Is the t880 a piece of junk?

i would say yes. they are junk

and no, they cannot build a good truck for the masses.

 

I have an ‘18 T880. They had a problem with hood straps. After I went through 4 the first winter and KW had doubled checked the hood adjustment they gave me a couple prototype straps to try. They totally looked identical but have now lasted a couple winters with no issues. In general, I would agree, the T880 is a sad replacement for the T800. It’s unfortunate. I can’t complain about the mechanical aspects of it. Had very little trouble with the drivetrain. Have a MX13 Paccar.

 

If the trucks continually have wiring issues then they need to look for the problem instead of just throwing parts at it. They bundle the wires too tight from the factory and it causes them to rub and chafe and they get holes in the insulation. I’d start by checking where the main wire harnesses come down from the firewall and go under the cab. It’s likely they’re bundled tight to a metal brace off the frame with minimal to no protection at all.

I can’t speak on the T880, but I like the 579 I have. The wide cab is superior in many ways to the old narrow cab Pete’s. But the KW cabs always sealed up better so a comparison of narrow cab models between the brands isn’t fair. But seeing how Pete and KW have updated their medium duty models to use the wide cab I’d say the narrow cab will likely be phased out in the coming years sometime. Especially since KW didn’t do any interior updates to their narrow cab like Peterbilt did.

 

I'll cry if they put that wide cab on the C500 and call it a C550 lol.

 

Which reinforces what I said about wires being bundled too tight. I went thru this with my 2017 579. Had phantom problems that would come and go. Finally cut everything loose, repaired the wires that had rubbed thru, and wrapped CAC boots around the bundles wherever they were tied to metal. If a bunch of trucks are having issues then maybe try and see why they’re having issues. When gauges start jumping around or there are other issues then it’s time to start looking for the reason why they’re doing it. They probably could’ve fixed the wiring instead of putting a new harness on and saved quite a bit of money.

And there are steps that can be taken when the truck is new before it’s even put in service. After fixing the wiring on this truck do you know what I’ll do to my new one in September before it goes to work? I’ll cut the bundles loose and wrap CAC boots around the wires every place they’re tied to metal.

 

When I worked at the dealers I'd always try and mitigate issues like that if they were a common thing I noticed. Problem is it takes time and it seems nobody wants to pay.

 

I drove 1 KW and wasn't impressed. 2021 W900 X15 18 spd. After 10k, switches on the dash stopped working (hazard, PTO, engine brake, and dump valve switches) intermittently, the LCD screen shut off randomly and you had to shut the truck down and start it back up for it to work, the door switch corroded and shorted out all the interior cab lighting, endless rattles, and even though I'm only 6'1" I felt so crammed in there compared to the 386 Pete I drove. I'll never drive another KW if I can help it.