Worst and Best Trucks we've Driven

[Pops52]

Old Iron, old engines & memories led me to a new thread. Was trying to count all the different Class 8 trucks I've driven (for at least a couple hours) since 68 and I think it's getting close to a hundred. It didn't take long to figure out the worst POS or the best. But a truck at age 16 might not be so bad when all you want to do is drive. It would be a lot worse after a few years under your belt.
Worst one made me quit my first job at age 20, 1960 IH cabover, Emeryville. 2 axle, 262, R-96, broken left window, exhaust & engine vapors in the cab, cold air coming in in winter and heat in summer. Shift linkage so worn it would barely get into gear. Sometimes had a jo-dog on that had 3" of slop at end of frame.

Best truck was a new 96 Pete I took delivery on in June 95. 3406E/455, RTLO 18718B, DT-461P, 205" WB 18K steer. I ran it for 740K miles with barely an issue. Comfortable, easy to see out of, 1 stack and felt like you and it was one. Sold it to a crane outfit and they said it was the best truck they ever had. Replaced it with a new 2005/mistake.
What's your worst & best?

 

[cfherrman]

I haven't driven too many trucks but since they don't make their money down the road the cabs are not well taken care off.

Worst is probably my first truck a 81 GMC brigideer w/ 671. Thing was a total POS nothing worked in the cab, the engine had no power but would still go around 55-60 down the road. They finally retrucked it when I got stuck in dry powder because I couldn't get out of the divots from the front tires because no power and no power steering.

Best is probably 07 Freightliner, I can't remember the model. It was just really nice with low miles and had power everything and the ac worked. Was my first electronic auto with engine brake so it was nice rolling down the road. I'm sure it's all fucked up now.

 

[Pops52]

Probably the 2nd worst was a 54? Freightliner I used to load trailers at the local sugar mill. Just a yard horse and wasn't used as a road tractor so it didn't need to be nothing more than a POS. 220, 5x3 with a jo-dog. I learned to drive with it. In it's last days, we would drain the water out of the oil pan 1st thing in the morning then pull it around the yard to start it. Refill with water & let it run all day to load trailers. Then the same thing the next day. It finally dropped a valve right there in the yard and that was it. Here is a very similar photo.

 

[Junkyard]

Worst for me was a Western Star, 2008 or so. 14L Detroit and was GUTLESS. I don’t know why but you could not lug that truck at all. It was a heavy spec 4 axle but just weak. Best all around truck I had was a 2006 Pete 379 4 axle. My first new truck. 280” wb, it drove and hauled nice. You could do a 700 mile day in it and not feel beat to a pulp. My 85 359 will always have a soft spot too, I drove the wheels off it before I got the 06 and it never let me down. It’s still around pulling a lowboy. I’ve tried to buy it back but he won’t part with it.

 

[Truck Shop]

Hum-this could be interesting.
First was a 1966 Freightliner COE, 250 with a ten speed. Only had five working gauges, the upholstery
on the dog house had been cut out so you make 4th & 9th, pulling a set of doubles hauling corn into
Twin City Foods in Ellensburg, 6 mph pulling Vantage grade.
A 79 352 Pete COE, 400 Cummins and ten speed first trips to California in that one, overall a good truck.
A 79 W900 400 A model Cat with retarder and 13 spd. That was a good truck.
A 1992 379 425 Cat with retarder and 15 spd, also a good truck.
A 1984 359 400 Cat with retarder and jakes plus 15 spd, a real good truck.
A 1994 W900 470 12.7L Series 60 with 13 spd-I built for the company I left-Tow Truck nice truck.
My 1966 351 Pete with Truck Trailer sleeper, 400 Cummins & 13 spd-Best truck I ever drove in winter.
A 1963 K100-335 with a 4 & 4 COE-tow truck.
A 1978 Western Star 420 NTA Cummins with 2 spd Eatons and 13 spd, Holmes 750. Nice tow truck.
A 1973 Freightliner COE single axle with Holmes 650, a pile.
A 1986 359 Pete 425 Cat 13 spd with 2 spd Eatons spec'd for dump truck-it was a Cadillac.
A 1981 K100 400 Cat retarder & 13 spd with 110" cab-real good truck.
2 LTL9000 Ford Dump trucks, 400 Cats 13 spds, did the job.
And about 30 more.
But the Worst pile I ever drove as a newer truck-Ford CL9000 with a Silver 92. Turd.
And several more with Detroits-gutless wonders.

 

[skyking1]

I don't have much experience at all. Probably the worst truck for the job I was doing was a 78 Kenworth water truck with a 318 Detroit. I didn't do any water truck work with it at all, I just used it to pull a three axle tilt trailer moving a 200 John Deere excavator off and on the highway.
It pretty much sucked as a tractor.

