Who are the best truck manufacturers?

I never said that trucks get better mileage BECAUSE of all the plastic parts. I said, and try to keep up here, that this is an attempt by the manufacturer to keep weight down. I also NEVER SAID these trucks weigh less than they used to. You really need reading comprehension skills.

Um I've checked my dashboard readout to pump gallons, and sometimes its within a few tenths.

But it wasn't the dashboard that showed me that number, it was calculating it myself. But the fact remains todays, according to you, heavier trucks get twice the MPG they did just 40 years ago.

You say they wear out faster. What wears out? The engine? Transmission? Bearings? None of those things are made by Freightliner, KW, etc. Those are all outsourced parts. So while you blame the truck, you should blame the part. The only thing KW makes is the cab and the frame. Then they start bolting outsourced parts onto it.

It's no different than Toyotas recall for Takata airbags. It looks bad on Toyota, but they didn't make the airbag, they just stuck it in the dash. Ford uses a ton of plastic parts on their small cars like the Fiesta. Yet the Fiesta weighs more than larger cars did 30 years ago. But they are still using plastic parts to keep the weight down, as it would weight EVEN MORE if it were all steel.

 

It appears you did.

Huh, I never said anything like that.

And the price of tea in China is?

 

Nope I never said that. You quoted me saying something far different than what you CLAIM I said. I said TO TRY TO KEEP WEIGHT DOWN. I said nothing about comparing weight of an old truck to a new one. That's what you read and that's NOT what I wrote.

You said:

And you were arguing with me saying trucks get twice the MPG they used to. So according to you, these heavier trucks (You said they were heavier not me) are getting twice the MPG. We know they are getting twice the MPG, that's been well established. YOU said they were heavier.

According to this website big trucks got 5.5mpg for many years, including 1970. In fact in 1983 it fell to 5.3mpg.

Table 2.8 Motor Vehicle Mileage, Fuel Consumption, and Fuel Economy, 1949-2010

The chart stops at 2010 but we know trucks are getting way better mileage now, sometimes touching double digits. No much above that, but touching it, for sure. Even going from 5.3 to 8mpg is about a 60% increase in fuel economy. And not only better mileage, but twice the HP.

People argue about new cars getting 45mpg. They say "My metro in 1989 got 45mpg." Yea, it did. With its whopping 50hp engine. The 2017 Fiesta gets 45mpg and has a 120hp engine, weights 1000lbs more and goes 120mph stock. Try that in your #### Metro.

And if I have to explain to you why saying a truck isn't as good as it used to be when more and more of its parts are outsourced to companies that have NOTHING to do with said truck is a moronic statement, then you're too stupid to continue this conversation with. In 1997 Cessna put defective Lycoming engines into their Cessna 172 aircraft. They all had to come back for a complete engine overhaul. Nobody started saying suddenly the Cessna 172, a classic design that has trained many pilots and proven itself for decades, was suddenly a "bad quality airplane." No, defective parts were added from another manufacturer. And it wasn't Cessna.

Did anyone claim that the Ford Explorer was suddenly a bad quality vehicle because the Firestone tires they installed on it were flipping the vehicles left and right? No. Firestone caught the hell, not Ford. Same thing.

 

The 3406b is a mechanical caterpillar engine. They started in the 80s and went through the early 90s. Extremely reliable as long as you did normal maintenance and watched the gauges.Then came the 3406C and then the 3406E, followed by the C12,15 and C16, the MBN then the Acert MXS,NXS and BXS. Any 3406b, 3406e or electronic non acert cat is a good foundation. The acert is also good but is a little more issue prone do to the emissions regulations.

 

True. I think the B model is as far as I would go back with respect to parts availability and common available knowledge. I am sure there are still a few old hands that know the A model and the 1693 Cat, but I would prefer and ATA 425 B model.

 

Some say pete, some say kw. And some even love Volvo, to those folks were probably dropped on their head as a baby. Personally im rather partial to marmon.

 

I've got a b model in a w900 at the farm. Very few guys around can work on it. Even the local cat shop has extremely limited experience with them. Gotta remember they stopped making the b model around 95. Most of today's service techs were barely out of grade school in 95.

 

Nice story but a bit far from factual. Trucks today weigh MORE than ever.