The death of Cab-Overs

[JamesD2]

HI,

I know most of these dinosaurs are off the road theses days. But I always wondered the real reason the cab overs are not made anymore. I still see lots on the road owned by private owners that pull shipping containers in my area.


It always seemed to me a cab over would have more pulling power because the engine/trans is close to the drive tandems. Or are they just the same?


James

[GMAN]

I don't know that the cab overs are any better or worse as far as pulling power is concerned. I doubt there would be any difference. The cab overs usually have a shorter wheel base and ride a bit rougher than the hoods. Typically, the longer the wheel base, the better the ride. Most people in the U.S. seem to prefer the look of the hoods. The cab overs had their heyday during the 60's and 70'. They were still in wide use during the 80's and 90's. The main reason we have seen a decline in the cab overs is that California changed their length laws. When trailer length's began to get longer trucks were over length with the long hoods. Shippers and trucking companies needed to have the longer trailers and the only way for them to legally pull them was to shorten the truck. Some of those cab overs would really roll down the road. KW, Peterbilt, Freightliner and International were probably the most widely seen. You will still see a lot of cab overs in other parts of the world. If you spend any time in the West, especially California, you will still see a lot of cab overs, many of which have been stretched.

[countryhorseman]

I do not know that they are dead! Recently I have seen several new models rolling down the highway. Mostly foreign makes, like Dahatsu )or something like that. Several car haulers are using them with the enclosed boxes and like GMAN stated, in Cali and some other big cities they are still in demand due to tight docks and streets. Someone told me the other day that Freightliner still builds limited numbers of Cabovers for certain customers and overseas sales. They are still extremely popular in Europe.

OTR drivers prefer the conventionals, mostly do to better ride quality. I drove a Pete Cabover many years back, about 100 miles, and I felt like I had been in a buckboard the entire trip, and it did have a trailer attached. That was before the CDL days, I think commercial drivers had what was called a chafeurs licence before. Someone correct me if I am wrong. I just drove it from one horse farm to another, and it was private, not commercial use.

[PackRatTDI]

By the time somebody started investing money into cabovers, like the flatfloor Freightliner Argosy and the International 9800, the coffin was already nailed.

[Jackrabbit379]

Like them old Transtars? :P

[PackRatTDI]

Like them old Transtars? :P

Hey, the Transtar was a damn fine truck. It would turn a bottle of milk into butter if it was in the cab but it was a damn fine truck.

[geomon]

Here's a White Freightliner very similar to what I drove for a few months in 1980....you'd have to make sure you were sitting straight to avoid the back slap that that thing produced. Oh...and no power steering.

[Jackrabbit379]

Hey, the Transtar was a damn fine truck. It would turn a bottle of milk into butter if it was in the cab but it was a damn fine truck.

That aint no lie.

Good trucks back then.

[yoopr]

Like them old Transtars? :P

Hush your Mouth-My first truck
What comfort :P

[Malaki86]

I spent a few months running a KW T100 single axle c/o. Never again. I don't think my back hurt that bad when I was did labor work on a masonry crew.

Hell - I think that whole truck would fit inside the cab of my Volvo that I run now

[Professor427]

Nothing like a '72 Transtar, think the wb was 155" or 162', something like that. Was a real screamer with a 318 Detroit and a 13speed; no power steering (and no radial tires), no AC, running the south and southwest with a 40' reefer. Contributed heavily to my back surgery but we didn't know any better then, I guess.
Transtar, touted on the CB as 'double-decker beaver checkers,'
ROTFLMAO

Wasn't the only cabover I drove in the '70s and '80s; had the Astro, a Mack, and even an old Brockway.

[Fozzy]

The demise of the cabover went hand in hand with the demise of the profession and the industry and drivers turning this into a "lifestyle choice".

[Mackman]

never drivin a cab-over. I always wanted to drive one just so i can say i have. I like the looks of the KW cabovers.

[roadranger]

Freightliner still builds limited numbers of Cabovers for certain customers and overseas sales. They are still extremely popular in Europe.

Europe has length laws so they have to run cabovers...

[roadranger]

I still see lots on the road owned by private owners that pull shipping containers in my area.

They are real cheap used and there is very little money in containers. :?

[countryhorseman]

Freightliner still builds limited numbers of Cabovers for certain customers and overseas sales. They are still extremely popular in Europe.

Europe has length laws so they have to run cabovers...

Thanks, was not sure the exact reason, but that makes good sense.

[roadranger]

By the way - modern european cabovers are said to ride as well as hoods. The later american cabovers weren't that bad if you kept the chassis and cab shocks working. Main P.I.T.A. is the climb up into them - especially in the winter. There were some aftermarket retractable steps made that looked like they fixed that.

[silvan]

Here's a White Freightliner very similar to what I drove for a few months in 1980

Here's the similar Freightshaker that was my first truck:



As far as why they went away, I think the other guy nailed it. By the time the Argosy came out, the cabover was already dead. They were just trying to resurrect the idea with a nod back to the old length law days. The concept was if we could get everybody onto something like the Argosy, then we could pull 57' trailers without being any longer overall than today's 53' trailers and hood setups.

I'm glad that idea seems to have died. For now.