 

[Pops52]

The "fleet" where I started in 68......
#1 55 Diamond-T, 262, R-96-O 2 axle. Bout the best sounding truck ever.
#2 60 Emeryville 262 R96-O 3 axle The boss drove this one
#3 59 IH Westcoaster 262, R-96 3 axle 240wb/ Hendrix pad!!
#4 60 KW cabover 262 w/T-590, R-96-O 3x w Page & Page Very quiet, nice truck
#5 65 Freightliner daycab/kit 262, R-96 3x with freightliner susp & aluminum housing rears with top drop rear ends. Brass ring & pinions Beat you to death.
#6 The POS I mentioned in post 1.
#7 65 Pete conv/kit 262 R-96 2axle Nice truck
#8 54 Freightliner mentioned above..
1987 One of the most frustrating trucks was a few early/mid 80s Freightliner C/O with 6V92s & 9 speeds running into LA and back loaded both ways getting paid by the mile........

 

[Junkyard]

I failed to mention that the last version of my 359 had the brake saver and jakes plus I swapped in an 18 speed. It wasn’t long after I missed the 15 and have wanted another ever since.

 

[Truck Shop]

Driving is one side, repairing is the other.
*
The worst trucks I ever worked on were built by automobile manufactures. Volvo, Ford, GMC, Chevy
and Dodge. IH built combines and tractors but also built some decent trucks along with some trash.
Ford and GM dashes were absolute crap, using switches/controls found in a pickup. Truck manufactures
that used a rear engine mount located on transmission bell, engines installed at 6* slant, snub nose
trucks with engine tucked half under the dash/bulkhead and the shifter exiting the floor at the back
of cab. Crap suspension like KW torsion bar, White Velvet Ride. Pete with vertical bolt crossmembers
that came loose. Then junk like a Fontaine fifth wheel piled on top. A lot of terrible designed stuff back
then.
*
But it's pretty hard to beat Freightliners {Columbia} fighting for top position as the worst pos {just
possibly ever built}. The one item to make it #1 for sure is add a MB400 for power combined with
a Super Ten.

 

[Truck Shop]

The 1966 351 before I bought it, real good it was.
*

 

[Jumbo]

Hmmm,
The truck closest to my heart, my first in 1966; a '48 L series Mack with a 200 Cummins and a 4x4. It had 10' bunks and 3' stakes.
The worst I ever drove was a 1974 Mack DM800 Maxidyne engine and Maxidyne transmission. It slobbered oil like a Detroit and the sheet metal kept falling off. It carried a 14 yard Columbia box. In all honesty, it was just a poorly engineered truck for the task.
Of the older trucks, the best was a '69 KW with a 290 Cummins and a 5x4, 8' bunks. A very nice highway truck for the era. Slow by today's standards, but nice.
I took a long time away from trucks and the "current best" would be anything after 2000. All are highway log trucks. Big engines, plenty of gears, (all 18 speeds) and creature comforts like AC, good heaters along with wipers that worked and windows that rolled up easy.

 

[skyking1]

Funny what makes a truck good as you get more experience. My ford came up several notches when the shop fixed the air doors on the heater box and I can get defrost now. AC? LOL.

 

[Pops52]

The "fleet" where I started in 68......
#1 55 Diamond-T, 262, R-96-O 2 axle. Bout the best sounding truck ever.
#2 60 Emeryville 262 R96-O 3 axle The boss drove this one
#3 59 IH Westcoaster 262, R-96 3 axle 240wb/ Hendrix pad!!
#4 60 KW cabover 262 w/T-590, R-96-O 3x w Page & Page Very quiet, nice truck
#5 65 Freightliner daycab/kit 262, R-96 3x with freightliner susp & aluminum housing rears with top drop rear ends. Brass ring & pinions Beat you to death.
#6 The POS I mentioned in post 1.
#7 65 Pete conv/kit 262 R-96 2axle Nice truck
#8 54 Freightliner mentioned above..
1987 One of the most frustrating trucks was a few early/mid 80s Freightliner C/O with 6V92s & 9 speeds running into LA and back loaded both ways getting paid by the mile........

After a couple years with this outfit, they aquired;
#9 65 KW conv. 3x,240" WB, 280 w straight exhaust, 5x4 This was the pride of the fleet.
#10 65-66 Freightliner 318, RT-910, short WB 3 axle with belts driving axle #2.
#11 66 Freightliner, 318, 4x4. Air compressor was on the back and the mounting bracket broke every couple month as did the dual exhaust supports....
Just remembered, when they retired POS #8, they replaced it with another mid 60s POS Freightliner 2 axle c/o with sleeper, small v-8 cummins, RT-910 and a severly warped flywheel and or pressure plates. You could not take off on flat ground loaded without having the front end jumping up and down several times. Embarrassing for a 18 year old. I had to drive it for awhile while hauling rock & sand to the batch plant at Diablo Canyon Power plant. It was a real challenge to time pulling onto the scale or onto the grizzley so I wouldnt have to stop. That truck was a REALPOS.

