Worst and Best Trucks we've Driven

[Truck Shop]

A Best-79 W900A 400 A model Cat, 13 spd, 3:90 rears Eaton 380's.
Photo taken at Dunnigan Rest Area-Dunnigan aka Pantyhose Junction.
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[Truck Shop]

Although one I rebuilt and not listed earlier-A Best. 1969 W923, I installed a rebuilt 400 Cummins,
12513, shortened frame, installed SQ100's 3.90 on KW 8 bag air ride. Can't see it in this photo
but I installed 1998 Daylight doors. Built in 1999 used to pull 35 ton Hyster lowboy and A train
grain trailers. No A/C-had Ross power steering.
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[Truck Shop]

Looked like this before.
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[Pops52]

Although one I rebuilt and not listed earlier-A Best. 1969 W923, I installed a rebuilt 400 Cummins,
12513, shortened frame, installed SQ100's 3.90 on KW 8 bag air ride. Can't see it in this photo
but I installed 1998 Daylight doors. Built in 1999 used to pull 35 ton Hyster lowboy and A train
grain trailers. No A/C-had Ross power steering.
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View attachment 294394

Nice lookin truck.

 

[Pops52]

A Best-79 W900A 400 A model Cat, 13 spd, 3:90 rears Eaton 380's.
Photo taken at Dunnigan Rest Area-Dunnigan aka Pantyhose Junction.
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View attachment 294393

TS. you mentioned the SF Produce market, how long did you do that?

 

[MG84]

#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.

#10 65-66 Freightliner 318, RT-910, short WB 3 axle with belts driving axle #2.

Excuse my ignorance, but is this stuff for real or jargon for something else?

 

[Pops52]

Excuse my ignorance, but is this stuff for real or jargon for something else?

All real. The brass ring and pinions were somewhat rare and used by freightliner with those alum axles/housings. Required mineral oil that as I remember smelled like fish.... Mack and a few others used the top drop in differentials but TS might be a better historian on this stuff.

The belt driven axles were used in the snowy areas, big pulley mounted between the duals. Big v-belt drove the other axle without the weight or mechanics of a power divider.

 

[Truck Shop]

Top drops were common years ago, Rockwell & Spicer manufactured them, Mack made their own.
Yes mineral oil--mix some 80/90 with it and see what happens-turns into a big rubber ball inside
the housing. Those aluminum housings were a Spicer thing, Spicer also built allot of married gear
boxes with aluminum cases, the 63 K100 I drove was a Spicer 4 X 4 married aluminum case.
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The belt drive was more common than most think GMC and Chevrolet used belt drive into the mid
70's on some of their gas powered ten wheelers, offered as a option. Was used widely by many
manufactures in the late mid to late 50's up. Many issues with it though, didn't like mud.

 

[Truck Shop]

TS. you mentioned the SF Produce market, how long did you do that?

Off and on about ten years, mainly ran to Lucky & Alpha Beta or once in awhile Raley's.
Made numerous trips for other OO's that wanted a week off from time to time. if I knew
shop work was going to be slow in advance I would let it be known I could probably make
a trip for them, so I drove all types. It's hard to find a driver that knew the produce racket.
Last trip to LA was in that 92 Pete in 1993 or 1994, I remember it because it was one week
after the LA riots and the Denny trial, I had to deliver at a warehouse in Commerce on the
edge of East LA right off Washington Boulevard.
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The second trip I was rolling into LA at 11 am Sunday, I noticed traffic was just about non
existent on the Golden State, I had no welfare radio so I couldn't ask what was up but figured
there must have been a shocker-there was out in San Bernardino. That was my last trip ever
to Cali. Just had other things to do.

 

[Truck Shop]

Now for the rest of the story about the first trip-
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I had Carma with me my wife {we were only dating then}. I hadn't been to LA in a while and
somehow screwed up and took the 10 south Santa Monica, I took the next exit which dumped
me right in burned out downtown LA at 11:45 pm Sunday. There were no lights no street lights
no street signs barricades everywhere all burned up. So I didn't really know where I was, I noticed
a light on and a door open at this warehouse about 4 blocks back, there was no place to turn around
and I couldn't see well enough behind to back up.
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So I had to make a quick decision, I grabbed the 357 tucked it in the back of my pants told Carma
stay in the sleeper lay low lock the doors if someone tries to get in lay on the air horn which I hooked
a bungee too and if nothing else get in the seat and drive mow over every damn thing in sight.
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I walked back to the warehouse passing three on the way-they turned into a alley, probably thought
there is one crazy mofo. If they did they were pretty close to right. I walked in asked the guy inside
how to get to Washington Boulevard-he just looked at me and said you gonn'a get your head blown
off, stay on this street 16 blocks up take a right, crazy man.
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Made it back to the truck and rolled, once I made it to East LA I was in safe territory. Those boys
in East LA don't fool around. My wife can verify what took place.

