Cabovers More Dangerous?

[tcr1016]

I love cabovers, but have been told they are death traps. I was told by a trucker that the pins break in an accident and the cab comes forward. He says he has had to berry a few truckers from collisions in cabovers. Is this true??? Are they not as safe as a regular hooded truck??

[geeshock]

not sure, maybe older ones but newer argasis and such I would think would be safe enough. Only issues I can see would be that there is no hood between you and the truck in front of you and maybe the way you have to step up into the truck. I have heard of ppl getting thier feet cought in a step and breaking thier leg in the fall but other than that I wouldn't think so.

[repete]

No more dangerous than any other truck except it's easier to fall when getting in or out. If you rear end another truck then thats' another story! As far as the cab flipping over B/S just isn't going to happen on it's own, you would have to fail in locking it down with the hydraulics and that 's not going to happen.
I drove one for awhile and loved the maneuverability of it but engine but is pretty scary till your used to it. Driving one you will NEVER EVER tailgate !

[BanditsCousin]

Try bobtailing one in the rain. I did about 2 360*'s on accident.

Conventionals FTW!

[bentstrider]

Drove one briefly when I did some ride-alongs with this Dairyland Hay Co. out of Chino.

These were those really short Freightliners with a literal "bunk" as a sleeper.

[GMAN]

I drove a cabover in the early time of my driving career. I enjoyed it. I don't recall any more problems with a cabover than conventional. The big problem can come in should you decide to hit something with the front of your truck.

[YerDaddy]

You're always the first one at the accident.

I hated the ride, sitting on top of the steer axle. Spinal compression.

Good view though.

[Gunfighter]

Ran thru some freezing rain and later stopped for a whiz and slipped on the icy step and broke my ankle but aside from that, (my own clumsy mistake), I had no problems with cab overs.

Gunfighter

[Windwalker]

You're always the first one at the accident.

I hated the ride, sitting on top of the steer axle. Spinal compression.

Good view though.

That was the one thing I did realize very quickly. That left front tire constantly kicking my butt.

[heavyhaulerss]

I have a cab over. STOP trying to scare me! lol. I dont see a chance my cab coming over. the hooks stick & I have to manually pull hooks out, then the hydraulic takes over. the hydraulic arms are too strong to let cab over. it has a self locking mechanism. you are not getting that cab up or down without the hydraulic shocks cooperating. as far as hitting something in front of me.. that would be my fault. the cab is very heavy. if the pins did break, I still don't see the cab going over. if I unhook my lock down hook's & try to lift up cab without using the hydraulics, I would lift entire truck off the ground before the hydraulics would give way.

[topset]

I love cabovers, but have been told they are death traps. I was told by a trucker that the pins break in an accident and the cab comes forward. He says he has had to berry a few truckers from collisions in cabovers. Is this true??? Are they not as safe as a regular hooded truck??

what kinda berrys?

[GMAN]

I love cabovers, but have been told they are death traps. I was told by a trucker that the pins break in an accident and the cab comes forward. He says he has had to berry a few truckers from collisions in cabovers. Is this true??? Are they not as safe as a regular hooded truck??

A cabover should not be any more of a death trap than a conventional. Any of them can be considered a death trap if you drive like a maniac. There were many cab overs that could do triple digits back when they were more prevalent on the highways. I don't recall seeing more accidents back then as now. Unless you tailgate you should not have any more concerns with a cabover than a conventional.

[Orangetxguy]

I love cabovers, but have been told they are death traps. I was told by a trucker that the pins break in an accident and the cab comes forward. He says he has had to berry a few truckers from collisions in cabovers. Is this true??? Are they not as safe as a regular hooded truck??

IF you knew enough about COE trucks to love them, why would you have any concerns about their safety?

I hate crawling into and out of the dang things....Mack, International, Freightliner, KW, Pete.......Cabovers suck.........Conventional all the way for me.

[silvan]

I hated the ride, sitting on top of the steer axle. Spinal compression.

I drove cabovers from 1997 to maybe 2005. My CDL says I'm 5'10", which is how tall I was when I was 16, but last time I measured, I was only 5'8.5" or so. That spinal compression is no joke man!

Good view though.

I'll never forget my first trip in a "hood." I never did get used to the weird reflection off the weird thing out in front of me that first night. It kept freaking me out until I rememberd what it was and calmed down. Making my first turn into a tight parking lot in that thing was fun too. It turned pretty tight and there wasn't much difference in where I could put it, but all the angles were wrong, and it felt enormous.

I don't have any desire to go back to driving cabovers. They suck.

I wouldn't worry about safety though. The cab isn't going to flip over, and you're probably more likely to drive the truck away in one piece than a conventional. We had a driver who had the biggest, prettiest, fastest truck on the yard. It was a triple-digit, candy apple red cabover Pete with a queen sized sleeper. The boss's little brother, truck number 1. He totaled it one foggy night when he hydroplaned and jacknifed and bounced off the walls repeatedly going over a bridge. He tore that poor truck all to hell, but he drove another 1,000 miles to get it home. He had worn brand new tires down to the wires in that distance, because the alignment was so screwed up, but he came out of the ordeal in one piece.

I wouldn't want to try that trick in any modern conventional.

Come to think of it, I ass-ended a lawyer in a cabover myself. A truck up ahead of me freaked out at a low bridge he had plenty of room to get under, and I just barely didn't get stopped in time to avoid tapping the four-wheeler in front of me. I pulled over and got my insurance information ready, and he walked up and said "It's a good thing for you I'm not a plaintiff's attorney. I've got to be in court right away, and I don't have time to deal with this, so have a nice day."

GULP!

The truck was fine. So was the car. It was a very low-speed tap. I had forgotten all about that one. Oh well, it's not on any record anywhere, so it never happened, right?

Right.

[mitchno1]

hey you yanks are pusseys caboveras are the way to go .in our job ure bonnetts are a pain in the arse and that true haha now were dos this cum from

[freebirdrfd]

hey you yanks are pusseys caboveras are the way to go .in our job ure bonnetts are a pain in the arse and that true haha now were dos this cum from

Try ENGLISH................ Most of us are not from New Zealand..... I don't think your statement would make sense even in New Zealand.

[RostyC]

hey you yanks are pusseys caboveras are the way to go .in our job ure bonnetts are a pain in the arse and that true haha now were dos this cum from

HEY! I ain't no pussey!!



















I'm a chicken.

[snoopyandpuppy]

With the flat front, does mpg decrease with a COE as compared to a conventional? I would think wind resistance would factor in....

[GMAN]

You would think that a flat front would get much worse fuel mileage than some of the newer aero trucks. That is not necessarily correct. I think that one of the most fuel efficient cabovers of yesteryear was the Peterbilt 367 (I believe). It has been so many years since I have driven a cabover I don't remember. At that time most of us didn't give much thought about fuel economy.

[TK THE TRUCKER]

You would think that a flat front would get much worse fuel mileage than some of the newer aero trucks. That is not necessarily correct. I think that one of the most fuel efficient cabovers of yesteryear was the Peterbilt 367 (I believe). It has been so many years since I have driven a cabover I don't remember. At that time most of us didn't give much thought about fuel economy.

Peterbilt 372 ?