Is this a good truck and trailer setup for a car carrier?

why not a 3500 or 4500??

 

They're both gonna get about the same, I'd get one with a real sleeper on it and not the day cab you just posted.

Here's a truck, $20,000 that you can grow into, has a sleeper on it and looks good and will do the job all day long. I have a similar truck and average 7.5 mpg staying at 65 mph. It is a tandem axle, I was going to do what you were and glad I went with the bigger truck.

http://www.ooida.com/RC/viewad.asp?id=50000962312102239

 

Because you can buy a nice used semi tractor cheaper than one of those, and it will last alot longer, plus have a sleeper on it.

 

a good used 3500 is only 12k you will get alot better mpg and the repair bills are three times as cheap, you 500-750k out of the engines and you can put a sleeper on them..way better value in my opinion.

 

If you are going with a day cab and a 3 car trailer then a 3500 Dodge will do the job all day long with the best mileage and upfront cost(used of course). If you're going to a stacker and hauling more with more wind resistance and doing more than day trips then I would find a small motor aero cab with a sleeper-also used. When you have an established clientele and some history to draw on then maybe you could move up to new equipment. It doesn't matter if you have the money right now to go new- its just foolish to piss the money away on a new endeavour without experience. I may have read this wrong and you may have experience and if so, then you should know what you need to do the job.
I had a Pete motorhome with a 4 car(usually only fit three) stacker enclosed and I never got close to 10 mpg loaded.

 

Any dually I've seen for 12k, won't last before you have to dump a bunch of money in it. I pulled the same trailer I pull now, I got 9-10 with a dually and 7-8 with the semi.

I did the dually route, I'd never do it again. I haul heavy, expensive cars and my life is alot easier with the semi. For what it costs me in milage, I save from not having to get hotel rooms when I couldn't sleep in the trailer.

I see more and more car haulers dumping their duallies and getting nice used single and tandem axle semi tractors.

 

Go big. WITH a headramp. Head ramp means: eating steak or beans, going home for special occasions or not, driving a reliable truck, sending the kids to college or truck driving school.

 

Headramp + High 5th Wheel = 65 feet, if I ain't mistaken. At least in a lot of places.

I haven't run a high 5th wheel in a long time but you might want to check that before you tie a rack to a 53 footer.

 

That is a local rig. If you can get trained correctly, then do it right with a stinger rig. If not a 6/7 high mount is a good way to start. Headrack can be added later if you get a trailer that has the front built to accept it.