Putting this here for all the old hands, Powerliner,

Ran team to California in a WF powerliner was quite the truck at the time , was 1 on TRUCK PAPER awhile back for sale think it was in the mid west

 

I drove a few different cab-over Freightliners, two of them were not bad at all for running the west coast. But when a conventional KW came up I went with it and enjoyed it more so than a cab-over.

I recall once meeting a hometown drinking man south of my hometown and he was drunk. I saw him coming north fixing to cross a narrow bridge pulling a boat with his pickup and it was swaying left to right and he was going about 80 to 100 MPH going north, I was just leaving out for California going south at about 55 MPH and I looked for a way to keep from meeting him on the narrow bridge, but there was no way out of it. Some how we met on that narrow bridge without him hitting me, I was in shock that we were not piled up in a bad wreck on that old bridge. I looked back in my rear-view mirrors after having made it by him and his boat was still swaying back and forth on that narrow paved road. That's the closet call I ever had in a cab-over truck.


No idea of the year model but I believe one is setting in a pasture between I-30 at Hope, AR and Nashville, AR, I believe it is actually setting just a few miles East of Ozan, AR, going East its on the left side of the highway.

 

Looks like an earlier version of the Argosy they still sell in Australia. Horrible front end - elliptical springs too short and bad steering geometry IMHO.

I'd rather a Kenworth cabover. Most of the b doubles on the east coast of Australia are pulled by modern cabovers.

 

That picture of the FL brings back memories. The first truck I ever wrecked was a cabover just like that. Truck and trailer flatbed set up for lumber with 24' beds and a full turn dolly on the trailer. I blew a steering axle tire at about 60 and that thing went sideways into the ditch so fast I didn't even know what had happened. No power steering of course.

 

I once had a blowout of a conventional KW, probably a 72 to 74 model no power steering, I was empty on a two lane highway. The right front tire blew, thankfully I was not meeting anyone, it nearly went into the ditch on the right side, but I was fighting it trying to keep it on the highway, got it to the middle of the two lane, them got it shut down.

Wow, when them tries blow on the steering axle, its a bad situation, especially without power steering, whether its a conventional or cab-over.

 

you remember everyone saying power streering would ruin trucking
that you wouldn't be able to feel the road

 

Is that anything like "automatic transmissions will ruin trucking?"

 

Hi KT, like I say, some guy's liked them, but I've always been a conventional guy, and It's probably not fair to rip on that truck too much, as with bias-ply tires and spring ride, just made for a long day. Plus, they are hard to work on, and shifting was a nightmare. The only thing I did like about a cabover, was backing in somewhere. I also drove a SBFA Freightliner cabover for a year, with an air ride cab, and that truck was miserable, as well. It literally "pogo sticked" down the highway, and the clutch was terrible. There was absolutely no pressure point, which I think had something to do with the air ride cab. Backing in, you'd start to let the clutch out, the cab would twist, and off you'd go, no feel at all. We had several drivers that hit things backing in, because you just couldn't feel the clutch. Like I say, cabovers are either you like them or hate them. I knew guys that quit their jobs if they had to drive a cabover. Now, for some reason, I did like that IH 4070B Transtar, although, that too had spring ride, and it shook so bad, I had to quit that job too. I just spent most of my career in a conventional, Mack R models, lots of Louisville Fords, great truck, my 4964 Western Star, and my 359 Pete's. Just no comparison to that awful cabover Freightliner.