Posted by Jeff in N. Texas on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 at 9:05PM :
In Reply to: Any Ex Truck Drivers Here From The 50's?? posted by Marty on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 at 7:06PM :
It is true. I ran fleets of trucks in the mid 80's and early 90's. Front brakes were not required, and were an option on most big trucks until maybe the late 70's or so. I do not remember the exact date that brakes were required on all axles. It was, until the DOT got tough, common practice to back off or disconnect brakes on the front axle on big trucks. This was to prevent the front wheels from locking up in hard brake applications. If the front brakes locked, you could not steer in an accident avoidence situation