Why do so many Americans hate European trucks?

Question: In PA for automobile inspection, its passable to have a ABS (anti lock brake) light on (the light has to work) and same for (Airbag light).
Do you get get DOT fined for having a "ABS" light on in a big truck ?

 

for me it is very funny to read american way of thinking with a lot of skepticism toward everything that everywhere else is considered completely normal, even somewhere in third world they accept new technologies easier

 

I have EBS on trailer and all disk brakes there. Really once I had to use panic braking and I'd say it was surprse for me, had a real chanse to test DOT bamper

 

That's an accurate observation. I think it goes like this:

The third world had no choice but to accept first world technology because their own technology is so far inferior so they take what they can get. Lots of NA trucks end up in all parts of the world as do Euro trucks.

However in NA, there are some that think if it's from Europe it must be superior. Just because it's from somewhere else doesn't make it better and just because it may work better doesn't automatically make it something that needs to be accepted.

It's very popular to hate America, even in America.

If BMW builds an OHC V10 and puts it in a luxury sedan it's touted as fine European engineering.
If a Ford builds an OHC V10 and puts it in a very nice pick up, it is automatically seen as American excess.

I don't know about Europe, but the NA trucking industry is deregulated which means there are countless smaller players competing and usually with not very deep pockets. This keeps transportation prices low, so operating costs must reflect this.
A very competitive transportation industry is very good for the overall economy. That's why people in Florida can eat California oranges and vice versa.

ABS was forced upon us in the 70's and it was a miserable failure and people died. Then in the 90's it came back and worked much better. My 01 had countless ABS problems until I was told that I needed to replace the computer. I pulled the ABS light and never had another issue. My 05 has been good for 8 years.

EGR was forced on us in 04 or 05 and it was also a miserable failure at first. Some people went broke and lost everything. I purposely bought the Mercedes engine in 05 because it had the simplest EGR system and the least amount of EGR usage vs. Detroit or Cummins.

 

ABS is the old technology now, EBS with ESP+RSS is modern.

Really EBS with disk brakes is very fast responce system. When you just step on brake before slowing down system applies 0.2-0.4BAR pressure to apply brake pads to disks (normally it is some air gap there).

In panic braking system lets to get up to 100 PSI on calipers in 0.15-0.20 sec. It is better than any car with hydrolic brakes

 

hm here many of older trucks get exported for middle east or affrica , or asia

mercedes is most popular , before they were not interested in anything except NG or SK series , (build 1973-1996/9-depending on model) , they did not want actros and good late SK could get twice more money than first gen actros, also they wanted sometimes conversion to manual gearbox and conversion to full steel suspension

but step by step they started to buy actros , for few years they wanted only first generation because it is not too sofisticated like later generations, now they want only mp2 with v8 (end 2002-2009).-here many of them are v8

if you have first gen(which are much simplier) in excellent condition they still dont want it

i think they chose this by their will, it is not just thing they had to take

 

I agree. My point about taking what they can get was more like- they don't build their own trucks and new trucks likely cost too much so it's cost effective to buy used and accept the technology that is affordable. Same reason many in NA are reluctant to embrace some new technology. It's not always cost effective. Nobody these days seems to be able to build a truck that doesn't have sensor, wiring or phantom CEL issues. So why should anyone go out and buy one or be thought a fool for not doing so ?

I have a friend with a Paccar MX engine that had 7 WEEKS of downtime last year. How many one truck O/O can absorb that?

The third world gets the first world's used equipment. Old US fleet trucks end up in all sorts of places. Like some old Schnider Cab overs went to Vietnam where they were stretched to carry 20' sea cans. I've seen pictures of old Gordon Columbias in Russia and old internationals in the Andes even old JB Hunt Cabovers in Africa.

 

Europeans are now competing with eastern European companies, rates have fallen through the floor, I had a sizable fleet and reduced it down to 1, I still couldn't make it pay so I sold up and went back driving, however wages have also been effected by this due to cheap labour from eastern Europe, so this is how I ended up in Canada.

Taking into account fuel, reliability issues ( persistent Egr problems ) garage costs a euro truck would be cheaper to run and maintain, dealers and shops in Canada are a disgrace, they charge unbelievable rates and hold your truck for sometimes up to a week, I've missed some work because of this, if you're an o/o in Canada you really need to be able to do your own repairs because dealers aren't very good at honoring warranties here either, at home if your truck is off the road more than 24hrs they'll provide you with a replacement.

Egr is a problem for every manufacturer, as riverstick once said on this forum: "you can't expect a top athlete to perform while inhaling his own farts"

I'm a BMW enthusiast , I owned some beautiful BMW's including a v10 BMW m5, so the simplest way to put this is........when BMW make a v10 it will be faster, more powerful and more refined but........it just won't last, I loved mine but Christ ... pos nearly broke me, nice cars but very troublesome! Doesn't stop me wanting another one tho lol

 

I have to agree, before buying. Truck they look for the price of parts & availability ,along with ease of maintaince. If i can buy a set of turkish made injector and Fuel pump for just 200$ why i would consider something else

 

And the unrefined and technologically inferior Ford V10 will go 500,000 miles or more and sometimes working very hard.......

My point exactly.