" might be considered anything pre-1975. i was just listing most of the trucks that i really like.

1) So really the GMC 9500 is really the only old school rig out of the bunch i listed. Also some k-100's could be old school since they've been produced since 61? i think technically it's still in production but it has to be special ordered?

2) the 362 i think didn't come out until 82---to me that's still not old enough to be "old school." But what baffles me is why pete discontinued the 372 yet continued to produce the 362 when the 372 was clearly the more advanced technology. Not to mention why pete stopped making cabovers period......

3) Plastic fairings may be ugly, but they will save you fuel. The FLD is definitely in my top 3 favorite tractors. i've spent most of my driving career with freightliners and they've grown on me. i like freightliner---there, i said it. And.....having driven them over the years i can say with authority that their quality has improved dramatically. They still have a long way to go, but there is marked improvement.

i'm actually so used to driving modern conventionals that i can't actually drive the model T types----w-9, 379/8 etc. because i have trouble keeping in my lane---because you're sitting more in the center vs. the more modern conventionals where you're sitting more to the left. This tends to piss off the other truckers on the road.

Now, if i were permanently assigned a "model t type" then i would probably get used to it. But i still would not want to drive one because it wouldn't feel right to me---they're keeping all the old elements for the wrong reasons in my opinion.

4) i meant mack superliner, but the cruiseliner is cool too. The F model just looks scary.

 

Hey, if you're old school Bulldog fans, I posted some pictures of old Macks in the photo section... they don't look as good as that black Mack (lol), but they got it beat when it comes to "old school."

 

W900A! Long hood where it's at for that era. Dual everything lol.

 

Would have to be an autocar like the one on the wall at mounteagle truck stop.
With a KTA 600 with the bigest 18spd I can find.

 

There's no demand for them...

They don't save as much fuel as driving the equipment right does...I'll guarantee you that I get better fuel mileage with my W900L than 90% percent of the fleet steering wheel holders do because most of the fleet steering wheel holders have no idea how to properly run a truck.
I'll trade a little fuel for not having a hideously ugly truck any day of the week!

As far as Junkliner quality goes...There isn't much!

They almost had a good cabover by the mid to late eighties when they finally learned how to put doors in a cab instead of on the outside if it! Ya know...Like Kenworth has been doing for decades.

The newer junkliner trucks (since the late eighties) are designed to last a few years and then be replaced and sold to some non english speaking container hauler and run to death and then scrapped.
The FLD isn't even a decent truck and was so poorly built that it started falling apart befor the warranty was even up.
All you have to do to get parts for an FLD is drive down the interstate and pick them up off of the side of the road where they landed when they fell off!

There are no modern conventionals except the W900 and the 379/389...The junkliner classic and the Western Star.

The rest are just cabovers with a short, droopy hood stuck on the front.

What are all the wrong reasons?

Because they sell?

The trucks are popular with drivers and O/O's. They command a higher price used than any other truck on the road...So what, You think because YOU like some of the cheesiest trucks on the road that everyone else should be forced to drive them?

Superliner is a dump truck just like all other Mack conventionals.
The Cruisliner was such a piece of junk that they just got to the point where they couldn't sell them to anyone...So they just quit making them.

 

Tell us how ya really feel!

 

Small window Pete 359 with 36 bunk or a neede nose Pete.

 

peterods 351 pete, sweet ride!