18yr team buying 1st truck, need advice on used truck purchase

look for trucks in www.truckpaper.com ,i see cascadias 011 ,with less milage for 80k ,you can talk with the salespeoples and can bring the price down to 75k or little less without problems,is depend how you talk, i was buying my truck from a freightlinerdealer in cedar rapids,was a columbia 07 with 470k ,and i buy my truck in 11/09 with warranty for 35k.i am sure you find a 011 for the money what you like to spend

 

Stay away from any Volvo with a Volvo engine in it. These engines must be repaired at the dealer and let me tell you, Volvo dealer wait time to get something repaired is many times a week or more.

We have a 2004 Volvo 780 with the Cummins in it and we can get most repairs done at a local shop as opposed to going to a dealership.

Personally.....Unless you are in love with California, I would go with a New glider truck with a pre EGR engine. Plenty of threads on here about gliders but the pre egr engines are more reliable and get better fuel milage.

My wife and I run team and we have never turned more then 150k miles per year. Much better to work smarter then harder.

 

yes i do. i prefer the cummins isx personally. and we all know the problems that the ISX has been known to have with the egr valves going bonkers. the def had to be an attempt at sidestepping the known egr problems with a fix that just removed the original problem from the equation. i wonder how much "input" the government had on the current design? ask Cat about that.

the thing that really scares me about the DEF system makes sense if you stop and think about what i am about to say. over the last couple of years since the DEF systems were starting to go mainstream, i have noticed that the number of truck fires involving a total meltdown to the frame have increased. once in a while i would see one o the road, but it has been more noticeable in the more recent past. i even hear more about them on the radio. and this just doesnt mean one catching fire and going up in smoke on its own, this would include crashes as well.

the temps that those systems have to reach to be in self clean mode is almost scary. i just tend to rest easier knowing that if i am idling the truck, it wont go in to some sort of clean mode and burn up while i am sleeping. am i paranoid? no, but that is just how i see it based on what i have been hearing.

 

T660 with 86" studio would be my pick we had one in 08, loved the truck especially the sleeper room.

 

If I was gonna run team I don't think I would do something that would NOT let me run CA.....even though I hate CA it's still a very good place for team loads.......

 

My dear sir ,i'm shure you have the wrong end off the stick.

The DEF system doesn't use heat.And DEF isn't flammable.(in fact the biggest component in DEF is ................water,in fact 67%)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_Exhaust_Fluid
I'm shure that the DEF system hasn't burned down any truck.

Aren't you thinking off the 07's to 09's who have a regen cycle to clean the DPF?
That system produces losts off heat to clean the particle filter.

The DEF trucks actually should produce less heat as they will have to clean the DPF less(less regencycles).

I think you listen to the wrong people.

 

to PDM,if you are now allready shure you will run CA?In that case my opinion is that only the DEF engines are the way to go.
CA will quickly become out off bounds to older engines.
Added to that the miles you run...........anything older then 10 is asking for trouble.

About engine choice............
Again you run high miles so MPG are the very important.
Aldough a big bore might be nicer to drive the 13liter engines are in general better on fuel.
And they don't come far behind in pullingpower.

As an example compare the DD15 to the DD13.
1650lbs torque 470 hp
1750lbs 505hp
So the difference is less then you might image.
But again.......your choice.
Do Check the engines out on the builderswebsites,there is lots off good info in their websites.
They might even have figures in which they compare the big bore with the 13liter for MPG.

Some members say limit yourself to a Cummins engine as you can stay away from the dealers.
Problem with that is that you don't know which mom and pop's workshop are good ones.
Maybe you know from your own experience??
I will give my view.
If you buy a truck from an official dealer,that warranty should be valid nationwide.
So i would buy from a dealer.

One more remark:
If you buy a brand engine (volvo with volvo engine,freightliner with a Detroit,Kenworth/Pete with Paccar)
if you then have a warranty issue,there is only 1 compagny you have to deal with.

If you buy a Cummins,then you can be caught between the brand and the enginebuilder with each shifting the warranty claim to each other.
Leaving you caught between them.

All i have posted are opinions,at best they will get you thinking in the right way.

Feel free to ask more questions.

Do let us know what you have decided.


ps i would stay away from International's Maxxforce engines.If you have read what has happend at that brand in the last year...........speaks for itself.