Volvo reviews or opinions

The 1st generation VNL Volvo seats had a bolster at the front of the seat that was higher than the seat cushion. The reason they changed it was the original design, though comfortable until it had a few years on it (then the seat fell apart), was the high bolster cut off the blood supply to the lower legs and caused blood clots. Best I can remember there were several lawsuits about it from drivers, or their surviving spouses.

 

yep, they used these seats from '98 to version2.

 

yeap! keep it simple. not too many adjustments to do on the seat or how to drive or fix a truck. that's the best truck for some drivers. don't use the brain, it's such a hard activity and may kill you. a corn binder with a long haul cab on it it's just enough for some people. if no brain is in need to use the truck, that's a very good truck.

 

Some of the dealers are getting better at stocking parts since Volvo has addressed the issue. I would get some kind of grill guard installed. The Volvo's don't seem to deal with a deer hit very well from what I have seen. The CAC and tubing, Radiator, etc are very vulnerable and usually, they have to be replaced all as one assembly. The Volvo air suspension front axle may be an issue. If it comes out of the factory aligned correctly, you probably will not have a problem. But I have talked with several alignment shops that really have fits with the Volvo air ride front end keeping them aligned properly.

 

The secret to front air ride axle alignment is to have the ride height properly set. Folks that just do alignments without checking this will tell you the truck is aligned, but you will continue to have tire wear problems, an expensive lesson I learned the hard way!

 

The BIG secret with the alignment is nobody knows to do alignment or doesn't care. Period. I spent more then 3000 $ plus the downtime, plus chasing ghosts because the alignment reason was out of the equation, plus .... Actually, all these messed up my business very bad. Why is happening??? Because the consumer (so called costumer ) is at the discretion of shops. If you want to defend yourself means time and money in the court. The common sense question is : who is that O/O that can afford that ??!! I love this "freedom".
But is so easy to blame Volvo for all these. I need to mention my trucks didn't have air ride on front axle!

 

Hmm.

Volvo Comment..

I first started with a 2007 Volvo. This was my first truck right out of trucking school. I didn't know squat about it.
On flat ground, she ran o.k. Pretty quite. On hills, though. Forget About it. She couldn't pull a hill to save here life faster than 20 mph.

Looking back on it, the truck had a Volvo engine in it.

Shortly after that, I drove a Kenworth T660 from 0 to 450K. That truck didn't give me an ounce of problems. Maybe because the truck never stopped, it didn't really have time to show a problem. The ride was harder I think. She had a Cummins 450 and a 13 speed tranny. She could pull hills pretty decently.

Now, I own a Volvo with a Cummins ISX 500 with a 10 speed. I miss the 13 speed very much. 1/2 gear splitting is a wonderful thing. I have replace 1 sensor, transmission, oil cooler, turbo, Radiator, belts. brakes, leveling arms. The truck is noisier than the Volvo engine. I think this is because of the difference in engines.

I would buy and plan to buy another Volvo. Current is a 670, next will be a 780. (Hopefully) Might be headed into something that requires a little more power/gears though, so a 780 might be out of the question. Still need to do some research.

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IF A VOLVO FH16 WOULD WORK OVER HERE. (EUROPEAN CABOVER)

 

I do not like FH16. It is expencive toy

for more power I'd use ISX15 XPI.

 

FH 16 will work very well. The big advantage over the Cummins is it will start during the winter (North winter, not Florida) and it will not have have a big repair of cylinder head at 500k miles. Regarding the uphills, stop driving the volvo engine like it is a CAT. Thanks God, it isn't. Volvo is pulling great over the hills, if you know how to drive it.
Pablo, did you tried to drive that engine in Western Europe?

 

Main reason Volvo 16L is no good for the USA market is weight.Ihe whole drivetrain ends up weighing at least 2500lbs heavier.