buying a truck need help plz!!

ya, he's just naturally that charming

 

Ok having said all this what should this guy be looking at? I know people tend to favor the cat engines etc, if you could build a truck for the fifty grand running at 70% fully grossed coast to coast what do we build?

 

we told him.

when you aska groud of people for there opinions you will get various answers. But the question has been answered. One of the aero trucks with a tranny with more gears to kep the motor in a narrower rpm range and gear to match the rea he plans to drive. What truck and what motor are personal choices other than to say a cat will not get the fuel mileage of a detroit or cummins. Ya Ya, I hear brickman moaning already. he hates detroits and loves cats. I do to but I don't care how much you love a cat it will nt get good fuel mileage, especially the new ones

 

I would think a lower horsepower setting on an engine would also lend itself to improved fuel economy. I say that based upon having driven old international cabovers with cummins engines, horsepower ratings of 330 or so and the truck getting 6.5 mpg to 7.00.

Seems most people now a days want a big horse under the hood. Yes its nice to pull a hill without dropping a gear but if your in this to make money I would be looking for an aerodynamic truck with an engine rated at no more than 400 horse.

 

That's not true.... well it is probably true if you have a co driver in a truck but not an owner who is paying for his truck.

you take two identical motors and have one set at 300 hp and the other at say 450 hp and that 450 hp motor is operating at a higher effieciency. the motor that is more efficient will make the same hp with less fuel simply because it is burning fuel more efficiently. so that 450hp motor will do 300 hp on less fuel than the 300hp motor. You will have your foot on the floor all the time in the 300 hp motor. The key here is to have the most efficient motor possible without having your foot in IT all the time, because then it will burn more fuel.

 

I wouldnt do anything under a 400, but no bigger than a 450..Use all the fuel savings tech. as possble.. I worked for a company one time that ran 230hp cummins..ran west coast at that...What a mistake!! My wife could be driving and on some Mt. I could almost run along side of the truck!! No BS! Fuel mileage really Sucked on it! They finally sold them all and replaced them with 425 Cats..And they did great!

 

No he does okay with it. it's not the newer generation cat either though. And to be perfectly honest I skiped that whole generation of cats. I went from mechanicals to the next one being an 04 C15

 

All I can say to a driver who is becoming an o/op or lease is that please understand when your truck is down for repairs and you are paying them repair bills and being down for 1 week, 2 weeks or possibly 1 month that you can NOT make up them miles as it will be illegal to do so. So I always warn drivers who are going to a lease or buying their own truck to make sure you have plenty of money in the bank and then you should be fine (I hope) but you can't make up them repair days, they are lost. Yes you can make them up illegally but remember you have more to lose than a company driver does. Even though both have something to lose