New to me Pinnacle

The other guys say I will be hating life with 285hp. I'm new to this, so I really don't know. I would only be stretching that about a foot less than the Mack so still gonna cost $6-8,000 for frame work. Would have to paint the cab. Cab interior is small. Costs about $2-3,000 to have box removed and disposed of. And buying a new box that's long enough to fit everything. Would have to travel to FL just to look at it. No idea on truck history and buying outta state, the salesman could give two hoots about what he's selling me as he's not likely worried about repeat business or making money on service work down the road...

FWIW, I really appreciate the input and helping me look at this purchase from different angles. I'm just trying to put forward my perspective and how I got to where I am now. This is a learning process and always will be.



Basically this is how it went:
1) Need a decently modern truck with tandems and 24' insulated box, auto trans, 350hp
2) Look online, nothing available that fits the description that's not worn out
3) Look for day cabs and cab/chassis. Realize day cabs more expensive than sleepers, and often bare bones fleet spec. Don't want to pay for wet kits etc or excessive idle hours.
4) Look for sleepers. Realize I can get a sleeper and day cab it for the same or less money than buying a day cab from the get go. Also realize that OTR units have "features" that day cabs don't. Nice interior, power everything, better seats. Also, daycabs.com conversion kit will give 6" more legroom than a regular day cab.

So this Mack popped up, at the only dealer that didn't treat me like crap, and they gave me the whole history. Things spotless. So I put my money down.

 

No. Where/who would do it for me? Got Oil report back and looks good

 

Well got the truck all put together and drove it to FL for more outfitting and installing equipment inside the box. Wow, trucking is a lot of work! By the time I got to FL I was so shot from bouncing down the road and avoiding all the knucklehead drivers out there! I really gained a lot of respect for those of you that do this for a living.

Now onto the next thing. Basically we are installing a generator, compressor, power washer, and several high test paint pumps into the van body. We don't plan on working through the dead of winter, but will have to sometimes for special jobs. I am looking for some sort of heater that I can plumb into the diesel tanks to keep it warm when we need to. We're going to fully insulate the box. Want something that I can just set the thermostat and it will start itself when it needs to stay warm overnight. Is there such a thing? What brands would you recommend?

 

Thought I would give an update.

We've got two seasons of work under our belts now. I am happy to report that everything has been working great! I ended up installing a 34 gallon propane tank on the frame, which supplies a 40,000 btu RV furnace that I installed in the van body. Along with a couple big batteries, she can sit outside for a couple weeks in MN winter and stay toasty warm! Very happy so far.

On to the next project:

We've slowly and steadily added more tools and supplies to the rig. I am at the point now where I have 12,900 lbs on my front tires, which are only rated to 12,350. They are Continental 275/80 R22.5 and I'm looking for a recommendation on what tires to go with now to get me back in compliance. For now we just shifted some supplies to the back of the rig and run with half fuel to be legal. But I would rather just put wider/stronger tires on so I don't have to worry about it.

I'd like to be speed rated for 75 mph if possible. I don't know why I mostly take off road pics, 99% of the work is in city streets.

What say ye for tires?