Anyone ever drive a cabover?

My first company truck with Schneider was a cabover. That's when I learned if you set a bag of gummy bears on the doghouse it becomes a giant gummy turd.

 

Those worthless Keysor roofmounts rarely ever worked. And if it did,it blew a little air in your one ear,those were not ducted. Between all the air leaks in that truck,you didn't even attempt to keep it functioning.

 

My uncle bought a brand new 1970 White Freigtliner. It had factory air. My dad, who drove it was 5'2" and 135 lbs and hated power steering. It was an option back then.

 

you could "feel the road better " that is what the old timers said anyways ... you learn to back up a lot faster. ..

 

what do you mean are government cares a great deal for us they tell us when we are too tired to drive when to eat ect.

 

When I owned that cabover,it rode unbelievable horrible,young kid,I could suck it up,today,no way. Roads were no better back then,I believe they were worse. The truck was 148" wheelbase. It had Hendrickson RTE 380 solid suspension,only time it gave a little,if you were maxed out,73280,back then. The radial revolution had not taken over yet in trucks,most still rode on unforgiving tube type bias rubber. No air ride anything. That truck had a mechanical spring ride seat.You sat on it,it had a little mechanical ratchet adjustment on the side you cranked for your weight. No power steering,some had air assist,mine didn't. Yes,you could feel the road better with mechanical steering,and the wheel would return to you when you were done turning.
The rough ride eventually beat that truck to death. I had to rebuild the cab mounts,where it tilted,just failed from the beating. The electrical system had short issues also,from the rough ride,caught fire once from it.
Cabovers were used because of the 55' length laws back then. And they were easier to work on for most things.
But,I bought a new conventional 4300 Eagle in 1977,just couldn't take the azzwhippin any more that cabover gave me every day. The law was still 55' overall,couldn't even get legal with a 40' trailer,so I'd live with the tickets,but I would be a hell of lot more comfortable. I have prostate and kidney problems now in my senior years,I'm sure that effing CO contributed greatly to that. My new Eagle in 1977. Notice it still had bias tube rubber,10.00-22

 

Thanks,that truck new was right at $39k. It had a NTC350 SC Cummins,RTO 12513,Reyco Spring,4.44 IH gears,200" wb. After I ran it a few years, I stretched it to 235"wb,added New-way air ride suspension, and 4.11 SQHD's. And all aluminum wheels with tubeless 11.24.5's.