APU when buying a truck or not?

That's exactly what I mean. by the time 4 years would be up, you would have likely spent a lot on maintaining the unit along with repairs.

 

Seriously. And the ones that're that cheap are some real garbage. You can buy an economy car for what the top of the line APUs cost, and the car is probably more reliable.

BTW, I was really expecting some smart-alek comment from you about how you tried the hood-tilting thing, but you got tired of sleeping curled up in between the windshield and the dashboard.

 

Talked to my salesman at Arrow the other day about APU's. He said by the time they get the truck the apu's have already been stripped. I think there must be plenty of money to be made out there by selling used apu's. Personally, I am spending $10K next week on a brand new TriPac APU with the Extreme Arctic Package included on it, plus some of the other goodies you can add to it. Otherwise my local Thermo King dealer sells them for $8500 installed.

Not sure what type of truck the OP wants but ive seen Trans Am Trucking out of KC advertise their used KW T600's ALL have TriPac APU's on them.

 

You would not believe, or maybe you would, the number of people who do L/p's, add lights, chrome, etc. and then turn the truck back in. I'm glad you check. You are way ahead of most going down this path.

I just got finished buy a used truck and went thru the whole "buy one with APU, without and add new or without and add used." I was not doing this without an APU.

4,000 hours seems to be the point that you start to have Troubles (with a capital T). I talked to enough guys and mechanics to be comfortable saying that you start to have problems between 4-5K hours.

I ended up getting a Carrier New with 10,000 hour, $0 deductable warranty for $9,500. And the coverage is transferable. But it will pay for itself in about 1.5 years, likely less with this winter.

But if I had to pay cash I am not sure that I would have gone that way. Thats a big chunk for sure.

Just go into this with your eye wide open expecting to have issues over the next 21-months. Then once you own the truck you will have some of the government programs available to you.

Something else that makes going used a little easier. If you can turn a wrench they are not that hard to work on.

 

I would be concerned about propane. A truck is a very enclosed space.

 

One thing I would like advice on, what should I look for as far as potential trouble spots in a used APU?

 

APU's ECM, other electronics, installation. 90 % of problems seem to come from bad installation.

 

Did you really expect me to be a smart alek? I may have if I would of thought of it.

 

"Just go into this with your eye wide open expecting to have issues over the next 21-months. Then once you own the truck you will have some of the government programs available to you."


What are you refering to? I own my own truck and have never heard of anything special available from the government because of it.

 

So is a tent, which is what it's made for. It's a catalytic heater, meaning that there's a catalyst that's in the reaction with the burning of the propane and keeps it from forming Carbon Monoxide. I do have to open a vent or crack a window just to make sure there's enough oxygen for me, the heater, and the dog. My internet is really slow right now, or I'd find a link to one and post it.

If anyone's thinking about getting one of these, be forewarned that I don't even consider using it until it's below 30-I probably like it colder than most folks do when I sleep.

(Edit) I also have a carbon monoxide/smoke detector in the truck. I really think that anyone that ever sleeps in their truck needs one. Even with the truck shut off, if you have an electrical fire, it'll wake you up before the heat and smoke would, and give you more time to get out safely, maybe even in time to save the truck.

This is the heater. Coleman apparently doesn't make it anymore, I bought it directly from Coleman for quite a bit less than that, it was about $80 IIRC. If I was buying a new one, I'd probably get a Mr. Heater, they have a oxygen depletion sensor and shut themselves off if they turn over. Like this one.