Please educate me on truck, engine, transmission brands

Mack trucks isn’t what you think. Mack is all Volvo and has been for sometime now.
I think the OP is a few years late to the party. Any of those trucks of those years will run you bankrupt the first year. If you started a few years back, you could have gotten a nice pre 2006 truck.
Try and find an old twin stick Mack with a window in the back

 

What was your first truck as an owner operator

 

I bought an '82 Western Star in 1988 for $22,000. Fresh BC350, 10 speed, had Whites "Reyco" and I had a Pete Air Leaf grafted to the back. It was a good truck, pulled rail cans out of Chicago for 3 years. I then bought my '72 Pete( in avatar), was a cool truck, but not for Chicago. Today, if I was to do any trucking, it would be a KW with a 500 Detroit.

 

I wouldn’t wish a Mack on my worst enemy

there’s a reason those year trucks are for sale and cheap, and it’s not because they are so reliable and cheap to maintain……

 

That’s so ######. Thanks for sharing

 

Here is the thing, find an engine that is serviced everywhere.

Which means cummins or Detroit.

Cummins and Detroit are great engines, I use cummins and have for more than 25 years.

As for brand …

It is not mack or volvo and sure not international unless they have cummins or detroits in them.

Don’t get old crap, if you want nostalgia, get a weekend run-around truck to play with, the freight and 99% of the consignees don’t give a crap what hauls their product. And parts are hard to find now for some models and the mileage with the older ones suck. It is all about keeping the truck running and minimizing down time

this goes for and especially engines.

get a manual trans which is common … 18 speed the most flexible one out there no matter what engine. You can drive it as a 9 speed, 13 speed or 18 … just depends on the load.

gazillion 18 speeds were made and a lot are available cheap, even new ones so if one implodes, just get it replaced and move on.

don’t sweat about axles, get the heaviest you can for the front, 18k will be fine but your tires will limit the weight, so you may be able to put 14k on the fronts - won’t get into tires.


What every truck you look at, get it on a dyno and get a blow by test - blow by isn’t idling with vapor coming out of the draft tube. Get oil analysis on the rears, trans and engine >>>> even if the oil has been changed. Get a full ecm dump printed out to show you every option and it is a good record if the ecm craps out on you, you can have it setup. Get a mechanic not related to where you are buying it to go through it, you want him to find the problems of the truck so you can negotiate the price down and get it ready for the road.

 

Wait ...... What???? You are JUST GETTING your CDL?? Do yourself, your wallet, and your credit a HUGE favor and BECOME A COMPANY DRIVER for a couple of years at least. Learn the ropes and get some experience at somebody else's expense first. Being an O/O is not for everyone and is VERY financially demanding. So drive for someone else and get some experience with truck models first, save lots of money during this time because you will spend every dime of it when you do buy your first truck. "Clip and Save" this post even if you don't follow my advice because it will come back to haunt you if buy any truck and you are just fresh out the gate! AND don't do ANY lease-purchase through a carrier because they will screw you also.

 

Hey, you joined in 2013. Does that mean you're now an O/O of 30 years tenure, or do you get the mods to update your username once a year?

 

This is my 30th year but I was a company driver for the first 2 1/2 yrs and then again between 2008 and 2012. So I guess I should change it to O/O 23 1/2 YRS. Nah, I'll just leave it like it is. I hate this profession anyways.