The Big Rig thread!

Not sure that is much of a secret anymore!:p

I'm pretty sure it wasn't for a while now! He thinks he's trolling us with this Belgium business but the joke's on him! :lol:
 
Are you one of those people who refuse to believe Belgium is real? :p
 
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One truck I really love is the Mack MR (along with the Peterbilt 320). I like it particularly when they're used for other applications than for garbage or concrete pump trucks. The USPS had a lot of them in use as city tractors for a while, but I haven't seen one in years. Apparently their maneuverability in the city was no match for the discomfort they provided for drivers being short-wheelbased.

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International just released a new truck in this same vein called the Loadstar (nostalgic, eh?)

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You mean Americans? :p

Nah, more like Germans. They think Belgium is just a weird part of Germany - just look at what they do and what path they take every time they want to invade France (since the Napoleonic Wars.) Hint: It's not the place where they built the Maginot Line, and the Germans apparently like waffles. :mrgreen: :evil:

One truck I really love is the Mack MR (along with the Peterbilt 320). I like it particularly when they're used for other applications than for garbage or concrete pump trucks. The USPS had a lot of them in use as city tractors for a while, but I haven't seen one in years. Apparently their maneuverability in the city was no match for the discomfort they provided for drivers being short-wheelbased.

IIRC, the problem wasn't the short wheelbase but the low-cab-in-front-of-engine because there were some variants that had longer wheelbases than some other hotshot tractors and the drivers assigned to them at one of my then-clients complained bitterly about the nausea those things would generate on choppy roads. Basically, the cab (and driver's seat) were on the very end of a long lever arm attached to the trailer...
 
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Nah, more like Germans. They think Belgium is just a weird part of Germany - just look at what they do and what path they take every time they want to invade France (since the Napoleonic Wars.) Hint: It's not the place where they built the Maginot Line, and the Germans apparently like waffles. :mrgreen: :evil:

They think that way about the rest of Europe aswell, we just happen to be closest....but don't worry, they won't do it again, they have the European union now to shape the whole of Europe to their liking in a diplomatic way.

I'm thinking I should have a 'Cowboy rants against EVERYTHING' thread.
 
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One truck I remember from the late 70's was built by trailer manufacturer Strick and was conceived as a way of fitting longer trailers on trucks and yet still be within the maximum length limits.

You've heard of cab-over trucks? Well, I present to you the first cab-under truck:
 
That's not only interesting because it's cab-under, propeller-driven and fugly but also because it has a unique "chinese six" setup with two steer axles but only one drive axle. yeah i know an ungodly shitton about trucks. i went through a phase.

EDIT: here's another truck with this setup:

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That's not only interesting because it's cab-under, propeller-driven and fugly but also because it has a unique "chinese six" setup with two steer axles but only one drive axle. yeah i know an ungodly shitton about trucks. i went through a phase

And I thought my school bus knowledge was esoteric and nerdy....:p
 
They think that way about the rest of Europe aswell, we just happen to be closest....but don't worry, they won't do it again, they have the European union now to shape the whole of Europe to their liking in a diplomatic way.

I'm thinking I should have a 'Cowboy rants against EVERYTHING' thread.

I am prizrak and I support this message!
And I thought my school bus knowledge was esoteric and nerdy....:p
The big difference is, trucks are awesome schools buses not so much....
 
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yeah it's not like you know a ton about all sorts of buses. school buses are really just trucks with some yellow sheetmetal on them anyway. also i hate them.
 
I am prizrak and I support this message!

The big difference is, trucks are awesome schools buses not so much....

yeah it's not like you know a ton about all sorts of buses. school buses are really just trucks with some yellow sheetmetal on them anyway. also i hate them.

I like things that 95% of the world thinks suck ok?*...I think I'm coming to grips slowly with that fact :lol:...:| Also, you'd be surprised about the level of technology/engineering that goes into them. Literally space age in some cases.

