Instant O/O and Load boards

Just read this thread over past couple days as I had time. Pretty cool story and inspiring not just in the transport world but as a cooperative human endeavor. A daunting challenge moving huge amounts of vital materials around through general traffic, harsh economic forces, and arbitrary law enforcement.

I drove a 2004 Century class Detroit powered unit for some renegade independents out of Grand Rapids, MI from late summer till the other day when their refusal to put vital maintenance like brakes and tires into the truck & trailer forced me to quit. I'd like to get going again as I was just starting to hit my stride, but I don't know what I'm going to wind up doing now. I'm thinking of following your example but still ambivalent about making that sort of financial and time commitment.

 

Totally agree with that - the EGR valve, EGR cooler, extra fault codes, etc are not worth the trouble and expense. And I still believe in what I've heard about pre-emissions trucks getting better fuel mileage for the same HP.

I've got an EGR temp code that trips every once in awhile - used to do it on long climbs and now it just does it when it feels like it. From what I've gathered so far, it's probably a slow valve, or the ECM needs an update. Whatever it is, I wish I could tear the extra equipment off this thing and throw it over the fence. Most people have told me to disable the EGR valve in the closed position and forget it's there - haven't figured out how to do that cleanly yet (without a CEL flashing at me).

Pharm's truck has the same Cummins ISX motor I have, and the same drive ratio and tires. It's a pre-emissions '02 model and we think it might be getting about .5mpg better than my '05. If that's the case, and you consider I'm running a 13spd vs. his Super10 - there may be more than .5mpg difference in the emissions equipment. That's money spent that could be in the bank.

If I had it to do over, I would find an older pre-emissions truck with all maintenance records, and up to date. I'd want about 1400rpm at 70mph for fuel mileage, and either a 13 or 18spd to climb with high drive gears.

The model# on the trans will tell you alot, Eaton Fuller calls out the torque rating in the first 2 numbers of the trans ID : RTOC-18913B is an 1,850 torque max trans. Most are rated at 1,650ft/lbs torque (including my 13spd - rats!) and you'll need the extra torque to pull at low rpm.

The drive ratio and tire size is rocket science, but I'm thinking for the best fuel mpg you should be at 3:30 to 3.40:1 running 22.5 lo-pros. My 3:58's and lo-pro 22.5's run 1,550rpm at 70mph and it drinks fuel at that speed. If the drive tires weren't brand new I'd be looking for a set of 11R22.5's - but I'm stuck with what I bought for now. I'm getting a steady 6mpg loaded to 80k, so it's not the end of the world. With some luck, and the EGR fault fixed, I can hope for better.

This may sound like nit-picking, but fuel mileage is EVERYTHING. Half a mile per gallon would probably pay your truck loan off a year sooner!

 

That .5 mpg number that you are bantering about is pretty accurate. I have the EGR disabled on my '05 780 Volvo with ISX motor, and that was the approximate result of that operation. You won't be able to disable it without getting the "Check Engine ECU" code on the readout. You just have to erase it off the readout every time you start the motor back up. When you do that, just scroll through the diagnostics screen in your readout. Make sure that you don't have any new Engine ECU codes and then you are fine. FYI: the code that will display for a non-functioning EGR valve is "PDI 27". If any new codes arise while you are driving and havent shut the motor off, the "Check Engine ECU" will display on your screen again to signify that a new code has occurred.

 

nothing some black tape won't fix... just put it right over that light...

 

Tommo - are you considering taking the leap into the unknown? Just for kicks and grins, do you have the financial standing to run on your own?

I'm no expert to tell you what it costs, but for me it's been all I had and then some. At the end of the day, I take stock in the fact that no one is telling me when or where to run, and when to buy tires or brakes. The bad part is that I have to pay for those tires and brakes, and with some good judgement (and frozen leftovers from the house) I can come up with the money to run the truck safely.

My choice to run my own truck was due to safety and comfort. I was pre-hired by Maverick 2 years ago, and Roehl early this year, and turned them both down due to low pay ($30k/year starting) and the equipment.

All fleets have to run their trucks legal, but that's 2/32" tread on the drives, 4/32" on the steers, and the next DOT inspection on everything else. If the tread on the tires doesn't cast a shadow, I'm not running it - been there, done that, and brought the T-shirt home to my wife.

If you've got the intestinal fortitude, and the money for the basics, the only thing holding you back is the details. Call around and see if you can find someone to lease a truck on with your experience, and then start putting together the expenses you'll have to pay.

In hindsight, I would've also gotten a motor carrier# prior to buying my truck. The state of Georgia never even said thanks for the 4 grand they charged me in sales tax, and they won't refund it to me no matter how many times I ask.

Post what you've got and don't be shy about it - there's some great people on this thread and the rest don't matter

 

Wish it were that simple... and you know better.

Just for everyone else's benefit, the truck in question has a readout screen with basically all essential data contained in a menu based format. If you put tape over that "light", you would have to cover the entire screen and thus would lose essentially all of your gauges.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm just starting to seriously consider this option so there's some planning to be done if I decide to try it.

 

hahaha.... I know

and that's what you get for buying volvo! lol just kidding with ya

 

Hwy Pilot--Where do you live in North GA? I'm in North GA too.

 

Run like the wind, Rob!!!



Hope to see you out there someday!