Any Volvo O-O's (780 class) running an I-Shift?

The dealership I got mine from had both the I shift and 13's. They offered such a better warranty package with the I shift it made sense to me to go that way, versus the cheaper initial priced 13.

I also wondered about the XE package, but never could get any answers about what the truck would do in CA and OR at around 55mph. I know the engine is programmed differently, but I think in any kind of rooling hills it would be shifting a lot, or not have enough power when you first started up the grade.

 

I have a 2013 780. Have had it for 18 months. D13 455hp ecotorque 1450-1750 342? rears ishift. It works awesome. It pulls as good as my 2007 387 with a c15 ANYDAY, it's smother, quieter, and I'm up 1.5- 2.5 mpg over my cat. 290,000 kms, one cold coolant leak, traction control light they are still working on, and a king pin seal, o ring this week have been only issues, other than regular maintenance. I have Michelin XZA3+ steers, did one align at the one year mark! I'm hoping to see 320 k kms out of them but we will see. I'm anal about tire pressures and checking the tread depth and after a little trial and error 108 cold keeps them wearing evenly.
The Volvo is not my first pick for truck, I love a hood, but a friend has 3 and raved about them and after looking hard ( and my Pete burned to the ground) I made the plunge. Best decision yet. After 13 hrs behind the wheel I feel great, it is the most comfortable truck to drive, and I love the workstation, love the big fridge.

if I could have ordered I would change these things;

125 gal tank on pass side instead of 150 and moved forward so room for APU
would not get the heat controls with the temperature settings on it just the regular cold to hot settings
ground pounder exhaust so room for tool box behind cab
267 rears with direct drive ishift

things I love and would order again;
built in inverter with battery charger/ shore power, I can plug the truck in when home, fridge doesn't kill batteries and bunk heater keeps anything (water cleaning supplies) from freezing
bunk heater
fridge. It's huge!
workstation!!!
i don't think you can go wrong with the Volvo, if you are on top of regular maintenance and take care of your truck, don't beat the crap out of it, it will serve you well. All the Volvo haters will say the interior is plastic and will crack and squeak, not so, it's very well put together, and it has a steel cab, not plastic like the 387 Pete. This is soooooo much a better truck than the Pete, or the Crapcadia ( had one of those too, it was a nightmare).
Good luck!

 

the ishift behaves great, there is a little learning curve to get a feel for the clutch engagement point but you can ease up to a dock no problem, a little touch on the brakes disengaged the clutch, or it will feel it itself and do it. No real do's or don'ts it's real easy.
Tri PAC is great if you order the built in bunk heater and inverter it makes the tri PAC cheaper.
I have the 13,200 steer and recommend it, you can keep the gap tight that way. Mine is 232. Engine brake is great, when in ecoroll mode truck goes into neutral to roll out and the engine brake cuts in where ever you set it to come in. It's real cool. Or you can pick from 3 different levels and if that's not enough a tug on the stalk when in #3 will get you max engine brake and the trans will down shift and give you max engine brake until you touch the gas and let it know your done, only used this once to try it, it's the most engine brake I've ever seen in a truck.
Take one for a good test drive, get the salesman to show you all the features, if he can't, find a different guy. The other nice one is when stuck in traffic it will creep along, at idle,or you can add revs with the cruise, and if you need to go faster, shift up with your thumb it will give its self a shot of fuel then shift and settle into a faster, or slower if your going down, creep. It's awesome in traffic.

 

I own the vnl and I bought what was rare to find. Why rare? - think, people hold on to the good thing. I have the 06isx with 13spd. Dealer was practically giving away the Volvo motor with the automatic or the ishift trans, I refused and I paid more for what I have. I would have entertained the idea of the isx with ishift but not with the d13 or d16. Europeans are ok as long as they don't cross the boarder . I run in the America, I want American drive train, since Volvo motors are being used as the anchors or rumble strips.

 

Well stated, I agree 100%.

 

Anchors or rumble strips?? WHAT?? The ISX has way more problems than the D13. Especially with EGR systems, CAMS, plugged filters and turbos. My friend is a mechanic who works at a Freightliner dealer and wouldn't recommend touching an ISX. he says their junk. My D13 runs great and hasn't had a bolt touched on it yet, gets way better fuel economy than any ISX. You need to get your facts straight.

 

Don't get acting too haughty Elroy, the Volvo I had that blew a piston at 175k was your vaunted D13. Then the turbo burned out 20k miles later (which was from what I was told, quite odd because they usually burn out at 150k).

After seeing a hole in my engine block the size of my head in a truck I barely had time to break in, I can't come running to the defense of the D13.

 

I can only go on what I am experiencing and see and hear from other owners. What you are describing sounds like a rare occurance?? The ISX problems are well documented, AND , they don't seems to be getting better? EVERYBODY had problems 08-10, but once the ashes cleared Volvo and Detroit seem to have a handle on it and the problems seem to be minor. I have a problem with Freightliner and the way they treat customers who have problems, so as much as I like the products, I would not touch one with a 10ft pole. I saw a pole conducted on owner operators and Volvo scored highest, and by a big margin, over all others. Anyway, I like mine and so far,, knock knock. It's been a good truck.