 

[Truck Shop]

There were some empty or loaded didn't matter the brand or necessarily the suspension,
more to do with wheel base, that were just a$$ slapping sons of b--ches. Certain road
speed and or road surface would set it off.
When I worked for the Ag Co. they had three 1986 T800's, two were 210 wheel base and
one was 230. Both 210's would start slapping the steer about 35 mph, horrible. The 230
was reasonably smooth all with Reyco 102 spring ride.
A friend had a 69 K100 with a 1693, not a bad truck but had worn torsion bar suspension.
I would take it to Wenatchee on weekends and load it for his trips south. Hated that thing,
it felt like it was going to swim right off the road.
That 79 352 I listed above the only bad item was center point steering. Open road it was
fine, tight spots like backing up in Frisco Fruit & Vegetable terminal could be a real job.

 

[DMiller]

My trouble was Tight cabs and LONG Legs even as was skinny Back in The Day. ANY B series Bulldog, R anything Corn Queens and I had to shoehorn just to get inside. The 56 Diamond wrecker we had at Ft Scott was a a** Whipper to go very far at all, furthest I ever ran it was Eastern CO. Like to have killed me in late Summer heat NO AC, NO PS, could almost reach 50mph before needed to slow for another stop, Black Diamond GAS engine. Freight Shaker COEs rate right in there with the tiny cabs, drafty, in general CHEAP built and showed it everywhere. C series Fords, GM Low Forward Cabs and all the other half hearted builds Dodge IH White, ALL Sucked for shifting and feeling sea sick in the Driver seat. Two Story Falcons, Fords CL9000 and the later Pete COEs, ALL too TALL, just felt weird to drive. Kenworth K100s with good WB and Suspension were not bad, Pete Long Noses sit low, lower than W900s, easier to get in/out of. L, LTL, LN, LNT fords rate up there with the Business class Frt Lnrs, SAUNAS, get sun burn driving anywhere but away from Sun.

Favorite will have to say were the Kelowna Cab Whites/A-Cars, steel and rusted, but solid, roomy enough, and came reasonably set for creature comforts. Like R model Bulldogs although again smallish inside, Fand MB cabs were just nasty.

 

[Pops52]

And then there were the trucks we loved........
72, sc350, 5x4, sshd on hendrix extended leaf. Armstrong steering and wing windows for A/C

 

[Truck Shop]

The reality IMO was the best for what was needed for OTR and vocational started in 1982 and ended
in 1999. Such as 1982 KW came out with the larger B cab and improved on it up to 1999 then came
the overloaded dashes with way more electronics than was needed. For Pete it was the corvette dash
which IIRC started in 1976 or 77 ended in early 87, plus in 87 the cheap interiors started. IH built some
nice cabs in those years also. The White/Volvo/GMC cabs were never that good from day one and major
instrument cluster issues from the git-go. As far as sunburn-GM Astro/ Chevy Titans were the one to
roast in IMO, Terrible cabs.
*
When I say 82 to 99-Two examples below. All this super creature comfort adds weight and expense
in repairs with the possibility of hard to get parts for as they age. Below are two examples of trucks
that rode well, had enough creature comforts, quiet and easy to maintain. The 1992 Pete 379 was in the
last of mechanical 3406 Cats. Had plenty of options but not silly with garbage-one that I drove.
The true Last of The Mohicans-one I've personally looked at owned by HEF member Kenworth.
This truck built as a OTR came with plenty of options but no crazy options. Still has the open dash,
one piece windshield which increase visibility. No over the top electronics, yes the engine is fly by wire
but by the time these were built the bugs were worked out of them. A 1998 W900L with a 5DC 3406
600 Hp 16L {IIRC} very low mileage, straight and nice as they get. Trucks never got any better than
this and fell off the cliff in 2000 when the throw away truck came on the scene.

 

[Truck Shop]

72, sc350, 5x4,

Last of the low cabs!

 

[Tyler d4c]

First truck I drove 86 f700 with a 8.2 and some awful low geared rear. Good truck for learning and a 17 year old on equipment buying adventures
Cdl test I taken in a single axle ch model mack with a 5 speed. Not the best thing for learning on the fly when trying to pass
First truck other wise was the lt 9500 sterling road tractor tandem dump dad flopped last year
First tractor 93 ltl Ford with a 9 speed and a set of air plane rears. I moreless rebuilt it is still my personal favorite.
Hx international I'm been it driver from New it doesn't run much seems like a ok truck
Current dump truck is a sterling that was ment to be a dump truck. Best truck dad ever had as far as I'm concerned.
And we have a f750 that replaced the 700. Very nice single axle dump nice truck. Not a huge fan of its 6.7 cummapart. Just doesn't seem to be enough engine for a medium duty imo.

 

[Pops52]

Here's another of the "best" trucks. 79 model, BC350, 13sp, sshd 4.11 on air ride. A/C, Armstrong P/S. 40K winch. I'm a bit fond of this one as it's the first truck I owned and I added 450K miles to it and sold it with 1.2. It served me very well and I should have kept it as a second truck.