Hey there Big Strapper. Thanks for watching today's video. Have you encountered any such experiences with a shorter wheelbase? This is often the case esp. with large company owned fleets. Love to hear from you.

I had 240' which is standard and then 270' i loved driving longer wheelbase, its good for load keeps it stable , perfect in winters, very smooth ride never felt any bumps or potholes on road ,the only con is tight turns. I'd take longer wheelbase anyday !

This is especially difficult when your company specs a fixed 5th wheel.

Long wheel base is comfortable, but more difficult with sharp turnings. In Europe we drive very short trucks and we carry more weight. North of Europe we carry 60 tones, sliding fift wheel, good aerodynamic, bigger driving cabs and most important last generations with 12mpg.

I loved the old Freightliner FLD 120s !

Well i can admit my boss is happy that i picked the tractor instead of him... He wanted the 1m shorter Scania against my current MAN TGS tractor... He said: You have to remember where you're gonna go it will be a nightmare to get there with a longer wheelbase... i said... It already is with this short wheelbase because i cant make the full turn... I told him get that shortwheel Curbie and ill make sure it's gonna be banged up within 200km because the wheelbase is tooo short. My boss decided to trust my truckers knowledge and bought the 1m longer MAN Tractor... It's alot easier with them adresses and no damage at all. He often comes back to me to say how wrong he was because he just looked at the lower entry of the Scammie instead of the actual use. Good informative video! Greetz from The Netherlands Bjorn

I'm 76 and haven't been in the business that long (10 years), but I would agree with 99% of what you say. Keep trucking.

I don't ever pay attention to new trucks... I learned on 2 18 speed trucks, one was an older 379, the other was a 96 W900, I just can't drive a drop nose curb sniffer lol, I need that good old long hood...I also live in Canada, and when there is ice everywhere, having a long hood really let's you get more visual on your sliding...just my preference but I feel much more comfortable in a big long hood :)

Short is great for loggers, especially the set backs. I also drove a short T800 as a flatbedder, which did not have the set back, and worked great because of the sleeper size. Size definitely matters, the right tool for the right job.

I love the longer wheelbase on my W900. 282 inches is to me a perfect length. For a few years I drove a heavy haul Pete 4 axle with that wheelbase so when I transitioned into this truck after driving a slightly shorter Freightliner Coronado I felt like I was home! It's a little trickier driving in the city, Chicago and Philly come to mind...oh boy... but it's certainly worth it in every other respect. Nice explanation today guys...keep up the good work

One of many Challenges that you could mention is about Fuel Savings vs Weight issues with long wheelbase trucks. It's a big deal and with a shorter wheel base it's easier in my opinion to get your fuel savings from it and less chance of being over weight on your steers. I know this might not come easy but I presently drive a long wheelbase truck and it's a 2019 Mack Anthem with about 240''+ wheelbase I think. It's pretty long I have enough room to move the fuel tanks(150 gallons each) back about 2 feet on the frame which I'm thinking of doing next week for my boss. It also has a 400lb moose bumper on the front which needs to come off too. Now the front axle rating on this truck is 11900lbs. I've been moving the 5th wheel all the way back and I'm sitting at 12400lbs on the front which is really bad. That's 500lbs over the max weight rating but it's ok because it's under 13000lbs for the dot on the scales. lol. I can't slide the 5th wheel forward at all even when I'm light pulling 16000lbs inside the trailer because it goes way over and I weight 14500lbs on my steers if i do that. And that's a problem because on a long wheel base truck with the cab and engine etc. being far away from the back drive tires the weight of most of the truck is sitting more on the front steer tires. Another problem it creates is handling issues when you are overweight on the front axle. You feel the truck dive in the corners more when your leaf springs are overloaded, they need to be beefed up to 13000lb weight ratings. Also on take off you see the truck rock back and forth and also in the wind because the suspension on the front is too weak or it's over loaded. Now another point to make about fuel savings and weight ratings is that you need the trailer to be less than 2 ft to save 11% on fuel costs. That's about $2000/month in fuel savings per month. If you are over weight on your steer tires then you can't slide it forward and save that $2000/month, unless you can modify your truck a bit by moving stuff around the frame like the fuel tanks back a couple feet could possibly lighten up the front axle a few hundred pounds? From my perspective when you have that shorter wheelbase the engine weight and cab weight etc. is already near the back sitting more on the drive tires making it easier to be legal on your steers and moving the trailer forward closer to the back of the bunk to get that fuel economy and save that $2000/month on fuel. I honestly believe most of the handling issues comes from weak leaf springs and the fronts are or almost always seem way too light. I mean I've got 11900lb leafs and the maximum allowable weight on front steers with normal 22.5'' tires is 13000lbs when loaded in the states and 12000lbs when unload. That 11900lb weight rating on the leafs and axles doesn't make sense at all for the highways it should be up around 13000lbs. So in order to get a nice riding truck I think what needs to happen is to beef up those leaf springs at the minimum and also if possible for a cheap price get that axle beefed up with a better load rating and maybe throw some discs on it as well while you are at it...

