The T800 is the heavy-duty member of Kenworth’s aerodynamic family. Introduced in 1986, a year after the T600, it applied the sloped hood and set-back front axle of that truck to a heavier chassis, and it has stayed in production ever since.
Kenworth T800 at a glance
| Introduced | 1986 |
|---|---|
| Based on | Kenworth T600 |
| Hood | sloped, with a set-back front axle |
| Distinguishing features | round fenders, grille similar to the W900, optional exposed air cleaners |
| Body styles | semitractor and straight truck |
| Uses | severe service, regional and long-haul shipping, dump trucks, heavy haulage |
| Status | listed as current production since 1986 |
| Wide-body sibling | T880, introduced in 2014 |
| Maker | Kenworth, a PACCAR company |
History of the Kenworth T800
Kenworth launched the aerodynamic conventional in 1985 with the T600. The T600 was a highway tractor built around fuel economy, and a year later the company used the same ideas for a heavier truck: the T800 took the sloped hoodline and set-back front axle and put them on a heavy-duty chassis. In 1988 the shorter-hood T400 followed as a regional tractor.
The T800 differs from the T600 in several visible ways: it has round fenders instead of the integrated lower body of the T600, an optional exposed air cleaner and a grille similar to the W900. It is built both as a semitractor and as a straight truck, which lets it serve as a dump truck, a heavy hauler or a vocational chassis as well as a long-haul tractor.
The T800 has been in production since 1986 and is still listed among Kenworth’s current North American models. In 2014 it was joined by the T880, the first wide-body Kenworth for vocational applications, which shares the cab of the T680; Kenworth describes the T880 as the successor of the T800 in that role. The two model lines have been sold side by side since then.
Design and features
- Heavy-duty chassis: the T600 layout applied to a heavier truck.
- Round fenders: one of the details that separate it from the T600.
- W900-style grille: a more traditional face than the aerodynamic T600.
- Two body styles: sold as a semitractor and as a straight truck.
- Wide range of work: from dump trucks and severe service to regional and long haul.
Kenworth T800 versions
- T800 (1986–): the standard heavy-duty conventional.
- T800 as a straight truck: the chassis-cab version for dump and vocational bodies.
- T880 (2014–): the wide-body vocational model that shares the T680 cab.
- T800B, T800W and T800SH: further designations of the T800 family.
The T800 is the heavy-duty version of the T600, with the shorter-hood T400 below it and the wide-body T2000 above it in the aerodynamic line. The traditional alternative is the W900. More trucks are in the Kenworth collection.
Video: Kenworth T800 Studio Sleeper
Video by Luis Ortega on YouTube.
Sources
- Kenworth T600, English Wikipedia: T800 section: heavy-duty variant, round fenders, grille, uses
- Kenworth, English Wikipedia: T800 of 1986, current model list, T880 of 2014
