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It's Time For Cabover Trucks To Make A Comeback

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C C Offline
https://jalopnik.com/its-time-for-cabove...1830967545

EXCERPT: [...] Trucks keep increasing in size because every generation has to beat the previous generation on payload capacity with a larger bed. [...] Manufacturers are in a towing capacity arms race, and nobody really benefits. Does any civilian really need to be able to tow 21,000 pounds, or put 7000 pounds of stuff in the bed? Most folks, like myself, need a truck for odd jobs around the house, runs to Home Depot, and maybe the twice-a-year boat tow to the lake. I don’t necessarily need to put super heavy things in the bed, but many larger lightweight things. I need to be able to haul long wood posts or sheets of ply-board, maybe a cute rug for the dining room.

A forward-control style small pickup would be the best of both worlds for most drivers, as the truck’s maneuverability and visibility would be far greater than any other truck with a giant hood stretching out front, and it would still have the same capabilities of the larger trucks, but could fit a longer bed on the same size wheelbase.

Cabovers, especially as they relate to the trucking industry in America, used to be quite popular, as the maximum length of truck and trailer was once ten feet shorter than what is legal now. Truckers could haul more payload with a longer trailer if they didn’t need as much space for an engine up front. In the end traditional big hood trucks won out because over the road truckers thought they looked cooler. In Europe, where more practical heads prevail, cabover tractors are the norm.

The same premise exists in civilian trucks as well. With the cab of the truck taking up the same section of wheelbase as the engine, you can have a more capable and easier to drive pickup. When you are sitting on the nose of the truck, you can see exactly where the nose is during tight maneuverability moments....

MORE: https://jalopnik.com/its-time-for-cabove...1830967545
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