Big Rigs. What do you prefer

[randomid25]

Navi Lonestars = FUGLY

My choice would be a volvo VT800 with a 16L 600hp engine and an eaton fuller trans.

 

[Anubis]

Pic 1, 102" Benson in a tight loading dock. Like threading a needle. Franklin, Ohio (shingles)

been there, took 40 min to back in with a 270"WB Classic and a 48' Conestoga.



My favorite would have to be a 379 with a 3406e cat.

My second Favorite would be a Freightliner Classic XL with a 515 Series 60 14.0L Detroit.

I am on my second ISX (because I couldn't believe how horribly bad the first one was). This engine is the reason i will never buy another (or get any service done at) Cummins every again as long as I live. My Current ride is a 2007 (2006 engine) International 9900 daycab with a 565 ISX and 18 DOD with 46,000lb rears and a 20,000lb Fa (I wanted a daycab and the price was right, plus they offered the most for my 2005 Freightliner). I own it outright and I still can't find anybody that will trade for a 98 - 2002 379 Daycab with a 550 or 600 3406e cat or a 03 - 05 Classic XL Daycab with a 14.0L 515 Detroit.

the other ISX was a 2005 Volvo ('nuff said)

 

[3500GMC]

Anubis, 10-4 on the Conestoga. Fun times.

If I got back into driving, I wouldn't mind taking a StarCar for a spin.

This would be just beautiful hooked up to a spread axle skateboard.
Western Star Lowmax:

 

[btfarm]

I grew up a OTR driver's kid too. Never in my life would I have dreamed that driving truck for a living carried so many responsibilities. It's no joke. It's no cakewalk. Dad tried to tell me when I started, "stay away from 'em". "It's no kind of life", he would say.

His driving career kept us at distance from one another both in miles and in relationship. I just had to see for myself what he meant. He was absolutely right. I used to love hearing his driving stories (40 years worth) and now I have a few of my own to tell, and he's not on this earth to share them.

Couldn't agree more. My Dad died at 56 from a heart attack. We had a few years as adults and friends before that. Not near enough. I often think how amazed he'd be to drive my DMax. Damn thing has more grunt than alot of the rigs he drove in the earlier days...
Used to take me on some Sat night / Sun morning runs to Milw and back. Was a real treat for us both. THAT man could wheel a rig. 40 years of it with never a break.

 

[GM Guy]

I prefer Peterbilt and Kenworth, as they seem to be built more solid than all the others. And of course I prefer Marmon, but the last one rolled out in 1997.

Marmon was a truck company in texas that hand built all of their trucks. Dad owns an old 76 cabover grain truck, and a 1990 57P longhood conventional with a 12.7L detroit.

My preferred engine chice is detroit or cummins. Cat is nice, but the overhauls are expensive.
I do respect any unique engine, my boss during the summer runs kenworths, three conventionals, one 1693, two 3408 (not 3406, 3408, a big V8) and a cabover with a factory twin turboed cummins with an allison. I personally have driven just the cabover, and she is fun, gets up around 30-40 pounds boost w/o much effort.

Eaton fuller transmissions are the preference.

I personally love the old cabovers. My favorite truck of our fleet is a 1984 Peterbilt 362 Cabover 90" cab, 16x" wheelbase single axle (3.70 geared 20K rear on Air Trac air ride) factory twin 200 gallon tanks (one in sadshape after dad ran junk tires) it has a 300 cummins with 350 injectors. It came with a 9 spd direct, so it was low geared. dad located and had installed a RTOO Eaton fuller 13 speed (three overdrive ratios)

 

[GM Guy]

Brad, have you ever delivered Kubotas to a small Dealer in Rio Vista California?

 

[durallymax]

One truck i wouldnt mind having as a toy is an old cabover with a 12v71. Just to put straightpipes on it and annoy the piss out of everybody.

My Neighbor just bough an 84 362 Pete. with a Long wheel base. Not sure what it is but id guess to to be around 240" or so. It has a big cam in it too. He started his trucking business with one 362 with a 300" wheelbase so he bought one and restored it to show quality as a toy. His fleet consists mostly of Kenworths and he just purchased an 09 T660 with a 550 ISX 18spd 86" studio sleeper and just about every single option you can get. Its a very very nice truck. I was drooling when i took a tour inside it.

