Why do so many Americans hate European trucks?

91 tonne (200,000 lbs) Finnish truck:

 

This C500 is a good example why US trucks can be an enigma for me.

It looks mighty impressive, sure, but looks can be deceiving.

Let’s start with the cab. It is narrow, and there is an even narrower opening to the sleeper. The sleeper consist out of a bed, no more. there’s hardly any storage, perhaps one drawer under the bed. Some more storage is accessible from the outside, not very convenient if you’re in bed and need something. You can not stand in the cab or the sleeper, so you have to dress and undress lying on your bed.

The truck has a very long chassis with two steer axles at the front, and three axles at the rear. I have no idea why the chassis has to be that long, it is not very good for manoeuvrability. When the truck really has to pull hard in low gear, the whole chassis will twist because of the torque of the engine and the length of the chassis.

The fifth wheel is located between the second and the third rear axle. Those two axles will carry almost all of the load of the fifth wheel. However, it is possible to shift the fifth wheel forward, it will then be exactly over the second rear axle. In that case the three rear axles will take all of the load of the fifth wheel. So nothing of the load on the fifth wheel is transferred to the two steer axles, then why are there two steer axles? One is quite sufficient.

And then there is some five feet of chassis sticking out behind the third rear axle. Why? Does it serve any purpose? I can’t imagine.

Now compare it with the Volvo I showed.

The Volvo has a rather spacious cab with storage space and a refrigerator, and you can stand in it. It has a chassis that is just as long as needed. The cab, engine, gearbox etc, and the heavy crane are supported by the two steer axles, the fifth wheel will put a load on the three rear axles. All in all a very functional design, even though it doesn’t look as impressive as the C500.

 

It’s going to get a crane put on it.... would be my guess.....it’s a full double frame maybe triple.

 

That'd qualify as a European Road train huh?

 

No, this is a truck for Finland only. EU road trains are limited to 60 tonne (132,000 lbs).

 

Sleeper will probably never be used. Was mostly added for the extra storage and possibly to carry a 3rd man around. Side access storage on the bunk is excellent for heated tool storage, consumables, gloves, spare boots, ect.

Truck will have a body added on it, most likely a crane as @Cat sdp stated. 5th wheel will be removed and used on another truck or possibly mounted behind the crane. Bumper will be removed and most likely a heavy duty welded bumper with towhook bolted/welded to the frame rails. This is a bare truck and many more hours/$ will be put into it before it is ready for service. Very common for the oilfield/construction sites.

No one specs long trucks for maneuverability, they spec long trucks to mount long things onto. Frame willl be double or possibly triple. Twisting isnt an issue. I have seemed similar trucks abused to the maximum in the patch. They hold up very very well. Front bumper/ tow hitch isnt for show, they drive them into the mud til they stop, hook em on a cat and finish getting to the well site. Wouldnt be much left of the volvo after it left the pavement.

Bed truck, Crane truck and boom truck with 5th wheel.

 

Also :

 

@98989
EU heavy duty trucks,double frame or single extra strong?

 

Most are made as single extra strong.
Scania and volvo use double. Dont remember if anyone else.

Double weights lot more. And tend to rust.
Large subframe solve problems. It is good to have double frame in case if you use crane in front of cab. In this case you need front stabiliser and reinforced frame makes bodybuilder life easier no need for complex conversion. Mb offers front chassis reinforcement so area of front end. It is reinforcement of length i think 4.05m. Area in spring brackets in between front two axles got extra plate. So at that possition there are tri frames.
Mb frames are always single with inserts where they are really needed (where fem analyse showed they are needed) so weight is saved.oilfield trucks can be ordered with original subframe.

@Caesar , mb oilfield trucks can have wb of 312inch. They are exported to russia and china mostly