Freightliner vs Kenworth

I agree with X1, if you're going K-Whopper, go the dubja 9. I drove a Century for a guy, great truck, 500 Detroit, triple air, that truck was the nicest riding truck. Dealer assist is deplorable with Freightliner, and heard much better from KW. And KW, you'll have a shred of resale, there's farm fields full of Freightliners. I'd go with a W900, hands down. It isn't the longest continuous truck model made for nothing. That's all these stick haulers out of N. Wis. use up here.

 

Reliable is the key word. Oh paccar... yuck....
Geesh.... just the AC/Heat controls on my Kenworth T370. Two of them broke. Cheap plastic. Boss replaced the whole panel of three controls. $850! ... gimme a break!
I could go on and on and....
I kept telling them... Took them years to figure out for themselves that the thermostat was in pieces... never worked from day one.
Had a bad exhaust leak where it hooks to the filters... They never did fix it.
I'd rather have the comfort of driving....Than the comfort while I wait for the truck to get fixed.
I'll find out for myself. I'll probably be driving a Cascadia as a company driver. Hoping the reputation of reliable is correct. Looking forward to driving instead of fooling around with stuff wrong with the truck.

 

Every Cascadia I've driven has been a good, reliable truck. I've not had any windshields leaks, but...a wash at a Blue beacon will usually yield a bit of leakage around the side windows (or doors). At least that's been my experience. The one T680 that I've driven was really comfortable. I was less fatigued at the end of the day in a stock T680 seat than a stock Cascadia seat.

Both trucks in a sleeper variation ride fairly smooth, but I'll give a nod to the T680 on this one. It was a touch smoother and quieter.

Visibility in both trucks is good, but the mirrors are better with the T680.

 

Well cheap anyway.

 

you can buy it and install it.

 

I have 2012 Cascadia. Before this I had centuries.. Inside is roomy . Dashboard is designed bad. If you put a cup in holder can't access to switches. If you drop a coffee to switches you will pay $1000 to replace MSF. Steering wheel is closing the view of some gauges. I have replaced two windshield seals. after 6 mount they leak again. One of them destroyed SAM CAB ($1800 to replace). Cabinet's door handles are broken because of bad designed plastic. I have changed two grilles. Cracking or chrome is coming out. Mirrors are always dirty. Clean them at least 3 times daily if raining. I don't like pushing clutch pedal every time when start engine.

 

As ugly as those visors are, they wouldn’t be optional for me.

 

Electrical tape maybe?

 

I would tint a four or five inch strip across the windshield if it was my truck.

 

Let me just add to the crapcadia.

All six mirrors are the worst mirrors ever installed on a truck. The side mirrors are smaller then the mirrors on my one ton pickup. The spot mirrors are too small to view the whole back edge of a 53' van, let alone longer doubles. The spot mirrors do not adjust enough and distort more than any other truck mirrors. The right side mirror is 5-6" behind the left side mirror to accommodate the non-functioning vent window left over from the Columbia. The hood mirrors give a good view of the hood and fender, and nothing else. You only see a car in them by the time it is too late. Forget about using them for blind side backing.

The Crapcadia seats are covered in recycled gunny sacks with the same texture a 80 grit sand paper. Arm rests are flimsy. The dash is perfectly angled to catch glare off of anything: Sun, passing headlights, the street lights at night. The cruise control buttons are stupid. The information center buttons are more stupid. They both don't belong on the steering wheel. The tilt and telescopic wheel is always sticky and requires more force then other trucks to operate. The key switch is right off a Murray lawn mower and in the most inconvenient location. They often loosen and fall to the floor.

The windshield does indeed leak in the center. It also leaks in the corner. And I have driven a few new Crapcadias with leaky roofs. The split windshield leaves a huge dirty dead spot with the wipers. The windshield washer only sprays on the mirrors, not the windshield.

Several Crapcadias have had sticky turn signal switches that won't returning to center. Then there is the clutch switch that needs adjustment, often right from the factory. Low beams seem to blind every other driver on the freeway; so you will get lights flashed at you a lot. If you dim the instrument lights at night, you cannot read the control center. The control center lights do not have a separate adjustment.

The radio is a pure toy made by Fischer-Price of Mexico: Poor reception and crappy sound. To make matters worse the radio is almost out of reach of driver, and you have to lean far forward to screw with it. As mention before, all the switches are behind the two cup holders (and only two cupholders in a sleeper truck.) Most often, the most important switches in the truck, the jake brake, are directly behind the cupholder. You will shut off and adjust your jake with every sip of refreshing beverage.

The jockey boxes are small; you will have a hard time getting enough tools in. Most of the companies trucks will only opt. for one access door to the jockey box. The sleeper is practically the same as the Century Class or Columbia: Big, but low on useful space. The overhead console pockets are a joke: hard to fit a log book or note book in. The shelf above the seat will toss it's contents on the driver at any given time.

The day-cab has two back windows. Neither one is useful. They are placed strategically in front of the tires so they will catch rocks and crack. The coat hanger is dead center in the middle of the truck, so hanging up your coat or vest will block any rear view you had hoped for.

DD16, DD15, and DD13 are slow. Accelerate slow, shift slow. DD13 is especially gutless. DD16 and DD15 have a low rpm surge that you will find in heavy traffic. All three engines have the weakest jake made in modern history. The radiator on the Crapcadia is plastic and hangs so low an ally cat will disable the truck if hit square on. When the power steering pump works, and they fail often, the Crapcadia turns slower then all the modern trucks.

Don't forget keeping a spare key when driving a Crapcadia. Some modern trucks make it impossible to lock yourself out; not so with the Crapcadia. I have seen dozens of Crapcadia's in for new windows at mega terminals.

The speedometer is about 3mph off. So in a governed truck your real speed will be 3mph slower then you thought possible.

However, the good news it the Lie-O-Lot meter will lie a lot. You can come here and brag on your supertrucker abilities with what great fuel milage you get.