13000 miles on the new 2013 386

Ok I have logged just over 13,000 miles on this new truck.

I am not sure who designs these new trucks but they need to go back to the drawing board and tweek a few things.

As of now, I hate the ash tray location. It hits me in the shin when I drive. Not an issue for a non smoker but for a smoker it is poorly placed. Forget abotu trying to reach the danged thing with any air in the seat as the ash tray is dang near on the floor infront of the shifter.

Get a better vendor for the coax setup and learn how to ground the antenna mounts PROPERLY for proper CB use. I could not get my antennas to tune at all. I finally gave up and fished in a single coax setup to the stock location on the drivers side. Added a ground strap and a real mount and I easily tuned the antenna to an almost perfect 1:1 ratio.

Could add a second trip meter to make life a little easier at the end of the day. I know, I know, not that hard to drag the calculator out but it would be quicker if it had a second or even a third trip meter.

Get some real switches that the paint does not wear off right away or put the label on the bezel rather then right on the rocker itself.

Find away to attach the AC lines to the firewall rather then let them rattle against that little metal tab that is directly above them. I had to zip tie mine in place to stop the rattling.

Find a better way to attach the defroster ducting in the dash so it does not rattle. I had to stuff paper toweling in the defroster vents to keep the ductwork from rattling when you hit the cracks in the highway.

Give up on the day light door on the passenger side or make it easier to remove the inside glass so that you can clean it. I tried and tried to get it out but was afraid of shattering or cracking it so I gave up and now have to live with dirt and grime building up on the inside of the daylight windows.

Can someone please figure out a better hood pad setup that you don't have to slather with grease to keep it from squeeking when going down the road?????

Why stuff all that emission crud inside the passenger step??? Now I don't have anyplace to store my spare oil, antifreeze and other fluids. I will be danged if I am going to carry them in the compartment under the bunk so they stink up the cab of the truck.

Oh your textured dash panel also sucks. Can't keep it clean. Dust and dirt gets trapped in the dash panel and you literally have to get a tooth brush to get the dust and dirt out of the texturing.

Oh and would someone please figure out why there is so much bumper steer with this cab style? The long hoods don't bumper steer hardly at all.

Oh and the cloth used on the non leather seats sucks. It traps lint and other crud and you litterally have to pick it out with your finger tips as I have yet to find a vaccume that will remove it.

Oh and when the trailer abs malfuctions, fix the display so that that is not the only thing you see. A simple warning indicator is all that is needed, but then the trailer itself has a light that comes on anyway so your huge warning that locks up the display is not needed. It is not like we are going to crash instantly when an ABS sensor works its way out or malfuctions.

I will stop at that for now.

Thanks for listening

Steve Johnson

 

The last truck I drove ,for more then 4 years, had over 850,000 miles on it when they upgraded me to this one. It was an 04 379 EXHD. It had regular toggle switches so no problems with not being able to see what each did. But then I memorized them so no big deal rally but when I had to jump in one of our 386s for the day, I had no clue which rocker did what because they were worn down and you could not see the lettering or picture on the rocker to now what its function was. You just had to keep flipping rockers to find out what they did then try to put it to memory.

The old truck had less rattles and squeeks at 850,000 miles then this new one does at 13,000 miles.

the Ash tray is really bugging me. On the old truck it was mounted further up the dash and much easier to reach and did not interfear with your leg when trying to drive. I can't find a comfortable postion to keep it from poking me in the leg and drive at the same time. Forget about flicking the ashes out the window because the wind blows them back in and all over the dash. I used to love the vent windows on the old one because of this.

The daylight window is another one of my Peevs. I was thinking of limo tinting both the outside and inside windows so that I don't have to look at the grime. Too me the daylight window is of no use anyway. Just hate the grime buildup.

The passenger step thing also bugs me. Sure miss the outside storage for fluids etc and it left me more storage for things that need to be kept out of the elements. Who cares of your oil jugs and antifreeze jugs or DEF jugs and washer fluid jugs get wet inside the step. And if one gets a hole rubbed in it then there is no worry about a mess in the cab.

Oh is there a way to dissable the timer on the heated mirrors???? That is going to be a pain come winter up here in ND.

 

Lights in the fender are starting to get beat up from the inside. Only reason I checked was because our 2012 386 has a problem with this. The lights no longer work and are all beat up from gravel etc beating them up on the back side. Seems Pete does not think there should be something there to protect them from rocks etc.

Oh and Pete still can't figure out how to keep the system from pulling fuel out of one tank and pumping it into the other tank till it is over full then spewing it out the vent.

They need to find someone that knows how to do proper alignments at the factory also. It doesn't matter what I am hooked to or if I am bobtail, this particular truck pulls to the right no matter were the wind is coming from.

The Aerodynamics of this hood suck. Winds push this thing all over the road were the old square hoods stayed planted and going straight.

 

Ya, if I would have had my choice it would have been a long hood also but it was not my choice. I would nto have jumped in this thing but the boss did not want to stick any money in the old truck and it was leaking oil pretty good due to a front cover being cracked and it was having some other issues that needed to be looked at. The company I work for gets about 10 new trucks a year. They are a bit peeved that Pete won't fix some of the issues they have had with the 2011, 2012 386s that they bought. This year they ordered up some Cascadias instead. Mine was the only Pete they bought this year. I was in the yard yesterday and contemplating switching back to the old truck but they were stripping the aircleaners off of it to put on another truck that the driver had side swiped a yellow pole with and bent up his aircleaner and fender. Someone else was using the old rig while theirs was being fixed and they bent the heck out of the front bumper also.