Owner ops/Lease ops post your maintenance

Clutch ultrashift 2700$ not bad, local shop...
Egr 900 $
truck wash 55 $

 

Lets see???

Engine tune up, detroit series 60
Replace Carrier Bearing
Oil change/oil and fuel filters, $1040.

A Sapp Bro's / Bosselman oil change special $240, and they missed the bad Carrier Bearing, 2 20 yr old kids, on a sat am, but they seemed to care about what they did, changing the oil and filters.

Freightliner,
4 1000 CCA Batteries , $100 ea,
I had other stuff also done to the trk, so I don't know how much the labor was, I assume about 1 hr or $100.

While there, I met another driver who had a problem with the new gel batteries, he was on his 3rd set and said he went back to the old. But he pointed out, that yes the batteries had a warranty, but Freightliner changed a $200 fee each time to replace them. just fyi

And p.s., even while under the stupid trk, a freightliner mechanic didn't see or notice the bad carrier bearing.

there should be a seperate black book of good and not so good places to take your trk into, if it is allowed , that is.

 

turbo,egr and sensor 3800

 

Cam shaft on 08 ISX $5300.

 

I had an overhaul done this past fall - talk about fun... That was $18.5K out the door for just a basic platnum overhaul. I replaced many other things while the truck was down so it went well above and beyond that. That is CAT overhaul $$$$$ it is what it is. On the low end of electronic motors would be about $10K or $12K for an overhaul if doing the overhaul yourself subtract about $4-$5K off that price.... At a minimum imoyou need whatever an overhaul will cost in your bank account plus about $5k above that for a maintinence fund. When I have $25K in the bank for the truck I consider the maintinence fund fully funded... Oil changes I do myself. I've got a couple of dozen 5 gallon pails of oil stowed away that I bought for a good price, a case of oil and fuel filters I bought on sale. It cost me $153 for oil (11 gallons) and (2) filters, plus $13 to run an oil sample every time I change it at 12,500 miles or 6 times this year or $957 this year. Saved $600 doing it myself. Had other misc costs that were minor in comparison to the biggie but would have to go and look at all that stuff to see the costs.. Sounds like everyone else had a great year of low maintinence costs.. It was not a fun year for me but at least it's behind me..

A huge benefit to DIY oil changes... ....had a carrier bearing been bad I would have discovered it before it caused problems as I was under the truck greasing it (every other week one $8 tube of grease truck and trailer - 30 minute job including jacking up the front axle to grease king pins) whereas some kid changing your oil does not doing anything other than change oil... Very simple job to do no more difficult than doing a car certainly not worth the $100 imo it costs to have done. Some may say their time is worth that $100 and they will pay to have it done I say they will lose more time and money in the long run when the carrier bearing or something else fails because they weren't under there checking stuff... I also would not have paid Freighliner $200 three times to change out bad batteries that were replaced under warranty... I am no master mechanic but I mean come on, there are just some things a person ought to do for themselves... That's as bad as paying someone to change a headlight or windshield wipers... It's very expensive to pay for the little stuff... Some of the moderately more challenging mechanical work.. ..it takes the same basic wrenches and sockets as you would use on your car (and about 3 hours of time) to change out a turbo for example.. On the other hand, while brakes are reasonably simple and straight forward not everyone has a big air compressor or impact but it ought to be on the "need to get" list at some point so a person can do their own brakes, tire work, & rotations... ...which right now I don't have that stuff but by next summer I certainly will... As you can see it's a very bad idea to buy a truck and try to run it on a shoestring especially so if you have no mechanical ability or are unwilling to learn...

 

I own a volvo....nuff said....

 

there is validity to having a mechanic look at your truck on a semi-regular basis. And I use "mechanic" loosely here. In THIS definition, that's also a person who I trust as mechanically inclined that they can spot an issue and reasonably determine what's wrong with it.

Having said that, a person who looks at the same piece of equipment ALL the time begins to miss things. Having a trusted second set of eyes looking at it during an occasional lube or oil change can save major issues later.

 

Dekka battery dealer in Norcross, GA has blemish batteries from time to time for $50, Regular price is around $85 if I recall. My son and his car club run hydraulic setups and have the best leads on cheap truck batteries LOL. Also, NAPA with AITA discount about $90. You're definitely not gonna get those prices at a truck stop.

 

I used to say the same thing. Until the last time I was at the local Freightliner service department and felt a tickle in my throat. Turns out the service manager's hand was in my back pocket.