Why stretch a Semi?

[Prop Shaft]

my curiousity on this has gotten the better of me and I need to know. What is the point of stretching a semi to ridiculous lengths? Is it just a show truck coolness factor thing? Or is there a practical use for it? I understand needing extra length to make room for more axles/bigger sleeper, etc. But I see so many trucks with miles of empty frame between the cab and rear axles. Just seems to me like nothing more then a handicap on maneuverability. Im not trying to ruffle any feathers here, id really just like to know what others opinions on this are.

[Northern Farmer]

Low and slow Just a style if you ask me but yes I agree at a certain point when the chassis is simply too long the truck starts to look funny looking and odd in my opinion.

[Cooper]

I'm not a truck driver but have driven toters with ridiculously short wheel bases and when loaded and unloaded it's like a buck board. I would assume for long haul point a to b drives a long wheelbase is a better ride.

[1985 kenworth]

there is a reason for the longer wheelbase ..back in the day when transport companies would haul steel...bridge girders or rebar for the highways ,the dot did not want it to overhang too much out the tail of the trailer in case if someone got hurt.So the transport companies started ordering tractors with longer wheelbases so the rebar could hang over the the front of the trailer hence the longer wheelbase tractor for the swing ,so the rebar would clear the back of the cab .When the West Coast guys (california) started seeing these tractors up and down the highways they began to get trucks with the longer wheelbase because they thought the setup was cool.It just skyrocketed from there .i myself like longer tractors .I don't like the trailer sitting that close to the back of the cabs ,i prefer the longer wheelbase.My own 85 Kenworth W900B has a 250"wheelbase which is about as long as i can go to be legal to haul a 53ft trailer and stay within the legal length law in Ontario..hope this helps you and others out understanding some of us crazy guys ...lol

[bigford]

mine is 265'' wb with a 30' sand trailer.. a lot of guys around here buy long
sleeper trucks then remove the sleepers. they think it looks cool

[Prop Shaft]

Thanks for the responses. Ive never driven a tractor truck. The extent of my truck experience was driving a 40' boom truck for a lumber yard in my younger days. It was the overhanging of loads in front of the trailer that I was overlooking. But I guess I was correct in assuming it was mostly a "coolness" thing. Do you guys who prefer long tractors find it harder or get annoyed trying to jockey trailers around? Or is it an acceptable trade off for over the road performance?

[bigford]

i have 625 hp so there is plenty of power. any longer in NYC and it gets hard to get around

[Ken Orme]

In the days before interstates most of the highways in the west were blacktop. The idea then was as the front axel passed over a point it would set up a vibration in the blacktop. With a longer WB most of the vibration would stop before the rear axle passed over the same point. Less damage to the road.

[JAMMER]

Some of it had to do with bridge laws. This is were the load is on the truck and trailer the distance between the wheels and the weight. Ed