old cars

[browniehound]

yeah i was driving through the ted williams tunnel coming back from the airport and the driver in front of me made his truck backfire. I almost had a heart attack right there, cause I didn't know what it was at first. I'm lucky I didn't crash the truck.

 

[disneyworld]

Our competitors have no standard or manual steering vehicles....

So how do they steer if they are not steered manually? Remote control?

 

[over9five]

I'm not sure if you're kidding, but...

Manual steering as opposed to Power steering.

 

[DS]

I`m with Matt on this one.Mines a 1980`s p800 thats got the old steering,but its nice to drive,and mostly dependable.They have the new p700`s here automatic with power steering but the back doors are like the old P5`s that swing out.I had one for 2 days and I hated it.My area is heavy on the bulk deliveries and bulk pickups.I`d say I save 15 min a day and a lot less leg work with my p8 ,but I gotta agree my old knees are starting to feel that helicopter jump and climb in and out of the cab 200 times a day.They might look cool lowered...just add flames...

 

[Big Babooba]

I've driven a new 700 with mixed feelings. They do ride great and go like hell but they don't have as tight turning radius and they are horrible in snow. Ours have wierd low mount mirrors that are terrible in the day and almost useless at night. The back doors are pocket style (sliders) and if packages shift, the doors wont open.

 

[dannyboy]

There is only one thing wrong with a well maintained P600 or P800. And that is the distance from the steps to the ground.

The well maintained older car will have stiffer steering, but not so bad that you cant turn it. And of course, if you are moving, you should be able to turn it with one hand without straining too bad.

If the car has been kept clean and the front and rear doors work, and the cab in not full of holes, it is not a bad ride.

But unfortunately, the company does not see fit to keep them well maintained, as they know they will soon trash many of them. So why put money into something you will throw away?

While the large first step is no big deal for the newer drivers, when you have been delivering out of one for 20 years or more, the knees and hips start to take the wear. So the newer cars help out in this regard.

As to the extra power, well the newer ones did when we first got them. But to save fuel, at the cost of performance, many have been adjusted to where the older gas cars have better umph. 308 used to hit 70 going up the on ramp to the interstate, but now you are lucky to have hit 35 at the top of the hill a half mile past the on ramp.

So once again to save a few bucks a day in fuel, they have taken a good vehicle and made it mediocre. I figure they lose 5 times that in hourly wages because drivers can not get to road speeds anymore.

d

 

[cashmen]

I just loved the sounds of squealing brakes on the older vehicles!
Everytime I write it up, the next day the mechanic puts brakes are fines, they just old!
I laugh at that.....lol

 

[dannyboy]

Ya ever popped a wheely on one of the old 6 or 8's? That is a thrill. Front wheels come off the ground at least a foot to 18 inches. Not very safe though.

Impossible or next to impossible to do with the newer vehicles.

d

 

[scratch]

Ya ever popped a wheely on one of the old 6 or 8's? That is a thrill. Front wheels come off the ground at least a foot to 18 inches. Not very safe though.d

No,
But one time I was behind one that got completely airborne. I was entering the exit ramp to get off the interstate. A P-600 in front of me lost his brakes and the driver went off the road. The other driver hit a small hill in the grass, this exit ramp went downhill. He went completely airborne, somehow he managed to keep it upright and stopped it somehow. He said he had to clean his pants out after that.

 

[dannyboy]

No doubt!

I suspect devine intervention perhaps?

d

 

[traveler]

Just read this on a plane from Newark to Orlando and thought this article might be of interest to all:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/automobiles/25HYDRO.html

 

[wily_old_vet]

No,
But one time I was behind one that got completely airborne. I was entering the exit ramp to get off the interstate. A P-600 in front of me lost his brakes and the driver went off the road. The other driver hit a small hill in the grass, this exit ramp went downhill. He went completely airborne, somehow he managed to keep it upright and stopped it somehow. He said he had to clean his pants out after that.

I was going to route one rainy morning and made a bad decision about a stale green. Realized I wasn't going to make it through in time and hit the brakes. Did a 360 in a p800. Fortunately no one was in the lanes around me. As I waited for light to turn green would not even look over to the cars that had pulled up beside me at the light. Talk about a cardio workout. Amazing thing was no packages fell off the shelf.

 

[DS]

The hydraulics assissted engine...wow its far out but if it works thats great.I just cant get over the 4 hydraulic tanks,each holding 22 gallons of oil.By my estimate this would increase the overall weight of the vehicle by over 734 pounds.Add 5 dump stops at 500 lbs each and the actual weight of the package car,and I bet all the extra power would be used up going from 1st to 3rd gear.So dump trucks...good idea pkg cars maybe not...

 

[iloadthetruck]

The hydraulics assissted engine...wow its far out but if it works thats great.I just cant get over the 4 hydraulic tanks,each holding 22 gallons of oil.By my estimate this would increase the overall weight of the vehicle by over 734 pounds.Add 5 dump stops at 500 lbs each and the actual weight of the package car,and I bet all the extra power would be used up going from 1st to 3rd gear.So dump trucks...good idea pkg cars maybe not...

If I read the article right, the tanks are filled with pressurized nitrogen, not oil. That means it's being put under so much pressure that it becomes a liquid. Nitrogen isn't really that heavy. And the goal, I think, is to reduce the energy needed for stop-and-go driving, which a package car does at an infinitely higher rate than an everyday commuter vehicle.

 

[DS]

This stuff can be dangerous.What about accidents?
What are the real ramifictions of nitrogen related leaks?
Thalidamide seemed to work at first too.

 

[iloadthetruck]

Seeing as how 78% of the Earth's atmosphere is composed of nitrogen, you and I are exposed to it with every breath we take. So if this is elemental nitrogren, I wouldn't worry. The examples in that link are nitrogen compounds, not nitrogen by itself. Nitrogen is mostly inert on its own. As a matter of fact, some packaged food has the air replaced with pure nitrogen to keep it from spoiling more quickly.

Here is an article I found - I believe this is related to what is in the "all-hydraulic" truck. It sounds like there is another fluid involved but doesn't say what. It still is all very, very cool.

http://www.designnews.com/article/CA220671.html

 

[creeups]

I drove a p500 last night. It backfires, like most of our cars do. Being standard time, it's dark when I get in to the center. I didn't know flames come out of the tailpipe when they backfire. It was COOL! I felt like Jesse James!

The p1000 I drove today has 505,000 miles.

 

[VoiceOfReason]

The p1000 I drove today has 505,000 miles.

We have some 8's with 600,000+ on them. When I got to drive I can honestly say that my favorite truck was the P800, it had get up and go. No top end but 2nd and 3rd were good.

I always filled in so i got to drive everything the 500's are dangerous I drove 2 that swerved for no reason at highway speeds, I had a low step 10 that said spicer on the stick, pretty alright and then the automatic 12's are really nice to drive on the freeway but they are so danged big for crawling around behind business parks and the 1,000,001 concrete poles in the parking lots. We have some new 7's and new 12's now that are the cats pajama's as far as being sweet operating vehicles but the new front ends are UGLY.