Do you know how to work on your truck?

Agreed. You don’t necessarily have to possess great mechanical skills to own a truck, BUT having a knowledge of your truck, your engine model number, and a general idea of how to diagnose problems. If you don’t, every time you go into a shop, they can both pork you and clean out your maintenance account.

 

Repairs you do or that you want to do are equivalent to what truck you get.

If you have a truck that's worked over that has a mechanical engine, if you understand mechanical engines you're in good shape.

Then came computerized. A loose wire could leave you on the side of the road. Very common for people to have electrical problems and spend thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars and get nowhere.

So then there's another level of diagnosis to learn.

Then you get into the fully computerized with vgts and Multiplex wiring and now you have another level of learning.

And another level of tools and Diagnostics that you need to have if you choose to work on it.

And you also are dealing with incredibly expensive Parts like the emission parts and the turbos and everything else is exponentially more expensive than simple mechanical engines.

It always amazed me that injectors for my big cam were $65 a piece, and the injectors for the series 60 were like $350 or $400 or some crazy number like that.

A quick look on the internet and injectors for a C15 are like $500 or $600 a piece. Maybe you can find them for less but you get the idea.

The newer you go, the more knowledge that you have to have, the more expensive diagnostic tools you have to have, and when you finally get down to the problem, if you have a newer truck, it's going to cost you a hell of a lot more than if you had something simple.

Welcome to trucking in 2025.

 

I do as much as can on my own, any smart owner operator will do the same.

 

I just changed the air unloader valve on the top of my bendix air compressor for 129$ for the bendix kit and 3 hours of my time. Spring broke inside the plunger. Pain in the ### getting to it inside a cascadia, but it's working now. I got pretty dirty, but clothes can be washed.

Dealer wanted 1100$ for a new compressor, 550$ for a core and 4 hours of labor at 185$ an hour.

I am mechanically inclined and have been around trucks my whole life, FWIW.

 

I don’t know why it took me as long as it did to buy a new trailer, but I should of done it right out of the gate

I’ll keep my old iron, but I may wind up parking it in the barn as a spare and working a new truck, maybe I’m just getting old, but turning wrenches doesn’t have the appeal it did years ago… especially with 52 weeks of work

 

There probably wasn't one person at the dealership that knew the unloader by itself could be serviced. They are just taught to replace the whole compressor as a unit. Wasteful. That is a big problem nowadays.

 

Used Construction, Agricultural Equip., Trucks, Trailers & more
man have y'all seen this one. Wish it had a cat!

 

It's way to nice to drive!

 

Very very nice. Interesting that being a ‘78 it has steer axle brakes. Wonder if they added them during rebuild. One more month of bidding may have that thing over 100k.

 

my guess is a lot closer to 200 K