I purchased a 2014 freightliner cascadia about 3 years ago. It came with thermo king tripac evolution apu. I was told when I purchased the truck that it does work but has a leak somewhere. So the other day I tried to get it started but it doesn't do anything at all. It shows alt and red triangle. Anyways im trying to figure out whats the best option for me. Should I go to thermo king and fix the apu unit and is it worth fixing. I have heard some drivers very happy with the tripac apu while other say its a money pit and not worth it. Or should I consider other options like a power generator and portable ac unit or is there better options out there. Any advise would be greatly appreciated and thank you in advance.
Serious question here...
Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by Yosemite_Sam, Aug 15, 2025.
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Options depend on the amount of money you can spend.
I have the same APU on a 2017 Cascadia. This is the 3rd truck I have purchased with a Tripac.
I think they are a money pit. Hard to find someone to fix them other than Thermo King. They charge high dollar just to diagnose.
I still use my APU, to not idle main motor. It probably cost me more for repairs than it does for fuel saved.
1st thing to do is a service. Read up on the unit on the ThermoKing website.
Use the search function (the red magnifying glass) on the top Right of this website to read debate about the other options.Siinman, austinmike and Yosemite_Sam Thank this. -
Thanks for the inputxsetra and austinmike Thank this.
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One driver posted he took his truck to an RV dealership shop and had an RV generator & air conditioner installed and is very satisfied with the work.
Siinman, austinmike and Yosemite_Sam Thank this. -
I have 2 trucks with Trioac evolution kw has had zero problems and it’s been ok there over a year.
Mack one isn’t cooling right now. I’ll get it fixed when I get time,Siinman, 77fib77, austinmike and 1 other person Thank this. -
Thank you for the inputaustinmike Thanks this.
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If it’s on the truck it should work, bring it in and get it fixed, I haven’t looked at any late model ones but the last couple trucks I had with them ~10 years ago were hot garbage, be interested to see how the new ones do
austinmike Thanks this. -
Imo unless you can get it working cheap then no, when i had mine it threw a rod at about 2k hours and was nearly constantly in the shop with issues and the ones ive had on other trucks when i was company were just as bad.. Many of the "repairs" broke and TK always gave me a runaround on the warranty for less then month old parts dispite the warranty saying it was covered.
Get a green APU instead. Over 15k hours on mine when i sent my last truck to kill and only issues with it were a couple.corroded AC line valves and a waterpump. Only reason i didnt get another is i got talked into an electric APU because i spent almost 20k on APU fuel in 24 lol.Siinman, xsetra and austinmike Thank this. -
In my experience with a used one. If it was not taken care of in the beginning it will be a money pit. If new and you took care of it and did regular maintenance then it will be decent APU. I changed to EPU and much happier with only taking to shop after installed for a bad wire and sensor. Never had a problem since then and have almost 393,000 miles on that truck now.
xsetra and Accidental Trucker Thank this.
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