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BBC – not the broadcasting company

Not Beautiful British Columbia. Or Big Bear Chopper. It doesn’t stand for Big Block Chevy either. Nope, not Brake Before Clutch. So why is BBC used in descriptions?

BBC – not the broadcasting company Image

It isn’t about character count, or trying to be difficult – but asking what the BBC on your truck is to ensure we provide the correct part numbers and application for your rig.

Many of our cab panels – mostly on the Peterbilt line of products – list a BBC measurement, along with the term short-hood or long-hood. The BBC measurement is the distance between the front of the bumper and the back of the cab.  The VIN of the truck will call out this information – typically under the hood section.

The measurement is important when determining cab panels especially, but also come into play for some fender guards on our Western Star and International line of products. For the W900 Kenworth’s, the BBC measurements are different between the W900B and the W900L – with the L version being the longer one. Our catalogs and websites list these as either the W900B or the W900L and not by BBC measurement as this is what is the industry standard.

Our customer service team are unable to run your VIN, so a dealership will need to check that information for you to get that information if you aren’t sure. Afterall, we don’t want to pick wrong part numbers for your truck.

With the redesign of our websites recently, the subcategories help facilitate determining the information you need and can quickly narrow down the options available for your rig.

Even though the locations are specified – being the front of the bumper and the back of the cab – it is important that the information be found in the VIN, to ensure that the most accurate measurement is given. After all, where it is measured at the factory or design level could be different than where you are measuring.