Cabovers

I was in a 389, all red padded leather inside, dashboard made from a slab of wood, and there's absolutely no room in it, ok the bed is 6 inches wider( which is handy when the missus comes along) but then u stand up , the pod isn't high enough for me to stand upright, the front of the pod is at your face, there are 'wardrobes' on each side of you, you really got to put on your clothes sitting on the bed, then the driving compartment was designed for a dwarf , there is much more useable room in my scania, the bed is narrow by comparison but it's adequate , when u stand up there is plenty of room to get dressed, I got a night heater and air-conditioning that work when the engine is switched off unlike the americaan trucks I've seen. Volvos over there are cheaply made and plasticky? That peterbilt was the same, badly made, cheap leather, cheap plastics and wood , not to my taste at all!

I wouldn't want to have a crash gearbox either, I don't find them difficult to use just a nuisance! A syncro box is easier to use, quicker and nowdays Alot stronger.

As regards the Dutch guys, Alot of Dutch guys wish they were American, they drive American pickups and wear cowboy hats and fly the stars and stripes on their vehicles.

 

yeah i would also met somebody of truckers talk a little also i would take picture but would not drive it .....

well it is not skills here drivers dont want to shift this is more comfortable .....safer this allows you to pay attention on road also it shifts faster , ishift change gear so fast that you cant feel interruption

we want quite truck comfortable....

it is hard to find driver who want to drive truck older than 7years

here transport is little bit different me do 120 000km or 75k milles per year
daily no one do more than 600km but roads here on balkan are heavy narrow hilly lot of bends and serpentines driving new hi-tech truck with esp ebs retarder hill holder with automated transmission keeps driver much more focused on driving and after 7-8-9hours there is no fatigue you are fresh ....than you have to rest 11hours to next driving

i know that shifting those fullers on your roads is not problem but once you get in place like here you would like to have anything else

there are far worst location than this during winter time it is very easy to miss gear

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kElehQvKg8o&feature=plcp&context=C3323aeeUDOEgsToPDskJdZOFOEIZaB66JO5ywnkrO[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRQFJfFu-Fs&feature=plcp&context=C350d530UDOEgsToPDskKgLeNjV-hat1TBOqQa-VV8[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtgiYZf46X0&feature=plcp&context=C349564cUDOEgsToPDskK2vHW2d96sf0Is9E12caNA[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdSTSHu1EvI&feature=plcp&context=C36efd8eUDOEgsToPDskIJW3DZTBTd-HKGsv-Af5Es[/ame]

this from 3 clips above take 2hours for 70km of route , with 580hp truck with big engine which is very capable with disc brakes.....ebs , 885hp strong hydraulic retarder, engine brake and electric telma retarder

i know that they are far from classic but volvo has nice ride quite big cab ( i mean mostly on space between seats

lonestar looks interesting

i dont like US aero trucks they are ugly i am not sure what coronado is but i like look ....but still there are some funny details on this one i notice they have door hinges outside of doors!!!!!!!!!!!! here you cant sold detail like this

i dont know what kind of quality volvo has in US but here volvo mercedes and scania are considered as most quality trucks

especially volvo, there is one company they have about 10volvos drive on very bad roads lot of hills potholes and similar , they have worlds worst drivers

they drive like maniacs they dont use lashing equipment even while hauling steel.... there was one bad section of road about 20km long other drivers drive there 40kmh they 90.. fully loaded

and owner change only oil and filters there is no other maintenance and repairs

also european build volvo trucks are used in worlds worst conditions

passing worst hills of south america

driving in amazon mud ( if you are interesting try to find videos about amazonia trucking)

driving in deserts .....

driving in sybiria mines ( although mercedes is more popular there)

driving 200ton road trains in mines of indonesia

driving in indian mines

they even can survive Ice road truckers from history channel which are biggest idiots of drivers i have ever seen, even those trucks are 20-30 or maybe more old and in not good shape anymore...


as for classic truck i like them because they are simpler to repair we have 1987 mercedes i can almost stand up below front fender and repair if something is necessary ( only significant disease of this truck is exhaust pipes behind turbo on each side -especially on right)

 

98989 makes a good point about brakes and retarders, why doesn't American trucks have disc brakes with ebs and retarders? This is a serious safety issue! I can stop a scania or Volvo with over 90,000 lbs onboard as quickly as a car can stop, the retarder is very good also, it will hold the truck at any weight on any decline and never gain even a mile per hour. Also those classic cabs I've seen have very little rollover protection, Swedish impact standards here make sure that each cab pillar can take a 15 tonne load.

 

here is some mercedes tests with adaptive cruise control, which can adjust automatically to speed of vehicle in front of it
aba , esp hill holder ldw ...
also in emergency it can do this , also it applies horn and 4way blinkers

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fdB0EA6kRo[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-x72GNNodg[/ame]

volvo is always leader in safety technologies and have much more of this things

 

The point is the haul needs to be done from A to B. Here we use COE trucks because the lenght rules. You use convential trucks because of your lenght rules.
Otherwise we get big trucks and tiny trailers. Just like in the topic over dual stack volvo with this video. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWZI0ApIJc8&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

 

One of the posters talked about using eu trucks in all those bad places
Trust me I have sold to exporters to ship our used trucks to every
Place he talked about . And if the could afford more
they would buy more! As far as the syced trans for
Otr they need to ship a spare trans with if. I tried to
Use one (very nice, but wore out way to soon! When
They will last the life of the truck (4 million miles)
Will recider! Used to run day cabs 1000 miles a day (500 out to bunkhouse and 2nd
Driver just coming off break drive the 500 back, 365 days a year) after i had a truck ten years it was well worn! That f8 could not handle that job. Ended up
Being city truck (very well suited in that job!)

 

is that FL8 or F8 ?

i dont remeber 8L engines here only FL4 6 7

f10 12 and 16

if it was FL this is one of most unconfortable truck ever also noise big engine tunnel and vibrations

 

Must have been fl (was 84)! But tried against us trucks of same
Era. Liked turning angles and trans except its life (wore out to guick and
cable range selector) . Made wonderful city truck. But not built for otr!
Like I said ealier volvo now makes us spec trucks. (If eu specs would
Have worked they would not have started over!) Same with merc,
They own freightli.er! Be far cheaper than designing 2 sep lines for
Each side of pond! Ours will not work there and yours will not work
well here (did not say will work, just not well) !

 

what was with syncros what is too fast for you

maybe you were shifting it too fast

volvo gearboxes dont like this even new one they are always for shifting in 2 moves

or shifting it with double clutching

my friend have 1979mercedes gearbox was still never opened and engine only changed nozzles....

 

Yes sync worn out to quick! And how many million the 79 got on the

Clock? I am used to trans living the life of truck and clutch lasting to second
Inframe. We learned quickly running that type of miles a day what lasted
, what set up got best fuel milage! We tried dam near every make and
ended up with a off the wall set up most would laugh at! But it fit the
Job and fleet avg for fuel (savings alone made the payments) over 10
mpg! We designed for duriliblty and fuel milage! Not bad for 86 freightliner
Conv! When we sold company they were fast coming up on 4 mill in 96
And on third overhauls but only lost one t rans in that fleet (bad out
put seal)! So when the volvo sycned trans worn out it raised eye brows!
Had fleets for differant cantracts. The florida trucks would not go to tenn
and mountian trucks would go to florida (2 completly diff set ups) mountian
Trucks we bearly got 7 out of that fleet. We racked up team miles or
Better on daycabs! Was set pull times 7 days a week! When you have contact
That runs 25 million miles a year penny pm adds up!