How come freightliner doesn't offer the Argosy in the United States?

[DubbleD]

Ah, hydro!

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That's it.
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[CamelTrucker]

That is a question for the engineers at Eaton.

You mention fully syncronized truck transmissions, but I don't see any links to information on them. And really, a fully synchronized truck transmission can only further enable more non truck drivers to become truckers, just like the auto shift and ultra shift gearboxes have already done. There are now tens of thousands of truck drivers who cannot drive a big truck with a manual gearbox.

Just like cars with automatic transmissions. Millions of people simply cannot get into a manually shifted car and drive it. What a shame.

I for one am a Manual transmission fan. I have 3 M/T cars sitting in my driveway right now. I understand completely and since I float, I could really care less about the synchronized gear boxes but it still kind of shocks me when you see different innovations for overseas markets and compare them to our barebones vehicles. Not just big rigs, but cars also. The Japanese and European cars we get in the states are cheap junk compared to the overseas spec vehicles. I was reading a article on Car and Driver magazine about their trip to Europe to test drive a Lexus and 2 Toyota hybrids. What struck me the most is in the review, the author notes that the Prius he was driving had a very nice sporty suspension feel and the interior was made out of high grade materials compared to the hard plastic interiors of the US Prius with the floaty suspension. I'm just saying, here in America we get ripped off by bean counting pencil pushers who knows the way to an Americans heart is to add more cupholders..

As for the newbies infiltrating our roads today, I can tell you that training companies like TransAM and US Express are making it even easier for the average Joe to truck drive with their Automatic trucks. I wouldn't be surprised to see England and Swift decide to pay a little extra for auto trucks to save from downtime caused by a rookie burning the clutch or snapping a U-Joint. All I know is I'll have to worry about trucks fading their brakes a whole lot more coming down hills now thanks to Automatic trucks. Yes I know Auto's have a manual gear selector but I also know that a rookie will be distracted trying to recite the SMITHS safety system while hogging the middle lane doing 58mph. He/She has no time to pay attention to the road, and after they gain some courage to drive the truck, they'll soon be distracted by their generic overpriced tablet they just bought from the Loves.

As far as adding aftermarket airbags to help soften the ride, you just made the trucks handling sloppier. Now its going to lean over in every cross breeze just like a Cascadia flopping around in a cross fart. Say no to the Cascadia's characteristics and more importantly, say no the the Cascadia..

 

[j911brick]

I for one am a Manual transmission fan. I have 3 M/T cars sitting in my driveway right now. I understand completely and since I float, I could really care less about the synchronized gear boxes but it still kind of shocks me when you see different innovations for overseas markets and compare them to our barebones vehicles. Not just big rigs, but cars also. The Japanese and European cars we get in the states are cheap junk compared to the overseas spec vehicles. I was reading a article on Car and Driver magazine about their trip to Europe to test drive a Lexus and 2 Toyota hybrids. What struck me the most is in the review, the author notes that the Prius he was driving had a very nice sporty suspension feel and the interior was made out of high grade materials compared to the hard plastic interiors of the US Prius with the floaty suspension. I'm just saying, here in America we get ripped off by bean counting pencil pushers who knows the way to an Americans heart is to add more cupholders..

I'm not sure this is right. In europe you can buy cars way more stripped down than you can in the US. Example: A BMW or MB would be a typical rental car or taxi cab. In the US if you want BMW 3-series the lowest model you can get comes with a 3.3 liter engine and leather interior. In europe you can get the same car with a economical 2 liter engine and vinyl interior, and manual windows. Its pretty much the same story for the entire product line, and with MB as well. But they sometimes can get cars we can't because the manufacture doesn't want to EPA or DOT the car (I remember back in the day BMW offered a 315, 316, 318, 318i, 320, 320i, 320i/6, 323i/6. (it was the same story for the for the '02 cars where you could get a 1502, 1602, 1802, 2002, 2002ti, 2002tii, 2002 ti touring, but int he US we only got the 2002). In the US at the same time you could only get a 320 which was really 318. I remember when I had my 635 all you could get in the US was a 630, but in europe you could get a 625, 628, 630, and 635). A good example of that is the VW 3-cylider turbo diesel that about 75 mpg, or the Audi RS4 (I think they actually sell a detuned version for the US now). Back in 1974 you could buy a Porsche Carrera in the US with 165hp, but the euro version came with 210 hp. In 73 they didn't even sell the 210hp Carrera in the US. The 1988 959 was also never sold in the US.

 

[Racer X 69]

I'm just saying, here in America we get ripped off by bean counting pencil pushers who knows the way to an Americans heart is to add more cupholders..

The first dozen cars I owned never had cupholders. I had to set my beer between my legs when driving so it wouldn't spill.

As for the newbies infiltrating our roads today, I can tell you that training companies like TransAM and US Express are making it even easier for the average Joe to truck drive with their Automatic trucks. I wouldn't be surprised to see England and Swift decide to pay a little extra for auto trucks to save from downtime caused by a rookie burning the clutch or snapping a U-Joint. All I know is I'll have to worry about trucks fading their brakes a whole lot more coming down hills now thanks to Automatic trucks. Yes I know Auto's have a manual gear selector but I also know that a rookie will be distracted trying to recite the SMITHS safety system while hogging the middle lane doing 58mph. He/She has no time to pay attention to the road, and after they gain some courage to drive the truck, they'll soon be distracted by their generic overpriced tablet they just bought from the Loves.

The truth, for sure.

As far as adding aftermarket airbags to help soften the ride, you just made the trucks handling sloppier. Now its going to lean over in every cross breeze just like a Cascadia flopping around in a cross fart. Say no to the Cascadia's characteristics and more importantly, say no the the Cascadia..

Agreed.

Even the rigs I have driven with airbag drives (which ride very nice) give that odd feeling like they are ready to lay over on their side when running out in Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming where the wind always seems to be blowing steadily at right angles to the road.

Spooky feeling, for sure.

It would be nice if they had anti-roll bars (sway bars for the technically ignorant) on the suspension like cars and pickups. It would help with chassis stability immensely.

 

[CamelTrucker]

Big rigs remind of of older Range Rovers. They in 1990, the Range Rover had an optional or I think it was a new standard feature which helped stabilize the rig under emergency maneuvers. What a feature! I couldn't stop laughing at your beer comment.