*except Macs and Ariel Atom's. I like Apple computers and most people would say they definitely do not suck. Ditto the Atom. There's exceptions to every rule.

Oh and the Aventador J....its not beige inside, its super expensive, and isn't remotely practical. I fucking love it anyway. :wub:
 
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Ooh, a Brockway! I used to see them all the time as a kid in the 70's. Usually either as a logging truck, or a fleet truck with a day cab. (I don't ever recall seeing a Brockway with a sleeper - although I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were a few still out there.)

Speaking of trucks you don't see anymore, I can't remember the last time I saw an Autocar. I used to see them quite often, usually as dump trucks or cement mixers - like this one:


Now for some moving pictures. One of my favorite sounding engines has to be the Detroit Diesel 8V92 - especially with straight pipes, as on this Freightliner COE:
 
Garbage trucks!







 
One thing that strikes me about american vs. european trucks is how small the american ones usually are. I'm not sure if it is the fuel price or what, but you seem to make do with trucks that are a lot smaller and, I bet, hauls a lot less cargo per drop of diesel. Our trucks are also always cab-over because of length restrictions and, again, the need to move as much cargo per drop of fuel as possible.

Just browsing Kenworth.com (and a link to PACCAR engines) the biggest engine I can find has 455 horses. The most powerful engine Volvo currently has on offer makes 750 horses from an 16 liter I6, and Scania isn't too far behind (many would argue they're ahead) with their 730 horse 16.4 liter V8. I don't see very many of these around though - most volvos and scanias I see are in the 500-550hp range. You also need a very good reason (or a very hard-headed driver that has been working for you for 45 years) to have a clutch pedal in your European long hauler these days. Robot boxes are more efficient and economical, not to mention more comfortable of course. I don't even think you can get manual boxes in the most powerful models anymore, but don't quote me on that.

I keep bringing up Volvo and Scania because they have like 80% of the market here. Mercedes, Iveco, Renault and MAN has the rest, I guess. When your rig is your bread and butter, a good service network means everything.
 
One thing that strikes me about american vs. european trucks is how small the american ones usually are. I'm not sure if it is the fuel price or what, but you seem to make do with trucks that are a lot smaller and, I bet, hauls a lot less cargo per drop of diesel. Our trucks are also always cab-over because of length restrictions and, again, the need to move as much cargo per drop of fuel as possible.

Just browsing Kenworth.com (and a link to PACCAR engines) the biggest engine I can find has 455 horses. The most powerful engine Volvo currently has on offer makes 750 horses from an 16 liter I6, and Scania isn't too far behind (many would argue they're ahead) with their 730 horse 16.4 liter V8. I don't see very many of these around though - most volvos and scanias I see are in the 500-550hp range. You also need a very good reason (or a very hard-headed driver that has been working for you for 45 years) to have a clutch pedal in your European long hauler these days. Robot boxes are more efficient and economical, not to mention more comfortable of course. I don't even think you can get manual boxes in the most powerful models anymore, but don't quote me on that.

I keep bringing up Volvo and Scania because they have like 80% of the market here. Mercedes, Iveco, Renault and MAN has the rest, I guess. When your rig is your bread and butter, a good service network means everything.

First, those engines don't make 750 when they get over here, are tuned for US emissions standards, and have to run on our diesel. They make a lot less. There are also more powerful engines available here than that 455, as I'd mentioned in the other thread that spawned this one.

Second, go look at those cab dimensions again. Even if you exclude the engine compartment, our long-hauler tractor cabs are much, much larger. The trailers aren't all that much shorter than yours, either. Our laws do not include the tractor for maximum length.

Finally, robot boxes would be a lot more popular here if they would make one that could climb the Appalachians' or Rocky Mountains' passes at max legal weight without grenading. So far nobody has; they are, however, an item of interest in the short-haul and hot-shot truck world as they typically spend more time in city traffic and less on the highway.
 
the robot boxes don't seem to min mountains here, and Norway is pretty much all lakes and mountains.
 
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