Scania, Volvo, Mercedes vs American trucks. How can you stand them?

Not all the space I need...I'm getting ready to stretch my wheelbase to 300" and stretch my sleeper to 120" and then (maybe) I'll have all the room I want.

Pretty much all of them do...But every now and then you still see a spring ride truck.

No...I don't personally see any reason for them.

We have automatics as well but I don't like them either...Some fleets over here use them but all they seem to accomplish is allowing less qualified people get behind the wheel of a truck.

 

US trucks have unsynchronized gear boxes. The Korean truck had synchronized ZF gear box. All of the automated transmission are unsynchronized. The engine and transmission comunicate with each other to control the decline in rpm's of the engine to get the transmission into gear. Then there are the true Allision automatic transmission which have torque converters and are stronger than conventional tranmissions. Those are not normally found on over the road trucks.

 

In South Africa and in our fleet we have American and European trucks.Air and steel suspension on both.Automated manual transmissions , synchronized manual and crash boxes.I personally only have about 500miles in a "auto" and 2000 miles in a synchronized transmission experience . I stopped driving before we got them and we only had American trucks at that time that I was a driver.There was this American vs European truck thing going and there was a lot of friendly rivalry between fleets of American trucks vs European trucks. The big plus for the American trucks was the engine brake as the European trucks only had an exhaust brake. The American trucks also generally had more power.The European trucks were more comfortable and dominated the big fleets. The exception was ERF and Foden that were European with American drive lines. Back to automated transmissions.They have proven to be very reliable and the clutch lasts forever.They get better fuel mileage and anyone can drive them.This is the main reason to use them as we have a major problem getting experienced drivers (HIV has decimated our driver population).The down side is that they cost more to repair.As an example a ZF 16 speed manual cost us in house US$2000 and the equivalent ZF 16 speed automated US15000-00 in parts.The odd thing is that the parts are vary similar except that there are less parts in the automated box (no synchros etc). It is only the top cover and clutch activator that are automated.One big down side is that if you get a pipe burst and you loose air the truck gets stuck in gear.You then have to charge the air system before you can start them after repairing the leak.Not difficult in a shop but 300 miles from any where is is a big problem.

 

scania opticruise is syncro box ( scania offers 2version of opticruise one without clucth pedal which use clutch on every shift and one without clutch which shift similar to american auto.....

 

I've never driven anything but an American - made truck. Not even a Volvo. I like the 830 or even a 730 (mid roofs) and would consider buying one with the high HP/high torque drive train. I'm interested in European experience with the D16 Volvo engine - is it reliable, decent fuel mileage, can you get it repaired by competent mechanics? On our side of the pond I'm told the dealer support for the Volvo engines is terrible.

 

yes i am sure version with clutch pedal use engine revs to syncro speeds
......

new opticruise use clutch ( electro hydraulic-first in industry) on every shift and it is at least 2x faster than old one .....and it use clutch only once/shift ( no double clutching which would be better for syncros.....


for example some countries where conditions are more difficult ( Australia etc) for stronger and heavier trucks offer only the old version ( australia offers fully automated opticruise only up to 440hp ,because the old version is more durable.....

 

Dude! I've been an ice road trucker (out of Yellowknife) since 2005, and while the show is definitely 'well editied', it isn't so 'fake' so much. The trucks you saw on the first series (the Yellowknife series) are the ones they really use, and I can testify to that because I know those guys.

As for US Vs euro trucks, I drove trucks in the U.K. for a year or so in the early '90s. The trucks I was driving then were better than anything except for the very newest US rigs I've seen here. But I'm kinda old school and much as I like the comfort that we had in Europe, I like the fact that it actually takes some skill to drive a US truck too.