Why do so many Americans hate European trucks?

We (in the mighty northeast) do 99,000 on 6 axles all day long everyday. With an annual reducible load permit....

 

Sorry, My mistake mate.
I'm used to our standard 6 Axle setup. Which is allowed 93,500lbs & the 5 axle version comparable to your U.S.A. setup which is allowed 85800lbs.

@Caesar Am I correct in assuming that In Europe a 3 axle trailer & single drive (screw) prime mover is allowed the same weight as a Twin Screw Prime mover & tandem trailer of 40,000kgs.
Why the preference(from My observations) for Single drive Prime movers & Triaxle trailers?? I would have though it would be easier to get your axle weights right with a tandem drive truck & tandem trailer...

 

Height as in a lower 5th wheel is 1reason.
Second is empty weight.
Up till recently all twin screw were heavy spec axles.

 

Some of the northwest states will allow 86k on 5axles if you have a spread axle trailer.

It is all about the spread of the axles as to how much you can carry. For instance, on tri axles with an eight foot spread you get 42 k but they are normally rated at 20k each or 60k for the group. But if you spread the axles out to 9.5 foot spread you can get 43 k on that group.

Each state is different, you can get more on tandems in Colorado and Wyoming than you can in Montana.

 

it is still fact that national wide USA have 80000lbs, and we have 88185 in Europe, there are many countries as exception, Finland have legal 176550, there are even combinations with 229 280lbs on trial.

8000lbs make difference, because you need to save weight on places that should be make more solid. Comparing our 88185lbs trucks with truck combinations from countries which have 97000lbs laws makes clear their trucks are build without compromise

it is still fact that your trucks are archaic

 

here too in most models except road going 4x2 tractors, and it is now bit confusing thing that they use 3 kind of automated gearbox , for road going 4x2tractors 13L engines scania gearbox. for 15L trucks and tractors traxon and for rest astronic, in future i think this would remain only scania

it is fact that every manufacturer with 3rd part gearbox have bad syncronisation between engine/gearbox. those things much be made inhouse. also once advanced astronic over years become really archaic in some terms

 

No, it is not "FACT", that is your opinion.

Idaho now has a program allowing 129,000 lbs., albeit it requires more than 5 axles.

 

actually this brings far more problems.

as Fangio mentioned this few

-6x4 tractor usually dont fit legal lengths with fully length trailer, Volvo is only one that fits, they have 3000 WB , Scania had 2900mm for Australian market, if you remember 25m b-double combination, some were used in Eu as well, you can still get it as special order.

6x4 Short WB that suits length law, would eat tires, than you have empty weight problems, higher price, fuel capacity most brands would not be able fit even half of capacity we have on 4x2.

even if you use 6x2 tag axle with short WB you fuel capacity problems scania can fit 1000L on 2900mm WB others much less

5th wheel height is pretty important here , standard heights are 950mm, 1050mm, 1150mm, of course there are many others starting from under 900, till 1600 and even more.
everyone wants larger volume but keep away from problems lower 5th wheel height -more problems you have, so it is always balance between problems, lower tires you have more wear you have, more shocks are transferred on truck, lower ride height ( from axle to top of frame) more problems you have means more shocks, lower 5th wheel ( from frame) means more angle articulation problems. for 1050mm height instead of normal 1050mm tractor, i can make normal tractor lowered with 315/60, different lower airbags, and specially ordered 5th wheel model normally used on 899-963mm height , and i get 1056mm and big fuel capacity, i have never seen anyone else get this idea and never seen such truck made by others.

with 3axle truck you will most probably need higher 5th wheel plate to get better weight distribution over frame( less strain) or higher 5th wheel itself to get better angles i would say about 18-20mm more height
for 3axle truck+2axle semitrailer you need bit stronger trailer neck as more weight is going to 5th wheel , about 30mm higher, and together with 5th wheel plate you lose 50mm of interior height.

also for 3axle 6x4 or tag truck it become pretty questionable if trailer legs would create problem, this means you should move legs backwards, this create more bending problems on neck.

turn problems are other thing

to fit into turning laws and at same time into normal weight distribution you need very long wheelbase on trailer( for weight distribution) and selfsteering axle ( to fit into turning laws)

selfsteering axles are limited to 25degrees otherwise you could pull rear axle even more to rear, in this case you could pull first axle on trailer more backwards for more weight on tractor, but i put it here because once rear axle lock at high speed taking bends would be more problematic, this way you have bit more tire wear....


here you can see weight distribution over axles,you can see trailer is pretty close to limit, this require stronger axles ( 10 or better 12t for longer lifetime) tire options are limited, not too many 385/65 tires that can hold 10t i know for 6 models, some of them are construction steering tires..... so most probably you will have to chose some 445 tires. if truck is not reffer you would have evne more weight distribution problems,


so when you sum everything2+3 combination is more natural

 

Lol... Let's see most of the Pacific Northwest is 105,500, Wyoming 116,000, Montana 132,000, Michigan 164,000 and then there is South Dakota where you can carry whatever you can bridge with however many axles you have.

Call the trucks archaic if you like, synchronization does not make a truck better. Maybe easier to drive but not better. You think that technology is advancement and it is in some cases. But, a lot of it has done nothing but dumb down the industry.

All this technology is sissifying the trucking industry. Hell, you have people in trucks today that cannot even change a light bulb. You definitely have some that should not breed.

You guys still do not get that we have two different operating environments. Climate may be the same but that is where it ends.

You call it archaic we call it easy to work on. Where we open the hood you need to first make sure nothing is going to fall out of the bunk and break the glass.