Well, I have a short wheel base and frequently go beyond a 90° angle and have never been at risl of damaging the rear fairings. The space between the pin and the side of the trailer is 4'3" for a 102" wide trailer. Even the shortest wheel base will exceed that.

I'v run hoods and COE's each has their good points and bad points. I'v seen drivers with long wheel base hoods NOT be able to get their trailers into the docks. Me being a PROFESSIONAL and a nice guy. Dropped mt trailer and took my short wheel base COE and put their trailers in the dock and stayed under it for the 1/2 to 1 hour until it was unloaded.

I've driven more than a dozen Cascadias and LTs at Roehl. All could do 90°, but only the extended frames (specified for flatbed) can go past 90. I'm lucky to be in one now, even though I pull van, and I think it strikes the perfect balance. the extra 6" makes a huge difference and it still gets around fairly tight corners without reversing or doing a jughandle, which are both firmly discouraged by Roehl. Even the ride quality is vastly improved.

My 17 T680 has a 230” wheelbase; maneuvers just fine, and I’ve pulled reefer units with it. Made sure to set my fifth wheel back an extra notch to be sure I had clearance from my bunk extenders/fairings, without risking significant scale issues. Now I just pull 53’ dry van exclusively, so it’s not a problem. When I go shopping for a new truck, depending on which route I go, I’m looking for a minimum of 230”, especially since I’ll want to put an APU on it.

I've got a 300 inch wheel base mini ari sleeper going into production in july. 3.08 rears, 18 speed, and Cummins x15, 605 @2050ft/lbs. Cant wait!

I’ve been to a few places with my company where you absolutely need a shorter wheelbase truck just to get backed in. Between that and the fuel mileage I can see why my company buys them. But if I ever own my own truck I’ll probably get something a little longer just for better QOL.

I've been hauling empty propane tanks to refurbish them. Last month I had some big long 2000 gallon tanks to deliver in Quebec. Well I put one of them on the front my my step-deck ahead of my crane and it was about a foot from the back of the sleeper, an inch from the front of the crane. I was certain it would skim the rubber faring when I pulled out of the yard, but it was perfect. Saved me about 3 hours of backtracking between customers.

Yeah, the short wheel base tractors need to have a movable 5th wheel and its best to lock/bolt it down as far back as possible. The newer short wheel based tractors have narrower "cab-fairings" to help with the possibility of crunching them into a connected trailer. My 2018 Cascadeia weighs a bit under 20k fully fueled, a bit over 32K total with connected (empty) 53' trailer. If the dock-workers do a good job of load distribution when they load it, I can put the 41' mark on the side of my trailer "dead center" of my trailer tandems and it'll scale good and ride good to! That dosent happen to often and most of the time I end up having to move the trailer tandems forward.

This was a really good video. Someone saving up cash for their first truck that isn't a lease, this definitely helps me make a more informed decision.💚🐸

Great video Dave! Or should we be calling you Professor Dave!

Thank you for your great work!

Thsnk you, Dave, for another awesome video. I'm NOT a highway hauler, but I spent lots of time with them, and yes, long is easier to scale, and way nicer ride. But I work at an inspection and repair facility, I do TDG B620 tank inspections, mostly oil haulers, and some fuel B-trains. My favorite for maneuvering was our old Ottawa with a Ford gas engine, automatic... that thing was so short you could turn around on on a loonie and get 99 cents back lol...we sold that one, using a retired Coca-Cola single-axle, 15-speed at one shop, and a beautiful, older Ford 9000 single-axle, 10-speed at our other shop.

Very interesting what you mention about California. They do seem to just make up all of their own rules. I am sure you could make an entire episode about what is wrong with California, and how it can be contributing to the current port issues and trucking.

Thanks once again!!!

Excellent content. Thank you!

Great video, as usual 👍🏻

I’ll take a 280”+ tractor with 36” flat top bunk over any short wheelbase big sleeper truck any day. Hauling oversized 80% of the time and being able to jackknife floats and flatbeds is something you need to get use to but for the equipment I get to move it makes life easier.

Dang this really is some smart trucking lol

I'd prefer to run a cabover. With a shorter chassis.

great video/loved the bloopers at the end,lol.happy new year my friend.

My flintstone math says the longer the tractor itself means the more it will weigh. The idea of getting the trailer closer to the cab is a fuel saving idea.

Wow!! Just looking at the color😂😂😂 when buying a truck

Longer wheel base sux when your in tight places!!! Give me the shortest wheel base u can find! I wanna make it as easy as possible! While your fighting it trying to get in, I'm already in and gone!!!

