Fitzgerald 60 series Detroit 12.7

So do you all have the Clarke or the Fitzgerald remans. Mine are the Fitzgeralds and like I stated. Trouble free thus far. They did tell me that they had some issues with the Clarke motors and Clarke wasn't as enthusiastic to make the repairs, especially under warranty. I had some issues with Clarke years ago so they are on my no haul list. So they were never an option for me anyway. Also what year were your trucks.

 

I was gonna ask that question. can't wait to hear responses about fitz in house built 6nz and n14s.

 

If you order a truck, can you insist the motor is a factory reman?

I wouldn't trust Fitz to rebuild a Cat personally.

 

Ours were put into service Jan 2015.

When the salesman was here we were given two options: Detroit reman engines or Fitzgerald/Clarke rebuild. We were talked into the Fitz/Clarke by them telling us they user newer style components such as alternator/turbo/exhaust manifold compared to standard 2003 Detroit-spec components.

 

Thompson does the Cat's for Fitz.

 

The mechanic just came up, we've now had a third differential go out. This glider thing just keeps getting better every day.

 

Put my first one to work in March of 2015, I was given 2 motor options, either Clarke or Fitzgerald, I went with Fitzgerald. Like I said only one manifold bolt and an AC compressor. Fitzgerald covered the bolt and Freightliner took care of the AC. Truck has right at 220,000 miles now.

 

Sounds like Fitz has made the jump to increasing profits by fitting cheaper engines and parts. I would say insist on a Detroit crate engine but it sounds like that would only solve some of the problems. Maybe Harrison is the way to go now? @Cowpie1 has had great success with his

 

Isn't Clarke just a franchise Detroit dealer based in Nashville, TN of Detroit motors much in the same way Thompson CAT is a franchise of Caterpillar? The Thompson motors that go into Fitz gliders are rebuilt by Thompson not the Caterpillar factory. In other words those CAT engines in Fitz gliders are NOT a factory reman engine.

My understanding was that Clarke motors are rebuilt by Clarke and also NOT factory reman Detroit engines? Is that wrong? The Fitz built Detroit are built by Fitz with a different camshaft, turbo, and manifold from the stick Clarke motors.

Not accusing anyone of anything here but I would think someone who ordered 10 or 10+ (over a million bucks!) Fitzgerald built trucks would know the difference between a Fitz built Detroit, a Clarke built Detroit, and a factory reman Detroit rather than confusing the two as one and the same which they are not.

 

One might know that info if one was clearly told. We were not. We were given two options; factory reman or Fitz/Clarke.

We were given a tour of the plant when picking up a few of the trucks and did not see an engine building area. We saw an engine teardown area, an engine storage area, and an engine paint booth. Nothing that indicated they were assembling engines.

The ultimate result though is they sold us these trucks by stressing reliability. That turned out to be less than truthful.

We just had another air compressor go down. We had to overnight the part to get the truck back online for our busiest time of the year hauling mail.