New owner torn on a new truck.

You will NEVER un$%#& the truck. The Western Star glider was the ONLY choice. Trade, sell, whatever you have to do to get off that thing and into a glider.
It will NEVER stop, and it will break you.

 

I’d sell this lemon and buy a pre emission truck. In fact I’d get one old enough to have a mechanical pumped big cam Cummins or 3406b cat

uses more fuel but no computer codes to worry about and no emissions stuff.

there is NO way I would spend more money on this one. No use to throw good money after bad money.

 

Another 50k on top the 50 you already spent, on top of the original purchase price, all to have frankentruck that is illeagle. You can not tamper with emissions, or replace engines from previous years.
Get what you can for what you have, be in a good used glider the next day.
Sometimes you have to cut bait and run. I did it in 2011 with a 2010 Crapcadia. Had no choice, warranty was up, truck was a piece of junk. Got out of it and moved on. It would have broke me.
I understand the minds set, "I wont let this thing defeat me" but it is a road to heartache. Find a glider with a FACTORY rebuilt engine, not a shop built, and move on. No need to die on that hill.
Good luck.

 

I agree.

OP: please listen to this advice.
You originally started this thread asking for advice ,

the whole point of trucking is to make money and enjoy the ride.

don’t blow another $50 grand building a Frankenstein truck.

buy a glider built by a reputable shop, or buy a early 90s truck with ZERO computers , and spend the $50 grand rebuilding it.

dropping $50k on a Frankenstein truck that will have hardly any value when you’re done , or buy a early 90s Pete 379 or W900 , spend the $50k rebuilding the engine trans and axles , and then you will have a truck that everyone wants and will be easy to sell if you ever want to sell it.

if you want something that really turns heads. Buy a late 80s or early 90s Ford LTL 9000.
They have a much larger cab than a Pete or KW and it will turn heads. Everyone has a W9 or 379 but when was the last time you saw a beautiful LTL9000 ?

the aeroMax version of the LTL9000 looked pretty good too if it had the right paint job.

 

I put 40k into my 97 last year, and mainly because by the time I got done fixing oil leaks and this and that enough stuff had to come apart to just do an inframe, everything under the hood is new, rears are new, and everything from spindle out is new, so for a 15k truck, I can live with it.
Either buy something brandy new, or go back to atleast 07 and down,

 

yesterday, when I had to play start everything in the yard to get in the driveway just did new frame rails front to back

 

I wish I would have replied to this thread back when you started it. My input would have been to buy a brand new truck. So much easier and also cheaper believe it or not.

 

run a rig dig report on them. Also when you narrow down which one run some oil samples and run it to a independent shop for a in-depth examination. Possibly a Dyno run and ecm download

 

The new trucks are bo better. The first 3 years maybe, if you get a good one you wont have much down time. Tho we have a guy here that just put 230k into a brand 389 and its cost him dearly in downtime and the "that's bot covered" song and dance.
My cascadia was a nightmare. I bought a new 2013 volvo and for 3 1/2 years it wasnt bad. But I got rid of it before the warranty wore out. My maintenance was still above .10c a mile first year, and last year was tracking for .20c. My 2012columbia "schneider" glider is right at .08c for last year, as it is every year.
It gets 7.5 to 8.5 mpg, it's the cheapest truck on the road to fix. Money maker. And that's really what we are out here for. Isn't it?