I agree longer wheel base is better. Mine is 244” Columbia rides much better than a stubby wheel base no doubt. You get used to it. Really like the W9 & 379 just can’t afford one of those. Had a 359 years ago and that was a truck.

Thank you. Great information.

Another thing to this is that some trucks are spec'd with fixed fifth wheels or sliders that dont move all that far. I may be wrong but I did hear of a law that states trucks manufactured after a certain year cant have fifth wheels that slide further back than front of rear drive tires.

Just curious, what wheelbase would you recommend? Excellent video! I'm learning a lot about trucking.

Just make sure the 5th wheel can slide back past the trunion to almost over the rear drive axle. The deep pin setting is so the 41 foot mark is closer to the rear of the trailer. One fleet spects a deeper king pin on a 53 drop deck spread axle flatbed, runs the 5th wheel directly over the rear drive axle. Has plenty of weight on steering and is legal in CA without sliding rear trailer axle ahead. Ace, Brandon SD.

I can not understand the problem you guys having USA. European have small roads and back street we have to get down. We have short tractor unit or trucks. We sit on top of the engine. Driving down smaller old road with 44 and 55 trailer with 2 or 3 wheel axels. with all that weight with no problems. Come to London and see the trucks and road we drive down so all the problem you talk about we don't have. So the tractor unit or truck handle all that weight and drives good and is about half the size you have with a sleeper bunk.

Freightliner Cascadias have that Problem 🤠

Yea I agree because I personally own a 389 with a 280 inch wheel base. Problem is nowadays drivers can’t handle a longer truck and I’ve even some tell me they’re too scared to drive a long hood truck.

I love your videos; however, I slightly disagree on this one. Having done a lot of trucking in the northeast including many inner-city deliveries, I appreciated the shorter wheelbase. Fortunately I had a great trainer so I never banged up a fairing making sharp turns or backing into a hole.

Gonna be honest, 240 was nice to me. My trainer was 212 but the truck I was assigned was 240. Way more comfortable ride but it was still short enough to fit into most places. I'd have my 5th wheel all the way back (only had 5 extra slots anyways) and I was almost always near legal on my steers after 42k in the trailer.

My 579 drop nose gets 7-8 mpg and I really need a truck like this for bedbugging. I get in and get out of super tight neighborhoods most of today's drivers would not even attempt. Seems like I am always loading on trash day, dodging trash cans and parked cars on the corner are just a few of the daily obstacle courses we run 🤣

The farther you move your rear axles back with a longer wheel base the more weight you have on the front axle. Unless you move the engine and drivetrain back too. Which I guess is what you meant?

Straight up OG thank you sir!!!

Do extended hood trucks(389s or W900s) still ride better than short wheel base rigs?

So what is the best wheel base dimensions?

Go back to 45 foot trailers: problem solved. For the few years that I did Coast to Coast, very few loads required 53 feet of cargo space, or more than 6 feet of vertical space

IMHO, while long wheelbase trucks ride much better, but for backing, I love a short wheelbase

1000% agree with it

Run a 20,000lb steer axle with 445/65R22.5 steer axle that will cure your overweight issue. It will give you a real tight turning radius 🤣 Out here in rural BC you're not going to get anywhere with a lwb tractor.

i got a 226” wb places i go i need small wheelbase its great truck and havent seen any problems as far as aerodynamics and weight issues

But what wheelbase range do you recommend??

Very helpful

Hi, thanks for the video. Do you know the website that tells Canada legal wheelbase?

Good video

5th wheel on my Freightliner 2022, is stationary. Proper loading calculations are critical.

The crunched corners are the drivers fault for not looking. No matter what the wheelbase, you can get 90° out of it. I run a single axle and the space between the cab to the trailer is enough to get over 90° angle... It's nice to have a long wheelbase running down the road, but that first right turn in the city is a bitch!! I watched a guy with a 300 inch wb...Pete kill around a half hour to back into a dock in a small neighborhood......

I haul trash for a small company only 12 trucks and half are longer wheelbase t800 and half are leased Penske trucks. Most of the trailers are 48 feet but we have a few 53 and if you try and pull one with a Penske truck you will hit the back of the cab luckily this has only happened once but the bosses never even thought about the truck length when ordering these new trucks.

I drive an international that absolutely sucks at backing because of this!!! I jerk around because it’s like backing up an hill. Any advice? Company driver btw

Is there a reason you didn't give a recommended wheelbase in actual numbers?

For example: 17’ Volvo VNL670s are 11900lbs on the steer axles bobtail.

I can also tell by the sound of the motor when the truck needs oil I don't trust Dash engines I've also been able to tell when a truck is about to spend a bearing if you have to have a tone to hear for that and lots of driving experience

You could use super singl s on the front axle to allow heavier weight there,

How about making moor efficient engines instead changing the wheel base.

