Favorite Truck?

The one sitting in my front yard during my hometime, without me in it!

But seriously...I've driven only fleet trucks...FLs, ProStars, Volvos. Before I'm done, I really want to drive a Pete or a W9.

 

The one I own and drive, 1984 Autocar AT64F. I also like the GMC MH9500 and International Transtar 4300 Eagle. Modern trucks, none of them.

 

Peterbilt 359 and a western star. The freightliner fld's I love the design

 

I drove Freightliner Century's, International 9400 & 9900, and a Volvo as a company driver. Bought a 99 Classic for my first truck, had the pete style sleeper on it. That thing rode like an old lumber wagon, so I traded it in for a 2000 classic condo, drove that part/money eating peice of crap for a number of years. In 2006 I bought my 05 W900L, I will probably drive this truck until the wheels fall off.

 

I like the looks of the T800, but never driven one. I like the 9400 I'm in now and the T600/T660's I've driven. My old man drove several FLD's I really liked them. I still like the old cabovers although I've never driven one.

 

The Volvo 670 in my opinion is the most comfortable riding truck out there. And it looks nice too

 

I must of lucked out my 01 classic xl limited is my favorite plus parts are cheaper than the kw or pete

 

Kenworth, Mack, Peterbilt, in that order.

As far as Kenworth's go, the W900 of course makes the list. The T800 and the C500, as well. One of the funnest trucks I ever got to drive was a 1979 C500 Kenworth. It was an enormous dump-truck, double-frame front to back, 54,000lb. rears with 6.80 gears, had a 2.90 Cummins and a 13-direct. Sitting on 14r20s she was an absolute monster of a rig. She'd only do 50mph in the big hole clear to the wall, but, ######, that was a fun truck. Never once had a guy roll up next to me with a bigger truck (yea, I know they're out there). The W900 as a "classic" design, I actually tend to prefer the B-model or the early L-models (Before they had the slight, curved slope in the hood). The T800, set-up right, is a brilliant rig for heavy haul, especially when it comes to cooling.

Mack. As far as newer Mack's go, I have to say, the pre-Volvo Granite's are a good truck. With a Mack drive-train you'll never win a race, but, they're hell-for-stout. As a vocational rig, I like the lay-out of the interior, and room is reasonable. My biggest gripe is the shift-tower and all of the bends they put in it. They tend to just feel a little loose and flexible, versus the straight up-and-down of a Kenworth or Peterbilt. For what it's worth, its a good looking truck, too. Good turning radius for a vocational truck, as well.

Peterbilt. Paccar does a good ob when it comes to sourcing heavy components, in my opinion. A 379 can be set up as a pretty heavy rig for doing oversize/ overweight work. I like the feel of the build-qaulity (a subjective quality, I know), and I do like the set-up on their dashes/ switches. And then there's the traditional factor of it being "the classic" American truck. Sometimes nothing replaces having that long, square hood out in front of your rig.

When you do heavy haul you tend to look for different characteristics. Though its not off the list, mileage, at least in my case, tends to be a little lower on the list. Ease of access is a big factor, and this is a bad point for the T800 compared to a W900 or 379 (or just about any traditional square-nose). Being able to get around the engine and other components is an important factor. As petty as it may sound, the amount of plastic in the truck can be a determining factor. It's great for highway rigs to save weight where they don't get much into the mud and the blood, but, you don't want a bunch of glued, plastic components when you're constantly getting out in the stix on service roads, or even places with no roads at all.

I think a lot may be surprised that Western Star didn't make the list, as they're another manufacturer who can build a stout rig. I've just never been a fan of the layout or feel of a Western Star, just a matter of opinion.

That being said, there's little that I wouldn't drive. When a loads gotta' move you'll find a rig to do it with. I've driven some hellaciously brutish rigs, and I've driven the OTR superlights.

Let me introduce a new question: What about the componentry? Engine, axles, transmission? BUT, FOR THE LOVE ALL THAT IS HOLY, PLEASE KEEP IT CIVIL!

I prefer Cat and Cummins, Cummins because a lot of the rigs I drove at first had Cummins power (from Big Cams to ISX's). My current truck has a 6NZ CAT in it, a good, strong engine. Plus, it's one of the most rebuildable engines on the market (although, as CAT engine parts dry up, this will likely change to one degree or another). I don't mind a Detroit (I love two-strokes, screwed around with a Ford powered by a 6-71 coming up to my drive test), just not wild about them, either.

I have to say, all the transmissions I've ever driven have been Mack, Eaton, and Spicer. Eaton's seem to have a good, simple design going for them. Mack transmissions are, again, a great transmission for heavy work, just a tough box. They don't run quite as fast as an Eaton will, so, it takes a little getting used to, but, overall, a very strong design. All of the trucks I've driven with sticks have had Spicer boxes (excepting doodling around with some trucks we had bought to save from the crusher that had Clark's).

Mack axles (and, let us remember, I'm speaking pre-Volvo for the most part) are, again, very strong, tough components. I've seen numerous heavy haul rigs with Eaton axles snap or chew up the bull-gear, but, I have yet to see a Mack rear-end break like that. Eaton's are good rears though, and the vast majority of the time you see a broken axle it was driver-error. I have seen some Eaton rears snap because of imperfections in the axle itself though.

I helped a buddy pull out the old axle on his Pete when it snapped pulling a crane off-road. Eaton now cuts the splines on the axle rather than having raised splines. This solved the problem when an Eaton axle would snap and the entire pumpkin would get torn to shreds. With the inset splines the weak-point has shifted to the hub-end of the axle. When his axle snapped it did so at the hub. What this causes, however, is an incredible amount of damage to the hub-components (at least the most internal of hub components). The pumpkin was great, but, it tooks five hours and a torch to pull the hub-assembly apart on that truck. It truly does just tear it to shreds. Wish I had a photo of the axle though, literally in two-pieces, when you think about the forces that do that.

 

Ive driven a t800, a couple T600's and now an 07 379. I like the visibility in the T600's but I don't like climbing in and out of it compared to my 379. I would like to drive a W9 and see how it compares to my Pete.