TowRig.com - Diesel Discussion and Tow Tech

I figured we scould take a break form pickups for a minute and talk trucks you need a CDL to drive. Whats your favorite medium duty, Class 8 non semi, and Class 8 semi?
My favorite semi is the good ol' Peterbilt 379. This truck is such a classic, there is no reason not to like it.
My favorite Class 8 non semi is the old Chevy Bison/GMC General. I don't know why, I've always been partial to them.
My favorite medium duty is the old style Chevy/GMC C-8500 tandem. I like the 2003+ style too, but I just like the big square hood and pickup cab better!

http://www.volvo.com/NR/rdonlyres/B838C18A-0B7E-43A2-9AB6-7A22DC9D731C/0/20608018_fpo.jpg

The Petes are nice but I like the lines of the newer Volvo trucks. Yeah yeah I know im just a kid so thats why i like itwaytogo

Wow holy big picture!!! Sorry:doah:

Pete 387
http://www.peterbilt.com/images/our_own_dow_limg1.jpg
Ford F550 Lariat only, I could care less for the steel wheeled, black grille and bumper fleet versions.
http://www.truckpaper.com/images/truck/fullsize/72444791.jpg

waytogo that 387 pete is my other favorite

Cant go wrong with the Pete 379. I dont care for the newer look.

The Petes are nice but I like the lines of the newer Volvo trucks. Yeah yeah I know im just a kid so thats why i like itwaytogo
Wow. that Volvo is nice looking! That's one big sleeper.

I've always liked Western Stars too. I know, I'm a young guy with old school tastes! Long hoods and tall stacks!
You'll see a ton of these downstate here in WV because of the mining.
http://www.westernstartrucks.com/Core/Images/Trucks/6900xd/Mining06-xd.jpg
I also like their Lowmax too, a great looking truck!
http://www.westernstartrucks.com/Core/Images/Trucks/LowMax/LowMax02-ex62UL.jpg

For a Class 8 semi I'd pick a Peterbuilt 378 SFA.
For a Straight truck I'd pick a Peterbuilt 357 SFA.
I need to think about medium duties.

I've been driving Macks almost before I was legal to drive a car. So obviously that's my pick. No other truck out there can handle the rigors of bouncing up and down gravel roads all day or churning through mud and snow. I learned in an old RS dump truck with a 300 Mack engine, twin stick 6 spd. trans, and a horribly bone jarring rough riding walking beam suspension...."Built Like a Mack Truck!"
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/mack/semiahmoo_mack_r3.jpg

I've been driving Macks almost before I was legal to drive a car. So obviously that's my pick. No other truck out there can handle the rigors of bouncing up and down gravel roads all day or churning through mud and snow. I learned in an old RS dump truck with a 300 Mack engine, twin stick 6 spd. trans, and a horribly bone jarring rough riding walking beam suspension...."Built Like a Mack Truck!"

Those are good, well-built trucks too. Our FD has one with a tanker on it and it lasted nearly 30 years!

Yeah they never wear out..just get better with age. That truck had actually been dropped through the ice on a lake and on another occasion it was rolled. My dad still has it and it's still a good runner. We've been working on restoring a 1957 B-61 for a little over 10 years. Very slow work in progress.

cant go wrong with 379 pete.

KW900 with a MICHIGAN CAT 750hp,or any pete&kw with a 3406b cat,petercar,petercar,wish i had a westernstar:cool: no room for anything else,no pumpkin smashers,no bus motors,cheap frieghtshakers&blovo"srotfl

love my Western Star, but my next one will either be a late 60's early 70's KW W-900, why because they were some of the coolest looking trucks on the road, yes it will be upgraded to today's standards & comforts. just want to rebuild one on my own.waytogo

Freighliner classic.
http://www.the-truckers-page.com/Red_Freightliner_Classic_Combo.jpg
Oshkosh 7 ton
http://k43.pbase.com/u34/whiskey_tango/large/31315172.DSC00678.jpg

I like American trucks from the 60's. Everyone once in a while I see something old on the road or in a field. It always gets me thinking about what it would look liike if restored it.

My old favorite is the m123a1c:

http://www.vannattabros.com/pics01/Herb.jpg

My new favorite is the HET M1070:

http://www.oshkoshtruck.com/graphics/defense/HET-1.jpg

That HET is a Bad Ass rig (Army). In the Marine Corps we have the LVS. That HET is big enough to carry a fully loaded LVS.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/images/lvsr.jpg

Sonny Honneggerurerererere or however you spell his name has an older HET that he pulls a gooseneck with his scorpion buggy on it. He built a living quarters on the trailer and it's a sick setup. I love that truck... :D

74-75 Dodge Bighorn, or any Mack Superliner with 998cu in. V-8 and a 12 Speed

Pete 379 wit a CAT C-15...sweet !!!

As a professional driver, I would say that the Pete 379 is highly over-rated for the majority of long haul work. The big hood makes it more difficult than need be in towns and cities that were built before the "large cars" were thought of. Bear in mind that most of the trucks are only slightly different due to different designs of the creature comforts.

It is a great truck for doing oversized work, but the majority of oversized work never goes near a city.

For a overall good truck, I would go with Kenworth T2000 for the aerodynamics, the old K100 for a cabover, and the International long nose Eagle for a "large car".

BTW, Great question.

New: Peterbilt 379X Black and chrome/stainless from the factory. Always been partial to Petes, my Dad drove them most of my life.
Older: The KW on "Smokey and the Bandit 1", the black mack from "Convoy", & the cabover KW on the TV show "BJ and the Bear". :D