I'm a local can hauler. I need 15 ft from centerline of steer axle to the kingpin. Why? The chassis are 40 ft. So I need 36 ft from kingpin to the centerline of the last axle. With the last axle set 30 " from the rear outside edge. That means the kingpin is 18" deep. The setup I got now I'm 58 ft long bumper to bumper with a 51 1/2 ft 5 axle bridge. And if loaded correctly can scale 47000 lbs. on an 80000 lb plate. The dumbest thing I see are the flatbed outfits. Like Melton. They buy condo KWs big bunks put the headrack on the back of the cab then the 5thwheel is so far back you could pull a set of FedEx pups. If I was a flatbed see I'd get a 240" wb truck and a short ose conventional with a small bunk. Then you got room to find the sweet spot to axle out for goss bridge or whatever. And if pulling a 53 ft maybe have enough swing for that 3.5 ft overhang front and rear for those 60 ft joints of pipe.

Pearlescent Crimson Red please 🙏

Well I expect a truck out but motor transmission rear ends and of course wheel dimension yes. Pin setting is big life is really slid right to the back and change there all the time.

The story of the end.. Dave. Sounds more like the guy jumped pin and crunched the bunk.

Anything over 270 is to much an limits you on where you can go because you can’t turn on small county roads and rip your tanks off on railroad crossings I don’t care what you say about how good of a diver you are there are just some things you can’t do with a long wheel base truck

interesting point!

My peterbilt 579 has the wind tailfins. They are so long it's hard for me to fit between my tuck and trailer to unhook the air hose.

A 262 to 270 inch wheelbase seems like it's about the perfect all around wheelbase from my experience.

What about in the case of day cabs and trucks with short sleepers?

In Europe they have really extremely short wheel bases. But different rules

Is 280 insanely long? If I haul Amazol 53' trailers? I used to drive cascadia. I thinnk they are 230 wheelbase. Parking is fine, but I can imagine the 280 would make way more difficult to part at truckstops and back into docks? Is longer wheelbase only good for flatbeds and stepdecks?

What is Canadian semi truck tandem axle spread laws and etc I know USA tandem axle spread is closer than Canada but I can't find anything about what the specs are. Thanks

If the short trucks have enough weight on the front axle that they are almost overloaded, then there is no need to move the fifth wheel to adjust weight. The fifth wheel would need to be centered between the tandems. Move it forward, and the front would be overloaded. Who makes a truck that the front axle is fully loaded without load?

There making them bigger and heavier and stronger nice beautiful rigs trailers are getting even longer ,longer then 53 feet I would pick routes that I know I can have enough room to turn and drive on and limit roads short curves so the trailer doesn't wing into the other lane, them new trailers are getting 63 long and longer, I would pay attention to bridges I can't pass under so don't destroy any bridges alot of low clearance bridges that rigs can't pass under are listed in every state in them truck maps I hope they made apps to help with that too

You really shouldn't you turn a trailer to begin with. You can screw up the cross members as well as the tires. That's part of the reason you'll see trailers that's slightly off track when you're going straight down the road.

At this point with the whole arrow dynamics why not being back the cabover

260 in wheelbase is the sweet spot for me

That's why I wanted to go to oversized and heavy haul... to drive any truck I want, manual transmission, 750 HP engine, 3400 torque, with long wheelbase, extended 2 floor sleeper cabover... I'm thinking going to work in Australia... or Europe... I'm pissed about this continent behavior

What do you think about the $300k rv sleeper? I kinda like em!!!

He knows his stuff…

I will always prefer long wheelbase have more flexibility to do more.

I'm not a super trucker and I hate to have to correct you but for California trailer tandems have to be set for 40 not 41

How much is the shorter wheelbase by law? Thanks if someone responds.

Hey Dave! Do you know anyone that runs a Pete like yours but a stand up sleeper instead of a flat top and has a turbo wing on it? I just got one for my 97 379 Unibilt, hoping it actually yields me some results on my fuel economy

What about bridge formulars?

ok so im not a trucker yet but i am alittle bit confussed. i thought a shorter cab would make the truck handle better and having the cab closer to the trailer would help with aero. isnt that why things like the peterbilt 372 was built?

Hello! I got a question for you 😅

Thank You grandpa 👴, that’s definitely a fantastic story…

beneficial

Don't forget about the fridge, t.v., inverter, and microwave

Peterbilt 579 steer axle bobtail weighs 12103 pounds.

You didn’t tell them how hard it is to drive a long wheel base seem like your trying to persuade your viewers to drive a long wheel base

Hmm. But a short stick can hold more weight than a long stick without bending. I do get with a longer wheel base you can turn over 90 degrees where needed.