Kenworth VS Western Star

My very vague recallection was a story on 60 minutes or one of those programs, I thought it was Volvo or Ford?

If I remember correctly the Volvo F12 Globetrotter was renowned for suddenly going apeshit in the steering and driving itself off the road. Some design flaw that Volvo never recognised back in the late 1970's/early 1980's.

I know Atkinson had troubles back in the early 80's with front springs snapping the eye off....twas a few deaths I think till they added a wrap leaf around them.

Back in the mid 90's when I was in the workshop that had the Ford agency here,there was a major recall for all LTLs to have the steering arms pulled, crack tested and refitted/replaced. It involved the ones that are bolted through the stub axle. They would crack on the taper around the keyway. I hated that job as at the time I was a last year apprentice and had the job of holding the bar while one of the bigger/older fellas swung the hammer. I only trusted one bloke on the hammer, apart from myself, and he wasn't available one day. His replacement on the job drew back swung like h*ll and missed hitting me on the wrist and jamming it between the hammer and the rim.........ended up with a wrist bigger than my thigh and 4 weeks off.

To this day I hold the bar for NOBODY.............EVER!!!!!!

G

Thought you might be interested in seeing what I believe was the first Western Star to work in Tasmania, Bought by Ray Bender to haul limestone from his quarry at Lune River to the Electrolytic Zinc ( E.Z ) company in Hobart. Had a 8V92tta @520hp, I did many a trip as a boy in it, might have something to do with the love of the two strokes I did a stint on a cray boat and straddling the 3/53 at full song while starting the auxillary brings thrill I can tell ya LOL

Kenworth had issues with the airglide 200 when they 1st came out. Given the wrong road conditions the back end would step out and steer you into the oncoming traffic.A kenworth represenative(engineer?) drove the truck around the block at Hallam Truck Centre and declered nothing was wrong with it. Chris Lennon had his new 401's revised by Sunshine truck repairs in bris and caused quite a drama with kenworth ...regards Peter

I think the issue that you are referring to relating to the "Kenworth Lemons" was to do with the front chassis rails flexing causing handling issues. There were several segments on both sixty minutes and a current affair allocated to this along with a class action against Kenworth the judgement was only handed down in the last 5 or so years so it was quite a protracted case. I can recall one episode of ACA where the owner of one of the said lemons got a large shifter and noticeably twisted the front right chassis rail next to the engine.
As I recall this "flaw" was reported to have caused several accidents and near misses.
I am pretty sure that the judgement when handed down was in Kenworth's favour.

Volvo had a similar problem in the late 70s or early 80s involving "investigative TV journalism" regarding their 20 ton parabolic suspensions "skipping out" and causing the truck to veer across the road becoming a weapon of mass destruction! Tracy Grimshaw eat your heart out! I had an F12 with this offending suspension back in the day, and yes under certain conditions it could cause some puckering moments, particularly with a "dead" load like bagged cement. As stated previously you were awre of the potential issue and drove accordingly. The other fix was to keep it loaded at 20 ton on the drive (as designed for) and no problemo!

Hi all, the best truck i ever owned was a1994 4864FX Western Star.

Hi All

I think Karl is right, guys were speccing big hp trucks with the lightest chassis possible for tare weight reasons i guess and then not happy when the truckchanged lanes by itself - I think it was a combination of light and long chassis, and big hp for the time on a chassis the manufacturer didn't want to sell you but you insisted on, and i am sure Kenworth and Mack were both involved and i guess ford were too

Regards Mark

Just to add to the debate, This is still to this day the nicest truck i have ever driven.

1989 Western Star 4964, 425hp Cat attac 13 speed on reyco 4 spring. Sadly fell victim to a car driver intent on suicide.