american trucks look good with big bonnetts big sleepercabs and loadsa chrome but there awful to drive . the volvo vn is a nice truck never driven one but sat in one but its nearly all volvo fh gear in it ,dash, seats,gearbox etc suspension that works, its the closest to a european truck youll get in america
Same with me. They look flash but they are the devils own job to haul around UK corners. All flash and no manouvreability
Horses for courses I’d say, the roads in North America are a lot bigger & the Over the Road drivers as they call them are away from home for weeks at a time, so decent sized sleepers are only right, the cab bit doesn’t need to be wide as you only really need as much width as a car to be comfy, as for the rest of it, the ride is supposedly a lot worse as the cabs aren’t suspended, but a nice long wheelbase must help that, it probably has more to do with the road surfaces than anything else, I’ll let you know as I’m off to Canada to drive one in May, I’m in a series 2 FH at the moment which is apleasure to drive so it’ll be an interesting comparison.
They never really needed to change them, though. They have added some refinements now. My sleeper is on air but the cab itself is bolted down. Air suspension on the drives is normal now, and the newer cabs are not as noisy. That narrow cab takes a little getting used to, but when your smokes fall into the passenger footwell you can still get to them.
They are functional. If the doors get draughty then you simply undo them and adjust them. If things go wrong then they are normally easier to fix. It’s quite nice to be able to get to the engine without chucking all your stuff all over the floor to save the windscreen.
As you aren’t sitting over the front axle it makes the ride a little better than cabovers, and the long wheelbase means that it doesn’t repeat like euro counterparts do.
Having taken a T800 up north for 2 winters, I can truthfully say that they have euro trucks beaten when it comes to daily durability. remember that the trucks I take up there are highway trucks, not specially adapted vehicles.
Where are you moving to, Newmerc?
One of my colleagues was sadly killed at the weekend at Monash near Adelaide, seems like he went up the back of a trailer that may or may not have been doing a u turn with no lights on (still rumour)
What we do know is that the freightliner argosy he was driving with a b-double, the cab was sliced in two and the top half of the cab went into the A trailer,
A sad time for us, RIP, a wife and 3 kids left behind.
Andydisco:
Ive driven my mates Kenworth cabover a few times to shows for him and found it to be uncomfortable and noisy,yet I prefered driving his 1960’s Atkinson Borderer which you could say the same things about to be honest
They used to say that a KW cabover was an Atki in drag.
Carl:
american trucks look good with big bonnetts big sleepercabs and loadsa chrome but there awful to drive . the volvo vn is a nice truck never driven one but sat in one but its nearly all volvo fh gear in it ,dash, seats,gearbox etc suspension that works, its the closest to a european truck youll get in america
But if you read-up on some of the N. American truck sites (PM me for a link) the Volvo’s get a right slagging-off.
BakerChris,
if it was a black one, he is Dutch I am trying to think of his name. Normally pulls a shortened powder bulker with something phosphates written on the side.
If you see him parked up have a chat, I think he bought it for the attention personaly anyway. Mind you if you have a long contract and know what your hauling then they are cheap to buy out of the Nordic dealers around 30% less than an FH and you can still use the volvo dealer network. Maybe he isn’t all pose after all. 
hi guys,this is a topic i would love to share my opinion on, up untill 9 years ago i was working as a mechanic for my local Daf dealer in bournemouth, im sure some of you will know who im talking about… great trucks,i loved them…
i got married and decided to relocate us to canada where i worked for a peterbilt dealer for 4 years, and since then a kenworth dealer…both good companies, but omg, the trucks are like something from 20 years ago,even the new ones, which seem to have more problems than the old ones,i know im speaking from a mechanics point of view,but give me european any day,better ride and easier to fix…
and yes the quote " rides like an atki" is very true,in fact the atki was probably better,lol… oh and dont even start about fuel mileage, i have friends who are struggling to get 6mpg at 80,000 lbs.
in all fairness they can look very nice, but nice dosent earn you money…
anyways, just my observations, in fact im missing the euro scene so much, im thinking of coming back…
On economy : Don’t forget that a US gallon is smaller than a UK gallon, but the mile is the same length.
Comfort wise: The long nose units are very comfortable on the highway, the long wheelbase does help there. But they also ■■■■ big time in cities and parking.
I drove a couple of volvos there, a white a GMC a K-whopper and a fruitshaker.
I’ve driven dogs here and there, a dog is a dog no matter what badge is on it. Must say that all the volvos had the best laid out cabs I ever saw, the motors weren’t so bad, you just had to work out how each engine liked to pull.
Remember that Volvo over there allows the purchaser to pick gearbox and engine from anyone. I’ve seen them with Detroits, ■■■■■■■ and Volvo engines, and all kinds of boxes. One ex-Bison wagon was the worst choices ever, a 10 speed and tall rear end made it useless on any kind of hill, but it was fine on the flat.
If/when I get back there, I’d be wanting a volvo, or a long nosed pete/KW. Perfect would be a volvo 660 or 780, plenty of space in the cab/sleeper, and well laid out.
Yeah, they use ancient constant mesh boxes, but they’re alright when you get used to them. And honestly, I’ve driven wagons that were far worse over here. The MAN with the curved windscreen is a prime example, absolutely horrid motors those.
And personally, I kinda like having a dash full of instruments, but that’s the geekette in me I guess. And there’s a reason they’re on a panel to the side, because you don’t need to look at them often.