New xl

Shifty · 01-16-2021, 08:33 PM

picked up my new 2021 3801TS xl in Tampa last week and drove it home to Pennsylvania pulling a car trailer with suv on it . So far everything went well only issue is they must of wired the thermostats wrong for the furnace and I'm waiting for a call back from a tech . Anyway my question is does anybody know why they did away with the CB radio and the tpms and I forgot to mention it has all those new safty features which will drive you crazy .

halla · 01-16-2021, 09:13 PM

CB had a lot of complaints for never working, so they dumped it. Never had built in TPMS.

Glad you had a good trip, welcome to the family.

CyberShanks · 01-16-2021, 09:41 PM

I’ve been all over the net looking into these lately. It looks like the XL used to have a TST TPMS but may have switched over to a Bendix. I believe the TST was mounted to the dash and stuck out a bit, the Bendix is round and looks to be mounted in the dash panel. Regardless everything I have read and seen the XL should come with TPMS.

Stinks about the CB, I would have been one to use it.. Cobras are good ones too, probably just needed squelch turned down some.

Jim

Shifty · 01-16-2021, 09:57 PM

From what I can see is they put one of the safety monitors on the dash where the tpms was but your right my paper work said it was supposed to have it as far as the CB goes i can afford to buy one lol but the problem is now I have to cut a hole in the woodgrain cover up at the ceiling

JC70 · 01-17-2021, 01:47 AM

We have an XL RB on order. Eliminating the CB is not a good idea. Ours worked just fine in the Force and came in handy with traffic situations while traveling the intestates. Monitor channel 19 and truckers usually broadcast what's going on up ahead, especially when traffic slows to a crawl. I like to know what's ahead of me and in most cases would find out over the CB.

Relaxin in the woods · 01-17-2021, 10:35 AM

If they're not going to back a CB, would it be so hard to leave a cubby for easy installation?

For traffic issues, doesn't the Garmin doesn't help at all? When we're on a road trip and things go south, whichever one of us is navigator is busier than the one that's driving. With one device on Waze and another on Google Maps, we get a really good picture of what's going on even before we're near a backup. If we can't work around it, at least we know we're on the least bad route through the mess.

**bclemens** · 01-17-2021, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shifty

picked up my new 2021 3801TS xl in Tampa last week and drove it home to Pennsylvania pulling a car trailer with suv on it . So far everything went well only issue is they must of wired the thermostats wrong for the furnace and I'm waiting for a call back from a tech . Anyway my question is does anybody know why they did away with the CB radio and the tpms and I forgot to mention it has all those new safty features which will drive you crazy .

On the XL, we went from Bendix, to TST so that they were all the same and you could add the tow vehicle if you wanted. The TST screen is portable...so check the drawers, they may not have mounted it.

The CB, yes, never worked "well" because Freightliner uses a "multi-purpose" antenna. The cubby is still there so do what you like...I think it is still pre-wired. Though on the XL, the cubby will hopefully be the site for the WABCO readout.

Shifty · 01-17-2021, 11:40 AM

Wabco readout is on right lower corner of dash and I've been in all the draws and there's also no tst but there was no locks on refrigerator doors either and furnace fans are wired wrong but I've been in touch with colleen and she sent locks and looking into furnace fans

**bclemens** · 01-17-2021, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shifty

Wabco readout is on right lower corner of dash and I've been in all the draws and there's also no tst but there was no locks on refrigerator doors either and furnace fans are wired wrong but I've been in touch with colleen and she sent locks and looking into furnace fans

There was a little confusion early on...

Mobileeye was standard on the XL...so the guy got used to putting it on, but with the Wabco it is not needed. We caught a couple that had both (since corrected, but we may not have caught them al).

It was the reverse on the TPMS...the XL got it from Freightliner so they got used to NOT installing it. So when they started coming in "without" they may have just assumed it was there. With all the shortages lately it has been a mess.

Colleen will get you squared away.

Edit: and yes, Wabco is on the main part of the dash because the wires were not long enough from Freightliner to move. We talked about moving it to the CB location (They are checking on that) OR, we are going to modify the dash (delete the clock, move some switches) to get room on the lower dash panel from Freightliner so we don't need to mess with it.

CyberShanks · 01-17-2021, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclemens

On the XL, we went from Bendix, to TST so that they were all the same and you could add the tow vehicle if you wanted. The TST screen is portable...so check the drawers, they may not have mounted it.

