Why are long nose Pete’s Preferred over short nose?

Or after having shoulder surgery.

 

I didn't notice the byline, but as soon as I read down a bit, in knew it was @Dino soar. I've had 2 Petes a KW and 2 Freightliners., and drove a Volvo that I had to maintain. Truck parts are expensive and can be hard to find at times. End of story!

 

Peterbilt had the same problem with the 379 that Freightliner had with the Classic XL. First 2 years of production were awesome trucks, then demand brought on quality control problems that turned them into nightmares. I drove a 379 for a month. Compared to the 359 I had in the 80s it wasn’t much of a truck. Have all KWs now but still, a 900B or L to an A is the same comparison. The 900A’s and 359’s and all the trucks of that era were trucks, closer genetically to a bulldozer than a passenger vehicle. These newer trucks are built out of the same parts a Silverado is. A truck shouldn’t be beat to pieces before you can pay for it, but that’s how it’s been for over 25 years now. Cheap and quick to build, but not much to go out to work with.

 

My FLD was 280”, my W900 was 280”. Both rode about the same and drove about the same. The FLD didn’t “hold the road” any better or worse than my W9 did. The FLD was easy to work on. The electrical is all below the center of the dash. I don’t recall parts being any more or less expensive than any other truck I’ve owned when it comes to common wear parts.

The coolest thing about the FLD platform is you can build it into whatever you want. You can change it to a set forward axle and put a short Classic hood on it. You could even put a cabover cab onto the frame with minimal work once the axle is moved. Most parts were interchangeable across the platform.

That being said, when I bought my 03 FLD in 2011 I was the third owner. I babied that thing, rebuilt the doors, did a ton of small projects on it, put dynamat in the cab, repainted it, etc, and I know what kind of shape it was in when I sold it in 2015. It wasn’t abused, it was just a 12 year old FLD cab and they weren’t the tightest thing to start with. Now after driving my 2017 and 2022 Peterbilts I can’t imagine going down the road in my old FLD again.

 

The wide track 12K and 13,200 fronts vastly improved the W9’s turning radius. If anyone is looking to improve their maneuverability, the wide track is the one to get.

 

I like the straight hoods without the slope. Like the short hood 359s. You can do a little big hood to a 379 .

 

Never really cared much for long hood trucks. I'm more of a high hood T-800 and Western Star kinda guy.

 

I can verify this , I'm driving a 389 and I'm hung like a tick tack.
Of course this hasn't changed since my cabover days , don't know how you guys could tell back then.

 

Weight distribution for me. 1-2 21foot 2-3 4 foot 1 inch 3-4 38 foot 4-5 4 foot 4 inch it helps within my groupings.

 

My 01 Classic XL rides smooth as glass down the highway. Hardly a rattle to speak of. Bought a 99 379 long hood last year. Love the truck but I think the classic has the edge on the ride and comfort. The 379 wins on turning radius. Both trucks have a little over 1 million on them. Definitely like the cab mounted mirrors on the freightliner better but that's just my preference

 

Cause they look cool….My 4 axle FL 122 with a set back front axle rides better than my long nose 4 axle Pete. But the Pete looks 10x better.
However it maybe a littler longer.