Help! Best Truck/engine for $30000??????

In my experience, Cat is a good engine but it will not give great MPG. ISX isn't bad if you find a good one, but they are problematic. Detroit is a great trouble free engine but wont do as well climbing hills. Everyone has their 2 cents though and everyone will disagree.

Did pete make a 378? Did you mean 379? An aerodynamic truck will save you tons on fuel.

 

I used to think the same way, until I bought my 2000 fld with a 3406great cat and the eaton autoshift. I couldn't believe my eyes 7.5 mpg running 1400a rpm. I have never had a truck pull as good.
I would stay away from the isx. The detroit will be cheaper to get parts for. It is all what a guy wants. Good luck on your hunt.

 

The OP has a problem.
Very close to California.
Might want to rethink your plans as CARB could make your choice obselete very fast.

 

When I bought my truck in July.

Priority was for a tri-pac. Then I wanted a 13spd. After that, for cost of maintenance, it when to Detroit. I couldn't afford to go new enough for what I wanted, but the bank wouldn't let me go old enough for the Cummins N14. The Series 60 became the engine I looked for.

I found the truck on Truckpaper.com one night sitting at the house.

Winter, am saving $700+ a month not idling to sleep. At 1 gallon and hour, that adds up fast at $4 fuel. Summer, same thing with the A/C.

I drove a Cascadia for a company truck back early last year when I got back into trucking. In the past I have driven a Pete 377 and a KW T600 and T800. Had I decided to go with a nose, I would have gone with the KW W900 or a Ftl Classic or Coronado. All honesty, likely the Coronado.

I am glad I decided on the Century though. It's a lot lighter and has about 4' less wheelbase. Pretty much the same trucks except for the hood.

Shorter wheel base, this is a lot easier to put into a dock than something with a 40" longer wheel base. Yop, the longer wheel base would be a nicer ride.

If you go older than a 05, (no epa****) you'll need to do something for CARB to still be able to go to CA from my understanding of the requirements, 06-08 (epa2004) you can likely be good for until 2016 is my understanding. After that, you'll be looking at a 2011 (epa2010). Any of the EPA2007 trucks are going to be mechanical ####### childs with bad fuel mileage and major mechanical issues with the DPF's.

The thing I liked about the Freightliners is that the cab/sleeper in them are huge. I like my elbow room. The cab doesn't feel small and confined like a Pete or KW. I got upper and lower windows in my sleeper so I don't feel confined like a coffin when I am on a break on the road. I can open the window curtains and it feels "open" compared to living in a box.

I can easily reach across to the other seat in a KW or Pete, I have to stretch in my Century, the T2000 and 387, I couldn't reach the passenger seat.

Compared to the Century, the 387 was my least favorite of all the trucks I looked at. To me, it screamed CHEAP. The T2000, not much better. They both got removed from my list of possible trucks fast.

My Century has the DD S60 14L EGR engine, 3.42 40K rears. I also have a Hendrickson AirRide front axle. I bought a 2000 Great Dane 53' dry van. All told, around $37K for the package.

I will admit, the fuel mileage has me a lot disappointed. I am at a 6.7 on my 3rd qtr IFTA and a 6.3 on my 4th quarter IFTA. That's based on miles driven and actual fuel. Not some Elog calculation.

I just had Rebel127 reprogram my ECM and it has totally come alive. I still need to get my overhead ran soon and hopefully that will bring things back even more. When he did this, I cannot say enough about the mans work. This truck just ran I540 in Ark with 45K in the box. I was grossing out around 78K. I never ran less than 55 and I was passing most trucks. No trucks caught me going up hill. It just PULLED. For the week, I was at 6.29 MPG running winter grade fuels and running heavy. That's about 0.6 mpg better than I had been seeing recently.

I set my cruise at 1375-1425 which has me running 66-68 mph. When in the hills, I down shift one gear and run 1625-1650 and same speed. Unless it's a full on 4-6% grade, the truck just runs, even with a heavy load.


Whatever you get:
Get a full chassis dyno print out on the truck.
Get a full computer printout on the ECM.
Ask for the previous owner maintenance records.
Try to talk to the previous owners.
Get them to put kingpins in the truck along with a 3-axle alignment. (mine went out 2 weeks after I got it and after 3 mechanics other than the dealer looked at it.) you will scrub steers off in zero time it seems when they go out. 700,000 miles seems to be the typical life span for them. I said typical, some might be longer, some may have been less. YOU don't know when or if they will be done. New will just give you a baseline. And at $1000 for a set of steers, it's a good preventive maintenance.


Make a list of all you think you want.
APU, engine, trans, rearends, double bunk, etc. Then prioritize it.

Cats, best pulling it seems. They are strong.
Detroits, most economical to maintain.
Cummins, somewhere in between.

 

Peterbilt made a 378 for a lot of years. I don't believe they still make it.

I have run CAT engines for years. I have always gotten good mpg with them. Your mpg has more to do with the driver than the engine. I consistently get about the same mph as those with other engines. CAT engine parts tend to cost a little more than Detroit or Cummins, but I have not had to work on mine as much as Detroit's that I have owned. I also think that CAT has more torque and pulls better than the other two manufacturers. You should get good service out of any of the three engine manufacturer's. I would stay away from the brand specific engines, such as Volvo, Mercedes or Mack. Parts will be more expensive and it may be more difficult to get repairs done in a timely manner. Some shops stay away from the brand specific engines.

 

Ive always thought of it like this: Freightliner and Volvo are the comfort trucks. Peterbilt and Kenworth are the classic trucks. If you're doing OTR, I highly recommend to buy a truck with a big cab and sleeper. When you're out on the road for 3-4 weeks at a time, it gets old living in a smaller cab. It basically depends on what you want. I would defiantly get a APU. It'll pay for itself fast. When you test drive the truck, look for oil. Then say drive it 5-10 miles and look for oil that wasn't there before. Pay attention to the interior too. If it has sign of being trashed out inside, that usually means the guy or guys that drove it before you didn't care about the truck which means the truck is more than likely has been abused. Also, check the oil level before you test drive it. Then like I said, then give the oil 10-15 minutes to settle down then check the level again. Here's a Volvo I found here in Tennessee: http://www.truckpaper.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=4038383&lp=TRK

 

They do not make 378's or 379's anymore, they are 388's and 389's (since '09)

 

Hey Voltrucker,
I saw the link you posted for the Volvo and it looks very nice, but dont you think the miles are too high?
730000 seem like a lot of miles to me for 35k