 

[Old Doug]

I have got to drive a lot of different trucks my Dad bought and sold trucks as well as some of his buddys. They would often buy a truck and use it for a short time in their other business . If they had a problem i would fix it improving the truck. Some times they would have a problem that made them a pain to drive like a hard to push gas peddle or a worn shifter tower i would fix stuff like that and make them alot more user friendly. The truck i liked the best and drove short hauls was a 1984 KW 3406 15 spd 4.11s . It was in good shape ran good and was easy to drive.

 

[cfherrman]

Nice to hear about all these kw, I drove 2 and was really impressed especially with the rough ground I drive on. One was a 89 and the other was a 94 w900's

 

[92U 3406]

Early 2000s Classic XL was my worst. Only because the shift tower and isolator were so fubar'd I constantly drove my knuckle into the dash every time I hit 3rd and 7th.

 

[Truck Shop]

Correction to my post-it was 1992 that I made a wrong turn in LA, pondered it till I looked.
Riots took place after King trial. Many on here are not even old enough to remember or
know what took place.
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Attack on Reginald Denny - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Pops52]

Correction to my post-it was 1992 that I made a wrong turn in LA, pondered it till I looked.
Riots took place after King trial. Many on here are not even old enough to remember or
know what took place.
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Attack on Reginald Denny - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I was just up the road from you that day in Oxnard waiting on a 10 pallet forklift. And waiting and waiting. That was a sad deal for Denny, wrong place, wrong time.

 

[Truck Shop]

Worst-It was the worst for me {trucks or driving} a big reason I never ran south again.

 

[Truck Shop]

Random-1961 T, photo taken by Brian Williams at Lebec on the Vine.
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[Steve Frazier]

My trucking career ended in '97 so everything I drove was earlier than that. I've driven Autocar, Ford, Mack, White, Brockway, GMC, IH, Freightliner, FWD, Oshkosh and a Peterbilt cabover. Started in White 9000, then a Road Boss, those trucks were rattle traps. The fenders flapped and there were so many rattles and squeaks inside it was very fatiguing. I wasn't a fan. The Mack DM600 was very reliable but uncomfortable for me, I'm 6'4" and legroom was sparce. GMC and Brockway were much like the Whites. The FWD and Oshkosh were purpose built for plowing, not comfort. They plowed well. IH got the job done but there wasn't anything there that made them memorable.

It may sound odd but my favorite truck to drive was the Ford L Series. Dash layout was very user friendly, visibility was amazing and they were the tightest turning trucks I've ever driven. I had a lot of miles in them and they're fond memories.

I mentioned the Peterbilt, it was a cabover and after a lifetime of the Peterbilt hype I wasn't all that impressed. It might be that it was a cabover but I've sat in conventionals as well and thought them to be small and cramped. These are my experiences.

 

[Truck Shop]

It may sound odd but my favorite truck to drive was the Ford L Series. Dash layout was very user friendly, visibility was amazing and they were the tightest turning trucks I've ever driven. I had a lot of miles in them and they're fond memories.

I'm just the opposite, steering wheel position and low dash with a shallow back of cab were
uncomfortable. From repair side the slanted engine, rear engine mounts on transmission,
terrible routing of engine wiring and airlines was a mess, changing a compressor on one with
a V Detroit sucked. Steel cab that rusted & out here parts access was tough, Ford authorized
truck dealers were thin. As far as a turning radius the Cascadia has everyone beat.
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The one area the LTL had others didn't was ride-never heard anyone who drove one complain
about that.
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Ford, GMC, Mack is a east coast thing, never sold well out here as class 8.

 

[Pops52]

As a 17 year old, in the summertime I would ride with a couple of the line drivers hauling produce from Santa Maria to the LA markets. Good way to learn how to drive. One guy had a new 69 Pete COE, 335, 13sp 2 axle with doubles, kinda rare for running the markets. He would let me drive home from Ventura, about 2 hours while he slept. That truck was a real treat to drive after being around the trucks in post #7 all day. It had a radio & Jakes too!!!