Australian Made Kenworth? W925-S2 compared to W900A

find donk....he's anouther aussie, with alot of knowledge on the local truck scene

 

Have you had a good look at the euros latley?

Scania and Volvo dont give much away to Freightliner and Kenworth respectivley..

your 80K figure, what is that based on??

a new Iveco Stralis for example was running around $275K last time i enquired, and that isnt a long shout from the 295K buy in on a KW of the same time.. Im sure the increases that we have had latley have been somewhat consistant between brands.

Mack isnt an american brand, hasnt been for a while. Volvo now own them and i can tell you, unfortunatley, the MACK essence is being rapidly lost.

The reason japanese trucks rule light and medium duty isnt necessarily $ alone. The japanese trucks are proven far more durable than their euro counterparts.
For Example. look at the trucks that TNT run. all japs.

Once you get past the surface crap and really look at the market and industry here, its all fairly simple.

$ vs reliability vs resale vs driver demands.

 

Enjoyed seeing the picture of the Australian KW, it reminds me much of the truck we hauled cement with back in the days of Southern Cement Transport out of Okay, Arkansas, except the steering wheel is on the wrong side. That sure would be weird to drive on Americas highways.

 

Giday fellas, look i could be a little outa touch with the current prices of the euro stuff, i can tell ya this the latest top of the line kw- k200 will run you up around $350k give or take, may be the euro gear is sneeking up in price as well, if ya ask me its all getting outa touch with the normal workin man to afford! i only run tippers, not interstate, so i dont need to have a brand new jigga, my last truck was a 2005 mack ch, i notice some of you blokes are only 29, well youve got plenty of time to pay a new banger off, iam 47 and been trucken for over 25 years and my father since just after ww2, and we both will say, its gettin to be a rich mans sport, with a poor mans pay, owner driving that is, if ya floging someone elses truck up and down the road, and dont mind the life style, and the$25 an hour, well more power to ya brother, me, ive just won another 6 year contract with the local council, my truck mainly sits doin nothing but earning money while iam leaning on a broom, so ive sold off the new one [no more payments] and i will be working my last 6 years out in a restored vintage truck, then i will be just, using it for fun, to the fellas who liked seeing the old truck, iam glad it pleased ya, as it does me. it reminds me of simpiler times, when truckies were pro,s and trucks were simple and made of steel and not plastic, i know there are good operators out there still, but there getting hard to spot, cheers and merry xmas and a happy and safe new year to all

 

@Donk: Don't want to steal the topic*, but while we are here: Other than that HUGE price difference vs. US trucks, it would be interesting to know what are the structural differences between aussie trucks and north american ones. Things like frame build, structural reinforcements, fittings, dust&mud protection and all that. For example I digged and googled over and over to found something about Ken. W900 vs. T900 (908 ) and there's almost no information about that on the net, apart of the obvious kangaroo-bar, wings (and hood) shape and different air filters and rised air intakes.

*if a different topic is needed for that subject, someone tell me, because I'm "THE greenhorn" here and I don't want to start with the left foot..

Respect!

 

I'm running trucks in Southern Africa.Here American ,Euro and Jap trucks compete head on.The Indian and Chinese and pushing hard but you hardly see them on the roads.The Euro trucks cost more then the American stuff over here.The spec here is a bit different in that our weights are generally higher.The American trucks often have double frames and an extra cross member.Axle's also are heavier. The Euro trucks also have higher cooling capacity then the Euro spec. As we manufacture/assemble trucks in SA we are not permitted to import 2nd hand trucks.Our neighbors to the north can and do import US and Euro 2nd hand trucks by the thousands.They are cheap but highly unreliable because they operate above their designed capacity most of the time. They also seem to have no labor laws and no respect for their drivers so it is impossible to compete on price with them.

 

Aussie VS North American: A short list.

Chassis are often thicker, or double walled.
Lengths are shorter to accomodate our restricted laws.
Axles and suspension are usually of a heavier specification due to our weight capacities being directly linked to such.
Hoods are generally higher and with a larger front apature to accomodate the larger radiators that our higher temps demand.
Hoods are generaly more extensivley braced due to the rigours of our roads.
Sleepers are shorter due to length laws
Cabin and sleepers are often mounted high off the chassis to allow airflow to assist with cooling. ( in extreme usage, anciliary radiators are mounted under the sleeper area ( C508 ).
20 and 22 series Gearboxes are the norm along with 46Klb diffs and 52K for Roadtrains.
we run on 22.5 tires or smaller, 24.5 didnt make it out here.
62mph Speed limited except for roadtrains, they are limited to
56mph.
we dont run sliding 5th wheels
Radius rear fenders are mandatory

 

Where abouts in oz are you donk? full rear guards are not maditory in victoria, just checked that with vic roads! beamish lowloaders dont run em! that 007 kw as you avitar, is that one of kloss,s truck or yours? looks like this one!



cheers Adam

 

I live in Kinglake

They say those guards are legal, but everyone that i've seen running them has tales of woe...

cheaper to comply, at least until i get a cool ride.

That pic is indeed Klos' 007. Mrs and I love that truck... If i stay here, i wil ltry to buy one from the states and bring it out..

Where are you at?

 

nice truck i would bay one bat it takes to munch fuel i"ll stick with my volvo.better fuel millage