Engineering and craftsmanship

Buying a new trailer to go with the 359 Pete. The newer trailers require two pigtails to operate all the goodies, so needed to run a wire harness and set everything up on rocker switches and toggles. Decided to run everything to its own circuit breaker so it would look factory. Anyone who has owned or operated a 359 knows they lay the breakers out on the dash, not fuses, circuit breakers. The back panel made it so simple to run factory style wire harnesses. The hardware is stainless steel, not plastic and zinc metal. It really aggravates me to see how far the engineering and craftsmanship has fallen in tractor manufacturing. I'm not putting down your tractor so don't get bent out of shape on me. I'm just venting on the fact that I own newer trucks that were twice the price and are manufactured out of cheaper materials and last half the life span. The 359 is approaching her 30th birthday and the design, materials, and factory craftsmanship is light years better then the new ones off the line. It bothers me so much b/c the technology is so much better now a days and they could design a tractor that would really turn heads.

Had a salesman approach me while I was having a PM service done on the tractor. He wanted to know if I was ready to trade in the 359 for a 389. Offered me 72,000$ for the old girl. Now 72,000 is a big number considering I bought the truck new for 84,385$ back in 1985. I responded with a smile, and said enjoy the rest of your day.

Some guys say they stopped making Peterbilts when they stopped building the 359, I think I'm becoming one of those guys.

 

How do you post pics on here?

 

I can e-mail pics, it's saying the files are too large.

 

Sho-Tyme def keep your 379 man. Stay on top of your maintenance and keep it shiny. Vikingswen I really like the look of the new 389s but all of the def system add-ons and plastic computer issues is what keeps me away. The Pete dealer I usually go to has some cool 2nd shift mechanics that let me work on my tractor in the shop after management goes home. They also like to show me some of the warranty motor work they go through. It is super disappointing to see some of these motors with 80,000 miles on a 150,000$ New truck and the crank is cracked in half. Or an oil pick up tube literally falling off after 700 miles and wiping out the cams and top end. Worst part about it is the manufacture is fighting with the customers trying to claim they voided warranty. 700 miles on motor never touched no aftermarket parts added or anything and they are claiming driver didn't check oil. The pan is still full.