Fromanderson

Fromanderson t1_jb3f1xp wrote

Planned obsolescence is a thing.

I own an old cabover truck from the 60s. While finding certain parts is challenging these days everything on it is serviceable. Even after owning it nearly 5 years I'm still finding lubrication points I hadn't noticed before. Even the shafts that operate the cams for the air brakes have grease fittings.

By comparison some of our newer company trucks have the brake rotors on the inside of the axle flange. Every time the rotors have to come off , the axles have to come out of the differential. That means new axle seals, diff gasket and gear oil are required for a brake job.

Seriously, all they had to do was make the axle slightly shorter and put the rotor on the outside, like every other manufacturer has done for decades.

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Fromanderson t1_iu2yahu wrote

Trucks have massive blind spots. I own an elderly cabover and even with better mirrors I can’t see much on that side. Throw in a trailer and I could completely total your vehicle and not even know it.

Years ago I was rear ended in an old farm truck. His bumper got caught under my trailer hitch. I dragged the guy for a bit with him standing on the brakes. I didn’t hear or feel a thing.

Keep in mind a loaded semi or one of those triple axle dump trucks makes anything I’ve driven look like a toy.

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