 

[btfarm]

OR...

 

[btfarm]

Circa 1959 Ft. Wayne terminal MXI (Dad drove for them)
Come a long way since then... Notice the dolly wheels.

 

[dangerousdave]

I was driving a Freightshaker Columbia with an ISX and Eaton 10 or 11 speed, then fell in love with the
Pete 387. Always liked the
KW T2000, but I'd settle for a T660.
If I could, I'd probably get a
Pete 386, as the cab is more compact, but the sleeper is big. I'd like to try the Allison automatics. No disrespect to the 6.5, but I prefer the cummins or cat engines; bad experiences with DD.

It's all theoretical, now; my driving days are done.

 

[3500GMC]

Brad, have you ever delivered Kubotas to a small Dealer in Rio Vista California?

No sir. IIRC that load was a 3 stop to 3 dealers in western Indiana.

Mike, the vintage MXI pics are great! I'll have to try and find some old Roadway Express pics. Dad drove for them for 35 years. Local 413 out of Columbus, Ohio. Retired in '93

 

[3500GMC]

Few more pics.

This is often the scene in a shipper's yard. Live loading is the norm for some flatbed companies. This means the trailer stays hooked up. You drive and deliver the load to the consignee, bounce to the next shipper, load your next prize. No drop and hook because my tarps (2 steel-2lumber), straps, ratchets, binders, oak 4x4 dunnage, edge protectors, winch bar, coil racks, coil mats, 100 bungees and a kitchen sink was packed on the trailer in various places. Roughly 6 to 700 pounds of crap. The chains and majority of the boomers are on the headache rack on the tractor.

You do not want to know the frustration of getting a load sent to you over the QualComm from dispatch that was a pre-loaded flat bed with none of the aformentioned stuff.

Then you map and drive empty (bounce) anywhere from 25 to 250 miles to your next shipper. Then.

Guess what you did for the next hour and a half in the Cold/ rain/ wind/ dark/ snow/ ice...? Remember all that equipment? Nowadays most companies are using a big cabinet on the back of the tractor's sleeper berth in place of the headache rack to stow ALL of this STUFF. Well, except for the 4x4's. Those are usually strapped to the dolly crossways.

Fun times indeed.

Sorry 'bout the rant. A few pics:

 

[Louisianarebel]

Hers our old big rig, sold now we have a mack

f450.
It pulled a 19,000 pound 650 john deere dozer... Until all 8 tires on the goosneck blew out.
The dozer is the small one behind my truck, just like the 750.

 

[Anubis]

Fun times indeed.

Sorry 'bout the rant. A few pics:

been there too, where the hell was that? now I load at worthington steal a few days a week with the Conestoga and do 2 loads (on days I work) of eye to the sky coils to Butler IN.

 

[3500GMC]

Gerdau Macsteel in Monroe, Michigan. Steel bar bundles.

Louisiana rebel, the GMC will pull that dozer, right? :smile5:

 

[RI Chevy Silveradoman]

Refering to post 16 with the great pics, why so long a wheel base? It looks like it goes straight really well, but the turns look like hell. Just curious. You could probably put a travel trailer behind the cab. One long wheelbase for sure.

 

[GmcLbz]

Refering to post 16 with the great pics, why so long a wheel base? It looks like ot goes straight really well, but the turns look like hell. Just curious. You could probably put a travel trailer behind the cab. One long wheelbase for sure.

Mainly for the great looks and awesome ride! My Dad is rebuilding an 83' 359 Pete that will be a 295" wheelbase. The 2 in that pic are around 350". Your Average nowadays is probably around 260" - 270" depending on sleeper size. :thumbsup:

 

[RI Chevy Silveradoman]

Thanks for the info. What was needed for a 350" wheelbase? What would you build something like that for?

 

[DEERE3594]

Thanks for the info. What was needed for a 350" wheelbase? What would you build something like that for?

To make backing difficult ):h

 

[GmcLbz]

Thanks for the info. What was needed for a 350" wheelbase? What would you build something like that for?

It's actually more or less for looks. Both trucks are a factory wheelbase.