best handling truck?

I'll get something started here I bet but, I sure like the way my Freightliner Columbia rides & drives.

 

Never have driven a large car...but I personally liked my KW t-600. It turned just about as tight as a century but felt sturdier. I'm not very good at the mechanics end so I can't help you with the ratio numbers and what all that means. Sorry. I'm sure one of the more knowledgeable members will pop in here. I've driven Cornbinders and Fr8shakers, and my T-6. People call t-6's an anteater but personally I think the look more like a praying mantis

 

Problem is there are so many different setups wheel base and suspension load capacity double frames.

The ones that are the best on the open road, suck in town. So it's all a compromise, there ain't one truck that is the best at everything.

I'll guess that the best handling is a flat top extended wheelbase with rack and pinion steering and air bags all the way around.

 

Any tractor with a lower center of gravity will corner better... that leaves out the condos.

I like Peterbilt's Low Air Leaf the best but the Pete Air Leaf and Air Trac's have been pretty good, too. I don't have much seat time with the Flex-Air but it felt pretty good in the 386 I drove for a day.

I'll take a good handling truck over one with a short wheel cut any day... you always hear guys bragging about how easy their FL/Volvo/Farmall is to park but I may only spend two minutes each day parking but 18 hours in the saddle...

Don't forget wheelbase has a lot to do with foul weather stability... a longer WB makes the truck react slower to adverse road conditions... pretty handy in snow and ice. You can have those 212" WB fleet jobs...

 

Well i've owned 3 freightliner flds with 232wb and thought they drove and handled good untill i bought my 1st pete 379 with a 260wb with air leaf and it rode way better than the fld's then i got another with a 265 and air trac and rode ok now my 3rd pete has a 280wb with flex air and it rides like a dream, the best handleing truck i've owned.

 

A snippet of the KW W900 AG400 suspension =



40,000lbs.

http://www.kenworth.com/brochures/KenworthAirSuspension.pdf

Check it out, shows you the difference between AG380,AG400/460/690. Hopefully that'll help!

 

My pete has a 550 cat with some modes and an 18spd with 3.36's and i pull a flat in the northeast at gross 90% of the time when loaded and get between 5.8 to 6.2mpg evry quater and i'am not light on the pedal.