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This New Western Star 4900 Is The Ideal Commercial Truck.

Western Star 4900 Truck Is Truly The Best Commercial Truck For Use

If you’ve ever needed dependability in a truck, rely on the Western Star. These vehicles are entirely strong enough to handle any job on the road, at the site, or for a customer. Whichever your need may be, the 4900 model is a worthwhile choice.

Modern vocational trucks seem to be getting more compact. Compared to traditional long-nose conventionals, most of the dump trucks I see in Ohio have shorter hoods that slope rakishly toward the ground ahead. This makes them more practical to drive, plus it cuts weight and cost. But there’s still a market for the big-nosed truck, and most manufacturers offer one. Western Star has the 4900 model, and it’s an example of the type of truck preferred by “old-school” truckers, even if their numbers are dwindling.

That customer description is from Tony Apollonio, sales manager at Fyda Freightliner, Western Star’s branch in Zanesville, Ohio, who made our subject truck available to drive. That it’s a 2019 model and has been on his lot for a while is an illustration of the declining desirability of this type of vehicle among most buyers. Western Star builds 4900s for duties more severe than normal dump trucking, and outfits them with heavier duty frames, axles, suspensions, and powertrains. Although it’s available with Detroit’s 12.8-liter DD13 diesel, as in our test truck, it also can be ordered with the larger DD15 and the X15 from Cummins. They slip right into the compartment sheltered by that long fiberglass hood, whereas the shorter Western Star 4700 model’s biggest engine is the DD13. Optional are the 11.9-liter Cummins X12, as well as the trim 8.9-liter Cummins L9 for those who want to shave off more pounds.

Weight is one penalty paid by buyers of any larger truck, Apollonio said. He compared this 4900 with DD13-powered 4700s in his inventory and concluded that, spec for spec, the 4900 weighs about 1,800 pounds more. Much of that is a longer frame due to the truck’s 17-inch-greater wheelbase, and the rest is the hood itself. At 120 inches, its bumper-to-back-of-cab dimension is 10 to 11 inches longer than a 4700’s BBC. Cabs are the same size, so the BBC’s extra length is ahead of the cowl.

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