Waiting on New Trucks thread.

My buddy also got cold called from salesman he hadn't heard from in years. Things are tight. I think there are buyers out there but they are still asking Covid era pricing. Auction is still the best place to buy

This week at auction a 2023 579 Peterbilt w/ a 455 PACCAR and 40K miles went for $113K. And a 2023 T680 w/ 450 Cummins and 88K miles went for $125K. That's darn cheap compared to the dealers. Next week at auction WFX has some practically brand new 389's up so I'm interested to see where they price at. That whole marketing of get a 389 before they quit making them seems to be going out on a whimper

 

Here's this week's update:

October 21, 2023
389 Peterbilt - 179.........17 389X's
579 Peterbilt - 463
T680 KW - 558
W9 KW - 105
Cascadia - 148
Volvo Family - 213
Mack - 81
International - 153

Whoa boy, 82 more units for sale from last week. I think the big "purge" is beginning to start and unfortunately needed. Trash rates everywhere driven by no volumes. It's kinda scary just how dead it is in the reefer world with the holiday's around the corner.

I'm still looking for a truck and have an offer on the table for a T680. We are $2,200 off and I haven't decided if I'll concede or not. I'm leaning toward no as I think things are about to really get bad. I understand my trade in value will be impacted but this past week at auction there were 5 2023 389s that went for $166K at auction and my 389 is better speced and has an APU, so at worse it would bring $170K at auction.

 

Incredible!

If you move to a T680, make sure it at least has the Air Glide 380 out back and, hopefully, the Air Glide 130 up front.

 

The 2017 glider I drove for not quite 2 years had the Flex Air under it and I wasn’t a fan. In the States with the lift axle down it rode decent enough, but up in Canada with the lift in the air and 38k on the drives it sure seemed to bounce a lot. It didn’t feel as stable in corners and was rough coming off bridge ends unless our axle was down. Our shop also had issues with the spring hardware working itself loose to the point that they’d tighten everything back up at every oil change.

Both of my 579’s have had LowAir with the big bags and I’ve been pretty happy with it.

 

I wasn’t talking about the liftable version.

I drove a ‘18 579 with the Flex Air version, twin drive axle, and it was the nicest riding and driving truck I’ve driven. I’m currently on the AG400L, in a T680, and it’s so flipping harsh I hate the truck. Because it’s KW’s “standard” suspension package, it’s what we end up with. We don’t have a real fleet manager or anyone in the ownership who are into trucks or mechanical things, like many of us are.

 

Is the pos 8 bag no longer standard?

 

It had tandem drive axles and a steerable lift, it was a 4 axle truck. The lift axle had to be in the air in Canada so we’d be 38k on our drives up there.

 

I never minded the 8 bag. Spent 2004 to the end of 2011 driving trucks with it, plus 2 years in one of my own that had it. I liked it but every tuck I drove with it had dual leveling valves.

 

This is what I've heard from everyone running flex air. It's surprising to hear someone complain about NOT having it.

 

Flex Air/380 does ride nice on the highway, but when you put more than 32-33000 on the drives it does not feel as planted as Low Air Leaf/400L will. And that gap widens exponentially with each ton you add on. Now I know for most folks, that’s not going to be an issue as running more than 17 ton on the drives is a no no. Another thing though is Flex Air/380 does not have, ironically enough, a lot of flex for big holes or out in the field type of situation. Some of that is from the shocks as the factory shocks will bottom/top out before the suspension will, but it isn’t by a whole lot. My 07 W900L had AG380 and was a lot worse about going to spinning out in the field where our Low Air Leaf Petes had zero issue. Again, not usually a big consideration for a highway truck.

The Flex Air/380 is a bit lighter than Low Air Leaf/400L though. And other than torque arms and the limited suspension travel, it never had any issues. Even at 1.4 million miles, the bushings in the C springs were still good. The torque arms usually needed replaced every 3-4 years, mainly just the bushings but it was easier to just swap out the arms for new ones.

I didn’t hate it and it did ride nice. But it definitely is only meant for standard road use.