What are the benefits of a long wheelbase ?

Yea the ishift has a downshifter button so you can use it the same as stick shift when going downhill or in the snow and ice but to be honest from my experience on snow and ice.... I wiuldnt drive on snow and ice if they paid me triple. Never worth the risk.

 

I agree but sometimes you’ll be driving on the day after the snowstorm the roads salted good and dry. Then you decide to park it up at the end of the shift but the lot hasn’t been paved so you’re going to have to chance it and park. The little heat melted the snow abit followed by a freeze so now the ice is wrapped around your tires. Normally on a stick you put some kitty litter and roll back and forth until you get enough momentum to gun it out the automatics make it harder since they want you to make a complete stop removing your momemtum.

 

Yea that part I agree with as with any automatic you have to make a complete stop so it does buzz it a little.
I suppose tho as we age the benefits of auto outweigh the cons especially for our aging legs and knees and such.

 

No benefit what so ever.

 

Are those wooden beams coming out of arkansas?

 

^^^ THIS ^^^

If you pull open deck, having plenty of clearance up front means you can overhang the front of the trailer without interfering with your ability to make full 90° turns. With plenty of front overhang it will minimize your rear overhang.

Let's say you pull a 48' flatbed and want to haul 55' pipe. If you can put 3-4' overhang on the front that leaves 3-4' overhang off the rear. In most states that rear overhang isn't enough to require an oversized permit. However, if you are limited on front overhang your rear overhang might require an oversized permit.

That being said, I have seen some long wheel base tractors pulling trailers that make no sense...other than a smoother ride and the joy of having a ###### ride. It makes no practical sense pulling a box, it will destroy mpg. It won't help in any way with a bottom dump, that I know of.

To each their own.

One other thing about ultra long wheel bases, they are decidedly IMPRACTICAL for off paved road driving. That long, low bottom can bottom out, punching holes in recently detailed fuel tanks, or worse.

A few years ago I was the lead truck in a small convoy, following a pickup truck to get a load of used pipeline pipe (a MESSY load). The second truck in the convoy was a long wheelbase Pete. He high centered going over a dirt berm. The rest of the convoy had to wait until a bulldozer hauled his ### forward, scraping a hole in his fuel tank.

If you want a long wheelbase, make sure you stay on paved roads OR be sure to shim up your suspension to handle dirt roads. They are trucks that are good for show. They are vulnerable to conditions that shorter wheelbase trucks can handle with ease.

 

Yes they are beams but not from Arkansas

 

Ive had a few. I might still have a couple hiding on the cabinet at home.

I seriously got into those things back in the day, sheesh.

 

There is a thousand benefits to that.

I say that's a righteous load. A loophole in our oversize system.

Now if the states quit stooping over the ### end all day and start looking up front...

 

They've got a plant in arkansas I've pulled out of a few times.