The CB, yes, never worked "well" because Freightliner uses a "multi-purpose" antenna. The cubby is still there so do what you like...I think it is still pre-wired. Though on the XL, the cubby will hopefully be the site for the WABCO readout.

Sounds like I had the TST and Bendix backwards, Hopefully Brian will expand on what this WABCO readout deal is?

Thanks,
Jim

**bclemens** · 01-17-2021, 11:51 AM

WABCO is active forward collision mitigation and adaptive cruise from Freightliner

Shifty · 01-17-2021, 12:06 PM

Your right I have both , if I do away with the mobile eye will wabco tell me when I drift over the line also

EdandShelley · 01-17-2021, 12:47 PM

We have an XL and experienced the poor CB performance (as Brian mentioned) due to the antenna and cable. Causing high SWR readings.

Took on a project and removed the factory cable. Found that it had 6 connections.... wow. Clearly designed for the manufacturing line.

Then (as always happens) I decided to do an “upgrade” and go with dual mirror antennas (fire sticks with tunable tips). Not that we needed it...just did it because I wanted to and liked the dual look as a kid.

Ran Co-phase CB antenna wire from the radio to each antenna (reducing the number of connections to three...back of radio and each antenna). Had to do a little work on the passenger mirror to adapt it for an antenna and buy a mount.

Upgraded CB to a Cobra 29 LX with NOAA weather alerts (this feature is awesome and has woke us up in the middle of the night due to a tornado warning). Love it!

Last thing I did was another “upgrade” by putting an external speaker above and behind the driver seat so I can hear the radio and we can hear NOAA alerts. Otherwise it is very muffled in the overhead. And...a PA speaker...why? I was already running cables and it was $15 on Amazon.

Lots of lessons learned about cable routing, etc. If anyone takes this on...don’t hesitate to reach out... Save several hours of hunting for firewall access and cable paths.

DXL2 · 01-17-2021, 12:55 PM

Freightliner Sportchassis had a very simple space saving set-up for a CB...I really don't prefer one unless in hazardous conditions or for emergencies, but the smaller, the simpler, the better for my end use....

DXL2 · 01-17-2021, 12:59 PM

So this would be my preference if I were to rework mine...I would hide the small box under the dash and hang the microphone similar to what Sportchassis did...out of sight, out of mind until needed...NOAA WEATHER SCAN + ALERT - NOAA Weather Scan will automatically scan through 10 available weather (WX) band channels and locks onto the strongest weather channel to alert you of severe weather updates. NOAA Weather Alert will sound an alarm indicating that there is a risk of severe weather in your area.

Shifty · 01-17-2021, 02:20 PM

I'm a retired truck driver so I've put my share of CB's in lol. Had already planned to put in new cable and firestick but didn't plan on cutting hole in upper panel . Reason I still need CB is i pull a race trailer and run with 2or 3 other guys down the road also if I'm sitting in traffic i like to know why , only reason I'm mentioning it is because I'm sure there's people reading this saying who still uses a CB . Lol

Invisibleman · 01-17-2021, 04:35 PM

Is the CB still included in the new Force HD?
WABCO, Mobileeye?

**bclemens** · 01-17-2021, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Invisibleman

Is the CB still included in the new Force HD?
WABCO, Mobileeye?

No CB, No Waboco (that is XL only)

Mobileye is still an option.

EdandShelley · 01-17-2021, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DXL2

So this would be my preference if I were to rework mine...I would hide the small box under the dash and hang the microphone similar to what Sportchassis did...out of sight, out of mind until needed...NOAA WEATHER SCAN + ALERT - NOAA Weather Scan will automatically scan through 10 available weather (WX) band channels and locks onto the strongest weather channel to alert you of severe weather updates. NOAA Weather Alert will sound an alarm indicating that there is a risk of severe weather in your area.

If you need a CB... this is the way to go! Use the space above for another storage Cubby.

Rancher Rob · 01-17-2021, 06:22 PM

I've had my XL for coming up on 2 years now and still don't have a working CB despite asking the local dealer, truck stops, local radio shops, the local freightliner shop, and even the Dynamax factory (where it is currently sitting for repairs). I've replaced the CB radio, the antenna lead (twice) and the antenna and still can't get it to work. Like others have said, it is super helpful in emergencies or traffic jams (mine works for a couple hundred yards distance) but it's been very frustrating not being able to get it to work right nor finding anyone that is willing or able to fix it. CB's seem to be a rapidly dying method of communication. I suspect soon the frequency band will be usurped for other purposes.

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