Trade in program for old rig?

I seriously doubt the length of a hood reduces fuel mileage one iota. Even in a theoretical wind tunnel (which still doesn't translate to real world fuel MPG) how does the length of a hood increase drag? Aero is more about frontal area and they reduce that by making the grill smaller and sloping it to meet the cab....and they give those gains back by making the bunk 13 ft 6 high vs a flat top. If they had a long hood that was sloped, the grill would be tiny and give cooling problems.

Lots of examples of needle nose aero hoods from the '60's and '70's but I bet they had to get away from the needle nose to cool the bigger engines. However there is the icon and legend Bob Spooner that still runs his needle nose Pete that he bought new in 1961....a 351 I think it is. He's dropped a N14 in there and he didn't mention anything about cooling problems so I don't know. I can't imagine how me manages to make a living with that terrible mileage*

I'm sure those setback axle trucks are for shorter turning radius and maybe to shave some weight from shorter frame rails.

bob spooner - Bing video

 

It must be a FLD132 Classic XL? Or is it the FLD120 Classic? I'm not against a Freightliner if it has that much room. Unfortunately from a business view point I need to run my truck one more year before getting something else.

 

An xl limited. So the 132 AND the 84 inch bunk with the Murphy bed/table set up. Plus some other goodies like the stainless visor with 11 lights

 

Probably a sweet truck. Good motor for sure. I can't believe I said I might would get another Freightliner. I have a thread on here called Why I Won't Buy Another Freightliner lol. Guess it depends what mood I'm in. A Classic would be much better than a Century I believe.

 

Bob’s N14 setup is nice. If you ever get to a big ATHS show he’s usually there. Ask him to check it out. He’s one of the few of us that still run the radiator shutters. The narrow butterfly hoods are nice for cutting through the air. With mine one cool thing is just easing along with the shutters open on 100 plus degree days the mechanical engine will run 140 degrees and the old school steel blade Horton air fan will never kick on and turn.
Noticed too that it doesn't get pushed around in cross winds as bad with the narrow nose as the wide hood 359’s with the same cab do.

 

I wont lie, there are days I miss my Columbia. But then I open the hood and I see how easily I can access everything on the engine. Or I'm laid over for a weekend and fry an egg for breakfast and sit diwn st the table to eat. Those days remind me that I dont miss that Columbia.

 

Probably a little too old for most guys. This is my ‘72 White 4000. Was heavy duty TXI cement truck back when simple was king. They didn't joke around with the rear engine mount they used frame rail. Skinny guys could almost crawl under cab and slide down tranny.

 

Care to explain the filter location on the passside frame and im assuming cooling plate/ heatsink. Looks like you have alot of additional filters compared to my N14.

 

How many square inches of radiator area on those old girls? I notice WAY more cross wind affect on my T800 high rise than I do with my 359 flat top.

 

1954-72 351 needle nose butterfly hood, 358 needle nose tilt hood, and 352 coe all had 1,050 sq in. Radiators. The ‘67 359’s jumped it up to 1,444. I’m not sure if they stayed that size from ‘73 up thru ‘87 or got bigger as hp options increased.
The 379 dropped it down to 1,270