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Q65A
Age: 66 Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 1769 Location: Central NJ
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traildriver
Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2459 Location: South Florida
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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Great story....thanks for posting!
You raise a very good question....and the answer is certainly very subjective, and you will get many opinions...but in my experience, nostalgia usually makes us forget the shortcomings of all things in our collective past.
My all-time favorite coach was the GM PD-4106, and I honestly would rather drive it than anything on the road today.
That said, I will admit that the modern coaches probably ride better, are certainly 'cleaner' as far as air pollution is concerned, and have much better tires than were available in that era.
And when sitting in bumper to bumper traffic going into the Lincoln Tunnel, my left leg appreciates the absence of a clutch pedal..... ![Wink](images/smiles/icon_wink.gif) |
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JimmiB
Age: 81 Joined: 19 Apr 2011 Posts: 516 Location: Lebanon, PA
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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I must agree that an 06 was a nice coach to drive. I even drove a leased 4106 for a couple of months on a transit route when we were short of equipment.
Sitting in traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel, well, that's another story. The 06 that I generally used when driving charter had a clutch that, after sitting for a few minutes in traffic, actually started to push me up off my seat! Had to knock it out of gear to give my leg a break. |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 11:24 pm Post subject: |
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Let me tell you this as a recovering trucker who has seen the light.
I used to drive the old trucks and I expected a world of improvement in the new trucks in every way but I'm telling you the only thing that changed is my mind about the whole industry.
The new trucks do have a better ride but certain ones gave up control for the better ride.
the Volvo/White is such a truck. It had the cheap throttle linkage that went straight from the cab to the fuel pump. Now that alone would not make a big deal but they decided to up their game and install 2 air bags in back of the cab changing the geometry every time the cab moved. Now the old cab overs were set up to allow the cabs to move but White was a crappy company and built junk.
Now you may wonder what could this oversight do?
For one, every time the cab bounces the throttle moves making the truck jerk badly and is much worse when the frame twists.
When you push down on the throttle the cab moves which negates your efforts. It is bad for a short guy like me since I cannot reach the end of the throttle.
When you go to move the shifter the cab moves again.
and it is worse when you have a CAT engine since it only throttles when it wants and as much as it wants.
Negates your efforts.
When Volvo joined White they did not correct the problem. But sometime in the future they went with electronic throttles which lead to a different kind of control problems.
This truck had a quality problem besides being ugly. The mirrors were not set up to work for the driver, the heater could not maintain a steady temperature. |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 11:26 pm Post subject: |
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![](http://www.globalusedtrucksales.com/wp-content/uploads/92-Volvo-GMC-Tandem-Front-R.gif) |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 11:31 pm Post subject: |
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Now the old International cabovers had a very bad ride but fit us short people and did not accommodate large people. They had a huge hump to climb over to get to the sleeper or passenger side.
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T1Bwqh4XGAM/UTRmiBwurMI/AAAAAAAAKlE/SkN5rVaTj4Q/s640/international-transtar-06.jpg) |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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The GMC Astro 95 had a very large windshield for it's day and it was spooky driving next to a ditch. My favorite had a 9,000 lb front end so it rode like a conventional with air ride suspension. It too had a high hump to crawl over
and the last 2 trucks here had vents all over to make them cooler to drive |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 11:51 pm Post subject: |
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I remember these old trucks had no power steering, 2 gear boxes and always got my thumb when I'd try to open the door. the button that released the latch was in a cone shaped hole and the deeper your thumb went in the tighter the hole. |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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I hated these ![](http://www.remarkablecars.com/photos/1979-freightliner-semi-truck-10421.jpg) |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:03 am Post subject: |
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probably among the worst trucks I drove was a freightliner.
hot all the time in the cab, wind always blew in your face , not around you but at you. Clutch never worked right and sometimes it would jerk and slap your head against the side of the cab. Hard shifting since it was a low quality truck and the shifters all wore out quickly on those.
But they would have been good for the tall skinny guys.
Not me I couldn't reach the throttle some times, especially when It had a Detroit Diesel engine. The one I drove had positive ground that kept shorting stuff out. |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:12 am Post subject: |
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I drove these and I'm telling you I learned that a CAT engine is not driver friendly. If you want complete control you didn't get it, much like today's engines. That's true for the new cars and pickups.
These trucks were rugged. Had 2 of these hit head on at 55 mph and both drivers walk away. Neither truck looked damaged. Oh and I hated that muffler coming up out of the hood
![](http://www.hankstruckpictures.org/pix/trucks/mark_redman/mar2003/57_oshkosh_ex_usaf.jpg) |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:15 am Post subject: |
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I drove one of these and I think it had power steering and a great ride |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:19 am Post subject: |
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these had a very heavy hood and a little guy like me couldn't raise it.
I found a way but some people didn't like it.
One company I drove for souped up an old relic but didn't maintain the gauges so I didn't know how high the engine revved or how fast I was going until I got stopped by a trooper. He watched me stop the truck besides an empty flat bed at a light. I figured that the empty truck would leave me behind and when the light turned green I went boogidy boogidy waiting for the flat bed to pass while I was getting gears. after a while I noticed that I was way ahead of the flatbed and there was a red light behind me. It seems that I had so much power that the truck grossing out at about 90,000 lb ran like a striped ass ape and would actually keep up with cars in traffic between the lights. I don't know how fast it went but it would pass everything in sight
This truck didn't have a working air dryer but it had the spitter, light switches were hooked up wrong. turn one switch on and you might get lights and then turn another switch those same lights would go out.
Front end worn out I had to grease it 2 times a day so it would turn |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:42 am Post subject: |
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Now I don't know why anyone would love the Mack truck but I heard them rave about the Super Liner. I got to try one and I'm telling you, I don't know why they are still in business. I got into a 4 year old truck and it had every window rubber, seal, gasket, liner worn out and if there was a hint or rain that truck was soaking wet inside. It had vents on the roof, doors, cowl and was a source for leaks. That cab was wet so much it stank and it never dried.
the heater and AC worked when you didn't need them and the lights would go out at highway speeds. Mirror brackets were junk and wouldn't stay on.
The front end was always loose and felt like you was riding a beach ball.
There on hwy 80 about Gary Indiana, the worst roads I ever seen at 45 mph it killed me to ride this truck and it had air suspension and a super long wheelbase. And that world famous engine??????????????????junk.
a 350 hp that was so weak it didn't do Iowa too well and I had to let the truck go as fast as it could downhill so I could make up for the lost time going up hill. Drag N' Fly is what is was called. My biggest pet peeve was that the windshield used to fog up all the time. |
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TheDriver
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 233 Location: America
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:45 am Post subject: |
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![](http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/brandon_ellis/2008/11-21/superliner.jpg) |
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