Where is (Western Star) located on the "Truck Brand Totem Pole?"

Ya the top half right above peterbuilt and kw

 

IHC at the bottom?

So this would be your last choice for use as a local lowboy tractor?



You have a lot to learn before you buy a truck. You haven't even said what you intend to use it for.

 

The Stars are the preferred truck of most of the loggers up here. There must be something to that.

 

Hey....how come no one put Sterling/Ford on their list?? I slipseat between a Sterling and an International...I prefer the Sterling over the Int'l....prefer the Petes over either Sterling or Int'l.

Do other people have as hard a time shifting a Meritor tranny in an Internation as I do...it has 500k miles on it, and can't get it out of 7th or 8th gear sometimes....need to pop it out so hard it grinds the opposite gear when it comes out......POS.

 

I only drove 1 Stirling, and it was the biggest POS I have ever seen. I didn't know somebody could make trucks that bad.

Drove lots of FL's and they looked comfy but poorly made

Drove lots of International's and they always seemed simple, not over comfortable but reliable trucks

Drove a few Mack's. Hate them. Hate driving them, hate the interiors, hate the exteriors. Seemed poorly designed and poorly built.

Drove one Volvo, can't get my head around the car like feel they have. It is like they are on a mission to make it as far from a truck as possible. "Let's not be anything like any other truck" is not a good thing in my opinion.

The KW I drive now is the first one. Has close to a million miles but it is still the nicest truck I have ever driven. Well made. Rock solid. Any other truck I have driven that is this old seems "tired" but this one does not have that feel. It is not perfect, but I will take the few minor things wrong with it rather than drive anything else I have ever driven.

Never driven a Pete or a Western Star.

I think not many of us have drive a brand new truck right up until it has a million miles, so the conditions of the trucks we see depend on who drove them before us, who was looking after them, and how they were maintained. Does not matter what the make, a brand new truck will always seem nice, and a 10 year old truck will almost always seem junky.

I also think that any truck is going to be decent if you look after it and learn how to make the most out of it. Except Stirlings, they all suck.

 

I'm very late to the discussion here but I wanted to add my 2 cents.

I run a fleet of 10 trucks full time and 2 more part time all in the bush on either the wood or chip haul in North Western Ontario.

In my opinion the Kelowna Western Stars were second to none. I still have a 96,97 and 99 all built there. My Mexican built Stars are not near the quality of truck. The best truck I own right now hands down is my 07 Kenworth 900B. We grease it and send it right back out. It has been back to the dealership once in 3 years and I am VERY hard on trucks pulling 70,000kilos on hills that you need to go from 6th over to the creeper on.

I own several Peterbilts and have found them to be a lower quality than the stars (even the current stars) but there is dealership right here so that is why I buy them. There seems to be a never ending flow of wiring/guage problems with them and the Peterbilt air ride can't handle my terrain. We go through springs like nones business with them.

I've never owned a Volvo, Mack, FL or International so I can't comment on them.

I can tell you thought that within my industry up here the general concensus would be
1)KW
2)Peterbilt
3) Star

The rest don't really get a representation very much. There is the odd guy who buys a Int or FL but they can never resell them here and generally don't keep them very long.

Oh one more thing. I have owned 2 Ford/Sterling 9500's. Worst bush trucks ever. EVER. As soon as they went to the aero cabs they went away from being tough enough.

 

Western Star started as the high end truck for who??? That would be Freightliner, they used the same cab that I grew up in, and we had 66-69 White 6000's and 9000's. I remember the photo spread from either HDT(heavy duty trucking) or OO Mag. that announced the new Star, they had this HOT american indian chic draped over this tan Star w/ a western looking paint job, SMOKIN'! Which had,iirc, a 60" or 66" standup sleeper. I do think it was b4 Pete, but after KW, not positive on that.

 

Have a 2004 Star never owned kenworth or Pete. But off of looks
1. Pete
2. Kenworth
3. Star 04 and older

 

Won't get into my opinions of other makes. But my last two trucks are a 2013 4900 Star and now a 2020.

The good:
I like the styling. I like the cab and the interior. Still just like the old Star's. I like old school trucks and love the ability to have 20 gauges in the dash. They have the nicest interior out there, though they are about to ruin that as they are making small changes to the interior and also have a new Freightliner aluminum cab model coming out this summer.
Frame and crossmembers are good and tough. Cabs are tough.
Quiet and very smooth riding even with my 20 and 46 axles.
They have Detroit power (best out there now that Cat is gone.)

The bad: BUILD QUALITY. Ordered new trucks with all the optional wood grain in the dash, doors panels and steering wheel. Looks beautiful if they didn't come scratched.
Some switches don't sit flat in the dash (kinda warped)
They can't seem to make a clutch pedal that doesn't squeak.
Windshield wipers sawed off air lines deep in the dash on the 2013.
Power window regulators are a cable system and they all fail every two years or so.
Exterior paint peeling issues.
And just a lot of simple stupid little problems that should be caught at the factory. Mostly cosmetic stuff.

Ya, maybe I'm picky, but at well over 200 grand, I expect good build quality.

Despite that, still my favorite interior to sit in and the Detroit engines.